Make your own Li-Ion Battery Pack

[@albertpelletier9415]

When soldering directly to a battery cell, it works best by using the largest possible soldering iron tip. That way there is less chance of overheating the cell. A small tip may well be hot enough, but will take much longer to heat the mass of the end of the cell, and more heat will have time to migrate into the cell instead of being concentrated at the very end where you are trying to solder. This is especially noticeable on the negative pole of the battery, which does not usually have a raised button which protrudes from the end of the cell; and therefore has greater mass right where you need to heat it. The positive protruding button is always easier to solder.

[@emersonsrandomvideos248]

Albert Pelletier Makes sense. Would 60 watts soldering tip suffice?

[@maxxiang8746]

@@emersonsrandomvideos248 I use an 80 watt, but it should be fine

[@breezeli6233]

Also, you should discharge the battery to 3.5-3.6 v/cell to lower the heat damage to battery before the heat soldering.

[@AmigaWolf]

@@emersonsrandomvideos248 Yes is more then enough, i use the Miniware TS100 solder iron on 24v, and that gives it 64w, i use the biggest solder tip i have for it, i just made a 24v battery Pack. www.miniware.com.cn/product/ts100-soldering-iron-b2-tip-hot-air-soldering-station/

[@AmigaWolf]

@@breezeli6233 Never done that, and they still work perfect, they still have each 3400mAh.

[@leonardomelia92]

What I like most of your videos is that you write down also formulas, all doubts are sorted out this way❤️ and you make the whole video nor too slow and neither too fast to follow. It's just perfect

[@PlasmaHH]

Note that a lot of LiPos don't like it when you solder to them, so use a very high soldering temperature with lots of thermal mass, work quickly, and then use some damp cloth to quickly cool the joint down to safe temperatures. If in any way you can, use welding for the tabs instead. Its a nice little project to create a capacitor based welder for tabs anyways.

[@dronemansk2121]

if this guy and colinfurze would meet, they would make a fully-functioning Iron-Man suit :D

[@gmmrk35]

Sir how can I convert 3g/4g internet wifi dongles to a GPS tracker for pets Or How to make one GPS tracker

[@gmmrk35]

Sir how can I convert 3g/4g internet wifi dongles to a GPS tracker for pets Or How to make one GPS tracker

[@CCAPACCO]

just buy the tracker, will be more practical and economical

[@childishmcgee4682]

I think it should James Bruton and hack Smith should be there as well for it to work properly and accurately

[@igorgrodzki]

*_Hacksmith_*_ has entered the chat_

[@GadgetAddict]

Nice project. I'd probably skip the hassle of tab welding or soldering and just use two of the 3-cell holders from eBay. It wont be quite as compact but it will get the job done. Maybe replace the included wires with thicker ones.

[@TelmoMonteiro]

Gadget Addict Those battery holders have a ton of resistance! I have some here laying around and I tested. He needs the tabs.

[@GadgetAddict]

Did you replace the supplied wires on the battery holders?

[@TelmoMonteiro]

It's not just the wires, the connectors inside the box and even the springs can't handle any decent amount of current.

[@rexczi6299]

Telmo Monteiro the holder has resistanse? Wtf?? Those holders are spacers, aka for better cooling. He has a closed box, aka no air anyways. He does not pull close so any current, so the batteries wont heat anyways.. bruh no need for those holders

[@advaithmadhavan8260]

Yes, but a balancing BMS board is mandatory, and the cell holders are dangerous as they can rip the upper casing of the battery and can short out the battery.

[@platniumgod1568]

This helped me a lot scott! Thanks for making this awesome videos

[@greatscottlab]

You're welcome

[@allabouttechnology8584]

hey i am not expert but i advise you to use cooper elctrodes

[@TheEmeraldNight]

GreatScott! uhm do you have a video on making your own ups for ac voltage? If not would you consider doing one?

[@mathis5225]

Great scott logic: I need to build solder a batterypack, lets build a fucking spot welder lmao hahah ly man

[@dryaldibread2327]

Mathis 😂😂

[@gmmrk35]

Sir how can I convert 3g/4g internet wifi dongles to a GPS tracker for pets Or How to make one GPS tracker

[@zedsanimations2242]

@@gmmrk35 you can't

[@aaronvannatta8062]

spot welders are the correct tool if you're going by the book, they don't heat the battery up enough to risk damage. so it makes sense he would try that first.

[@tedgriebling2956]

I love your videos. I have a strong recommendation for future pack builds: Add paper (something that won't melt) between any high-amp wire laying next to a cell. It's also a good idea between the ribbon connectors and the edge of the cell on the positive ends. This reduces the risk of a hot connection from melting though the insulation and creating a short. This exact failure happened to me once and I narrowly avoided a bad fire. After this I immediately understood and appreciated the purpose of the paper shims found in many OEM packs.

[@Boltedlightning01]

Your my favourite electrical KZbin to watch please keep up the great work 😀

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks :-)

[@mainarbor8416]

Ive watched hours and enjoy your direct and informational style. Thank you Scott!

[@rallekralle11]

just realized you're getting close to 500k subs! it's nice to see that there are still some channels with a lot of subscribers, that actually deserve them.

[@AnimalFacts]

I like it! Very helpful video.

[@emailausdrucker]

the 500k are approaching quickly. Congrats.

[@Huskie]

I did not know how to setup the balance connector, you delivered with your great content once again. Thanks!

[@joelnewell]

your hand writing is amazing!

[@Not-C-418]

how notice that scotte always says in the beginning of video "I recently"

[@datpotatolover5749]

Glad to see u back bro

[@greatscottlab]

I wasn't gone

[@daxeshchaudhary6981]

please make video of how to make battery management system circuit it will be vary helpful. and THANKS for this one.

[@Hobbyminecraft]

Damn The Video came 2 months to late. I built a boombox with li-ion batterys and had to find every Information by myself about charging bms and so on. Now you answered all My questions just a Little Bit too Late. I Love your Videos they are absolute Amazing. Mach so weiter ;)

[@jimmybleron4700]

can you please do a video on how to check if the battery is damaged so as not to charge it?

[@meowingmono]

you can use a battry charging and discharging station to find its rating and if its lower than average its probably damaged

[@gusstavv]

Each time I watch any of your projects I want to buy it, which defeats the DIY part hehehe

[@dampc5241]

5:25 " by simply glueing it, and the project is complete" I just thaught that he will say that XD

[@jeronimomurruni]

Hey Scott, to make spot welds in the batteries you must place the two leads in the battery at the same time and then send energy to them. That's how spot welding machines work

[@renmaru4485]

Jeronimo Murruni his name is not Scott

[@jeronimomurruni]

***** isn't it? My life was a lie!

[@renmaru4485]

roidroid 😂

[@chaos.corner]

Or should I say Doctor *von* Scott?

[@ParthBhat]

I've been looking for a better video and then my phone rang with ur notification... like like like

[@LA6UOA]

Thanks! Now, a couple of things: First never glue a BMS on top og the batteries. The negative cylinder of the battery is only isolated by a thin layer of paint. Shorten this might be bad (Speaking of experience) Never use melting glue on the BMS. It gets so hot, the glue will melt. Keep it up! Lots og great ideas!

[@zaprodk]

I don't want to make a negative comment on your pronunciation, so let's call this constructive criticism: To avoid confusion you may want to say "dash"-25R instead of "minus"-25R because the word minus makes absolutely no sense in a model number. That's all. Keep up the good work and amazing videos :D

[@enduser6957]

Liked the min/max testing and bold bridging to the secondary method...3d design and printing case for the win!

[@antecboy]

I built my own DIY battery tab welder out of car battery and some beefy MOSFETs controlled by a microcontroller. When I press a foot pedal, the microcontroller gives a double pulse with configurable length to the MOSFETs and they then short circuit the car battery through some beefy wire and and hand held anodes, causing the pulsed current to weld the nickel strip to on to the battery tab. It also won't trigger a new pulse before the foot pedal is released for a second at least. I am an embedded systems engineer with experience in motor controllers, so microcontrollers and MOSFETs are quite familiar to me.

[@eliotmansfield]

SiMoS MCmuffin Alternatively search for ‘atv starter solenoid’, and again with a car battery for a source - i used sharpened TIG welding tungstens as a tip.

[@alexnightflydance]

Richtig Gutes Erklärvideo 😎 ..direkt in Meine "Elektrowissen" Playlist gedropt🤩. Danke Scott

[@naami2004]

Very useful DIY, thanks for sharing ..

[@dedasdude]

Hey, thats not how spot welders are used in IRL. there is a foot pedal which we push to turn the electrodes on after we have placed them correctly on the work piece. This prevents sparking. The newer fancy ones have a pressure sensitive switch on one electrode which automatically does this for us.

[@TMS5100]

XT connectors! great choice!

[@ComandanteJ]

IRFZ44 But a bitch to connect and disconnect.

[@ceneblock]

Why? What makes it better than a screw, jst, or molex?

[@diresDPL]

I have a lot of 18650 bateries, this will help me a lot. Thank you Scott!

[@greatscottlab]

You're welcome :-)

[@webzterd]

32 views in 5 seconds. mind boggles.

[@jonvannatto]

Dave Webster The early views are because Patreon donors get access to videos before they release to the public.

[@webzterd]

Jon Vannatto mind unboggles thank you!

[@benjaminbuljevic7977]

the patreon people dont watch the same video on youtube so their views dont count for this one mind reboggled again

[@jonvannatto]

Benjamin Buljevic I think you may be wrong as Great Scott has a response comment below referring to "then the video goes public in 2 hours" It was posted before the video was posted to the public.

[@webzterd]

Benjamin Buljevic mind double double boggled as I saw the preview of your comment and came here to say mind boggles again, but you had already said it.

[@unclhos]

A project like this is what got me into circuits. Still working on mine have over 500 cells i'm putting into 6S configuration.

[@PrajwithUllal]

Hi. Good information. Can you just tell me why that balance connector pins are provided outside your battery bank? To balance charge the batteries you have BMS right & you connected those balance pin of BMS to the each battery.. Then what is that balance connector at the outside of the Battery bank box.

[@tripody1]

I also have the same question

[@dougerrohmer]

Because the BMS board does not balance. It cuts the charge when the first battery reaches 4.2 Volt and the rest then remain where they are. So it is not a BMS board, but a kinda protection board.

[@vtorsi610]

@@dougerrohmer It *IS* a BMS Board !!! It does not have the "balancing" option...

[@muh1h1]

Actually just salvaged 50 18650 cells from broken battery packs at work, they all seem to be in a rather good shape. Built myself a 4S5P powerbank with it :) Just didn't get around to building a case for it yet...

[@gwebocelestron9194]

muh1h1 Did you use a BMS on your 4S5P pack? How did you do it?

[@jeremylien3039]

I'm also curious about this.. Have you tried adding a power inverter ? So that it could power up other appliances..

[@EngineeringNibbles]

"minus" is usually called "dash" when it isn't in a calculation ;) ex: ncr dash 25R

[@Billy_Darley]

my number is 867 minus 5309

[@berkkzldere1863]

Scott, using liquid flux before soldering makes soldering much easier and faster. I've added solder to the positive terminals of 18650s to make them fit better in my flashlight and it only takes 3-5 seconds to add the solder when flux is applied. No sanding needed.

[@JTLowry]

Should build one that has a bms that can balance charge

[@knodelcrafter6888]

JT Lowry if I understood him right, the balance connectors added at 5:57 make the BMS balance charge the pack. But I’m not sure. Could someone explain please?

[@maxxiang8746]

@@knodelcrafter6888 he literally said it can't balance charge

[@Thatoneguy884]

Max745 board has balancing capability. Around $10 on aliexpress

[@vidhatrisamadhiya4599]

so clear 3d print 👍👍 good job

[@TommyCallaway]

Neat, I made a very similar video about a week ago (Made a 16v 10,000mAh battery brick), using one of the ebay spot welders. I finally beat you to a video! Lol - you went ahead and added a BMS though, which is a really good idea.

[@eunicedeines9930]

Whattttt Is An Equalizing Charge, Why Is It Neededddd, And How to Apply One To a Lead Acid Battery > t.co/3ycayBV4e1?hwhqn4BmC2Isdd

[@dimitrijekrstic7567]

Eunice Deines I think it has to do with charging all the batteries in a pack equally, but that is only a thing to consider with packs consisting of individual cells, not like the lead acid battery. I am not sure, so you should double check

[@jeremylien3039]

Hey! Would it be possible to add a power inverter to this power pack? so that the power adapter would be able to Power different small appliances like Fans or chargers.

[@uniearesende]

GreatScott! you are the greatest. I just ask you to keep on making such high quality material. So far thank you very much.

[@burdjos]

if you could do a video how to salvage amp from old tv it would be awsome :D

[@KillJD]

Damn man. You are smart as hell. Good work!

[@Lucaspc99]

Nice! Now i just need 6 Li-ion cells, and a 3D printer!

[@MrTrackmaniafan]

Watched the video up to eight times now, it´s getting more!!!!

[@christopherfretson5114]

4:19 CmonBruh

[@mashedpotatoes5323]

Could have used 4:20 scumbag

[@skodbolle]

Nickel please! :D

[@arctic_angel7408]

@@mashedpotatoes5323 no he couldnt

[@CurmudgeonExtraordinaire]

3/4" Schedule 40 PVC pipe can be used to make 18650 battery holders, although the inner diameter is slightly too large. A few strips of thin plastic or even three dots of hot melt glue on the inner surface will ensure that the battery stays centered. If you are concerned with airflow, a few slits lengthwise in the section of pipe, but not all the way to the ends will help. 1/2" Schedule 40 PVC is a bit too small, but if you have the capability to drill it out to 23/32", it could work. When I needed to make a battery holder for an 18650, I made it out of PVC pipe or wood with a bolt in each end that combined with a lead slug acts as a terminal for each end.

[@jonathanfulcher602]

2:48 klemt a nail ? Germish !

[@djmips]

clamped

[@jesusalbertodelao7070]

Man, I'm too stupid to understand all what you say. Really I'd love to be able to do all those stuff but I think is too complicated for me. Better I buy something done already. I really admire people like u. Thanks for the video

[@astafzciba]

discharging an 18650 down to 2.5v is not good. i thing the 2.8v is the extreme lowest point

[@nightmareinaction629]

astafzciba nope laptops bms actually discharge them to 2.5 that's safe I have tested this

[@astafzciba]

3.2v is good for the battery to last for years, 2.5v will kill the battery in a short period of time

[@BiecherBender]

example for sony cell on page 8 and 9 www.produktinfo.conrad.com/datenblaetter/1400000-1499999/001499574-da-01-en-SONY_LI_ION_AKKU_18650__3000MAH_30A.pdf

[@adymode]

It doesnt look like there is any point discharging beyond 3.1 V as the voltage is already plummeting by then. Theres good information here on charge policies for li-ion longevity: batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries The advice there for maximum longevity is not to charge them beyond 80% state-of-charge often, and if stored, store them around 40% soc. Also, heat is big a factor especially when fully charged. That's very different from the popular idea that they should be kept topped up.

[@insevanhouts]

nightmare in action nighmare in action laptop batteries fail all the time, I don't go below 2.8-3v

[@andljoy]

You sir have prefect timing , i have just received the last few items to build my custom HyperCube 3D printer ( core xy printer made from 2020 aluminium )and wanted a project to do with it once its done !!!!

[@themagicillusions]

One simple rule Look what Samsung does Do the opposite 💥

[@cbr7170]

I really don't understand. They made a mistake (even though it wasn't even them producing the batterys), and fixed it. Unlike Apple, which still didn't fix the iPhone 6S Touchscreen IC problem, even though it's fairly known.

[@ado3247]

Phil.R. lol, im watching this on a note 7

[@jimb032]

Oh stop it....everyone has had a bad supply of batteries. Dell, Sony... They fixed it. Life goes on.

[@hegamer4372]

Ado Gamer R.I.P you then lol. Hahahaha

[@fabianlee4694]

These samsung 25R5's have been pushing to ~20A CDR without adverse effects.

[@Axel-ro7dn]

You should look into a dual pulse spot welder. It's a quite simple idea using supercapacitors

[@alexstone691]

am i the only one who hears "nigga ribbons"

[@Billy_Darley]

no. hundreds of others did too.

[@bassheadforeverclub]

I did

[@Ricciobz]

So many useful information in 1 video... Thank you Scott!

[@greatscottlab]

No problem

[@C4mpi59]

Great video, I'm thinking on making LED lights in my school cabinet, but the problem is with powering it. I guess this video solves the problem, i just have to get in hold of some Li-On cells.

[@elninorosario]

I recommend adding a series Switch

[@andersonbruno0201]

WOW i was waiting so long for a video like that thanks man!!

[@fatonisodiq9341]

Hi Great Scott, I'm going to create this project. My question is should I make sure all the battery is fully discharged before I connect them all together?

[@siliv653]

simply neat and polished video

[@PhG1961]

Great video Scott !! Do the right thing and continue the good work !

[@nightmareinaction629]

you seem so skilled a soldering I cant get solder to flow like that on cells. and also don't try to tap the nails try to create a relay and with a switch try to turn it on with the leads in place maybe that will work for spot welding

[@alanbrown397]

Use the spot welder, don't solder directly to the cells unless you like fires. (or just buy tabbed cells) Spot welding should be done by applying electrodes and pressure, _then_ turning on the power.

[@michaelparker2449]

I did a lot of practice on dead AA batteries first to get the right soldering temperature and fastest time before going onto the 18650s.

[@jojygeorge9118]

I was really desperate for this piece of info thank you so much sir

[@keaaul808]

Awesome! I like your neat and meticulous work!

[@danijel124]

This is one of the best videos in recent time :) I like videos like this :)

[@DigBipper188]

I do pack builds like this all the time because I have a flashlight that I'm working on making replacement packs for. It uses a 6S unprotected LiIon pack that I simply just add a voltage alarm to. When a cell reaches 3.00v it deafens the user and flashes a red light bar. I'm thinking I might make it more subtle though by adding a transistor and a latching relay so that it cuts the power from the battery when the cell voltages are below 2.9v

[@airthrow]

Great video, using some of the pointers here for my own 18650 battery pack build!

[@boltonky]

Great little video and batteries have changed since i did li-ion cell when first came out for my RC cars...only suggestion if you have to solder is to buy batteries that already have tabs slightly more expensive but considering possible loss due to overheating its not bad :)

[@victoroliveroing]

Great video, thanks from Colombia.

[@GabK7]

Fantastic and super clean-looking! Great project, as usual

[@1Superfry]

For spot welding, why wouldn't you put one electrode on the battery, and they other on the tab? I thought you'd want the current to go through both parts to weld. The point in the circuit with the highest resistance (between the tab and battery) would heat up first and weld, right?

[@MrPomilo]

Can you add a more detailed electric scheme please ? ( with the wiring of the BMS and the balance port)

[@BLOODjack143]

use a capacitor to build a contact welder as it can out put a high current in a short burst to weld the nickle strips

[@ejirokporon5942]

Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks scott

[@AreTysland]

A great and inspiring project! For convenience though, I would have preferred to be able to charge the pack from an 5V USB charger, which usually is more likely to be available when not at home.

[@VoltaTom]

Nice work! Looking forward to the portable lighting project

[@1296brett]

Thankyou so much!!! Always wanted to learn how to do this, every one of your videos are so helpful!!

[@etech1258]

You make really helpful videos!!!

[@Axel-ro7dn]

Have you thought about limiting the current on the primary coil by adding a series resistor ? Much easier to control the current that way instead of adjusting the output voltage

[@ronaldfernandes5697]

Please make each battery level indicators for the project you did on this with BMS

[@miguelneto1445]

Very good video i love your projects!!!

[@lv7603]

keep up the hard work, I'm learning a lot of useful information from you. Thank you.

[@MarshallRichards]

This the kind of stuff I like to see. A useful hack.

[@raycodes7393]

I get goosebumps every time he says "Let's get started."

[@kobie1585]

hahaha......."stay creative and i will see you next time"

[@TheNexGFXDesigner]

Please do a video on the mathematical nomenclature you use.

[@jaimemagana]

Nice! Now here is an idea for another similar video for us, non tech people: same process to power Raspberry pi proyects, like, for example, a time-lapse camera for a week on the wilderness of a crop. The battery would have to have usb conector, enough amps to power the Pi, a wifi antena and a webcam. Sounds good?

[@MANUKRISHNAN008]

You are simply awesome ....i love watching ur videos

[@devrajyaguru2271]

your ideas are innovative

[@bestestinventions7032]

you have the greatest handwriting in the world!

[@deepwinter77]

A heads up for anyone that doesn't know you can buy 18650 batteries that have tags already attached generally they come in two types U-tags and Z-tags, the Z tags face opposite directions the U are the same direction.

[@bclamore]

Love your work! Thanks for taking time to post & share. Want my HS students to build some of your projects.

[@caganali4712]

Thank you so much for this toturial you made me save so much money. If it weren't be you I had to buy expensive Li-po batteries for my project

[@DunderOz]

I think the spot welder was not being used appropriately, hence not working. With spot welding, you first need to make a good contact, using some pressure, before the switch is 'hit'.

[@Techturbo701]

I like your videos very much brother

[@Sereniitty]

reallly helpfull for RC stuff as well

[@sellisrodrigo]

great vídeo as usual. How about a vídeo showing a RF transmiter and receiver circuit. Not the modules we can buy at the internet, but how to build one and how It works.

[@HansJoachimMichl]

I'd like to see you sketch out and build the actual battery protection, much more interesting and important to know i think! Often times you show the basic building blocks before utilizing a commercial solution... VERY much missed this time!