How to: (or how I) build a lightweight battery
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2015 9:01 am
This thread is not yet finished, I'm going to write it as I go a long.
This space will have weight comparison of the final battery with the lightweight one Rick O sells and the standard Yuasa.
What you will need:
- De Walt 36V LI-ON battery (make sure it is brand new, mine was £80 on eBay, that's £8 a cell or £64 a battery)
- 12 AWG wire (black and red, couple of quid on eBay, make sure it's a genuine one and un used)
- gold battery bar connectors (again eBay or local RC shop, can use more 12 gauge wire instead (I may use yellow))
- 22 AWG wire (one length in black and 4 other assorted colours (I use green, pink, blue, yellow) again, eBay)
- battery balancer connector (needs to be for a 4S battery, again just a couple of quid on eBay)
- deans t plug connector (you may need a different plug depending on charger)
- tape (I use blue duct tape, you are probably better with some insulating tape)
- superglue
- solder
Tools:
- a soldering iron of at least 50 watts, preferably 70 watt
- multimeter
- specialist crimper or snipe nose pliers
- soft faced vice (none conductive) or a metal vice with two planks of wood
- scissors, pliers etc.
- Steel rule of some sort
- drill bit and drill
- small torx bits
For charging the final battery I recommend an iMax B6 LiPro balance charger but any charger than can charge a LiFe battery and balance up to 4 cells (4S) will be fine. You could just charge from a normal 4A battery charger but it will reduce the long time life of the battery, reduce the short time (ie capacity) of the battery and must be supervised as it increased risks fire damage. So overall you're best getting something like the iMax (less than £30 genuine if you shop around)
So I've got all the bits on the way and I'll update this thread when they arrive and I start work.
This space will have weight comparison of the final battery with the lightweight one Rick O sells and the standard Yuasa.
What you will need:
- De Walt 36V LI-ON battery (make sure it is brand new, mine was £80 on eBay, that's £8 a cell or £64 a battery)
- 12 AWG wire (black and red, couple of quid on eBay, make sure it's a genuine one and un used)
- gold battery bar connectors (again eBay or local RC shop, can use more 12 gauge wire instead (I may use yellow))
- 22 AWG wire (one length in black and 4 other assorted colours (I use green, pink, blue, yellow) again, eBay)
- battery balancer connector (needs to be for a 4S battery, again just a couple of quid on eBay)
- deans t plug connector (you may need a different plug depending on charger)
- tape (I use blue duct tape, you are probably better with some insulating tape)
- superglue
- solder
Tools:
- a soldering iron of at least 50 watts, preferably 70 watt
- multimeter
- specialist crimper or snipe nose pliers
- soft faced vice (none conductive) or a metal vice with two planks of wood
- scissors, pliers etc.
- Steel rule of some sort
- drill bit and drill
- small torx bits
For charging the final battery I recommend an iMax B6 LiPro balance charger but any charger than can charge a LiFe battery and balance up to 4 cells (4S) will be fine. You could just charge from a normal 4A battery charger but it will reduce the long time life of the battery, reduce the short time (ie capacity) of the battery and must be supervised as it increased risks fire damage. So overall you're best getting something like the iMax (less than £30 genuine if you shop around)
So I've got all the bits on the way and I'll update this thread when they arrive and I start work.
