Getting ready to spot weld
BTW, I noticed one weird thing when I checked voltages of all 40 cells. The voltages are mostly around 3.58 - 3.59 Volt. But in each pack of 5 cells, the first cell has slightly lower voltage around 3.54 Volt. The lowest one is 3.52 Volt. I hope that all this is within margins of admissible variations. But I am wondering why it always was the first cell in a pack that had a lower voltage.
The safest thing to do is to balance all cells before spot weld them.
Btw on the arduino spot welder I used 9 milliseconds for a reliable weld
Pics or videos of your setup and spot welding would be great if you have the time.
Sure. I am making pictures of all steps. Will post them at some point. Currently, I am balancing all cells on Eboosted advice. Here is my solution for charging/discharging a single 18650 cell:
What is that type of metal? Just some copper props or what?
Looks like a coathanger
This is just two pieces of thick steel wire I found laying around in my house connected by hot glue. Works pretty good. You can use a coat hanger equally well.
Do you still sell them?
Iād love to buy a āloaded vanguardā kit.
Yes. Send me a PM I have a set ready to ship, where are you located?
Awesome, so your charger works fine if you set it on 1s without balance lead?
My charger has several settings: charge, balance charge, discharge, etc. I set it on āchargeā and on 1s since it is charging only a single cell at a time. This way I donāt need to connect balance lead. I also set it on very low current like 0.4 A.
Sounds good, my charger has the same settings, Imax B6 V2.
I have the same settings as @sash but I charge several at a time. Works great and cost like 10 bucks to make!
If you set it on 1s but charge that many batteries it defeats the purpose of the balance charger right?
Nope, they all get balanced since theyāre wired in parallel.
Are you sure? If so that is awesome.
Yeah Iāve done it a couple of times. It wouldnāt be possible with any 2S, 3S and so on though. Then they would get unbalanced eventually.
Sweet, I might try something like this when I build my battery.
Just received my Vanguard set and holy shit! The quality is amazing. The price might seem a little steep to some but itās worth every penny. This is will be the last thing to break on my board!
Thatās awesome Iām really glad you got them. Can wait for your project pictures!
