Upgrading an Evolve GT battery with 18650 Lithium Ion batteries

Looks really neat. What is battery voltage sag like at the moment with 10s4p?

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Did you mold in the end cap? Looks like a 10S4P, but the placement of the BMS suggests that the tray was extended

You have a great eye my friend, yes the Evolve enclosure was extended, you canā€™t notice it was extended though.

Iā€™m making a custom enclosure designed for Evolve so you can mount the battery without the need of modifying the enclosure

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Thanks for your guidance! I made my 10S4P pack and it gave me hideous sag still, and only about 4kmā€™s range. Suspect efest 3000mAh cells arenā€™t quite what I paid for, or Iā€™ve wired something up wrong!!! Have I got this right? image

Details? What batteries? Whereā€™d you get them?

https://captainvapour.co.nz/efest-18650-nz-3000mah-20a-battery/ used .15mm 8mm nickel strips, tacked LHB style, with 12awg silicone between P groups, and main positive/negative. image image image image

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Sharp corners, no fishpaper, and fucked up welds are things that have been pointed out before ā€¦ many times. :disappointed:

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Thanks for the feedback! Welds seem solid, three tacks per end of each cell. Sharp corners, sure, no insulating rings either, a fairly noob oversight, but then I AM a noob, but whilst those items risk a short, they wouldnā€™t restrict current would they? Canā€™t seem to get the R2 to show me individual voltage per P group image

Itā€™s been a while since I used that remote, but once you get to that screen hold the top button (of the two) and double click the menu button. The posted video by evolve actually is incorrect on how to get to the individual p-group voltage screen.

But yea, if your board works and noon battery building mistakes aside it might be the quality of cells. I say this because the first time I incorrectly hooked up the BMS air gave me a battery error and couldnā€™t even use the board.

Let me know if it doesnā€™t work, Iā€™ll be home later today.

Hey Damon, why independently may I ask? Cheers, Owen

Thanks Jaydawg, I got the bastard R2 to work, thanks man, brilliant. Interesting resultsā€¦ image Noticed the stock charger wonā€™t go red for very long, and Iā€™d of expected it to charge higher than just 37 volts. My stock sad-sacks factory pack shows 42. At least the bms is reading each P group I suppose!

Man sorry to say, but your pack looks super sketchy. Especially as you did this fold method you risk that the corners of your nickel can hit the isolation and short out your whole pack.

I have no experience with the evolve remote, but if it shows the individual p group voltage than your battery pack seems pretty out of balance and your bms will not be able to get that back in normal ranges.

Edit: did you as min check if all cells have the same voltage before you started to put them together?

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Hi Andy, thanks for your time. I followed several other build threads and I donā€™t recall any testing them first, probably didnā€™t need mentioning, common sense in retrospect! Is there a way I can balance them by desoldering the 12AWG links between the P groups and charging them up separately do you think? Thanks, Owen

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You can charge the individual packs with a 4.2v power supply. You donā€™t need to unsolder anything, just connect the power supply right. Have a look here in the forum, there are others having the same problem. I canā€™t say exactly but there should be a 5v step down module you can use for it and than just connect that to a usb power supply on the one end and the other to the plus and minus of each p pack one by one

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Yep, what Andy said. You can balance the pgroups (or drain the others) whichever ends up being less work, haha. You can charge the individual groups through the balance wires so no need to de-solder anything. If you have a regular li-ion charger you can rig that.

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Do any of you guys know if the Evolve GT charge plug is a 5.5x2.1mm or 5.5x2.5mm?

I donā€™t, but can check when I get home Taz

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Thanks Jaydawg!!!

Thanks Andy, I might be able to use the charger on my spot welder. I guess the BMS sees the imbalance and gives up, hence it not charging fully right? Thanks so much for your help, and Jaydawg!

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Jap thatā€™s probably the issue. Good luck!

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