60ah ADD ON build with Pictures

[expresso]

Those are seriouslyheavy guage! Half that would have worked. But it cant hurt.

in the future - 12 awg wire would be fine then ? the same wire that the PL 8 used on there stock cables ?

i tried to find copper or some kind of metal that i could use - went to a few hardware stores - home depot - nothing - that could be used to make the connectors and if i did find something - they dont make cuts or make holes in them etc,

having connectors ready made would have been so much easier - but as long as this works - something else i have to learn to work with -

[expresso]

Thats scary.

Really ? thats the Norm around here - you dont like meat on the bones ??

[Burgerman]

Thats not meat.

I took 35 lb of fat off her, she still needs to loose another 30...

[Burgerman]

Says a 20 stone me...

[steves1977uk]

expresso likes them big, black and thick! Like this...

bg37.jpg

Steve

that girl is pretty hot -

See, I know what you like expresso! But keep up the good work! Your new add-on pack is coming along nicely.

Steve

[Burgerman]

https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/wire/awg-to-mm.html

Says its about correct for an addon. I would have used 6mm square. You used 5.3mm square. Close enough.

[expresso]

i am confused now - its not too thick then ? in the future - this is the size to use at Min. ?

connectors all done finally - i checked with Volt meter - 26.5V - hand tigthen them for now -

[Gnomatic]

Pack looks good!

[Burgerman]

Yes its fine for an addon, a little small for the main pack - use 10mmsq. You need balance wires x9 now.

Which one do you prefer? viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8023&start=80#p121533

Also what size are your cells?

[expresso]

Yes its fine for an addon, a little small for the main pack - use 10mmsq. You need balance wires x9 now.

Which one do you prefer? viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8023&start=80#p121533

Also what size are your cells?

both are fine but if i had to choose - i take the meaty one -

On my Main 105ah pack inside the 646 chair - i used 8 AWG cable for the Power leads goin to the Chair SB50 - 8 AWG is closet to your 10mmsq i think or 6 AWG maybe a bit thicker than 10mmsq - i am not good with either standard or metric -

if i had to do it over - i may use 6 AWG cable for the mains - but cant complain - so far so good - going on the Third Summer with the 105ah pack -

this ADD ON is 60ah - will be replacing the 36ah i had on the Chair with Lead - should be an improvement over 36ah -

[expresso]

Wrapping it up - the Tape lenny suggested is the tape i used on top - i needed much less than i expected to use - and i decided not to over wrap the whole pack in this tape -

i feel its a bit overkill giving that it will sit in a plastic box with some foam padding on the sides etc, - i hope i never have to take this apart - it will be a nightmare trying to remove all the tape -

getting there - half assed but moving along --

[expresso]

Pack looks good!

thanks - i could really use this extra 60ah now that my main chair is needing repairs - using my backup chair with lead - and 30ah ADD ON - its okish - not great but much better than with out the ADD ON for sure - just to get around the city is fine -

Hopefully i should get my New Chair in August - and have my Main Chair repaired by then also - if all goes well -

[expresso]

Almost there - had a few issues of course - all cabling is done - have to screw them down and test first - - will discharge some and then recharge

last of the cabling done

[Burgerman]

You should start a small part time hobby business.

[expresso]

You should start a small part time hobby business.

IF i give them away - they will take it and love it and agree with all the benefits etc, - once money is involved - no one wants it - or dont really need it - etc, etc, - i gave up trying to explain the benefits - - and the few i asked about there chair battery life - all say its great - they last a long time - going on two years and still always in the green -

not surprised i hear it all the time - most dont use the chair the way i do or many of us do on here - most cant pay for this kind of setup we do - then the PL8 and PSU etc, and so - once they hear all this - and they say there lead is fine anyway - and get them for free anyway - i be out of business before i even start

and i am not perfect - my wrapping - packing etc, not going to win any contests thats for sure - BUT - they work and thats the most important of it all - -

i am getting near the end - wiring cable all done - box is done - i need to connect all my cabling and make the Charge Cable which is the most time consuming - i have to prep everything first maybe tomorrow and then try it on thursday - if all goes well - i should be testing it on the bench at least this weekend - if it passes -

then on the chair next week hopefully - to be honest - i am not crazy about the wiring connectors i made - the ring terminal and wiring thickness wasnt a good match - i made it work with some solder also - being an ADD ON and not going inside the chair - i let it go for now if it works - or else will redo better just the connectors

some more pics - you can see the size overall isnt that big -

[expresso]

few more

[expresso]

Coming from a full pack 135ah chair to just an ADD ON Chair - i have to say - its very limited - i hope to gain a bit more with this 60ah instead of the 30ah thats on it now - if these Cells work out good - i would say if anyone is considering an ADD ON - make it 60ah at least - to make a difference -

Headways - the most i can fit in this space is 45ah - 3 Rows of 15ah Cells - - i only stopped at this 60ah cell because of the height - i wanted to be able to close it - or else i was even considering a 75ah cell i found which would have fitted perfect length wise - with no extending the box - but the height was higher - and of course a few more pounds also -

this was shipped to me at 28 pounds - so its about that weight when all done - not too bad - about 5 pounds over the headways - there were stated to be 5C constant - and 15C peak - IF those specs are true - who knows -

[steves1977uk]

expresso, you need to get your ass over to the UK and help me make my charge cable! I have all the parts, but my Brother finds it hard to solder on the small D-Sub pins He tried to do it but managed to melt the plastic where the pins are held, so hasn't tried again.

Steve

[Burgerman]

USE PLENTY OF LIGHT!
+
Quality thermostatic iron set to 350C with small tip that is CLEAN and tinned ready to go!

Tin each connectors pin with small amount solder. 2 seconds per pin.
Tin the end of each bared fluxed cable, 2mm insulation stripped, also 1 to 2 seconds.
Using big lumps of bluetack on the bench, to hold one wire in place at a time, heat only as long as it takes for the solder already applied to the connector and wire to melt and go shiny, about 2 secs each one.

Only hard part, my eyes are 58.

[expresso]

expresso, you need to get your ass over to the UK and help me make my charge cable! I have all the parts, but my Brother finds it hard to solder on the small D-Sub pins He tried to do it but managed to melt the plastic where the pins are held, so hasn't tried again.

Steve

if i were close to you - no problem - and that has happened to me also at the start when i was learning - and can still happen - i have to make another for this one now - and already thinking it over in my head what i can do to not let that happen - or have the solder touch each other - - tomorrow i will do the prep work for the charge cable - solder the pins in the DSub - tin the wires - cut to size - heat shrink ready cut to size - nylon sleeving - etc, - if i can get that much done tomorrow i be happy - working with a new girl - first time helping me with this stuff so - i dont want to rush - then thursday - all prep work done - i can make it hopefully -

i managed to kill two of them at the start - since then - i managed to make 2 more - that are working - after this one - i will make another back up charge cable on the PL 8 side - just to have ready in case - i rely on my Pl 8 alot now - two are in use most all the time at once when charging the full pack chair - one spare in the closet with spare PSU 24v - i cant do without now - i rather be safe then sorry -

in total i made 5 working cables all in use - this is my 6th if all goes well -

[Burgerman]

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8023&start=80#p121619

[snaker]

I have all the parts, but my Brother finds it hard to solder on the small D-Sub pins He tried to do it but managed to melt the plastic where the pins are held, so hasn't tried again.

My dad was scared while being told to solder DSub. I bought a load of 20 DB9s (just $1) for him practice. He completely ruined 5 first ones, the 6th got better and from the 8th all looked good. Then he switched to solder the mixed DB13W3s, everything were fine although he still ruined one DB13W3 due to his weak eyes. Now he is addicted to soldering and happy to help friends, neighbors in soldering for ... free Maybe you can apply this experience to your brother. Do not stress him, let him have some fun in soldering.

[expresso]

yes takes time and i learned the same way -

i didnt think i was going to make it - till about after the 2nd week of trying - and finally found a way that worked for me

from this

[expresso]

to this -

still makes me nervous each time i have to do it -

[shirley_hkg]

Box cut has no strength at all.

Your add-on deserves a better case really .

Just a cup of espresso or two . Nice & waterproof ...

[expresso]

i agree with that for sure - its not the greatest solution - the only reason it works is because it will sit in a backpack also - i dont like it either -

this was the first thing i found when i first started with the headways and closet size plastic etc, and it fits in the backpack also - so i got it and then realized i had to extend it - so i did a chop shop job - not happy about it but works -

those boxes you find - i cant find anything here - maybe i am not looking good enough - and just settled on what i already know works but not clean or pretty etc,

what i did was cut two boxes and added the extra i needed - but i left the bottom part of the extended part to fit inside the whole box also - so with the battery in there - its holding the small extended part also - i taped it of course - but its not just the tape alone holding it together

sort of a box inside a box - the bottom layer

[LROBBINS]

Those boxes are quite common in Europe. I suppose that in the U.S. electrical panels and boxes are still mostly steel, but here it's all (or nearly) done in polycarbonate.

[hobie1dog]

Expresso-I didn't see in your first post any link to the place where you got your cells, can you do that for us/me?

Thanks

[expresso]

Expresso-I didn't see in your first post any link to the place where you got your cells, can you do that for us/me?

Thanks

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1pc-Lif ... 81787.html

these are the ones i got - i left a 3 star review because of missing connectors i was asking for before and during the time i placed my order -
emailing back and forth is a bit of a pain if you want to ask a question - you may get an answer half ass and then have to ask again because it dosnt make any sense -

thats a pain to deal with - but other than that - it was shipped UPS and arrived in a few weeks - at no extra charge to me - since i picked free shipping - i wasnt expecting them so fast - for some reason they upgraded it to UPS - i think they had a problem shipping them the free way - either way - it worked for me

[expresso]

All Done - recharging and i notice that Cell 3 is not up to the rest of the pack - so its a setback - i am not fully surprised to be honest - i feel its the connectors i made -

i checked all bolts - all tight - i have to remake the connectors with larger wire 8 AWG and replace and retest - thats the only thing it can be other than a bad cell which isnt off the table either -