Roll You Own Pack...

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deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
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north carolina
yes it's raining still and I'm still bored so I been thinking and doing a little research.

We could build a nicad battery pack for the bikes. Now I do NOT guarantee this math is right but here goes. I saw D cell nicad battery with 5000 mah per cell. If I converted this right it is 5ah. Cell has 1.2volts.

24v divided by 1.2 per cell = 20 cells for 5 ah battery.

20ah divided by 5ah cell = 4 cells.

80 units at about 9 bucks each

I could build a nicad battery pack for only 720 bucks. Maybe not a good deal after all. Even at half price that is still a lot of bread. I think I'll hold out for something cheaper.

Yes... this is supposed to be humorous. I have spent some time today looking at battery packs. At the moment I think it would be cheaper to buy a larger motor to haul the heavier sla batteries around, than to buy the light weight more efficient batteries. I know this will not always be the case, but for now it would seem to be the way to go. Then when the price of the lightweight more efficient batteries are reasonable, you would have the bigger motor and better efficiency too.
 
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deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
0
north carolina
Looking for ways to extend the range on the battery pack, how about a trailer with a wind turbine on it. You might could get an energy tax credit even.
 
lordoflightaz

lordoflightaz

New Member
Jan 23, 2009
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Phoenix, AZ
And I told you to go solar!!.

On getting batteries: Check out the thrift stores. those power tools batteries can be cannibalized, some of the cells may be bad but at the price you pay you should be happy. Also there is a way to bring those cells back from the dead even.
 
deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
0
north carolina
I saw a headline on an article I didn't bother to read. Hit those dead batteries with your welder. Yikes.

Back when I was running the photo business, I used to take the dead packs apart and test each cell usually it was one cell that had gone bad.

On the solar note I read somewhere that it cost a nickle to charge one of these packs on the grid. At least that's a good deal. I don't think dollar for dollar it's much cheaper than gas right now, but it is more convenient to just plug it in.
 
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jasonh

jasonh

New Member
Jun 23, 2008
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Longmont, CO
Hmm, 720 for nicad...seems like a lot and a hassle. If you're thinking about that much money, I'd shoot for some LiFePO4's.

2420-HPS 24V / 20Ah w/VMS, 2 Terminals $940.00

from lifebatt.com.

Or for cheaper....

Electric Motorsport EV Parts :: Thunder Sky Batteries

You could get 8 (8x3.2v = 25.6v aka 24v) of the 40ah cells for $640 :)

I've got some other suggestions, I'll send you a PM :)
 
T

toytime

New Member
Mar 20, 2008
550
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Ontario
I've heard of people going to repair shops and recycle centres and asking for "bad" battery packs like the dewalt. There is a guy on utube who shows how he usually finds one bad cell in the packs and how he makes up new packs.
 
deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
0
north carolina
Yeah I used to do that in photography pull the bad cell from a battery pack and make a new one. I might just be tempted to give that another try.

The big problem with building a pack with that many little cells is that you have a lot of connections to fail. Without that factory robot to do the solder and fitting it can be a pain to find that bad solder joint.
 
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toytime

New Member
Mar 20, 2008
550
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Ontario
I saw a show on tV last night about a guy who made a pack for his car. He used 6000 cells!
Here is a guy that buys them by the pound... Think laptops and car booster packs, I've also heard that wallmart has those bats for the kids electric monster trucks.
If you ever get anywhere with this, I'd be interested in a 36 volt non sla setup
 

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deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
0
north carolina
I read somewhere that home depot was a recycle center for batteries I wonder if they are taking in old tool batteries. I might have to give the manager a call tomorrow.
 
ZnsaneRyder

ZnsaneRyder

New Member
Nov 21, 2008
163
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FLORIDA
I was wondering about Home Depot too. I wonder if they would allow you to have their recycled batteries? Possibly Radioshack too?
 
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toytime

New Member
Mar 20, 2008
550
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Ontario
I guess you just have to hunt. The condo my parents live in has a re-cycling area in the underground. I always raid it for things, it's amazing what gets thrown away. Our City hall and Library also has a battery re-cycling box and local dumps also have areas just for paint and batteries. If Home Depot can't help you, find out where they send stuff to be serviced. That way you end up at a place that has all the local stores batteries. Phone a few places that install or service Fire alarm protection and emergency lighting.
 
cityevader

cityevader

New Member
May 11, 2008
170
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Santa Cruiz, CA
toytime said:
I saw a show on tV last night about a guy who made a pack for his car. He used 6000 cells!
Here is a guy that buys them by the pound... Think laptops and car booster packs, I've also heard that wallmart has those bats for the kids electric monster trucks.
If you ever get anywhere with this, I'd be interested in a 36 volt non sla setup
Click to expand...
6000 is a lot! Ford's Escape Hybrid uses 250 Sanyo D-cell batteries in series for it's pack. It goes about a mile on electric alone before the engine has to turn back on to charge.
 
DOC BOLM

DOC BOLM

New Member
Aug 21, 2008
681
1
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Mississippi
The feds set up the program to take these batterys out of the landfills.My understanding is you can't by fed. law remove one from the recycling box.HD
 
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