Commercially Available Solderless Weldless 18650 kits

I'm looking forcommercially available solderless/weldless 18650 pack kits. Something that can be used to build apowerwall 14s100p to 14s200p.

I've seen the few listed below while on this forum.

Diy Battery Store PR

Nishi

Open Frame Power Pack Kit

But when I search elsewhere I get flooded with other solderless kits that are only good for tiny 18650 packs. Anyone know of other solderless kits good for powerwalls?

There are none for larger packs. Larger packs are spot welded. Alot more cost effective Long term

Cost effective is not one of the top factors behind my decisions. I've already purchased all the cell holders, busbars, fuses, nickel strip, spot welder, etc that I need to make my packs but I will write all that off if I find a better way to build these packs. All my cells are free and I've got plenty of free time. If I spend 10K on everything else I need building these packs I'm still coming in well under 50% the cost of buying comparable batteries new.

My top priorities are reliability and serviceability. Obviously a well built spot welded system is very reliable but not so easy to service when using 2000+ cells of unknown history. And I've got thoughts of going up to 14s400p.

So if I can find a easy to service solution that is also reliable I'll be thrilled. If such a solution doesn't exist then I'll spot weld, I loved to not have to though.

I have 29000 cells and only do spot welded. IF you think you Will have cells failing now and then i suggest spending some more time testing the cells. Then go for N+1 design and good bms so you can detect faulty packs.

Doing 400p packs with solderless is for sure not easier to handle or works with than a properly designed spot welded setup

Truth said:

If I spend 10K on everything else I need building these packs I'm still coming in well under 50% the cost of buying comparable batteries new.

My top priorities are reliability and serviceability.

Click to expand...

Given what you seem happy to spend, do you not think large format EV packs would be a better option, especially considering your priorities ?

Using a system designed for building tiny capacity batteries, that introduces multiple points of non permanent contact via the cell holders, seems to be willingly building a system that defeats your priorities.

Just my opinion, obviously.

As much as a absolutely love playing around with 18650s... making small packs for projects, playing with PCBs, and all that good stuff... I went straight into large format EV cells for powerwall building. At least for anything in a production environment like a home, the quality and consistency of EV cells are fantastic.

In fact after my experiences with dealing with EV cells first hand, I would absolutely refuse to do a large scale project using 18650s. That's just my opinion, but not only are all my cells matched, they have stayed well within balance without any external BMS or user intervention, they are extremely convenient and easy to work with.

I would love to use EV cells but they are very difficult to obtain here in Australia. And even more difficult in Western Australia.

Fair enough availability can play a large role in decision making. That said, if I was to build with 18650 cells, I would consider spot welding as my primary method for making electrical connections.

Spot weld it is then. Thanks for the info everyone. I just wanted to make sure I'm going the best route.

I think there are long terms benefits of spot welding. Aside from being an industry proven way of making electrical connections, it probably has better longevity in service and you wont be locked into a system which may or may not exist in the future or have price increases.

I dont know what the material of the solderless/weldlesselectrical connections are, but what if over time is starts to corrode and increase resistance. Those problems would be extremely difficult to track down a remediate.