Long PCB for power wall?

b0re

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Joined
Aug 31, 2018
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47
Hello,

Building a 24v power wall.

I was looking for a long PCB to hold24-50 cells like theJehu board but justhold cells with holders. My plan would be to add a bar on each side, and on one side added wire fuses from one of the bars to each battery holder. This would make it easier replacing a faulty battery.

Anyone see anything like this or can help me with some direction?

Thanks
 
Using PCB to hold that many cells is a bad idea. Not only is it expensive, but it's also a huge source of loss of energy. Each cell connection if not tight enough will generate too much resistance and contribute to energy inefficiencies. It is not recommend to use the PCB method on large scale applications.
 
Do you need to replace cells that often? I would consider other layout if you have problems or using weak cells :)

PCB design is a nice design, for small packs. For powerwalls you should go with something more.. how to say it? Good designs :)
 
Daromer,

I agree I have seen all the good designs. I am putting this in a van so the "Good designs" will fall apart via vibrations.

What I am going to do now is use 7 of these -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Weatherp...var=572332769178&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

100 in each box and just link them together. This way if i have a issues with one of them, undo 2 connectors and a BMS cable and fix or replace and put back.

I am trying to build something that's that is easy to maintain
 
I would imagine cells in clip in style cell holders would come out a lot easier than in the other build methods.

Also, if you plan on using these packs to power the vans drive system, this is sorely inadequate. The amp draw required would cause a lot of resistances.

You would be far better off building packs like hbpowerwalls, daromer, or many others who use those plastic cell holders. Those packs are far more rugged than you may think. After all, there are people who use those to build EV bike and buggy packs and have no issues and those things bounce around a LOT
 
Korishan said:
I would imagine cells in clip-in style cell holders would come out a lot easier than in the other build methods.

Also, if you plan on using these packs to power the vans drive system, this is sorely inadequate. The amp draw required would cause a lot of resistances.

You would be far better off building packs like hbpowerwalls, daromer, or many others who use those plastic cell holders. Those packs are far more rugged than you may think. After all, there are people who use those to build EV bike and buggy packs and have no issues and those things bounce around a LOT

I have 800w of solar panels with a Sterling Pro DC charger controller with 3000w generator. I have the 3000w pip PWM controller.

Expected usage will be -

  • 3000w induction cooktop (Run time 20min a day and a half power)
  • Water heater 500w (20-30min per day)
  • Heating 30-50w diesel Heater (3-4 per day)
  • PC 240W-400W (??)
The PC is how I make money I can be online for 7-8hs a day.

Charging will be a problem i will make it work
 
Add a solar water heater to the mix to help keep your water hot.
Your PC probably doesn't pull 240W continuous. The cpu is probably around 85W under full low (which is seldom) and the video card (if addin card) is around 125W max (again, under full load). But, is good to estimate based on max usage to properly size the system.

If you aren't running heavy loads, then you can probably get away with the PCB build. However, I still don't recommend it. It's a heavily unnecessary expense. It's like putting led lights on your vehicle rims.
 
All the cost overhead of using a PCB based system would only help justice the cost of a good spot welder as you scale up.

I've done a PCB build in a portable power pack that was about 1 kWh in size. It was fun, but its not something I would consider doing for types of loads you described.
 
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