Thanks for the update, looking good! I've been using the paired cells as well in my battery packs. Also saves half the processing/testing time as you are getting 2 cells for the time spent on a single cell.

Your channel is a DIY gold mine! Really love that, what you make is put to use what you make and provide usable info unlike what many other channels do. I'm still at 2017 lots of catching up to do...

@AdamWelchUK

3 жыл бұрын

That’s very kind of you. Hope you enjoy working your way through time!

Good catch up on the setup, nice one Adam!

Excellent setup, great video! Thanks for putting in the effort as always! I'll have to get back to collecting some more laptop batteries to rip open and steal the cells out.

Great to see this update. Preparing something similar. Though the laptops use less 18650's now. So budgeting for 26650's maybe here. Sadly not cheap.

Really nice, man. Great set up. :)

Pretty slick idea for the upgrade using the 'pairs'! My battery packs are welded so I can't do this. Each of my packs is 80 cells (20p x 4s) so I replace or add 80 at a time. Nice work and Greetings from America, John

looking forward to the next video

Nice one Adam, it is fun playing with 18650s 😊

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+Offgrid Dreaming Absolutely. Wish I was coming into spring though like you!

@danjarrett

6 жыл бұрын

I Agree. I love doing this kind of Stuff in My Little Solar Shed. Thanks for Sharing Adam

@offgriddreaming5403

6 жыл бұрын

Adam Welch We're already getting some warm weather. Just had about 5 days of 30 deg C 😎

great video. I've watched this one a few times. I'm building a scalable modular solar wall similar utilizing the double 18650 method thanks to you! I might do triples in the future. I'll try to made a youtube vid soon on it. Thanks again!

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

That's great to hear, thank you. Be sure to post a link to your video if you get around to making one (youtube might hide it from public view but I will be able to see it).

I have been waiting for this update I really need to build myself this project I have enough 18650 cells I just need to test the capacity’s and build the thing. Nice video once again Adam!

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+Steven Watson Cheers. I’m very interested to see how hard I’ve been on the original 28 cells. Care to place your bets? 10% lower capacity, 20%?

@Cavalier_Steve

6 жыл бұрын

Adam Welch hmm 🤔 I don’t feel that you have pushed these cells hard only the 2 days where there was low solar power, saying that the temperature environment could potentially be harsh the extreme cold in the winter and heat in the summer I am going to be optimistic and place my bet on around 10%. What do you think Adam?

Sweet capacity controller gizmo!

Great series, i really like them and subscribe.Keep on doing great...

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much.

good job man I like your job👍👍

I don't know if I've commented on this video of yours yet but... in case I haven't, just wanted to thank you for once again suggesting great things like the Capacity Controller, and using a 7S pack when trying to emulate a lead acid system's battery.

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much. Glad to have been of some use!

Nice video!

These videos are great and educational for me. I am curious on just how far you could stack those batteries.

Set your charge controller to turn off the output when the voltage get low to protect your Batteries!

Adam, love your videos. Keep up the great work. Do you ever make an insightful step by step tutorial on this kind of battery packs. It would really be refreshing if one with your knowledge would take the time to guide NuBes like myself. Have a great day.

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you. This is almost the last video in this series. If you watch the rest of the series then that’s as close as I have got to making a step by step tutorial. I hope it helps. kzread.info/head/PLXyc_wd5sxbhYhAKHVq8SGQ2Sncl1PDDT

i have an old 24 V UPS that used 2 x12v 7.5 Ah batteries and i am saving up my 1865's ,to make a battery for it. it is about 800 watts and will make a nice little portable power pack for the next time my mom losses her lights for days.happy moms are always better.lol. it will have this charger added and a roll out 24v uni solar panel and a the charger /discharger with balancing board. i got the idea from you back when you discovered the perfect match of the 7s with 24 volt systems. there's nothing like a battery that holds a charge for years.

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+immrnoidall Sounds like a good project. Let me know how it goes.

Repackr.com is an awesome free tool. It'll be interesting to see how your system performance changes now that you've doubled the battery capacity. With my system I have to adjust the load sometimes in winter. In your case; if you still find it still doesn't make it through a long dark period you could always add a switch to cut out some of the load in mid winter (i.e., simple load management). Thanks for the shout-out Adam. Cheers, Paul

The CMTD charge controller either blue or green is programmable to get a more accurate charge. You did a video on it but that particular one you have is strictly lithium where as the one I'm talking about is the regular lead acid. I would like to you use that one. I'm gonna actually try it out. It coincidently has the parameters for a 7S pack (21v 25.9, 29.4) but like I said it is programmable.

Please show the tests in your next video. I am dying to know how much capacity they lost.

its a good idea to keep pairs of cells together - as long as possible. But if one of them get bad and increase in self discharge, its time to separate them :-)

So like this no need for bms

Im using a Victron 75/15 to charge 100 ah Calb Lifepo4 battery in my van - solar only been hooked up for a week but seems to be charging cells very well - charger shuts off at voltage I set - 180 watt solar puts 600 wth back into battery each day - also have R/C charger hooked to system to charge battery from van alternator- this charger has been hooked to battery for 5 weeks and will charge battery at. 50 amps and has worked well so far

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+GroovyVideo2 Sounds good. Always good to have two options for charging.

U rock

Hi Adam. I like your channel and your work. Can you make a video or sketch of the wiring of the BatteryPack? Or anyone here can show it?

Thanks for doing an update, I was wondering if you had a problem with this system. I was thinking maybe a 1s1000p pack and that way you would not need a balancer. I just bought a micro 2-4V converter to 12V. Then I as wondering how to get a solar panel down to 4V efficiently.

Looking forward to the results of the old cells capacity and seeing if the 100w solar panel will be able to charge up the larger battery bank to full capacity. Take care!

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+Bill Younger Thanks Bill. I’ll feed back as soon as I can.

@googleuser4434

3 жыл бұрын

Did the new increased capacity batteries survive the winter?

Hey Adam that Capacity Controller, a Balancer as well? That's good to know because I did briefly you one on my Power Wall and I could of being balancing at the same time. Thanks for that.

Mr. Welch, thank you for all the information that you are sharing with the whole world. I would like to know what is in that aluminum case wired up to the right of the charge controller? If you mentioned it in the video then I apologize for missing it.

@AdamWelchUK

5 жыл бұрын

I think I mentioned it in a video - it’s a dc2dc buck converter, reducing the ~28 volts down to 12 volts so I can power some 12v external lights on the shed. Cheers

I am possibly looking into getting some used 18650's my self to build a power wall as well, 12 volt solar powered to charge the batteries and a 750 watt inverter only using about 200 watts to power what I need, 3 led 9 watt lights, my laptop 40 watt, and my stereo 75 watt, for heat in the cold days or winter months a rocket stove, and possibly thinking about a wind turbine and a thermoelectric generator as well to charge batteries, right now i am using lead acid batteries, Its all a big project and a trial and error process, Lots of fun, keep up with the good videos and info

@AdamWelchUK

5 жыл бұрын

Sounds like you have some big exciting plans. Thanks for the kind comments and good luck with your project.

If you take a knife and cut through those screw terminal barrel plugs, you will find a hair thin filament wire connecting the barrel to the screw terminals. Watch your current usage!

Adam, have you considered using your MPPT controller to harvest more Sun power into this project, for the Solar Shed ? What would be the changes, if any.

Hi Adam, I have really enjoyed your solar charger for banks of 4 18650 and would like to build something similar. Is there anywhere I can find the wiring diagram for your balancing setup. Many thanks Cliff

Nice video. I don't know yet how to find out the capacity of a lot of batteries easily. Do I need to test with ZB2L3 tester one by one and sitting for so many hours for one battery? any easy way? thx.

You need to do a poll to guess the capacity lost. I reckon an average of 70mah has been lost over the years use. =)

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+pietkaify I’m starting a book. I’ll put you down for a fiver shall I? ;-)

@robbo580

6 жыл бұрын

Adam Welch ill take you for a tener they lost 600 mah capacity each 18650👍

@DrPhilSays

3 жыл бұрын

@@AdamWelchUK I'd bet you didn't forget to set to gel...just off camera, right?! LoL

I like your project. I think small battery packs, and slow charging and discharging is good way to use 18650 used cells, cause its easy to maintain, and its SAFE. How fast do you charge/discharge them? Do you have any mA current per cell calculations?

hello Adam. I have a epever vs3048bn pwm charge controller, how do the diversified load control mode work? Thanks for ideas.

Great video . I am planning to do this as my research project . Can you help us ?

Question - I want to solar charge a 18650 with a TP4056 but my panel outputs 12 volts. I was going to buy a cheap "DC-DC 4.2-40V to 3.3V 5V 6V 9V 12V 24V Buck Step-down Converter Linear Regulator" that will convert the 12v to 5v for the TP4056, however the panel will not output a steady 12v it will dip & rise depending on light conditions. Do you think the regulator would output a steady 5v whatever the voltage it is supplied?

So just picking the gell battery setting on the charge controller will charge a lithium battery pack ?

???? Old Post but question. Does that Cell Monitor derive it's own power from the first battery or group as most do ?

I have learned my understanding of solar/lithium-ion systems from your videos. So I want to thank you. I note that you always fuse the bus-bar/cell on both ends. Is it necessary to fuse the negative?

@AdamWelchUK

2 жыл бұрын

No it’s not. One fuse on either the positive or negative is fine. I found the fuse wire to be easier to solder on than anything else, so ended up with it on both sides. Glad to have been of help. Thanks for the kind comments.

Balancer balanced without discharging bulb or rezistor. My balancer type 8 not working or balanced very slowly.

i think you need BMS ( batteray management system ) in order to the current and voltage are same each batteray when you charge by solar controller

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

I’ve got one. The capacity controller does balancing. However the bigger the groups of cells, the less it’s needed I’m finding.

Hi Adam. Could you recommend a budget charge controller capable of mppt please? I got conned by a Chinese fake and need some help. Thanks

Thank you for this, Adam. I'm new to the 18650 world. What do you use to test the mA capacity of your cells?

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+Nicholas Radina I’ve used a liitokala engineer li-300. Mainly because it can fully automate the charge, discharge, charge process and secondly it’s the one I’ve always used. Many other people use the opus c3100.

Adam I don't know if this has been answered before, but what load ( watts) have you you been running in your shed?

* Your product link on that video goes to the EPsolar LandStar LS1024B instead of the EPEVER Viewstar VS1024A, is this intended? * Will you stick with that controller for your 7s20p system in the future?

Can the controller be used on a 12 v set up as i have 5x12v batteries in parallel and then connected to a 2000w inverter and then the hppt solar controller.

Adam, great work man. How on earth do you have your cells balanced without BMS? Sorry if you have one and I might of misses it. All I see is your balance checker. Cheers!

@cfzone8685

5 жыл бұрын

He used the balance checker because it has a balancing function.

Wow I like your work Adam very informative. I'm planning to make my own also, just like yours using Capacity controller to balance the cells, However I planning to use my 10A MPPT EPever Charge controller. Hope I can ask advice from you. Thanks in Advance...

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

The use of an MPPT charge controller shouldn't make any real difference to the lithium pack - it's just trying to harvest as much solar as the technology will allow when it needs to. Now the experiment has run successfully for a year I do intend to upgrade things a little and a MPPT solar charge controller is on the cards.

@jerjam7395

6 жыл бұрын

Using this Capacity controller and MPPT set up, do you think I can use any current rating on MPPT? I mean can this Capacity controller able to handle higher charging current?

Nice work Adam, been playing with 18650's a bit myself this year, I am assuming you get your cells from laptops being joined in pairs like that but where do you source the laptop batteries from if you don't mind me asking as I dont seem to find many and im a bit weary about some of the auctions on eBay! Keep up the good work!

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+RS2 Projects I did buy 40 laptop batteries in a bulk eBay auction a little while a go. Having looked at the prices though recently I’m not sure that’s the most cost effective method now. I work in IT so they pop up occasionally in my work.

@coolamasta1

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah just what I was thinking with eBay, lots of people catching onto the 18650 goodness these days haha, cheers for the reply :)

A year............................... already!!

I suppose with 7s the fact that this controller is supposed to be for lead batteries the 14.6/8 equalisation won't be an issue

Greetings Adam may i have a wiring diagram of this little system. planning to do a 12v system 400W

Can somebody help me find the video about the capacity controller thing?

what do you use the 12v for ? do you use an inverter ?

do you have a current full schematic?

Hello I made a similar pack my self i am using bms balancer using the same batery controller and s lithium scc charger but i encounter a problem . Wen i connect a load the voltage drops dawn a lot from from 12.4 to 10.3v wen trying to charge my phone for exeple 12v lithis gows dawn around 11.8 v . What can it be the problem?

They probably lost almost no capacity at all at about 4V. You're probably going to get a total of 2000-2500 cycles out of them. If I was to do this project again, I would put a TP5100 with a multiple poles switch with a 4S pack to manually balance packs if they get too unbalanced.

@gotech7991

4 жыл бұрын

NeutronPCXT how about if you have the same model in Tesla battery ?

Thanks for the video Adam...really interesting..Also do you have a link for Pauls channel cheers

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+charlieoscar09 A card should have popped up when I mentioned him but here’s a link... kzread.info

@charlieoscar09

6 жыл бұрын

Adam Welch the link didnt work pal can u try from yourside

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

How odd - seems to work for me. Do you want to use the youtube search - try searching for "Paul Kennett Laptop Powerwall"

@charlieoscar09

6 жыл бұрын

Adam Welch yes found him and subbed cheers

Those tests should be interesting. Please remember that a 'cycle' is a full charge and discharge. If the cells were, say, 50% discharged from full during one night, and then fully charged the next day, then they will have undergone half a cycle. Thanks Adam.

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+RWBHere Yes This has been mentioned. I’ll try to remember to refer to them in that way next time. Cheers.

@Markle2k

6 жыл бұрын

If the cells are not fully discharged they undergo a somewhat exponential cycle-life extension. Just as with lowering the top-of-charge voltage, raising the bottom-of-charge voltage increases cycle-life by a multiple every x millivolts.

@RWBHere

6 жыл бұрын

Thank-you Adam. // That's interesting, Markle2k. Live and learn. Thanks to you, too. :-)

what charger need be can adjust charging volt just to 18650 battery right good. not broken batterys. or can i use all solar charger same than you battery bag have. i need made same system thailand not have gridd elektric good cut alltime lot if wind or rain.

So how do you prevent the lights from completely draining the batteries, usually there would be a electronic controller to monitor the batteries to prevent them from dropping passes are in point

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

The outside lights out on a Sonoff SV wifi device. So they’re timed to be on for a few hours only. The sole charge controller has under voltage protection as well - but hopefully it never kicks in!

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure a "cycle" is from fully charged to fully discharged, so if your cells are not being completely drained over night, it's only a partial cycle.

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+John Douglas You could well be right with the pure definition. I’ll try and clarify when I look at the results of the capacity tests.

Hi. I want to install an equal system. I need to know if a BMS is not necessary, I don't see it in the video. And also what bulk and flotation charge voltage value should I adjust. Thanks!!

@AdamWelchUK

4 жыл бұрын

Try watching the full series - I hope it’ll answer most of your questions. Charging Lithium Cells with a Lead Acid Solar Charge Controller kzread.info/head/PLXyc_wd5sxbhYhAKHVq8SGQ2Sncl1PDDT

I have watched a lot of your videos and have plans to build a battery like that.I really like the open architecture and accessibility. This will be my first battery. I have a couple of questions. 1 I plan to use this to power 12v lights and some 5v and possibly some 3.3v controllers. They will all be on the same line so would I buck the main voltage down for each or have a fairly large buck converter do the 12v for the whole line and then separate smaller buck converters for 5v and 3.3 in series with that? 2 I plan to use the epever tracer a mppt does this have the same characteristics as the one you used so that it will not trickle charge?

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

1. It will depend on you buck converters. If you've got a 3.3v buck converter that is capable of working on a 24-29 volt pack then it's probably best to reduce the load on your 12v converter and just connect the 3.3v converter to the battery pack. I'd personally test both ways round and see how efficient it was as well - I suspect only one buck process is best, but it'll be fun to work it out. 2. Now I haven't tested the tracer on my lithium pack but knowing it's lead acid performance and my knowledge of the other EPEver products my understanding is yes - it will work in the same way. I feel a test coming on. Need some sun though :-)

@jarchdm

6 жыл бұрын

Adam Welch thank you for your reply. I'm setting up a small home automation system using raspberry pi and want to use solar and battery to power it. I live in Indonesia so plenty of sun🌞 but from time to time we get power outs. So would be good to power 12v lights and raspberry and the modem so I can still connect. Modern luckily runs on 12v. Says 1.5 amp on wall wart .

how many years goes system work and cycle cycle how many years??

29V×10 aH = nearly 300 Watt. So, your Solar Panel Wattage was just 100W? 250Watt Solar panel will work ??

Can I use this with an inverter?

If possible I would add another or two 100 watt solar panels, you have doubled the charge load on your current panel, so it may slowly become discharged. If not you may have to plug into the grid at times to top them off.

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+C MJ Theoretically I’ve increased the potential internal resistance so there may be an increased internal discharge, but then I’m cycling the cells less too. I wish I could increase my solar - the shed roof is full!

@cmj20002

6 жыл бұрын

Maybe you can get more efficient solar panels, not sure. I have no place to put solar panels. I wish I did. I would like to be off the grid.

From what I read they lose capacity the higher you charge them to their 4.2V limit, so at 4V they should still be good. I think it was 10% loss over 1000 charges.

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+SidneyCritic ComedyHound I wonder if the low temperatures for a few months have a worse effect than the partial cycles? Either way, I think there will be some reduction.

@ROL3517

6 жыл бұрын

Adam Welch I thought low temperatures were good for lithium cells

Hi Adam, I just wonder if do you need to set manually the capacity controller/balancer button to do the balancing from time to time. Or just plug and play. Thanks - dennis

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

You need to set it going by pressing and holding the left button (think it is labled type). Once you've done that it should run permanently (until power cycled).

@filipinodiynot

6 жыл бұрын

Adam Welch my plan will be installed remotely. It's 10Ah lipo 3s configuration,. Just wonder if that balancer can handle it and the balancing setting will stay for a long period of time. Thanks for reply anyway

I really would like to build an identical shed for learning purposes. Are you planning to make such a video maybe with an updated charger controller? Sad that you don't talk about your inverter/consumers in this video. I am wondering what the cooler and the pcb after that are for.

@y.5107

6 жыл бұрын

Okay, I got you its a step-down converter to 12V for your lights ;). But the PCB after?

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

The PCB afterwards is the SonOff SV - its a wireless 'IoT' smart switch. I did a video on that and using it with Amazon Alexa. kzread.info/dash/bejne/e2Z5sMidgri7o6Q.html

How many hours take to charge the battery?????

Hi is that a bridge rectifier on the load side of the solar regulator?

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

No. It’s a dc2dc converter. A buck converter dropping the 24v+ down to 12 volts.

Hi Adam, how do you monitor the voltage to know your capacity was down lower than desired for 2 days from 365? Is this a daily manual task or do you have something hooked up on auto pilot to save the data electronically? I saw what Paul Kenneth was doing with his laptop batteries rip outs and it makes total sense to keep the batteries paired up. Furthermore, it’s less work for double the capacity, no brainier when you think about it. Do your exterior shed lights go on all night or are they activated using PIR? I’m interested to know as currently I have 5v LED bulbs hooked up via 240v mains lighting up the whole of my back garden activated by light sensors. The police advised me to light up my back garden at night after I was burgled as well as install CCTV. I want to switch power sources so these back garden lights work from solar stored energy rather than 240v mains. I suppose if it comes down to it I could integrate a relay to charge the batteries using 240v mains if the battery bank voltage drops below a certain level but it would be a Brucey Bonus if the battery bank has enough capacity.

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+Steve Kent Currently I monitor this manually, but hopefully I’ll be taking steps in the next few weeks to monitor this more intelligently. I have some external lights on PIR - white security lights. I then have some coloured led lights which come on a dusk for a few hours. It’s all led and wouldn’t cost much to run on mains but I prefer to run on solar whenever I can.

Please forgive the sloppily asked prior question. I want to spot weld a nickel strip to all the negative ends of the 18650 cells to act as a negative bus bar. Then I only want to fuse between the positive cell ends and the positive bus bar. Do you have any misgivings about using the method?

@AdamWelchUK

2 жыл бұрын

I understood the previous question perfectly, don’t worry. One fuse is fine, but for practical reasons one at each end was easier for me.

The days will be getting longer now.

@maicod

6 жыл бұрын

~21 December this year yes

@RWBHere

6 жыл бұрын

If you're in the Southern hemisphere, they'll only be lengthening for about another four weeks. If you're in the Northern hemisphere, then Maico is correct.

@maicod

6 жыл бұрын

I assumed he is in the northern hemisphere as he said '...now'

@MrBrymstond

6 жыл бұрын

Yes, I'm from the Northern Hemisphere, but a month goes by in no time.

Test those batterys I want to see how much they decreases in capacity after a long time.

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+Electronic projects Yes I’ll be starting that process today.

Can you upload a video of how you built that?

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

I can do better than that... I can give you a whole series of videos :-) kzread.info/head/PLXyc_wd5sxbhYhAKHVq8SGQ2Sncl1PDDT

Where is the video on using the capacity controller to perform balancing?

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+Gregory Germain Part 3 of the series... kzread.info/dash/bejne/gqKm2s9se7HQldY.html

@glgermain

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks. I love what you're doing. Looking forward to the follow up report on the condition of the batteries! Also hoping someone comes up with a cheap PWM solar controller for 3S that actually cuts off the charge when the batteries are full instead of trickling.

How do you enable the balance function on the Cellmeter?

@MusGym-official

5 жыл бұрын

Keep the type button pressed Bro

Nice video. Just bought an CellMeter-7 from your ebay link. Thanks. I have a few TP4056 charge/protection boards and would like to charge my batteries to 4.0V instead of 4.2V. How would you suggest I can charge Li batteries to 3.9 or 4.0V instead of 4.2V? I have read that the U.S. Army charges theirs to 3.9V and gets about 10 times the cycles out of them! I could use OP amps as comparators with the desired reference on one input, which would turn the input MOSFET off, once the battery voltage reaches 3.9 or 4.0V, but was wondering if there are any easier ways?

@Unfinished_Projects

6 жыл бұрын

UFOhunter use a shotky diode, that would be the easiest way i can think of

@ufohunter3688

6 жыл бұрын

I think using a schottky diode (drops 0.3V) has exactly the opposite effect when charging. It will charge the cell to 4.5V to read 4.2V. No?

@Luke-san

6 жыл бұрын

MMm I had to think about that for a sec ... the output of the module will go to the max of 4.2V so .. minus Schottky .. 3.9V. But the charge curve will not be what it should be I think.

@ufohunter3688

6 жыл бұрын

No you've got it backwards. I am a 100% sure. That is the 1st thing I thought of, but quickly wrote it off. It would work if I wanted to charge the battery to 4.5V. Thanks guys for your input though.

@Luke-san

6 жыл бұрын

This is the pdf dlnmh9ip6v2uc.cloudfront.net/datasheets/Prototyping/TP4056.pdf It is an output to the batteries and not visa versa. '·Preset 4.2V Charge Voltage with 1.5% Accuracy ' So how could the voltage on the batt get higher than 4.2V if you substract voltage from the output?

The extra capacity might mean that they take longer to fully charge, but it will also mean that they'll take longer to discharge. With any luck, at the start of each day the cells will have enough capacity left from the day before so that with the added charge taken through the next day, they won't run out of power until there's enough sun to fully charge them again.

Can anyone help with this question please. In my off grid workshop I have a 100w solar panel going through a 20A controller and into a 12v 130ah battery, that’s working great. On the controller I also have a LOAD output that I have going to my lights, what I would like to know is if I can split that output and feed it into my motorbike battery to keep it topped up. When I look at my charger that I have used that plugs into the house power socket, it states Output 12v / 800mA. If I can feed a cable to the LOAD on the controller and to the bike battery, will it act as a trickle charge or what will happen once the bike battery has fully charged? Thanks a lot

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

You'd be better off using a DC2DC converter on your load output to connect to and regulate your motorbike battery. Otherwise you've no way of regulating the current going from your main battery to your motorbike battery. Secondly it will prevent any reverse current, or the inability to control your lighting circuit. As long as the voltage wasn't too dis-similar between your main and bike battery, you could opt for a diode to prevent any reverse current I guess if you wanted to keep it very simple.

@nitram_nosnibor

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot Adam, I thought though that going via the controller LOAD would regulate the flow from the 12v DC to 12v DC. But you're right that I would have no way knowing what the current is going from the Controller to the bike battery.

what solar panel u use for this?

@AdamWelchUK

5 жыл бұрын

I was using two 36 cell 50 watt panels in series.

Z 2

by doubling up the batteries, if your load was bigger, you might have to increase the carrying capability of your fuses.

@thesufi

Жыл бұрын

Correct, I was waiting for somebody to notice that!

I am from Afghanistan we don’t have electricity I wana learn this for my family can you please help me I just want ur congratulations

@ZephodBeeblebrox

3 жыл бұрын

If you don't have electricity, how are you able to post this?

@JohnDoe-pv2iu

3 жыл бұрын

@@ZephodBeeblebrox I think he means he doesn't have electricity at home. In my travels I have seen situations where people have phones and tech that they use when they are in town but live remotely and don't have power there. Yall Take Care and be safe, John

What do you use it for?

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

Currently is powers some LED lights on the outside of my shed. As it gets slowly bigger though I may add more circuits to it.

Do you just buck everything to 12 v ? Isn't that inefficient?

@AdamWelchUK

4 жыл бұрын

It is yes, but more efficient than inverting it and boosting to mains voltage! Sadly I don’t think lithium ion works for a substitute 12v battery.

@justawfulgamer7738

4 жыл бұрын

@@AdamWelchUK you can go 4s and not put nearly the same amount of stress on the batteries.

Some people build a serious power wall and spend a great deal of money and only wind up with 2-1/2 years so is it really worth it?

@AdamWelchUK

6 жыл бұрын

+MrBrymstond I’ve not really seen any evidence of people’s power walls giving up yet. It’s one of the things I’m interested in. Tesla guarantee their for a few years - new cells I know, but they must have some confidence. Lots of factors to take into account though.

@DIYTechRepairs

6 жыл бұрын

Good question. I have been running some.part of my Wall for 2 years and no sign of nog wear. Lost like 5% at Most in capacity on that setup. My 100kWh bank should last 10 years at calculated useage before it goes below 60% capacity left. Time will tell :)

@MrBrymstond

6 жыл бұрын

The thing is these 18650 batteries range between 500 and 800 cycles, unless you have a monster power wall that would last you a few days before charging each morning it charges and you use it all day and night so it drains, that's one cycle... 2 years @ 800 cycles is 730 cycles, just saying.

@DIYTechRepairs

6 жыл бұрын

My big wall is 100kWh and its LiFe 18650 cells. They have a nominal of 4000 cycles at 80% DOD. I run 10-15% DOD in general. The small wall is 40kWh and thats LiIon cells. At 80% DOD they are said to last 500 Cycles. Im running them at around 10-15% DOD as well and should therefore last 2500+ cycles (Regarding to various datasheets and tests). Of course those is hard to tell if they will since they are 2nd hand. Time will tell but so far 2 years later on the first setup I did there is no big sign of loss of capacity. If I would have been running them 80% DOD they should have lost atleast 40% capacity by now comparing to their datasheets but they havent.

Do you really want to mount li-on batteries on wood?

@AdamWelchUK

4 жыл бұрын

They’ve been there years now :-)

Ummmm, something just not sitting right with me, I still think that you have a 7S-4P set up because the cells are paired in parallel which is effectively double the capacity. So I would say you have just created a 7S-4P-2A because you have double capacity in Amps because of the way in which you have arranged the cells in the pack. It will be interesting to see how this holds up over winter periods as well as the effect on the cells with the type of configuration you have. As for the guy claiming that the cells were manufactured together, I think he needs to see a real plant, there's videos, so the most you can hope for is that they were manufactured in the same batch and that the factory that assembled the packs took batches and didn't just mix the lot... Really holds no weight at all as an argument for keeping the pairing of the cells. It is however a nice hack to double your capacity.

sound like a news reader.

Great video thx for sharing! Check out my lattest video. I made a similar powerwall. Thx!