Sneak peek inside the batteries
The Lifepo4 modules and connectors should not be exposed to the nasty environment of an open part of a running vehicle. No need to imagine a lot to predict the amount of dust, moist, dirt and even salt from winter roads will pile upon them and how bad it can be! Additionally having the plus and minus poles of batteries than can deliver more than 300A currents exposed is really not a good idea (just think about a metal tool touching both contacts !!!).
Protecting Lifepo4 cells from environement also increases the safety in case of accident or mechanical wearout. I saw several ideas on the internet on how to do this, with some solutions going as far as building complete stainless steel cases!
The previous owner of my mini-EL, or Roger Stoll itself (from EAT Stoll), came up with a pretty clever idea on how to protect up to 15 cells of one of the most commun Lifepo4 cells found in the market: fitting them inside original Lead-Acid batteries from a mini-EL!
Addiotinally he also fitted inside his distributed BMS and cell balancing circuit, giving it all the environemental protection it needs.
Here's a sneak peek inside of one of the cells assembly:
That's it! each old battery, once emptied, can store up to 5 Lifepo4 cells like these ones:
In my case, since I have 14 cells, I have an assembly of 4 cells plus two assemblies of 5 cells.
A final advantage of this solution is that the batteries tend to see smaller temperature gradients and excursions during winter, as they keep some of the heat of charging and discharging for a longer period due to the plastic isolation of the Lead-Acid box.
A major drawback is that the batteries do not cool down so well in summer…
Protecting Lifepo4 cells from environement also increases the safety in case of accident or mechanical wearout. I saw several ideas on the internet on how to do this, with some solutions going as far as building complete stainless steel cases!
The previous owner of my mini-EL, or Roger Stoll itself (from EAT Stoll), came up with a pretty clever idea on how to protect up to 15 cells of one of the most commun Lifepo4 cells found in the market: fitting them inside original Lead-Acid batteries from a mini-EL!
Addiotinally he also fitted inside his distributed BMS and cell balancing circuit, giving it all the environemental protection it needs.
Here's a sneak peek inside of one of the cells assembly:
A final advantage of this solution is that the batteries tend to see smaller temperature gradients and excursions during winter, as they keep some of the heat of charging and discharging for a longer period due to the plastic isolation of the Lead-Acid box.
A major drawback is that the batteries do not cool down so well in summer…
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