How to solder up a battery pack tutorial

[mk2kompressor]

had a little spare time so wrote this:)

before you build up your chosen chassis think about how you are going to power it.
just throwing some cells together "for now" wont cut it when you get tweak issues on the first drive(yes if your cells are mis-aligned this may cause your car to act a little funny!)


you will need:
1,
soldering iron with a wide tip fitted and at least 40w so you dont damage the cells by heating them up too much,the bigger the watt the longer it takes for the cell to soak up all the heat and the quicker you can make a nice clean shiney join.
.8mm solder and that funny sponge thing that comes with most higher end solder stations,you WILL clean the tip after every join!(remember to wet it first!)
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/mk2kompressor/battery%20tutorial/batterytutorial011.jpg

2,
some way of connecting the cells together,i use TGR copper battery bars but you can use wire its just a little messier,the batt bars will need a little trim
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/mk2kompressor/battery%20tutorial/batterytutorial010.jpg

3,
ideally a naked chassis plate,i hope you didnt get too exited and built it up already ;)
4,
super glue
5,
helping hand is optional(the thing with the croc clips on it)
6,
file(more accurate)or sandpaper to key up the ends of the batteries(the solder will stick better)

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/mk2kompressor/battery%20tutorial/batterytutorial007.jpg

first up we need to key up(scratch)the cells,this needs to be done in a smallish area

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/mk2kompressor/battery%20tutorial/batterytutorial009.jpg

once you have done all four cells(both ends)drop a blob of solder in the middle of each - end and at the top of the + end

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/mk2kompressor/battery%20tutorial/batterytutorial012.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/mk2kompressor/battery%20tutorial/batterytutorial013.jpg

take the super glue and place a drop between each cell,it should flow out a little,time for a cup of tea whilst it dries

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/mk2kompressor/battery%20tutorial/batterytutorial015.jpg

[mk2kompressor]

grip the pack in something and proceed to add the first bar,you will see the solder flow over the hole in the bar,take off the iron and it will go shiney

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/mk2kompressor/battery%20tutorial/batterytutorial020.jpg

let each cell cool and wipe the tip between each join

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/mk2kompressor/battery%20tutorial/batterytutorial023.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/mk2kompressor/battery%20tutorial/batterytutorial025.jpg

stand back and admire your new racing pack

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/mk2kompressor/battery%20tutorial/batterytutorial021.jpg

all you need to do now is decide where the power wires need to go and connect them to the pack with your chosen plug :D
to be extra good you can chamfer the cell seperators in the chassis to a 45deg angle so the whole pack sits lower,lower C.O.G :cool:

[briankstan]

Nice tutorial there. :cool:

[mk2kompressor]

thanks:D,30mins and a bottle of wine:p

[Sorrowness]

Great tut!
But one question tho. Do you think it could be possible to hack a normal nimh charger with a dean plug and charge the battery pack? Or i need one of these larger scale charger?

thanks!

[EMU]

Nice tut!

Almost identical to the way I solder my packs together. The first thing that I do is discharge the cells from a full charge to see what the capacities are. I usually choose between at least two sets of cells to make one pack.

I then sand, glue, tin the cells, then solder them together with wires. I have a few sets of the TGR connectors, but decided to use wire since it is lighter.

I had to buy a new iron when I started soldering the cells. The old iron I had wasnt hot enough, and the cells were getting too hot.

When I glue the cells together, I use the thick type of CA. Only a little is needed. I dont use a chassis, but just a straight edge to line up the end of the cells. On the MRCG they sit up against eachother, dont know if its the same on the Sinister. I also use a little Zip Kicker (CA accelerant) to cure the glue instantly so I can get to the soldering much faster.

Sorrowness, invest in a peak charger. You can get them fairly cheap. One with a discharge function is helpfull but not necessary. The Duratrax Onyx 210 is a decent charger, and pretty cheap (AC/DC). I mainly use my Triton Jr for racing, since it is very compact and easy to transport, and has a discharge function so I can see how much capacity I have left after a run. Others to look at are the MRC 960, DuraTrax Piranha AC/DC Digital Peak Charger, Tower Hobbies AC/DC Digital Peak Charger w/LCD (I believe this is the same as the Piranha).

[mk2kompressor]

they sit up against eachotherlike the mrcg,i just happened to have a bare sinister chassis laying around for the pics:D
i match the batteries as much as i can using 2 maha 9000

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/mk2kompressor/battery%20tutorial/batterytutorial001.jpg

[eztuner12]

Excellent tutorial mk2
Maybe an old chassis batty tray can be used as a permanent gig to performe this job.
Thx man
Cheers