Why no DIY batteries?

[86 inches]

I'm wondering why I don't see guys building their own lithium batteries. The solar guys make their own. Why aren't we doing it. It doesn't look complicated. All of the components are available online though I'm not sure where I might get a good 31 grp format water resistant case.

Something to think about, I guess.

[Bill Reynolds]

I started out with the intent of building my own and spent lots of time researching specifications and methods. By the time I added up cost of the components I was within $50 of commercially available units.
In addition, after spending the research time, I accomplished the real reason I wanted to build my own: To understand the technology.

[86 inches]

I started out with the intent of building my own and spent lots of time researching specifications and methods. By the time I added up cost of the components I was within $50 of commercially available units.
In addition, after spending the research time, I accomplished the real reason I wanted to build my own: To understand the technology.

Commercially available premium or Amazon Chinese batteries? If Chinese, maybe it would be worth it just to know what's inside and how it's put together.

[goodman_fishing]

I would need to see the benefit laid out pretty clearly. We don't typically have the scale need for a couple thousand watts of storage like I suspect the solar folks do.

It'd be interesting exercise, but not sure very viable for the majority of folks.

[Bill Reynolds]

Commercially available premium or Amazon Chinese batteries? If Chinese, maybe it would be worth it just to know what's inside and how it's put together.

Chinese. Basically using the same components I would have used.
One thing I noticed was that Bluetooth added $50 to the price of the BMS and that translated to $100 in the commercial battery cost. That’s why I purchased a 50 AH battery without it but I regret doing so.

[61Woody]

My issue would be if I screwed something up and damaged my boat or components in said boat.

[86 inches]

I would need to see the benefit laid out pretty clearly. We don't typically have the scale need for a couple thousand watts of storage like I suspect the solar folks do.

It'd be interesting exercise, but not sure very viable for the majority of folks.

I suppose the benefit to me would be in knowing it was done right. After watching all the you tube teardowns, my takeaway was that while some economy batteries were built quite well, it is apparent that these companies are not consistent in their builds. Some of the same models had different components and varying quality of assembly ... and that's with the exact same model in reviews that were less than a year apart. Even when a review with a teardown shows an extremely well done unit, it's hard to have confidence that the unit one receives will actually be put together like the same model in the review.

Now, if you can do it within $50 dollars of what these economy units sell for, then maybe it's worth a shot. I mean, if done right, you might actually be able to build a unit comparable to a premium brand at the cost of an economy model.

Does that make sense?

[MTW]

I suppose the benefit to me would be in knowing it was done right. After watching all the you tube teardowns, my takeaway was that while some economy batteries were built quite well, it is apparent that these companies are not consistent in their builds. Some of the same models had different components and varying quality of assembly ... and that's with the exact same model in reviews that were less than a year apart. Even when a review with a teardown shows an extremely well done unit, it's hard to have confidence that the unit one receives will actually be put together like the same model in the review.

Now, if you can do it within $50 dollars of what these economy units sell for, then maybe it's worth a shot. I mean, if done right, you might actually be able to build a unit comparable to a premium brand at the cost of an economy model.

Does that make sense?

same goes for some of the chinese assembled "american" batteries. you just dont know and neither do they more than likely.

as far as building your own, even with EVE cells at $50 a piece, youre still looking at over $400 per battery.

[MTW]

i will say i like the idea of serviceable batteries.

[Mahomee]

water proofing

rv solar dont need them any form or water proofed so they arent in a case or anything

[wakepics]

I built my own two years ago. They've been a huge improvement over lead and I haven't had any issues with them. It was a bit of a process to design and build, but I enjoy tinkering so it was worth it for me.

Edit: just looked up my invoice. I paid $508 for 8 - 90ah cells and 2 Bluetooth BMS shipped to Canada from China. Add in wiring, posts and case costs to that.

[BassinPaPaw]

I built my own two years ago. They've been a huge improvement over lead and I haven't had any issues with them. It was a bit of a process to design and build, but I enjoy tinkering so it was worth it for me.

Edit: just looked up my invoice. I paid $508 for 8 - 90ah cells and 2 Bluetooth BMS shipped to Canada from China. Add in wiring, posts and case costs to that.

What does 8 - 90ah cells equal? Two batteries?

[86 inches]

I built my own two years ago. They've been a huge improvement over lead and I haven't had any issues with them. It was a bit of a process to design and build, but I enjoy tinkering so it was worth it for me.

Edit: just looked up my invoice. I paid $508 for 8 - 90ah cells and 2 Bluetooth BMS shipped to Canada from China. Add in wiring, posts and case costs to that.

And where did you get the cases.

[MTW]

And where did you get the cases.

most of these battery cases you see on the market are lead acid cases with the dividers mills out. i know of one "major" brand that uses them.

[ThomasD]

Commercially available premium or Amazon Chinese batteries? If Chinese, maybe it would be worth it just to know what's inside and how it's put together.

The commercially available are from China as well.

[Bill Reynolds]

And where did you get the cases.

You can buy these in various sizes with or without battery meter.

[86 inches]

The commercially available are from China as well.

Some are indeed assembled here. BB, for example.

[JDeeDotGee]

I built my own a few years ago. It's been great. It ain't the prettiest thing, but it runs for days and fits well in my Tracker.

IMG_20240130_171758374.jpg

[wakepics]

And where did you get the cases.

I looked at the empty battery cases that are sold on AliExpress etc, but they seemed expensive for what they are. I ended up using a couple Cabela's hard handgun cases - waterproof and hold the cells tight so there's no movement.

[86 inches]

I built my own a few years ago. It's been great. It ain't the prettiest thing, but it runs for days and fits well in my Tracker.

IMG_20240130_171758374.jpg

Nice. I knew some of you guys were putting these together. Thanks for posting.