i Figured there must be all the experienced riders on this site i wanted some more knowledge. I have dealt before with small electronic but it all required soldering small batteries together. I wanted to know what is better for building a battery pack for eskateboard pure nickel welding or soldering copper wire directly to the battery. i Have done some soldering to 18650s before but nothing like these packs i keep seeing i know i can do it but would prefer some guidance so i could get the most for my board.
Nickel strips are the best. Then you could put some copper wire on top to reinforce the nickel strip. Soldering can damage the cells unless you are very quick and have an iron above 80w
How can I do that solder the copper to the nickel then weld it? I really like to learn more in detail? You know anyone that has a video tutorial or instructions on a site?
Basically you just weld the nickel to the batteries and solder some wire on top of the nickel for reinforcement
I did that today. But my nickel was very reluctant to accept the solder. The cells got pretty warm (still touchable but I am worried now that it was already too much and that I might have degraded them in a way). Is there a trick to make the nickel strips easier to solder? Also after reading old whitepony build threads again he adds the solder before spot welding - that might have been a good idea 
Maybe some solder paste? Probably best to solder beforehand.
flux helps a lot
Yeah no it is too late though. Any idea how much heat is too much heat? As I said I could still touch them but they felt warm.
Soldering direct to cell will almost always be hotter than soldering copper wire to nickle strip, unless you’re holding the iron there for minutes at a time. I soldered my cell fuses straight on the cell with no issues to the pack.
What size or style of copper wire can we use? Or even find?
1 Like
Copper braid 10mm. Try searching it on ebay. Silicone wire and normal round copper wire would also be fine. Get around 12 AWG
Does anybody have a link to a tutorial on making an eskate battery pack? Best thing would be a video
1 Like
Where would be a great and cheap place to purchase some 18650 batteries at wholesale?
My favourite and the cheapest place (usually)is ru.nkon.nl or just nkon.nl if your in the EU. Shipping can take a while from ru.nkon.nl but the other one is quite fast. If your in the USA I’ve heard lion wholesale is also good (just Google them)
I’ve looked into liionwholesale they are more expensive than others. Too bad I’m in the US customs and other charges might cost me more for the first site. But I did see wholesalebatterysupply.com their prices are cheaper than liionwholesale and they don’t charge for shipping in the US. I just want to have alternatives just in case I’m paying too much for batteries
I’ve seen this ebike video it just raised more questions for me like the soldering of the leads? Where to start after I solder the negative? But I would like a better detailed tutorial but specifically for the electric skateboard style packs.
I may make one soon. If there is interest.
Definitely interested. Lol please keep me informed with a link when you make it. I believe it is needed for those of us that have a budget and love to tinker