How much do you trust your battery?

Hey there, I have thought about and gotten very close to buying all the parts to put together my own board, but I have always had one thing that stops me. How much will I trust my battery once it is all together? There has been a couple instances of people’s boards catching fire from a mistake in assembling the battery. I would only use a bms and maybe go charge only. I look forward to your feedback. Thanks for your time.

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I would trust my battery if it has been made by a professional. Would not make one myself

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Truth is I don’t trust my battery lol

I tried to build it to the best of my ability and I purposely took a very long time building and checking it but I still have that thought in the back of my head “but what if”

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Yes that’s exactly what I think I would have

Only thing you can do is be aware of any issues and check your battery and make sure it’s balanced periodically.

Yes I agree. It would also be annoying to always have to think about it while it was charging and be around

A healthy level of paranoia is warranted, even with a commercial battery, simply because Murphy’s law exists.

If you’re going to build it yourself, take every possible precaution - use fish paper, use those little insulation washers on top of the cells, use silicone instead of hot glue, etc.

When wiring, take extreme care to avoid shorts. Heat shrink, kapton tape, glue, and don’t cross wires if you can avoid it.

There’s a whole art to building a reliable battery.

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Yah just to add my two cents and second @MysticalDork your best bet is to not trust it regardless of who made it. While doing IT work for the Wrigley building back in 2001 we had a lot of Dells recalled because of defective cells potentially causing a laptop to blow up in your lap (I forget if they were Panasonic or LG or what, but we can say they were all “professionals”). Also sure most people still remember the Note 7 “fiasco” of exploding batteries (heard it was too much battery packed in too small a space). Point being doesn’t really matter who handles the dangerous material before it gets to you it matters how you treat it and that you monitor it, healthy level of paranoia is warranted and can help to keep you safe (just direct the paranoia to things that mitigate risk)

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Nickel strip batteries need some added ability to flex somehow. A lot of people build a well made battery with safety features and caution but no flexibility. Boards flex and it’s transferred to the strip

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I don’t trust it even though it’'s probably fine. It only charges when I’m in awake and nearby, but I have forgotten to unplug it a few times. I always leave the loop key plugged in and simply use the built in switch to turn it off and on because I can only access the loop key by opening the enclosure. Not sure how safe that is but it hasn’t caught fire yet.

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i wouldnt trust it so i use lipos with a bms lol. incoming triggered-ness

I trust my batteries like I trust strangers… …only as far as I can throw them lol

If you want to skip the welding, and a lot of the p group isolation, try the N.E.S.E. Modules.

And if a cell goes bad you can just pop it out and replace it.

They do take up more space, but I like the peace of mind.

I built mine myself with a quality BMS and charge with a Cycle Satiator. It’s also protected with fiberglass enclosures. I have high faith that it will not to go nuclear.

I spent about a year reading about electricity and building batteries. Then I killed a few cells and shorted a few things a viola a functional battery pack was made. Still wore gloves, eye, face, neck protection when building it.

I trust my batteries to the point that I’m building a corrosion resistant blast shield around the p-packs so that heat is directed into the ground instead of the other batteries so its less on fire at a time and potting them into the shield, just hoping that they don’t short going into the box

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Thanks for the help