I just bought a battery pack welder

[frogs3]

Lux, you are SERIOUSLY involved with this!!

Based on the amount of intense research you have done on various other topics, I want to be first in line if you decide to sell some of your creations.

Have a ball,

-Harv

 

[wooniris]

Do let me know if you put battery packs for sale?

Thanks

 

[LuxLuthor]

If you guys want me to do some of these, it sound like a fun project.


I confirmed with their head engineer (Aaron) that the unit I got works very well for attaching Li-Ion tabs which was one of the main things I wanted it for. He gave me the Nickel strip thickness and settings he uses for Li-Ion packs since the cap metal is thinner than it is on Ni-Cad or NiMH.

There was just no reliable way to make balance tap leads for various setups without being able to weld a tap to the cell.

I got the dual hand held probes (heavier duty set) that are shown in this Quicktime movie.

 

[DM51]

How do you stop the cell terminal heating up when you weld the tab? Presumably some of the heat is conducted along the tab to the body of the cell - do you attach a clamp or something as a temporary heat-sink?

 

[LuxLuthor]

As you can see with that video, the weld is made with lightning fast pin point contact that fuses the strip to battery surface with no significant heat...which is why you only see welded tabs put on Li-Ions. The speed and minimal heat is why this is used for pack applications.

 

[Fallingwater]

http://sunstoneengineering.com/site/files/SunstoneAttachmentHighQ.mov

Wait, THAT thing costs a thousand bucks?

 

[orionlion82]

Ive seen a few cold-heat's now for 9.99. hear there junk though.

no, really that seems wicked cool.

last week or so i hand soldered 12 AAA's with electrical solder and #12 stranded. wrapped them with masking tape.
cheap, but sloppy and miserable work. can i say again how miserable it was?

i diddnt even know they made things like this, but its wicked cool, even though i could never afford it.
thought it was all done on an assembly line with mystery machines.

 

[LuxLuthor]

i diddnt even know they made things like this, but its wicked cool, even though i could never afford it.
thought it was all done on an assembly line with mystery machines.

Yeah, me too....by little dwarfs using "Elven Magic."

Nothing wrong with NiCad & NiMH soldering, which is made easier with a magnetic battery jig & 60-70W hammerhead tip iron.

 

[CNC Dan]

Yeah I was thinking along those lines too. Get a couple of huge UltraCaps and as long as you're not in a hurry probably a computer power supply should do the trick. Or just use a 12 volt car battery to charge the caps and keep a charger on the battery. It looks like they are just using 800,000 µfd caps at 4 volts. Of course if you got the Bux like Lux then you go for the lab grade setup

You would need to use low inductance caps. for that use.
Normal caps. won't be able to dump all their power quickly enough for welding.
Search the surplus market for "photo flash" caps.

 

[Trashman]

Wow, you can nearly corner the CPF market for custom battery packs! I'm sure your investment, in time, will pay for itself. Luthercorp may become a reality.

 

[Supernam]

I'd be willing to send in some cells for welding at a cost. How about some SF B90 replacements? I can't believe they still use NiCd. :shakehead Or 1/2 D packs for SL-20x and Magcharger.

 

[TigerhawkT3]

That video was awesome. Zap, zap, zap.

Have fun, Lux!

 

[Fallingwater]

You would need to use low inductance caps. for that use.
Normal caps. won't be able to dump all their power quickly enough for welding.
Search the surplus market for "photo flash" caps.

So how would I go to weld using capacitors?
I'm thinking of something like this:

Possibly with a multi-capacitor circuit to allow for rapid welding without having to wait for recharge times and/or to allow for stronger welds by discharging more than one cap into the joint.

Put the probes on the tabs, press, push button (with foot?), zap, tab welded.

Now, this all looks theoretically sound, but I'm guessing if it was this easy there would be no need for expensive $1000+ welders and everybody would be welding with homemade cap rigs.
So where's the catch?

 

[matrixshaman]

I just thought I would grab one of these because the lowest priced quality welder will double in price after they sell their last unit.

Uhh - Lux I got a house for sale that's going to double in price soon when I list it with an agent. You can justify buying this too since it's got an underground beam shot room (guaranteed total darkness in the middle of the day).

 

[LuxLuthor]

Uhh - Lux I got a house for sale that's going to double in price soon when I list it with an agent. You can justify buying this too since it's got an underground beam shot room (guaranteed total darkness in the middle of the day).

Wow....you set the hook with that total darkness room.....you're reeling me in.

 

[matrixshaman]

Yep - just unplug that quartz halogen and you can't see your hand an inch in front of your eye - total darkness!

 

[LuxLuthor]

Yep - just unplug that quartz halogen and you can't see your hand an inch in front of your eye - total darkness!

Does it come with a bilge pump for when the water table rises? Also you need to jazz up your "AboutUs" linked page.

 

[n3eg]

Yep - just unplug that quartz halogen and you can't see your hand an inch in front of your eye - total darkness!

Is it also RF shielded and anechoic?

I once was in a tunnel where you could see a guy with a walkie-talkie transmitting from 40 feet away and not hear him on another radio.

 

[Sable]

Hey Lux,

Let's say I wanted a Torch pack. Can ya hook me up?

 

[LuxLuthor]

Yeah, I have made some of the Elite 1500mAh x 12 (14.4V "Torch" size) and x 13 (15.6V "MaxBlaster" size) and x 16 (19.2V "DeathBlaster" size) that look just like pix above. I would have to order a bunch of the Elite cells from CBP, but have everything else. Let me know. I also have welded tabs onto Li-Ion cells for making some balancing taps and packs.