Charging Clamps?

Now that I have an ICE Charger on the way I need to focus my attention on the charging clamps. My question is this. Do you have just one size clamp that "DOES ALL" or do you have a multitude of sizes?

There is a smaller size that would be perfect for Li-Ion cells e.g. RCR123's, 18650 etc. Then of course I would get a larger clamp that would spread say 18" enough to do x10 D Cell Packs (Can't find a reason for ten D Cell's but at least I would have the room to accomodate).

Your thoughts please.

Thanks,
Dave

I have seen a thread awhile back where they took cheap carpenters ratcheting bar clamps (usually orange ends) and adapt them for charging by installing brass screws in the plastic ends. Using these type of clamps I would say the limiting factor would be the length of the bar itself.

Hello Dave,

Welcome to the advanced battery charging group. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Clamps are like flashlights... Why make do with one universal clamp, when you can use several custom clamps for different sized battery packs. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif

I started off with one small clamp. It worked well, but then I wanted to charge several cells in series and it was not big enough. Off to the store to get another bigger clamp. I decided to get a BIG one that would accommodate anything I wanted to charge. It ended up being too large to handle conveniently. Back to the store for some medium sized clamps. These are the ones I use most often.

All in all I have five clamps. One opens up 4 1/4" between the jaws, another is 6 3/4", two that open up to 12 3/4" between the jaws, and one that opens up to around 30+".

The 4" and 12" are the ones I use the most, but I have used all of them to some extent.

Tom

I saw a thread earlier about building a jig to solder inline battery packs together. Someone posted they used a piece of wood 90 degree (right angle) trim blocked at a 45 on a piece of wood for assembly. I would assume one could use the same idea, drilling holes in it at regular intervals and put a springing pin/clamp gadget in the holes at the ends to hold batteries tight. You could make a permanent clamp at one in and use the other to adjust size as you add more cells to it. It you only had a few strings of batteries you could just make a few permanent fixtures for each group instead.

I bought several of the new clamps offered by West Mountain Radio without thinking it over properly. I think that they have too much spring tension for anything longer than a RCR123 and they only open to 2". You can get a Pila 168S in them but you need the help of a vise!!

I bought two 4" ratcheting clamps at Sears and popped off the copper pads, cut them a bit and attached them to the Sears clamps.

I cut off the Power Pole connectors on one clamp thinking that I was going to wire in banana type plugs but changed my mind and got some Power Poles&Banana plugs. I made pigtails for all my chargers, etc.

I use nickel plated neodymium rare earth magnets with my triton. Very quick and simple.

I bet most of you guys have some laying around and don't realize it. Modern hard drives (1985+, as an educated guess) use them to seek the head around. More info on hard drive magnets can be found here about a third the way down the page.
Cd/dvd-rom drives also use them to firmly clamp the disc down to the little round plate on the shaft of the brushless motor (can't remember what it's called, damn hangover /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sick.gif), and for the very fine movement of the lens in the head. Cd/dvd-rom drives usually use them for other fuctions as well, (locking the tray for example) but vary from model to model, so you'll have to just poke around.

Ps. Keep these magnets far away from:
Your wallet (magnetic strips in credit/debit/door-key cards).
Floppy disks/hard drives (instant low level format /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif)
Anything with a CRT (TVs/monitors).

[ QUOTE ]
Rossitron said:
I use nickel plated neodymium rare earth magnets with my triton. Very quick and simple.

I bet most of you guys have some laying around and don't realize it. Modern hard drives (1985+, as an educated guess) use them to seek the head around. More info on hard drive magnets can be found here about a third the way down the page.
Cd/dvd-rom drives also use them to firmly clamp the disc down to the little round plate on the shaft of the brushless motor (can't remember what it's called, damn hangover /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sick.gif), and for the very fine movement of the lens in the head. Cd/dvd-rom drives usually use them for other fuctions as well, (locking the tray for example) but vary from model to model, so you'll have to just poke around.

Ps. Keep these magnets far away from:
Your wallet (magnetic strips in credit/debit/door-key cards).
Floppy disks/hard drives (instant low level format /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif)
Anything with a CRT (TVs/monitors).

[/ QUOTE ]
I've been using those magnets for some time but depending on the cell or the amount of ferrous material at the negative end, they won't hold very good. Some of my CBA-II tests show momentary drops which I believe is loss of contact.

Even if one uses a clamp, some cells negative end is flat and the wrapper extends over the end leaving the contact recessed. I bought some copper washers but they don't work all the time because every cell is different! So the easy way is to use a 1/4" diameter magnet and a clamp.

I must be the most ghetto of all. I use various sized rubber bands with my Triton. I might get fancy and try a clamp some day but I've been able to do any cell or pack with rubber bands and jumper wires.

Wilkey

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Ginseng said:
I must be the most ghetto of all. I use various sized rubber bands with my Triton. I might get fancy and try a clamp some day but I've been able to do any cell or pack with rubber bands and jumper wires.

Wilkey

[/ QUOTE ]
I've used rubber bands to hold down a cellphone battery down on two brass contact pins for charging, etc.

Tom (SilverFox), what store and what type/brand clamps are you using?

Bill

Hello Bill,

My small clamp is a Craftsman, the rest are Quick-Grips. The Craftsman came from Sears and the Quick-Grips came from Home Depot.

I am not sure where Wilkey gets is rubber bands, but I have seen assorted sizes at Office Depot and also at the $1 store... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I recently read an article by Duracell discussing the "battery cavity." They suggested that a force of 0.44 pounds (200 grams) against AA batteries was required to insure proper contact and operation of the light (tool). At higher charge/discharge rates, I believe a little more force is required, but be careful. These clamps can deform the nipple if you go too tight.

Tom

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SilverFox said:
Hello Bill,

My small clamp is a Craftsman, the rest are Quick-Grips. The Craftsman came from Sears and the Quick-Grips came from Home Depot.

I am not sure where Wilkey gets is rubber bands, but I have seen assorted sizes at Office Depot and also at the $1 store... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I recently read an article by Duracell discussing the "battery cavity." They suggested that a force of 0.44 pounds (200 grams) against AA batteries was required to insure proper contact and operation of the light (tool). At higher charge/discharge rates, I believe a little more force is required, but be careful. These clamps can deform the nipple if you go too tight.

Tom

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Tom:

Interesting! The ones sold by West Mountain Radio are 2" WolfCraft. They also double as hand exercising equipment too! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I have no way to measure the force but I'd guess that they are a lot more than .44lbs of force!

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wptski said:
[ QUOTE ]
Ginseng said:
I must be the most ghetto of all. I use various sized rubber bands with my Triton. I might get fancy and try a clamp some day but I've been able to do any cell or pack with rubber bands and jumper wires.

Wilkey

[/ QUOTE ]
I've used rubber bands to hold down a cellphone battery down on two brass contact pins for charging, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sometimes I use regular alligator jumper wires and a couple of copper plated BB's to make contact with small things like cellphone pack terminals. Other times I have my bar clamp rig that works for single cells and inline packs. I even have a couple of special rigs I made for dealing with walkie-talkie packs.

Oh, and I have become a large fan of the Anderson Powerpole connectors... I use them on all my charge leads/adapters, and a lot of my 12V stuff too. Recommended!

Chris

[ QUOTE ]
Lynx_Arc said:
I have seen a thread awhile back where they took cheap carpenters ratcheting bar clamps (usually orange ends) and adapt them for charging by installing brass screws in the plastic ends. Using these type of clamps I would say the limiting factor would be the length of the bar itself.

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe that this is the string that you are looking for.

SilverFox's comment about having a couple of different sizes is spot on.