several questions: 1. What's the best way to balance the pack if one cell gets out of sync? 2. Is it possible to fix an issue on the board that would be causing the cells to discharge? 3. To your knowledge, do all the XC line of batteries use the same board? I have an old XC the neighbor gave me to mess with, could it be upgraded in this fashion? 4. Could you explain the internal resistance and what it means a bit more? What would be a problematic internal resistance? I assume lower is worser (yes worser :P), actually not sure if my multimeter will measure that. 5. Where did you buy the cells? I heard you say it, but now I can't find the spot again without watching the whole thing through
1. I use a Bench power supply, I can control the current and the voltage applied to the affected cells. However often futile, as the cells discharged for a reason usually internal self discharge. 2. Absolutely no point, boards are around £7 ish it costs more in labour to replace let alone waste more time by looking at the board itself. 3. Same boards only changes throughout production. Bigger higher amp boards are used in the higher current packs. 4. The lower the internal resistance the better, this means less voltage sag/drop for a given current output and less heat production. You need a proper meter to measure it. You will find that cells designed for high current have the lowest internal resistances. Cells designed for high capacity have higher internal resistances. You will also find cells which are failing, performing poorly or have failed have higher internal resistances than when new. A good way to track a packs life is to note its internal resistance when new and then compare this to figures as it ages. 5. www.cellsupply.co.uk/?srsltid=AfmBOop4g8OntfOiuW79g4S6uLuEFhqc4Crct4vFZ7MFIkca8al1s_Nv
@@ACDodd 1. clearly a bench power supply is next on my list of tools to acquire. Been running up against use cases for one much more lately. 2. I agree it isn't practical, but is it possible? What would be the cause of the board draining the battery? I suppose it could be a lot of things. I'm teaching myself electronic repair so I don't mind spending the time. 3. I have a Kaiweets HT118A multimeter. I feel like it should be able to test internal resistance, but I wasn't seeming to get anything when I checked for an ohms reading. It was a good cell. I'll have to research it more. 4. Those cells you purchased, how would they function for someone whose a contractor using them? I've been repairing the packs of my neighbor, but at some point probably better to repack them. Assuming he uses them for the tools they are intended to be used on.
@@thadofalltradesin terms of cells, you get what you pay for. If you want top performance use expensive cells. I use these in my own packs as I would consider myself a relatively light user and don’t need to absolute maximum performance. The way to buy them is the reclaimed cells and buy a larger number to get the price down. With regard to what actually goes wrong on the boards, I don’t know, I just change them. A regular multimeter does not have internal resistance check as a function, it’s a specialised meter needed for this test.
@ no, they are notoriously inaccurate. Use a proper meter. The point is, to do a good job you need the right tools. Send me a message on fb messenger and we can have a video chat
Good question, I find it much easier to solder the nickel strip, mainley because you need to put something under the strip while spot welding to hold the pressure of the electrodes. Secondly you can easily disassemble the soldered joint leaving no damage making it much easier to remove and refit cells as required. I am using normal electronics flux cored soft solder.
Good info.
Thanks for sharing.
several questions:
1. What's the best way to balance the pack if one cell gets out of sync?
2. Is it possible to fix an issue on the board that would be causing the cells to discharge?
3. To your knowledge, do all the XC line of batteries use the same board? I have an old XC the neighbor gave me to mess with, could it be upgraded in this fashion?
4. Could you explain the internal resistance and what it means a bit more? What would be a problematic internal resistance? I assume lower is worser (yes worser :P), actually not sure if my multimeter will measure that.
5. Where did you buy the cells? I heard you say it, but now I can't find the spot again without watching the whole thing through
1. I use a Bench power supply, I can control the current and the voltage applied to the affected cells. However often futile, as the cells discharged for a reason usually internal self discharge.
2. Absolutely no point, boards are around £7 ish it costs more in labour to replace let alone waste more time by looking at the board itself.
3. Same boards only changes throughout production. Bigger higher amp boards are used in the higher current packs.
4. The lower the internal resistance the better, this means less voltage sag/drop for a given current output and less heat production. You need a proper meter to measure it. You will find that cells designed for high current have the lowest internal resistances. Cells designed for high capacity have higher internal resistances. You will also find cells which are failing, performing poorly or have failed have higher internal resistances than when new. A good way to track a packs life is to note its internal resistance when new and then compare this to figures as it ages.
5. www.cellsupply.co.uk/?srsltid=AfmBOop4g8OntfOiuW79g4S6uLuEFhqc4Crct4vFZ7MFIkca8al1s_Nv
@@ACDodd 1. clearly a bench power supply is next on my list of tools to acquire. Been running up against use cases for one much more lately.
2. I agree it isn't practical, but is it possible? What would be the cause of the board draining the battery? I suppose it could be a lot of things. I'm teaching myself electronic repair so I don't mind spending the time.
3. I have a Kaiweets HT118A multimeter. I feel like it should be able to test internal resistance, but I wasn't seeming to get anything when I checked for an ohms reading. It was a good cell. I'll have to research it more.
4. Those cells you purchased, how would they function for someone whose a contractor using them? I've been repairing the packs of my neighbor, but at some point probably better to repack them. Assuming he uses them for the tools they are intended to be used on.
@@thadofalltradesin terms of cells, you get what you pay for. If you want top performance use expensive cells. I use these in my own packs as I would consider myself a relatively light user and don’t need to absolute maximum performance. The way to buy them is the reclaimed cells and buy a larger number to get the price down.
With regard to what actually goes wrong on the boards, I don’t know, I just change them.
A regular multimeter does not have internal resistance check as a function, it’s a specialised meter needed for this test.
@@ACDodd ah I see about the multimeter. There are probably chargers that would show it?
@ no, they are notoriously inaccurate. Use a proper meter. The point is, to do a good job you need the right tools. Send me a message on fb messenger and we can have a video chat
Thanks for clear explanation. Gave thumbs up.
Thankyou
Why not spot weld rather than solder, and is that Silver solder?
Good question, I find it much easier to solder the nickel strip, mainley because you need to put something under the strip while spot welding to hold the pressure of the electrodes. Secondly you can easily disassemble the soldered joint leaving no damage making it much easier to remove and refit cells as required. I am using normal electronics flux cored soft solder.
Great video, lots of great info. Any chance you could provide a link to all the tools you’re using in the video? (Multimeter, spot welder, etc)
I have had them quite a while and therefore no links. Easy to search the web though.
@@ACDodd how about just the models for what you were using for the multimeter and spot welder?
Awesome video
When doing the “4” connections can’t you just use two strips to connect the sequence instead of cutting them and doing 4?
Yes you could do, but if you need to replace a cell easier like this.
@@ACDodd so for speed could just do that. I understand though as you just unsolder it and take it out next time
I was wondering the same thing, good question
Hey I would love to fix my battery’s so I don’t have to buy new one any chance you can give me a list of stuff to buy so I can buy everything too
If you have to buy all the ‘stuff’ it’s cheaper to buy a new battery