2 years later and we still haven't gotten an official Ryobi station like this. Crazy. 100% would pay for this. Throw in pass through power and it would be amazing!
************** UPDATE: After looking back at my previous posts, I realize that I've missed a critical thing.... I never actually complimented you on such an awesome design!!! Geesh, I dive right into the technical aspects and miss the most important thing: Your hard work!!! Honestly, I'm very impressed with this design. You have taken your passion to a new level. Congratulations on a very nice project! My sincere apologies for only focusing on the technical aspects of paralleling batteries. I'm a complete doofus sometimes.
Did a similar thing with the older flat style 6 port charger. However I just turned mine into a dc power bank I use it for powering lights in my camper and for 6 batteries worth of power on my ebike ...covid boredom does have some creative silver linings
thanks for making these videos! I think we all kind of have the same idea about this stuff, but you actually make those ideas into a reality and that's pretty awesome. keep it up!
Excellent video. I was just watching one of your solar charging videos. Integrating the Victron MPPT would be the answer everyone is looking for. thanks!
Ryobi should hire you we would have better Ryobi products you are a mastermind always thinking of ways to make them work better thank you for your time
Why is it important to use the same batteries? Ryobi batteries have internal battery protection circuits, so they should just drop off the array as they get low.
Awesome build! I saw in your other vid you made an 18V to 40V adapter to run the Ryobi 300W inverter. With this setup you could probably pull 850 watts with the right inverter. I might have to build one. Thanks for sharing.
Great video and idea. We now have the battery topper inverters in Australia but at 240v AC there is not a lot they will power. Something like this that allowed a decent load that maybe required min 3 batteries (to spread the load as Ryobi batteries have no active cooling) and switched from one bank to the other as power depletes would be awesome. Oh and then charged a bank at a time... The current supercharger takes 15 hours to charge a 6 set of 5Ah batteries.
this is a cool idea ! i like thinking out of the normal box too myself ! i just wish it still could charge even if not the original way, since this is an off grid idea maybe an solar part 2 plug in, so this would be even better at camping
Using the supercharger actually isn't a bad idea regardless. Cheapest I can find battery terminals for Ryobi is $7-8 each. Unless u sacrifice broken/free tools etc.
I see you mention 2A for the circuit board. The one thing I was disappointed about this 6 port charger was the fact it can only charge one battery at a time. Do you think it would be possible to modify it to charge 2 at a time? Even one on each side at a time would be a huge improvement. If it could charge them all at the same time that would be ideal.
I built one very similar, but made each side 18 (20) volts to combine them in the final output to use a 40 volt Ryobi 300 watt pure sine inverter, this eliminates needing a step down converter. I also soldered a 12 gauge wire directly to the back side board solder pins. I have 16 Ryobi 4ah batteries so this should keeps things powered for many hours. So when WW3 comes ill have power until the radiation gets me
Awesome, I’m thinking I’ll do this if my charger ever bricks. I’ll probably put a switch on both sides to control what bank the power is coming from, turn both on to use both banks. Could you install diodes to be able to use batteries of mixed sizes and charge levels?
This is by far the smartest DIY inverter hack build on TH-cam. The whole idea is to run for as long as possible using multiple batteries. Would you build one for me? Good for you brother!
Excellent build! A couple of questions. The possibility of the two banks running in series for 36v, could that be achieved with a DPDT switch, if not how would I have the ability to change from 18v to 36v? Also, since the time from completion of this build, thinking back, what would you've done differently on this project? I am about to replicate this build with the same charger and any expertise would be appreciated.
I would love to see you pair these 18v in series to get 36v and then connect this supercharger to your 2000 watt inverter.. That is what I thought of doing and using this supercharger to hold the 6 batteries securely in place and mount the 2000 watt inverter just below this supercharger unit. Pretty much adapting your previous video where you made a homemade box to put the batteries in and connected it to the inverter.
Awesome ! I was dreaming up this same idea before I saw the video ! I just wasn't sure if I should add diodes on each battery to prevent the other batteries from back feeding each other. #Brilliant job 👏
I made one of these according to your video but my has 1 cigarette lighter and one dc jack. I wonder if there is a way to charge the Ryobi battery too.
I know this is several years old but does anyone out there still have a port with the main board intact? I had a diode burn up and can't id the part number on the diode to replace it. It's listed as zd401 on the PCB.
I was hoping you could answer a question for me. I am hoping to make my own EBike powered by 6 - 4ah batteries (36v @ 12ah). This holder would be perfect base, but was sad to see the connectors were on a board. Do you think it would be possible to make this work in a series - parallel configuration? or would the board cause me issues?
I agree it would make a nice 2S3P holder. Not sure if board traces would cause issue. I did a 2S4P config in this project: th-cam.com/video/lAAWFCU4iEM/w-d-xo.html
@@SerendipitySue Yeah I watched that video, but do not have access to a 3d Printer. I can get some power caps on Esty, but this makes such a nice clean look.
i really hoped that it would still be a charger as well. its a really nice projekt and a useful accessory to have around. but i must ask . how much more work would it require to have it be able to handel different voltages and battery sizes? feels a little annoying to need 6 4amps or 6 9 amps. would be a lot easier to be able to add different sizes depending on what you have on hand. As for now i hope that they will release a proper inverter and charger kombo just like dewalt or milwakey.
you could add blocking diodes like I did in the 40 Volt battery hack ( th-cam.com/video/p4xW9f1ohlw/w-d-xo.html ), but you still have to deal with the undersize wires.
I agree with your statement that the Voltages on all batteries MUST be identical prior to connecting them in parallel. However, batteries connected in parallel DO NOT need to be the same capacity (Amphours). Their capacities will simply add together. Additionally, don't believe the myth that the smaller capacity battery will drain faster than the bigger battery. If they are connected in parallel, they will drain together and charge together. PERIOD. (SIDE NOTE: I do recommend that each battery START with a full charge PRIOR to connecting them in parallel. Once they are connected in parallel... from THIS POINT forward, they will automatically charge up together and discharge together due to the fact that their Voltages are identical.) What you'll find (if you look closely) is that the bigger battery will provide more of the current to the load than the smaller battery... exactly in the proportion of the two batteries' capacities. So for example, if you are using a 2Ah battery and a 4Ah battery in parallel: The 4Ah battery will provide twice as much current as the 2Ah battery. Thus overall, they split the power demand 33% to the smaller battery and 66% to the larger battery. This sharing of the power happens with all batteries in parallel, regardless of how many there are.... two, six or 600. The same thing happens during charging... the higher capacity 4Ah battery will get twice as much current as the 2Ah battery gets from the charging system. This happens AUTOMATICALLY... based on the capacities of each battery wired in parallel. It has nothing to do with the charging circuitry electronics. In fact, the charger has no way of knowing how many batteries are wired in parallel. The various batteries will self-regulate the power based on their capacities. There are too many myths and opinions surrounding batteries. The above information is NOT an opinion... it's factual information that can be verified in most any Electrical Engineering book. ****************************************** Completely off the topic, but still interesting to note: If we were discussing batteries in SERIES, I would have been insisting that batteries connected in SERIES do NOT have to be the same voltage. But they absolutely MUST be the same capacity (Amphours)! Weird huh? (And just as I recommended above for parallel batteries, it's best to charge each battery up to full PRIOR to connecting them in series.) It's sort of the 'converse' of the information I wrote about above for batteries connected in parallel. Perhaps this is why the information gets all jumbled up when its goes out on the internet? Maybe somebody misinterprets the above scenarios and just combines the information incorrectly?
I have a dead Ryobi P125 Superchager and would like to convert it into a powerstation. I understand the concept of having all the batteries fully charged - so they don't try to cross charge and equalize a depleted battery. I don't understand why all the batteries must be the same Ah rating. I thought if fully charged, but mixed Ah, batteries connected in parallel were in a powerstation, then any current draw would pull more amps from the higher Ah batteries than the lower Ah batteries while at the same time keeping the voltage equalized on all the batteries. This project would be more valuable to me to be able to use mixed Ah batteries in the powerstation. Thank you if you can provide any links on this issue. Love your videos.
@@SerendipitySue Thanks for the reply. I just don't think that a small amp draw difference between 6 mixed Ah rated batteries would be enough to stress out any individual battery. The benefits of using all my various Ah batteries on the converted powerstation would be cost savings and longer total run times by using all my batteries, if needed. Anyway, I think I will try your conversion build on my dead P125 Supercharger and maybe give that unit an extra life. Great idea. Thanks.
Can this system be run with a higher watt inverter? Like he uses a 300w but could you technically run a 1000w or 1500w inverter on this? I know the power would drain faster. But these are power tool batteries designed to run fairly high demand appliances, I would hope you could at least power a griddle for a few hours or so
Picked up a broken for parts power station hoping to replicate this. Any idea how long this would last with 6 6ah 18v Ryobi batteries running a CPAP machine with no humidifier or heated tubes just straight air pressure? Also What toggle switch did you use I didn't see it in the comments?
I love what you've done with this video, but I have a question related to how the supercharger works. I want to make one bank of my supercharger capable of stopping at a battery voltage of ~ 19.0 V (for ideal storage voltage). That would be perfect, 3 slots for full charging and 3 slots for storage charging. I know from tinkering experience that putting a diode in series with a CC/CV charging source will result in the battery being charged to a lower voltage, with the difference corresponding to the forward voltage of the diode. I'm wondering if that twisted pair of red and black wires going to each charging bank consists of a CC/CV 4A, 20.5V. And if I were to put two silicon diodes in series with that connection would I have the batteries stopping at ~ 19.0 V...
The 18V hack doesn't charge batteries any more. You could put in blocking diodes like I did in the 40V hack ( th-cam.com/video/p4xW9f1ohlw/w-d-xo.html ). If you are charging with a solar charger, you can set the charge voltage on the controller ( th-cam.com/video/xhLEnkzLj60/w-d-xo.html )
want to make this to fit on a ebike and just pop batteries in and be able to change bike voltage from 36 to 72 and swap batteries fast. I made one for my small bike that uses 40 volt battery from my 40 volt set of Ryobi and works great and i left the charger board and still use it both ways, it charges in 1 hr and no ebike can do that, that i know of.
You did an excellent job. However, your batteries are not connected correctly. What will happen is that the 2 batteries closest to the output will drain first. You can easily fix it so they all drain evenly. Rewire it as follows: B1 thru B6 wired in parallel. For the output connection, connect positive wire to B1, then negative wire to B6. This will evenly draw power especially on heavier loads with the inverter.
I have designed several different 18/40V Ryobi battery adapters. I have put the 3D print files on Prusa and Thingiverse sharing sites... www.prusaprinters.org/prints/39638-ryobi-one-18v-battery-charge-adapter-for-solar-pow
From the battery side...If you went with the 9ah batteries. A 1C rate would be 9A * 6 batteries * 13.8V = 745Watts. Unfortunately the DC to DC converter limits you (25A version would be 345W)
Do you have a variable voltage power supply to validate that the inverter will work in the full 15V to 21V range? If so, you can connect inverter directly to batteries. You would still want DC-DC for the regulated 13.8V required by some devices
Question when you use that charger to charge the 6 battery’s .. can you leave the battery’s in the charger after they are fully charged and the charger left plugged in. Will this hurt the battery’s 🔋
I have several videos showing how to solar charge 18V batteries. If all the batteries were similar voltage and capacity you could potentially charge them with a single charger. If they are different charge levels, you will have problems
Hi bud great video. Can you do a similar video converting the dewalt power station from 4 flex volt batters to 8 batteries and making the system pure sine. Thanks ill even pay you for this project. Thanks
I haven't seen the dewalt power station ( amzn.to/3pJnx9F ) in person. I don't know if the Dewalt batteries have the BMS' in the battery or in the tool. It is much safer for hacking projects if it is in the battery. I wish I could find an inverter that would take the 15-21V battery range. Ones like the powerbright ( amzn.to/35KXvuo ) go 20V-30V or 10-15V :-(
I did find an 18V inverter! ( amzn.to/3ffcJva ). The RYOBI batteries can reliably output 10A... so you would need something like 20 of them in parallel to generate 3000 watts :-O Not sure what Dewalt batteries are capable of...
Hey bud. The dewalt power station as you mentioned uses 4 flexvolt batteries capable of 20 or 60 volts. The batteries range from 6 9 & 12amp hour batteries. It puts out 3600 peak watts and 1800 continious watts . The problem is that it puts out modified sine wave and personally I want to modify the tool by combining 2 units into 1 going from 4 flex volt batteries to 8 with pure sine wave.
Just to answer your question. The Dewalt power station power is in the external batteries and not built into they use the same batteries from the cordless tools ect.
Any chance you still have the main board? On mine, resistor R210 has burned and I can’t tell what value is was. Hoping maybe you can send me a picture showing me the color code on that resistor. Thanks!
I use same Ah batteries because they all draw down equally. I want to make sure they are equally sharing the load. I need to do some tests of how mixing battery sizes disperses the load.
Is there any way to mod the P135 to charge all batteries at the same time? (obviously not now in its current state but if I were to buy one new, is that possible)
It's a tough problem. The batteries could be in all different states of charge. If you tie them all together, the voltage will try to equalize. A large amount of current could go rushing from a fully charged battery to an empty one. The batteries can only be charged at 2-3A. It could be dangerous. You would need it to act like 6 separate chargers... which you could do, but you would need a hefty/expensive power supply.
This is super cool. I love this idea. So it's safe to wire all the batteries in parallel like this? You don't need to use some sort of diode or anything? Edit: ah, I just saw your comment at the end about using the same size and charge batteries. I'm assuming this is to avoid using diodes?
yes *very* important that you use batteries with a similar charge... otherwise there will be a huge rush of current to the lower voltage battery. I would hope that the BMS would handle this, but I don't want to test it ;-)
. You could eliminate the dc-dc converter and wire it to run 36V (2S3P) with a high amp connector. This 8 battery project (with 4Ah batteries) runs 2600W ( th-cam.com/video/lAAWFCU4iEM/w-d-xo.html ). This 36V 1000W inverter works pretty well ( amzn.to/3x7AiyY )
In the US this charger comes with a USB port. My UK version doesn't. However, the plastic moulding has a blanking plate over where the usb port should be. As a project a was going to retro fit a usb port. Would anyone know where on the USA charger the usb port takes its power from? Or could I just solder one onto the battery positive/negative charging port and take 18v from there? Then just have a usb socket that steps the voltage down?
Great idea, but you just brought a supercharger for housing case. It is rather expensive to have without balancing and charging function. I would like to see if you can keep all the function with a modified case.
SerendipitySue You can have 2 dedicated circuit for charging and discharging by using switch to somehow separate the two circuit. And then make a bigger housing with your 3D printer. And I also think you should add battery BMS for your safety.
SerendipitySue For BMS, I found it is hard to get a 1S6P board, but without take the cells out, this system is one serial with 6 parallels. parallel system is more likely to running imbalance than serial system. Imbalances decrease efficiency and increase risk of heat ups.
@@lingxiangzhu6152 each of the Ryobi batteries have their own BMS. The goal of this project was to make something people could do without a 3D printer :-)
well the most power you want to pull out of each battery is around 10A.. so six batteries would give you max of 60A. Figure the drained down voltage is 15V... so that would give you 900Watts to play with. Victron sells a 1200 Watt pure sine inverter ( amzn.to/320nPP3 ). I've used it to power a small 700W microwave ( th-cam.com/video/emJtaHUC5SE/w-d-xo.html )
You are the coolest guy ever! This is blows my mind! In order to charge the batteries for 2nd use, I assume you need to pull each out and use a charger one at a time, right?
@@SerendipitySue I thought the switch was going to toggle it between charge and discharge modes. Could you do this by intercepting the leads with a relay or something? I know zero about this stuff, but that sounds cool.
they don't need to be the same size. it will drain them all by voltage. so if you had a 4ah and a 1.5 ah it will use more from the larger battery. but yes its very very very important that you dont put a charged with a low. I've exploded some lipos and seen others do the same. granted in your case i think it would melt the connectors frist but still.
I haven't tried it with the Ryobi battery packs... but with individual 18650 cells, the weakest/smallest cell limits the combined battery capacity. Give it a try and post your results!
@@SerendipitySue in series yes, not in parellel if I make a 30p1s pack will all random compacity cells the smaller cells will contribute their mah. although in series you will be limited by the compacity of the smallest cell. same is true for solar panels if you shade just one cell in a solar panel the whole panel output will drop. in your 36v system you would wan to marry the p1 and p2 batteries so that you had the same ah in both 18v packs. flying rc drones we parrelell charge all the time. If i want to charge a 1.3ah and a 2ah 6s at 1c i would just charge both at 3.3 amps and the 1.3 would take 1.3 amps and the 2.0 would take 2 amps out of the 3.6amps
im thinking of trying this by putting a xt60 into 6 of the single chargers. so i can make a wiring harness to make a 36v or 18v battery bank. Plus i could unplug the harness and still charge the batteris like normal
I agree with your statement that the Voltages on all batteries MUST be identical prior to connecting them in parallel. However, batteries connected in parallel DO NOT need to be the same capacity (Amphours). Their capacities will simply add together. Additionally, don't believe the myth that the smaller capacity battery will drain faster than the bigger battery. If they are connected in parallel, they will drain together and charge together. PERIOD. (SIDE NOTE: I do recommend that each battery START with a full charge PRIOR to connecting them in parallel. Once they are connected in parallel... from THIS POINT forward, they will automatically charge up together and discharge together due to the fact that their Voltages are identical.) What you'll find (if you look closely) is that the bigger battery will provide more of the current to the load than the smaller battery... exactly in the proportion of the two batteries' capacities. So for example, if you are using a 2Ah battery and a 4Ah battery in parallel: The 4Ah battery will provide twice as much current as the 2Ah battery. Thus overall, they split the power demand 33% to the smaller battery and 66% to the larger battery. This sharing of the power happens with all batteries in parallel, regardless of how many there are.... two, six or 600. The same thing happens during charging... the higher capacity 4Ah battery will get twice as much current as the 2Ah battery gets from the charging system. This happens AUTOMATICALLY... based on the capacities of each battery wired in parallel. It has nothing to do with the charging circuitry electronics. In fact, the charger has no way of knowing how many batteries are wired in parallel. The various batteries will self-regulate the power based on their capacities. There are too many myths and opinions surrounding batteries. The above information is NOT an opinion... it's factual information that can be verified in most any Electrical Engineering book. **************************************** Completely off the topic, but still interesting to note: If we were discussing batteries in SERIES, I would have been insisting that batteries connected in SERIES do NOT have to be the same voltage. But they absolutely MUST be the same capacity (Amphours)! Weird huh? (And just as I recommended above for parallel batteries, it's best to charge each battery up to full PRIOR to connecting them in series.) It's sort of the 'converse' of the information I wrote about above for batteries connected in parallel. Perhaps this is why the information gets all jumbled up when its goes out on the internet? Maybe somebody misinterprets the above scenarios and just combines the information incorrectly?
@SerendipitySue - You're still not understanding the principal of parallel batteries. My point being that there is no reason they all have to expend the same amount of current, or as you phrase it "contribute equally". They all act as one big battery, regardless of whether or not they are each providing equal current. That's an arbitrary condition that you are making mandatory unnecessarily. Look at it this way... even with ten batteries of varying capacities connected in parallel, they will all reach 90% State of Charge (SOC) at the same time. And they will all reach 75% SOC at the same time. And they will all reach 50% SOC at the same time. And they will all reach 10% SOC at the exact same time. So why does it matter how much current each of those ten batteries is contributing if they all discharge at the same proportionate amount based on their capacities? Mathematically speaking, (based on their capacities in Ah) each battery actually is contributing "equally" in terms of PERCENTAGE of their capacity. It's the percentage that matters, not the absolute value of the current being provided by each battery. I could go into detail about what's known as the "C" rating of a battery and why the percentage is more important than the actual number of Amps being delivered... but that's a long boring story. *** SUMMARY: If you feel more comfortable using only identical batteries in parallel, that is perfectly fine to do. It takes any guesswork out of the equation. But just be aware that it's perfectly fine to utilize different capacity batteries when using a parallel battery configuration. They will all charge up, and discharge down perfectly in sync with each other. That's the beauty of a parallel connection. And each battery will be pushing the same "C" rated current based on its capacity, thus equally sharing the burden presented by the load. (i.e. - one battery won't get hot while the others are hardly doing any work. They each do the SAME work, relative to their “C” rating, even though each battery may have a different capacity.). What I’m trying to say is each battery in a parallel system… regardless of its capacity or the magnitude of current that it’s delivering, will be delivering the same “C” amount. Let’s use 0.5 C as an example. So 0.5 C for a 6Ah battery is 3Amps. But 0.5 C for a 2Ah battery is only 1Amp. Together they supply 4 Amps, but each battery is working to the same degree. The 3Amp demand on the 6Ah battery is the same level of 'stress' that the 1Amp demand is for the 2Ah battery. Neither battery is being “pushed” harder than the other. That's a very important point. This happens automatically when you place them in parallel. Each battery sees the same “C” load, despite the fact that they provide different amounts of current. I wish I could upload a drawing to illustrate the idea better. This automatic "C" level balancing between different capacity batteries in parallel makes much more sense when you can visualize what's happening and where the current is coming from (or going to.) Your statements at 8:00 are well intentioned but not 100% accurate: 1) Using Same capacity batteries ---> No, not important at all. 2) Connecting the batteries when they are at the same charge level (Voltage) ---> Yes, that's VERY important for parallel battery connections! 3) Your suggestion to only use fully charged batteries ---> Yes, that's VERY important! 4) Later, at 8:26, the label on your awesome unit that says "Caution: Only use same Ah size batteries" is not necessary. 5) At 8:26, the label on your unit that says "Install only fully charged batteries" ---> Yes, I agree. This will ensure that they charge and discharge together, perfectly. After looking back at my previous posts, I realize that I've missed a critical thing.... I never actually complimented you on such an awesome design!!! Geesh, I dive right into the technical aspects and miss the most important thing: Your hard work!!! Honestly, I'm very impressed with this design. You have taken your passion to a new level. Congratulations on a very nice project! My sincere apologies for only focusing on the technical aspects of paralleling batteries. I'm a complete doofus sometimes.
Yes I understand. it's for simplification. In some of my other projects we're using nSmP configurations. It gets complicated to explain. You can't go wrong using the same battery sizes. Also don't forget the BMS's We don't know the specs for the different battery models. From my tests you can pull about 10A. The BMS is often the limiting factor not the underlying cells.
No I was wondering if anyone knew where the usb port takes its power from inside the USA super charger? I wish to retro fit a usb port to my UK version of the supercharger
Love to see a video off endurance off ex : Pc , or tv buy occupied 6x4ah , my project is to used for a bazar project outdoors, so I can show my and maid project with no electricity ⚡️ available sorry my ingles
I am so desperate for a 15A 110V output powerstation running off my one+ batteries... Would need it to run off of different size and different charge amount batteries though. Please Ryobi! Everyone send them an e-mail on their website.
@@johnwilliamson062 - I understand. I have a lot of Ryobi 18V batteries myself. And a lot of Ryobi 18V devices. But for larger devices, it’s clear that Ryobi is going with 40V as the new standard, and I’m happy to support that. So far, all 40V Ryobi devices that I’ve tried have been clearly superior to their 18V equivalents, if there even is an 18V equivalent. And I’d rather have one good Ryobi device at 40V than two bad devices at 40V and 18V.
@@shubinternet maybe. What non-lawn tools are on it? I think they are investing in a multi battery flexvolt type system though. I don't think their 40v has proven competitive. DIY and woodworkers wantnlittle to do with two sets of batteries.
@@johnwilliamson062 - but if they did that, then they would have three different battery systems they’d have to support, with radically different physical interfaces. That seems highly unlikely to me.
2 years later and we still haven't gotten an official Ryobi station like this. Crazy. 100% would pay for this. Throw in pass through power and it would be amazing!
from future,
we have them now
I love/HATE Ryobi cause of this.
************** UPDATE: After looking back at my previous posts, I realize that I've missed a critical thing.... I never actually complimented you on such an awesome design!!! Geesh, I dive right into the technical aspects and miss the most important thing: Your hard work!!!
Honestly, I'm very impressed with this design. You have taken your passion to a new level. Congratulations on a very nice project! My sincere apologies for only focusing on the technical aspects of paralleling batteries. I'm a complete doofus sometimes.
Picked up the project neaqrly a year later and soldered the wires on the back of the PCB works great ty for the inspiration
Did a similar thing with the older flat style 6 port charger. However I just turned mine into a dc power bank I use it for powering lights in my camper and for 6 batteries worth of power on my ebike ...covid boredom does have some creative silver linings
thanks for making these videos! I think we all kind of have the same idea about this stuff, but you actually make those ideas into a reality and that's pretty awesome. keep it up!
Others have surely said it before me, but Ryobi needs to hire you man.
Excellent video. I was just watching one of your solar charging videos. Integrating the Victron MPPT would be the answer everyone is looking for. thanks!
I like the DC-DC converter approach. I think I'll be making such a device.
Ryobi should hire you we would have better Ryobi products you are a mastermind always thinking of ways to make them work better thank you for your time
Why is it important to use the same batteries? Ryobi batteries have internal battery protection circuits, so they should just drop off the array as they get low.
@@GraflexGuy just being safe that all batteries are equally sharing the load
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING OF MAKING! I just never thought of searching for it until today! Thanks for the info this is awesome!
Awesome build!
I saw in your other vid you made an 18V to 40V adapter to run the Ryobi 300W inverter.
With this setup you could probably pull 850 watts with the right inverter. I might have to build one. Thanks for sharing.
Super neat guy. Thanks for the video
Very good thinking. Hope Ryobi gets the clue.
I agree, the other companies have already done this, you can't even use the built in USB port because it only gives power when it's plugged in
Why doesn’t this video have more views?
Fantastic projects!
I love Ryobi. I will make one myself but a smaller pack setup. Thank you for the share.
Great video and idea. We now have the battery topper inverters in Australia but at 240v AC there is not a lot they will power. Something like this that allowed a decent load that maybe required min 3 batteries (to spread the load as Ryobi batteries have no active cooling) and switched from one bank to the other as power depletes would be awesome. Oh and then charged a bank at a time... The current supercharger takes 15 hours to charge a 6 set of 5Ah batteries.
This is exactly what I've been looking for!!!
this is a cool idea ! i like thinking out of the normal box too myself ! i just wish it still could charge even if not the original way, since this is an off grid idea maybe an solar part 2 plug in, so this would be even better at camping
On my 40V battery hack, I put blocking diodes in so you can still charge
Using the supercharger actually isn't a bad idea regardless. Cheapest I can find battery terminals for Ryobi is $7-8 each.
Unless u sacrifice broken/free tools etc.
I see you mention 2A for the circuit board. The one thing I was disappointed about this 6 port charger was the fact it can only charge one battery at a time. Do you think it would be possible to modify it to charge 2 at a time? Even one on each side at a time would be a huge improvement. If it could charge them all at the same time that would be ideal.
ran into some clearance issues with the wire soldered to the prong side of the board going to try to solder the wires to the back side of the board.
I’ve been asking myself why Ryobi doesn’t make one power station like that with the 18v batteries? And I see that I’m not the only one.
They do now
@@Arturius66 Not as good as this design - low amps, don't let you stack batteries, terrible reviews
He says it's not pretty, but it comes out perfect
Awesome! Was looking forward to seeing this :)
I built one very similar, but made each side 18 (20) volts to combine them in the final output to use a 40 volt Ryobi 300 watt pure sine inverter, this eliminates needing a step down converter. I also soldered a 12 gauge wire directly to the back side board solder pins. I have 16 Ryobi 4ah batteries so this should keeps things powered for many hours. So when WW3 comes ill have power until the radiation gets me
Garage opener battery backup? But still use the batteries from time to time for tools
Awesome, I’m thinking I’ll do this if my charger ever bricks. I’ll probably put a switch on both sides to control what bank the power is coming from, turn both on to use both banks. Could you install diodes to be able to use batteries of mixed sizes and charge levels?
probably, on my 40V charger hack I put diodes and you can still use it as a charger
This is by far the smartest DIY inverter hack build on TH-cam. The whole idea is to run for as long as possible using multiple batteries. Would you build one for me? Good for you brother!
sorry, I'm not really in the position to make/sell/support these. I have put everything I used to make it on the video description.
@@SerendipitySue Ok. Thanks anyway, I understand. Great work..
Fantastic again! Man you are killing it!
Excellent build! A couple of questions. The possibility of the two banks running in series for 36v, could that be achieved with a DPDT switch, if not how would I have the ability to change from 18v to 36v?
Also, since the time from completion of this build, thinking back, what would you've done differently on this project?
I am about to replicate this build with the same charger and any expertise would be appreciated.
Great video. Question, does the charger still charge the batteries when plugged in?
It no longer has the charging function
Would be neat to put some switches in to isolate the batteries when necessary and keep the sequential charge function
Very cool! I've always wanted to do something like this.
I would love to see you pair these 18v in series to get 36v and then connect this supercharger to your 2000 watt inverter.. That is what I thought of doing and using this supercharger to hold the 6 batteries securely in place and mount the 2000 watt inverter just below this supercharger unit. Pretty much adapting your previous video where you made a homemade box to put the batteries in and connected it to the inverter.
That's a nice build!
Awesome ! I was dreaming up this same idea before I saw the video ! I just wasn't sure if I should add diodes on each battery to prevent the other batteries from back feeding each other. #Brilliant job 👏
I made one of these according to your video but my has 1 cigarette lighter and one dc jack. I wonder if there is a way to charge the Ryobi battery too.
Any way to build a car booster from these batteries?
probably... I'll have to think about it
I know this is several years old but does anyone out there still have a port with the main board intact? I had a diode burn up and can't id the part number on the diode to replace it. It's listed as zd401 on the PCB.
I was hoping you could answer a question for me. I am hoping to make my own EBike powered by 6 - 4ah batteries (36v @ 12ah). This holder would be perfect base, but was sad to see the connectors were on a board. Do you think it would be possible to make this work in a series - parallel configuration? or would the board cause me issues?
I agree it would make a nice 2S3P holder. Not sure if board traces would cause issue. I did a 2S4P config in this project: th-cam.com/video/lAAWFCU4iEM/w-d-xo.html
@@SerendipitySue Yeah I watched that video, but do not have access to a 3d Printer. I can get some power caps on Esty, but this makes such a nice clean look.
i really hoped that it would still be a charger as well. its a really nice projekt and a useful accessory to have around. but i must ask . how much more work would it require to have it be able to handel different voltages and battery sizes? feels a little annoying to need 6 4amps or 6 9 amps. would be a lot easier to be able to add different sizes depending on what you have on hand. As for now i hope that they will release a proper inverter and charger kombo just like dewalt or milwakey.
you could add blocking diodes like I did in the 40 Volt battery hack ( th-cam.com/video/p4xW9f1ohlw/w-d-xo.html ), but you still have to deal with the undersize wires.
I agree with your statement that the Voltages on all batteries MUST be identical prior to connecting them in parallel. However, batteries connected in parallel DO NOT need to be the same capacity (Amphours). Their capacities will simply add together. Additionally, don't believe the myth that the smaller capacity battery will drain faster than the bigger battery. If they are connected in parallel, they will drain together and charge together. PERIOD.
(SIDE NOTE: I do recommend that each battery START with a full charge PRIOR to connecting them in parallel. Once they are connected in parallel... from THIS POINT forward, they will automatically charge up together and discharge together due to the fact that their Voltages are identical.)
What you'll find (if you look closely) is that the bigger battery will provide more of the current to the load than the smaller battery... exactly in the proportion of the two batteries' capacities. So for example, if you are using a 2Ah battery and a 4Ah battery in parallel: The 4Ah battery will provide twice as much current as the 2Ah battery. Thus overall, they split the power demand 33% to the smaller battery and 66% to the larger battery. This sharing of the power happens with all batteries in parallel, regardless of how many there are.... two, six or 600.
The same thing happens during charging... the higher capacity 4Ah battery will get twice as much current as the 2Ah battery gets from the charging system. This happens AUTOMATICALLY... based on the capacities of each battery wired in parallel. It has nothing to do with the charging circuitry electronics. In fact, the charger has no way of knowing how many batteries are wired in parallel. The various batteries will self-regulate the power based on their capacities.
There are too many myths and opinions surrounding batteries. The above information is NOT an opinion... it's factual information that can be verified in most any Electrical Engineering book.
******************************************
Completely off the topic, but still interesting to note:
If we were discussing batteries in SERIES, I would have been insisting that batteries connected in SERIES do NOT have to be the same voltage. But they absolutely MUST be the same capacity (Amphours)! Weird huh?
(And just as I recommended above for parallel batteries, it's best to charge each battery up to full PRIOR to connecting them in series.)
It's sort of the 'converse' of the information I wrote about above for batteries connected in parallel. Perhaps this is why the information gets all jumbled up when its goes out on the internet? Maybe somebody misinterprets the above scenarios and just combines the information incorrectly?
I have a dead Ryobi P125 Superchager and would like to convert it into a powerstation. I understand the concept of having all the batteries fully charged - so they don't try to cross charge and equalize a depleted battery. I don't understand why all the batteries must be the same Ah rating. I thought if fully charged, but mixed Ah, batteries connected in parallel were in a powerstation, then any current draw would pull more amps from the higher Ah batteries than the lower Ah batteries while at the same time keeping the voltage equalized on all the batteries. This project would be more valuable to me to be able to use mixed Ah batteries in the powerstation. Thank you if you can provide any links on this issue. Love your videos.
It just puts less stress on the batteries, since they will all share the load equally.
@@SerendipitySue Thanks for the reply. I just don't think that a small amp draw difference between 6 mixed Ah rated batteries would be enough to stress out any individual battery. The benefits of using all my various Ah batteries on the converted powerstation would be cost savings and longer total run times by using all my batteries, if needed. Anyway, I think I will try your conversion build on my dead P125 Supercharger and maybe give that unit an extra life. Great idea. Thanks.
This is an amazing build! Can you charge this with a solar panel?
not particular project, but if you look through my videos I have done several solar charging videos
Will you sell yours or how much to do my supercharger?
Sorry, I'm not in a position to make/sell/support products. I put the design out for free.
@@SerendipitySue thank you
Can this system be run with a higher watt inverter? Like he uses a 300w but could you technically run a 1000w or 1500w inverter on this?
I know the power would drain faster. But these are power tool batteries designed to run fairly high demand appliances, I would hope you could at least power a griddle for a few hours or so
I built this one that uses the 18V batteries and can run 2600W inverter th-cam.com/video/lAAWFCU4iEM/w-d-xo.html
Picked up a broken for parts power station hoping to replicate this. Any idea how long this would last with 6 6ah 18v Ryobi batteries running a CPAP machine with no humidifier or heated tubes just straight air pressure? Also What toggle switch did you use I didn't see it in the comments?
I love what you've done with this video, but I have a question related to how the supercharger works. I want to make one bank of my supercharger capable of stopping at a battery voltage of ~ 19.0 V (for ideal storage voltage). That would be perfect, 3 slots for full charging and 3 slots for storage charging.
I know from tinkering experience that putting a diode in series with a CC/CV charging source will result in the battery being charged to a lower voltage, with the difference corresponding to the forward voltage of the diode. I'm wondering if that twisted pair of red and black wires going to each charging bank consists of a CC/CV 4A, 20.5V. And if I were to put two silicon diodes in series with that connection would I have the batteries stopping at ~ 19.0 V...
The 18V hack doesn't charge batteries any more. You could put in blocking diodes like I did in the 40V hack ( th-cam.com/video/p4xW9f1ohlw/w-d-xo.html ). If you are charging with a solar charger, you can set the charge voltage on the controller ( th-cam.com/video/xhLEnkzLj60/w-d-xo.html )
want to make this to fit on a ebike and just pop batteries in and be able to change bike voltage from 36 to 72 and swap batteries fast. I made one for my small bike that uses 40 volt battery from my 40 volt set of Ryobi and works great and i left the charger board and still use it both ways, it charges in 1 hr and no ebike can do that, that i know of.
This cannot still function as a charger correct? Is it possible to make these modifications and keep the charging function?
How much you want for it?? Come on buddy😁👍
You did an excellent job. However, your batteries are not connected correctly. What will happen is that the 2 batteries closest to the output will drain first. You can easily fix it so they all drain evenly. Rewire it as follows: B1 thru B6 wired in parallel. For the output connection, connect positive wire to B1, then negative wire to B6. This will evenly draw power especially on heavier loads with the inverter.
I haven't seen this problem. I use it for my 12V cooler and 300W pure sine wave inverter.
Could this work with a 3000 watt pure sine wave inverter?
probably too much for six batteries.. I built a 2600W ryobi powerstation using 8 batteries. There is a video about it.
Can you recommend a buck converter that can be purchased from Amazon I want to build one using m18 milwaukee batteries
if you want to go from "18V" tool battery (15-21V) down to 13.8V you could use: amzn.to/3NnoXkK
Hi I'm looking for the part number of the black pieces that the battery click into or someone to 3D print it.
I have designed several different 18/40V Ryobi battery adapters. I have put the 3D print files on Prusa and Thingiverse sharing sites... www.prusaprinters.org/prints/39638-ryobi-one-18v-battery-charge-adapter-for-solar-pow
What is the largest 12v inverter you can use with this set up? I know because of the batteries you only can pull so much power.
From the battery side...If you went with the 9ah batteries. A 1C rate would be 9A * 6 batteries * 13.8V = 745Watts. Unfortunately the DC to DC converter limits you (25A version would be 345W)
Love the mod : question can it work with a inverter off 12v/24v and bypass de Dc to Dc
Do you have a variable voltage power supply to validate that the inverter will work in the full 15V to 21V range? If so, you can connect inverter directly to batteries. You would still want DC-DC for the regulated 13.8V required by some devices
Yes super tanks so much hope Ryobi wood put you on there developing department or hocup with some 9hn battery 🔋 for your input development 🤝🤗
Question when you use that charger to charge the 6 battery’s .. can you leave the battery’s in the charger after they are fully charged and the charger left plugged in. Will this hurt the battery’s 🔋
batteries, not battery's
I would love to see if you could plumb 24v solar into it directly and see if it would charge without blowing up!
I have several videos showing how to solar charge 18V batteries. If all the batteries were similar voltage and capacity you could potentially charge them with a single charger. If they are different charge levels, you will have problems
Hi bud great video. Can you do a similar video converting the dewalt power station from 4 flex volt batters to 8 batteries and making the system pure sine. Thanks ill even pay you for this project. Thanks
I haven't seen the dewalt power station ( amzn.to/3pJnx9F ) in person. I don't know if the Dewalt batteries have the BMS' in the battery or in the tool. It is much safer for hacking projects if it is in the battery. I wish I could find an inverter that would take the 15-21V battery range. Ones like the powerbright ( amzn.to/35KXvuo ) go 20V-30V or 10-15V :-(
I did find an 18V inverter! ( amzn.to/3ffcJva ). The RYOBI batteries can reliably output 10A... so you would need something like 20 of them in parallel to generate 3000 watts :-O
Not sure what Dewalt batteries are capable of...
Hey bud. The dewalt power station as you mentioned uses 4 flexvolt batteries capable of 20 or 60 volts. The batteries range from 6 9 & 12amp hour batteries. It puts out 3600 peak watts and 1800 continious watts . The problem is that it puts out modified sine wave and personally I want to modify the tool by combining 2 units into 1 going from 4 flex volt batteries to 8 with pure sine wave.
Just to answer your question. The Dewalt power station power is in the external batteries and not built into they use the same batteries from the cordless tools ect.
@@chickmagnet225713 does anyone know if the battery protection (BMS) is in the tool or in each battery?
How much for a power station like the one you made?
Sorry, I don't sell them.
Would love someone to turn this into a portable stick welder :).
wow that would take alot more current capability.
Would ever consider building another one and sell to me ive been looking for something like this
Sorry, I'm not really in a position to make/sell things.
Doesn't that void the e
Warranty?.
yup!
Any chance you still have the main board? On mine, resistor R210 has burned and I can’t tell what value is was. Hoping maybe you can send me a picture showing me the color code on that resistor. Thanks!
gray-red-black-gold (81 Ohm measured)
@@SerendipitySue thank you so much!!
Why can't you you have different ah rated batteries?
I use same Ah batteries because they all draw down equally. I want to make sure they are equally sharing the load. I need to do some tests of how mixing battery sizes disperses the load.
what did you do with the main circuit board
saved it
@@SerendipitySue ok thanks, I have the exact charger but the main board got damaged cannot seem to find a replacement board
could you do a video converting the 40v Ryobi supercharger into a hot swapable powerstation
good idea
Do you have any .stl files for any of your other 3D projects?
yup! www.printables.com/social/48277-simple3d/collections/122598
Is there any way to mod the P135 to charge all batteries at the same time? (obviously not now in its current state but if I were to buy one new, is that possible)
It's a tough problem. The batteries could be in all different states of charge. If you tie them all together, the voltage will try to equalize. A large amount of current could go rushing from a fully charged battery to an empty one. The batteries can only be charged at 2-3A. It could be dangerous. You would need it to act like 6 separate chargers... which you could do, but you would need a hefty/expensive power supply.
This is super cool. I love this idea.
So it's safe to wire all the batteries in parallel like this? You don't need to use some sort of diode or anything?
Edit: ah, I just saw your comment at the end about using the same size and charge batteries. I'm assuming this is to avoid using diodes?
yes *very* important that you use batteries with a similar charge... otherwise there will be a huge rush of current to the lower voltage battery. I would hope that the BMS would handle this, but I don't want to test it ;-)
@@SerendipitySue Actually, adding a diode to each battery can solve this issue.
@@sergeyk736 yes, see my video: th-cam.com/video/dqF27lWg6I4/w-d-xo.html there are trade-offs
great job thank u for the share
Would this plan support a 500w or 1000w inverter?
. You could eliminate the dc-dc converter and wire it to run 36V (2S3P) with a high amp connector. This 8 battery project (with 4Ah batteries) runs 2600W ( th-cam.com/video/lAAWFCU4iEM/w-d-xo.html ). This 36V 1000W inverter works pretty well ( amzn.to/3x7AiyY )
In the US this charger comes with a USB port. My UK version doesn't. However, the plastic moulding has a blanking plate over where the usb port should be.
As a project a was going to retro fit a usb port. Would anyone know where on the USA charger the usb port takes its power from? Or could I just solder one onto the battery positive/negative charging port and take 18v from there? Then just have a usb socket that steps the voltage down?
There are USB sockets that you can directly connect to the 18V. Here is another project that does it: www.thingiverse.com/thing:4579077
@@SerendipitySue ah I was hoping to fit a usb socket to my supercharger, rather than have a separate battery attachment
@@milobrowning9107 just use the USB socket in the supercharger. The part# was listed in that other project
The 6 ports super charging the battery 1 at a time or it can charges 6 batteries at the same time?
The Ryobi 6 charger only charges one battery at a time. My Hack uses the case for a powerstation (no charging)
Hey Internet:. Do we really need pure sine. It's really only good for microwaves and radios.
Great idea, but you just brought a supercharger for housing case. It is rather expensive to have without balancing and charging function. I would like to see if you can keep all the function with a modified case.
I had hoped to keep charging circuits, but it turned out board traces were to thin for output. I saved guts, so may try to do more in future
SerendipitySue You can have 2 dedicated circuit for charging and discharging by using switch to somehow separate the two circuit. And then make a bigger housing with your 3D printer. And I also think you should add battery BMS for your safety.
SerendipitySue For BMS, I found it is hard to get a 1S6P board, but without take the cells out, this system is one serial with 6 parallels. parallel system is more likely to running imbalance than serial system. Imbalances decrease efficiency and increase risk of heat ups.
@@lingxiangzhu6152 each of the Ryobi batteries have their own BMS. The goal of this project was to make something people could do without a 3D printer :-)
@@lingxiangzhu6152 I found some BMS boards from China, but it took over a month for them to arrive
Hi Just asking , what’s de name and model off your 3 D model prometer
I have a Prusa I3 MK3S and I just picked up a Prusa Mini.
can you do this to milwaukee?
I don't own any Milwaukee, so don't know. Sorry
Now to power a 2000w inverter or even a 1000w. Run your fridge possibly a small microwave. Power your furnace... Hmm
well the most power you want to pull out of each battery is around 10A.. so six batteries would give you max of 60A. Figure the drained down voltage is 15V... so that would give you 900Watts to play with. Victron sells a 1200 Watt pure sine inverter ( amzn.to/320nPP3 ). I've used it to power a small 700W microwave ( th-cam.com/video/emJtaHUC5SE/w-d-xo.html )
check out my latest project :-) th-cam.com/video/lAAWFCU4iEM/w-d-xo.html
You are the coolest guy ever! This is blows my mind! In order to charge the batteries for 2nd use, I assume you need to pull each out and use a charger one at a time, right?
I use a second Ryobi Supercharger to charge them. If I'm in a hurry, I have many separate chargers that can charge them in parallel
@@SerendipitySue I thought the switch was going to toggle it between charge and discharge modes. Could you do this by intercepting the leads with a relay or something? I know zero about this stuff, but that sounds cool.
@@TheDadBot_YT in this hack, you can no longer charge. In the 40V hack I did, you can still charge ( th-cam.com/video/p4xW9f1ohlw/w-d-xo.html )
How much to buy one already made by you?
not really in a position to make/sell them. sorry
they don't need to be the same size. it will drain them all by voltage. so if you had a 4ah and a 1.5 ah it will use more from the larger battery. but yes its very very very important that you dont put a charged with a low. I've exploded some lipos and seen others do the same. granted in your case i think it would melt the connectors frist but still.
I haven't tried it with the Ryobi battery packs... but with individual 18650 cells, the weakest/smallest cell limits the combined battery capacity. Give it a try and post your results!
@@SerendipitySue in series yes, not in parellel if I make a 30p1s pack will all random compacity cells the smaller cells will contribute their mah. although in series you will be limited by the compacity of the smallest cell. same is true for solar panels if you shade just one cell in a solar panel the whole panel output will drop. in your 36v system you would wan to marry the p1 and p2 batteries so that you had the same ah in both 18v packs. flying rc drones we parrelell charge all the time. If i want to charge a 1.3ah and a 2ah 6s at 1c i would just charge both at 3.3 amps and the 1.3 would take 1.3 amps and the 2.0 would take 2 amps out of the 3.6amps
im thinking of trying this by putting a xt60 into 6 of the single chargers. so i can make a wiring harness to make a 36v or 18v battery bank. Plus i could unplug the harness and still charge the batteris like normal
Liked and subscribed. That was awesome.
I am waiting for ur 40v project
here's one of them ;-) th-cam.com/video/lAAWFCU4iEM/w-d-xo.html
Do you have a Facebook page?
not for serendipitysue :-(
I agree with your statement that the Voltages on all batteries MUST be identical prior to connecting them in parallel. However, batteries connected in parallel DO NOT need to be the same capacity (Amphours). Their capacities will simply add together. Additionally, don't believe the myth that the smaller capacity battery will drain faster than the bigger battery. If they are connected in parallel, they will drain together and charge together. PERIOD.
(SIDE NOTE: I do recommend that each battery START with a full charge PRIOR to connecting them in parallel. Once they are connected in parallel... from THIS POINT forward, they will automatically charge up together and discharge together due to the fact that their Voltages are identical.)
What you'll find (if you look closely) is that the bigger battery will provide more of the current to the load than the smaller battery... exactly in the proportion of the two batteries' capacities. So for example, if you are using a 2Ah battery and a 4Ah battery in parallel: The 4Ah battery will provide twice as much current as the 2Ah battery. Thus overall, they split the power demand 33% to the smaller battery and 66% to the larger battery. This sharing of the power happens with all batteries in parallel, regardless of how many there are.... two, six or 600.
The same thing happens during charging... the higher capacity 4Ah battery will get twice as much current as the 2Ah battery gets from the charging system. This happens AUTOMATICALLY... based on the capacities of each battery wired in parallel. It has nothing to do with the charging circuitry electronics. In fact, the charger has no way of knowing how many batteries are wired in parallel. The various batteries will self-regulate the power based on their capacities.
There are too many myths and opinions surrounding batteries. The above information is NOT an opinion... it's factual information that can be verified in most any Electrical Engineering book.
****************************************
Completely off the topic, but still interesting to note:
If we were discussing batteries in SERIES, I would have been insisting that batteries connected in SERIES do NOT have to be the same voltage. But they absolutely MUST be the same capacity (Amphours)! Weird huh?
(And just as I recommended above for parallel batteries, it's best to charge each battery up to full PRIOR to connecting them in series.)
It's sort of the 'converse' of the information I wrote about above for batteries connected in parallel. Perhaps this is why the information gets all jumbled up when its goes out on the internet? Maybe somebody misinterprets the above scenarios and just combines the information incorrectly?
My concern for using similar sized (Ah) batteries is that at full load I want to make sure all the batteries are contributing equally.
@SerendipitySue - You're still not understanding the principal of parallel batteries. My point being that there is no reason they all have to expend the same amount of current, or as you phrase it "contribute equally".
They all act as one big battery, regardless of whether or not they are each providing equal current. That's an arbitrary condition that you are making mandatory unnecessarily.
Look at it this way... even with ten batteries of varying capacities connected in parallel, they will all reach 90% State of Charge (SOC) at the same time. And they will all reach 75% SOC at the same time. And they will all reach 50% SOC at the same time. And they will all reach 10% SOC at the exact same time. So why does it matter how much current each of those ten batteries is contributing if they all discharge at the same proportionate amount based on their capacities?
Mathematically speaking, (based on their capacities in Ah) each battery actually is contributing "equally" in terms of PERCENTAGE of their capacity. It's the percentage that matters, not the absolute value of the current being provided by each battery. I could go into detail about what's known as the "C" rating of a battery and why the percentage is more important than the actual number of Amps being delivered... but that's a long boring story.
*** SUMMARY:
If you feel more comfortable using only identical batteries in parallel, that is perfectly fine to do. It takes any guesswork out of the equation. But just be aware that it's perfectly fine to utilize different capacity batteries when using a parallel battery configuration.
They will all charge up, and discharge down perfectly in sync with each other. That's the beauty of a parallel connection. And each battery will be pushing the same "C" rated current based on its capacity, thus equally sharing the burden presented by the load. (i.e. - one battery won't get hot while the others are hardly doing any work. They each do the SAME work, relative to their “C” rating, even though each battery may have a different capacity.).
What I’m trying to say is each battery in a parallel system… regardless of its capacity or the magnitude of current that it’s delivering, will be delivering the same “C” amount.
Let’s use 0.5 C as an example. So 0.5 C for a 6Ah battery is 3Amps. But 0.5 C for a 2Ah battery is only 1Amp. Together they supply 4 Amps, but each battery is working to the same degree. The 3Amp demand on the 6Ah battery is the same level of 'stress' that the 1Amp demand is for the 2Ah battery. Neither battery is being “pushed” harder than the other. That's a very important point.
This happens automatically when you place them in parallel. Each battery sees the same “C” load, despite the fact that they provide different amounts of current. I wish I could upload a drawing to illustrate the idea better. This automatic "C" level balancing between different capacity batteries in parallel makes much more sense when you can visualize what's happening and where the current is coming from (or going to.)
Your statements at 8:00 are well intentioned but not 100% accurate:
1) Using Same capacity batteries ---> No, not important at all.
2) Connecting the batteries when they are at the same charge level (Voltage) ---> Yes, that's VERY important for parallel battery connections!
3) Your suggestion to only use fully charged batteries ---> Yes, that's VERY important!
4) Later, at 8:26, the label on your awesome unit that says "Caution: Only use same Ah size batteries" is not necessary.
5) At 8:26, the label on your unit that says "Install only fully charged batteries" ---> Yes, I agree. This will ensure that they charge and discharge together, perfectly.
After looking back at my previous posts, I realize that I've missed a critical thing.... I never actually complimented you on such an awesome design!!! Geesh, I dive right into the technical aspects and miss the most important thing: Your hard work!!! Honestly, I'm very impressed with this design. You have taken your passion to a new level. Congratulations on a very nice project! My sincere apologies for only focusing on the technical aspects of paralleling batteries. I'm a complete doofus sometimes.
Yes I understand. it's for simplification. In some of my other projects we're using nSmP configurations. It gets complicated to explain. You can't go wrong using the same battery sizes. Also don't forget the BMS's We don't know the specs for the different battery models. From my tests you can pull about 10A. The BMS is often the limiting factor not the underlying cells.
What's the best way to reach you so we can collaborate. Thx
send email to the youtube channel contact
Cool! Power Station 400 No?
My inverter works 2 ways 12v and 24 v
What is the name and model number of this inverter
I would suggest not running that many amps through the switch. I would use a relay..
The switch said it's rated for it... but on the bigger 40V projects I use the big battery disconnect switches amzn.to/3mbEAAm
Thats gangsta 💪
No I was wondering if anyone knew where the usb port takes its power from inside the USA super charger?
I wish to retro fit a usb port to my UK version of the supercharger
Love to see a video off endurance off ex : Pc , or tv buy occupied 6x4ah , my project is to used for a bazar project outdoors, so I can show my and maid project with no electricity ⚡️ available sorry my ingles
Put a switch on each battery so that way you can have mismatch size and charge as you can turn one on at a time
6x18 Is 108 volts
Very cool. I'm going to hack one of those to run my lawn mower now
Nice
I am so desperate for a 15A 110V output powerstation running off my one+ batteries... Would need it to run off of different size and different charge amount batteries though. Please Ryobi! Everyone send them an e-mail on their website.
Ryobi does make one for their 40V batteries: www.ryobitools.com/outdoor/products/details/40v-1800-watt-power-station
@@shubinternet Yeah, but 18 is their main product line and what I have. 40V might as well be Dewaly.
@@johnwilliamson062 - I understand. I have a lot of Ryobi 18V batteries myself. And a lot of Ryobi 18V devices. But for larger devices, it’s clear that Ryobi is going with 40V as the new standard, and I’m happy to support that. So far, all 40V Ryobi devices that I’ve tried have been clearly superior to their 18V equivalents, if there even is an 18V equivalent. And I’d rather have one good Ryobi device at 40V than two bad devices at 40V and 18V.
@@shubinternet maybe. What non-lawn tools are on it? I think they are investing in a multi battery flexvolt type system though. I don't think their 40v has proven competitive. DIY and woodworkers wantnlittle to do with two sets of batteries.
@@johnwilliamson062 - but if they did that, then they would have three different battery systems they’d have to support, with radically different physical interfaces. That seems highly unlikely to me.
Now make it solar rechargeable
I did make a solar charger for the ryobi batteries: th-cam.com/video/MTZdvhf6cB4/w-d-xo.html