Amperage of Nickel Strip connections, weld points vs surface area contact

Hey y’all, been reading a lot on here since I found this place trying to up my diy battery game. I’ve built quite a few batteries in my quest for infinite range mostly based off of my previous experience (20 years working as an electrician) and autopsies of failed or broken battery packs i break down for cells or repair.

One thing i keep seeing on here is: 1 weld = 5ish amps. Where did that come from? It’s probably semantics on this scale as eskat is 1s to 10s of amps vs 100s-1000s of amps from my background, BUT my training and research has always indicated: surface contact area is directly proportional to amperage rating.

Now 18650 and 21700 cells have a limit to the space available for connection, making the maximum surface area connection dependent on how flat you can keep the nickel. The buss will be flattened by adding more welds so regardless of your emphasis on welds or on flat contact the results will be the same. The only time this would really be important imho would be nickel to nickel connections.

Anyone have links to the “weld =5amp” primary source or an opinion? Obviously this is just a theoretical discussion so anecdotal evidence is welcome. I just want to know what people think.

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I’m pretty sure it’s based on the average diameter of a weld point, being equivalent to a certain gauge of wire. I’ve never cared enough to confirm but that’s the idea that I’ve always had in my head

I just always do 6 points since there are no cells that can exceed that, that are commonly used. In addition, the flat surface contact of the nickel, while inconsistent, makes up for the rest of the load.

You could probably even get away with 4 no problem, but why risk it.

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Cross-linking these related threads

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