How do you spot weld pure nickel strips?

#1

I have a DIY spot welder that I made out of microwave transformator.
It worked good enough so I could make battery packs with non-pure nickel strips that I had,
although every few months I had to re-spot the welds since they got ripped out due to vibration
from the cells.

I recently purchased pure nickel strips and tried to spot weld them to a cell but with no any success.
The welds just won’t hold into the battery. I assume I need something more serious for that application.

I got a tip to use a pneumatic spot welder, but they are very expensive. What do you guys use
to achieve strong welds with a pure nickel strip?

#2

isnt the whole idea with pure nickel that its easier to weld? (and dsn’t rust?) …
Sounds like you bought some not so pure nickel?

#3

Well, I did the salty water test when I received them and they passed it - no corrosion after 2-3 days. This is the eBay page of what I bought.

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#4

Dont take risks with batteries, just pay someone to make you a pack or buy / make a proper welder

#5

Of course, batteries are dangerous so I want to make sure I can make them as safe as possible.
How do you make a proper welder? I’m willing to invest the money, but not to go super crazy with it.

#6

Actually steel is significantly easier to weld than nickel (ask me how I know loool), this is why OP is having issues I guess, welds are not powerful enough for nickel.

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#7

Aren’t you the dude who got a steel plated nickel from nkon?

How do you spot weld your batteries?

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#8

I am. This is how I know all about welding steel.
I spot weld with the boss level custom spot welder, I have control over pulse length and number of pulses etc

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#9

lol, I feel you brother.
How well are you welds comes out with the pure nickel strips using the boss welder?

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#10

Yeah really nice, I’m about to upgrade it with active cooling so I dont need the frozen peas anymore haha

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#11

The only welder you should ever waste your hard earned money on is right here…

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#12

Thats weird since nickel has better thermal conductivity then steel and a lower melting point. Makes 0 sense. Any chance your steel was nickel plated ?

#13

welding is all about the resistance the higher the resistance the better it welds which is why copper is hard to spot weld

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#14

as above its not about the thermal conductivity or melting point. Have you ever noticed its easier to weld a nickel strip to a cell than it is to another nickel strip?

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#15

Then please elaborate what physics I can apply to this conundrum.

Actually I get the impression that the nickel to nickel weld stick alot easier. :woman_shrugging:

#16

In my head I believe the more conductive a material gets the further the spot weld is spread thus leading to a less focused weld meaning you need more amps the more conductive you get.

#17

On the kweld i have to double my joules to get the same weld nickel on nickel that i get from nickel to cell.

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#18

what cells u been welding? Not sure how the pole materials differ between cells but cells ive gone through are the 30Qs, 35E, LG HG2s, 25R and and some panasonics i can remember the name of. Always felt like nickel to nickel was easier :thinking:

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#19

I can back that up that nickel plated steel is more easy to weld. Not on physics thou.
But my sunkko did pretty good welds with nickel plated steel taps. Once I used pure nickel strips I could easy pop up the welded nickel from the cell. Same thickness of material, same settings on the welder.

#20

30qs and sanyo 20700bs.