The battery builders club

https://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

12awg is rated to 41A.
If you use 2 of them it’s total 82A.

Also you don’t draw 80A over a longer time usually and the distance between the packs is very short which is a big factor as well.

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Adding to the response of @Andy87 :
Mr. @b264 posted this nice chart of conductor current ratings

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The confusion may come from the fact that many amp charts use a minimum wire length of 1 meter or more (i have seen 4m min on some charts)

Since inside a battery pack the runs are very short, you can run more current and still stay cool. Heat is the enemy in this case as heat creates resistance which creates more heat…

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Hey to all battery builders,

I am starting my first battery build, and I ordered the 30Q´s already and a good old kWeld :wink: (thanks to the community)

And I wanted to ask you guys, which nickel strips and if I should get them with the holes so that the weld will stick more reliable? Like in the picture

Also I wanted to ask which nickel thickness you would recommend.

And if someone would have me a link for all the other parts needed to make the battery pack, I have never done that before, sorry for my incompetence.

Thanks to all

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@Andy87 @KfromtheBay @iamasalmon thank you, that explains so much. :nerd_face::nerd_face::nerd_face:

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The up to date chart is in the thread

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There is still a thing I don’t understand, why is the current between the parallel packs so small, shouldn’t it be the same everywhere in the pack?
Also for a 12s5p pack, with samsung 30q cells (so around 75a continuous) a single 10awg wire should be enough for the series connections, right?

Because the cells are in parallel, they share the load. Means 80A on a 4p is 20A for each cell for example.
One 10AWG is enough for most our packs.
Depending on the pack layout it can make sense to use 2x14AWG or 2x12AWG.

So if i run around 70-80a on a 5p pack, then according to the chart i would need 2-3 layers of nickel strips to run that with no problem?

I wouldn’t recommend nickel as serial connection on a flat pack. There will always be a bit of flex, even on a stiff deck, which can cause the welds to break and pop the nickel off. Better use silicon wire.

I meant to use the nickel for parallel connections and wire for the series

I would say you good with one stripe 8-10mm 0.15 nickle for the parallel connection.
Don´t forget that you weld them to the terminals which add some material as well.
Also if you use 2x12 AWG for example as series connection and solder one between cell 1-2 and second between 3-4 this will add some more copper and solder on top of the nickel which add up.

But I’ll be building a 5p pack, so I think I will just double up the nickel and use 1 or 2 10awg wires for the series just to be safe.

that doesn´t change anything on the facts above mentioned.

better 2x12AWG than 1x 10AWG.
sure you ever can do 2x10AWG as well if you feel the need for it.

I only ordered 2m of 10awg wire, so unless I wind 12awg wire in my local hardware store I will just use 2 10awg, so it’s not really a necessity but I just don’t have any 12 awg wire.

Thank you for the help btw.

Does anyone know of some sort of die cutter that will take corners off nickel? 120 little strips later, my hands are cramping up :rofl:

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give me a minute… already wanted to ask you if you need a corner cutter. I just need to find the link…

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@glyphiks can´t find the original link anymore, but it was UK anyway…
so just search for corner chombers.

Credit goes to @BigBen

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Awesome! Cheers! Are they good for 0.15 nickel?

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yes and I can confirm it is very nice to work with.
just take care that you don´t lose any of those nickle corners in your shoes :joy:

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