04-08-2020, 06:35 PM | #1 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: La Quinta, Ca.
Posts: 43
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21 Cell Leaf build
My buggy runs a 600a Alltrax and sucks down a ton of juice. I'm in the pursuit of incredible range. With my current setup, my 48v 105ah lead acid pack (2mos. old Trojan) yields about an 8 mile range when driving long distance at high speed; this is a fraction of what I need. The cart is a 2002 Ezgo TXT (series)
Is it possible to build a 21 cell Leaf pack? What would be the challenges? Also, I got the dimensions that MCJEFE graciously provided on his thread, and best I can tell, a 21 cell pack would be about 30" long, which I could fit... I'm thinking I can simply triple them in parallel, rather than double. This will give me roughly 180ah, best I can tell. So far I've learned just enough about this to make me dangerous, so all your insights are much appreciated! Thoughts? |
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04-09-2020, 12:15 PM | #2 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Saint Petersburg, FL
Posts: 2,089
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Re: 21 Cell Leaf build
Going 7S3P is no more "technical" than going 7S2P. It is more difficult to place the pack in the cart. You'll probably have to break it into a 2S3p, 2S3P and a 3S3P that you wire in series to fit. But maybe you can break it in two for a 4S3P and a 3S3P. I don't know what space you have or how mush space a 7S3P Leaf pack would take up.
But really any cart is less efficient at max speed, especially if you have a windshield. I do not have measured numbers, but if I drive 14 - 15mph vs 26 - 27mph my range goes up about 40% |
04-09-2020, 03:08 PM | #3 | |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: La Quinta, Ca.
Posts: 43
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Re: 21 Cell Leaf build
Quote:
So I'm committed to moving forward on it. I've been looking into it, and am thinking of buying the gen 1 leaf packs from battery hookup, can't beat the price no matter how you skin the cat. That said, anyone have a reason to avoid the older Gen1 packs? Seems like I haven't seen anyone using them lately... |
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04-12-2020, 07:00 PM | #4 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Saint Petersburg, FL
Posts: 2,089
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Re: 21 Cell Leaf build
Truth is any pack has the potential to have been abused. So the issue with going with older Gen 1 modules instead of Gen 2 is they've had more of a chance to get abused...
I think the Gen 1 leaf had a different discharge/charge algorithm so they were more prone to abuse, but I can't remember for sure. Hard to argue with $50 a module though. Do you have an RC charger? Usually those can discharge/recharge a cell and let you know what capacity the cell actually has. Since your going to be very pack capacity conscious then it may be valuable to take the time to measure the cell capacities before installing. |
04-13-2020, 09:09 PM | #5 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: La Quinta, Ca.
Posts: 43
|
Re: 21 Cell Leaf build
K, I’ll bite, what’s an RC Charger?
And what brand of on-board charger should I be looking for? I’ll want the fastest charge time possible, which I understand to be determined by the amperage the charger is rated at. But that said, is a charger limited to the amperage of the circuit it is plugged into; can I plug a 50a charger into a 20a wall circuit? |
04-13-2020, 09:20 PM | #6 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Southwestern Pa.
Posts: 6,204
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Re: 21 Cell Leaf build
I dunno if the GEN-1 modules will be any worse or better than a GEN-2 leaf. I just expanded my 7 module GEN-1 pack to a 14 module GEN-1 pack.
It's early in the game, but to date, I've got no complaints. FWIW |
04-13-2020, 10:03 PM | #7 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Saint Petersburg, FL
Posts: 2,089
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Re: 21 Cell Leaf build
Sorry about that. RC, Radio Controlled. The RC world uses a lot of lithium cells just a lot smaller. I have a couple of RC chargers and you can use one (given enough time) to charge a large cell and thus measure the cells capacity. When I accidentally caused a large imbalance I used it to charge up the low cells to match the rest of the pack rather than try and get a BMS to do it.
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04-13-2020, 11:56 PM | #8 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: La Quinta, Ca.
Posts: 43
|
Re: 21 Cell Leaf build
BronsonJ, that’s interesting. I first thought that was what you meant, but I have no experience with that stuff in the last 20years, so I figured it must be something different... I’ll look into that, thanks for the tip!
DaveTM, keep us posted! Did you have any issues adding the additional cells with regard to balancing them with the old? Thanks guys! Still deep in the rabbit hole looking at chargers. Any one know about this guy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LCW6NP1...v_ov_lig_dp_it |
04-14-2020, 09:01 AM | #9 | |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Southwestern Pa.
Posts: 6,204
|
Re: 21 Cell Leaf build
Quote:
I hop-scotched the modules together....old-new-old-new-etc. Then I wired 'em all in all in Parallel so they would balance. I left 'em hooked up for a few days Parallel, then assembled the pack. The cells were not a lot out of balance after I wired 'em correctly during pac assembly. |
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04-17-2020, 07:53 PM | #10 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: La Quinta, Ca.
Posts: 43
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Re: 21 Cell Leaf build
beautiful, thanks!
21 of the G1 leaf modules are on their way to me from Battery Hookup... I think... I've ordered them anyway! Hopefully this plague won't take down the delivery driver leaving my package to be absconded with by raiders! Can anyone advise on "compacting" the modules together? As I understand it, they need to be held together tightly, but do I actually need to "over tighten" (so to speak) the pack with the all-thread, or is nice and snug nice and snug??? Thanks all for the insights and sharing your experience! |
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