kWeld? Still the go to spot welder?

[windtrader]

Finally doing a build where building battery pack from raw cells. Over time the kWeld always had a good following and rep so just wanted to confirm this is still in the top tier of DIY spot battery welders. also, what are options for getting one, used or new?
TIA

 

[m3vuv]

I brought one of these:https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393236521442?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item5b8eb921e2:g:GlsAAOSwp8NgbVyY&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACkPYe5NmHp%252B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSU8qUIAeVPdz29zRlje3Lg%252BoVSwD4gwNvffYOcUfGwYZ1dVsOgfFz7Z1UOHsrAp863I6EcmXk935b4DZyoH12%252FamOrsdIP49dv55Pm1BuQ799wyYdfIFAyq0r52nyQJeUVW55UxYfBBEbPdaZJ85kZZVI%252FnCyq1olSMLTvzYc8poM30rID0BUaEuGbXL9q05qllOq%252F2JxVesWhDoNl3zjr9G%252FjWIgKnHIH6PRsgRFgCrIKNgllhDZ2wxnjTbt1QgZ0fyic6FE%252FqF1c4M%252FxHX6cmT9LWQBr47g3WJsB9oGOrahQgL1XjC%252Fpp6i61jAyljoMvptIyoStnU2IzLd0l87wQzeye1m23cPCAV0mL0la4djxsAKUs2VnmScyjxtD8BlmVdS1SfAw933FrP0sIgUwsZiyw%252B63D5gGvqFaTWuYVf4Anozjdqjx95%252BB0e8pDuhx4HtzAchGpAeLku0W2gnbS%252FaMsmV7Q%252Fbb0R6F%252FX8xi%252F4OMxk77mp6JN1gtduAwhwgX1QMnEv1%252BUBfy8sJv7ljMRFm5EET1QgDxJVhYUyWFFs5JuEFjl%252B20GSwZHryULy%252BYNlzt8LazyAms3bbjIHo%252FjlN7ewHKizjCIG8ilDvnJRSDDt%252FkYjHpXjGaGIKRe6KeI2hTSwUUJXe8Uhcx275KC5bz571%252B7u8cNph%252FTRZpdTIrNSovG0kP%252FdDz0Pym%252BlkcneyklSJjasw5VQ4r0BxSu4ndjDVnQoZiON6RASoMJB18WyXlhcX1UWZw65ex6PoQhyCGfe1v5snzxCxVK1iDcZZ9PYeSG%252F6pIideqIF9gPUWkMNc3h2CyWRl7OEAQM%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2334524
it blew up on the first weld! all 5 fets shorted,i brought 10 replacements fitted them and again it went bang!,then did the mods to the controll board replaced the fets againe,also added a 120.000uf cap on the supply,now works perfect,ok a bit of hassle sorting it,but worked out ar about a third of the price of a kweld,if you get one add a 470uf cap across the controller board supply before you use it.

 

[john61ct]

people who don't count the cost of their own time and energy

 

[spinningmagnets]

It depends on what you are doing.

If you are making a low-amp battery pack using 0.15mm thick nickel strips, the Malectrics can save you some money.

Copper is four times as conductive as nickel, and has four times less resistance to current, which results in better performance and fewer battery watts being converted into waste-heat.

Sooo...0.10mm copper sheet is equal to 0.40mm nickel.

Any conductive material will work for the parallel equalization, and nickel is fine. In fact, nickel-plated steel is best, because it slows equalization, to keep the cells cooler. (The nickel-plating eliminates corrosion).

If you want to use the copper/nickel sandwich for high series amps, buy the kWeld.

 

[jonyjoe303]

I have also been using the maletrics for 3 years, its still in the 90 dollar range, you have to add your own probe cables. The kweld is in the 160 dollar range and from the website it looks like a kit you have to build. The maletric is mostly complete when you get it, just connect your probe cables and add your battery connectors. They both run on either a car start battery or even a lipo battery pack.
In my case I just build an occasional pack once in a while, its been a year since I used it. I wouldnt spend 200 dollars on a spot welder that only saw occasional use, but 100 dollars is more like it, and I also bought one of the cheap 30 dollar welders as a backup and it also burnt out after a few welds.

I got the original version 1 of the malectrics, the designer is always upgrading it and it is now on version 4. The original is plenty powerful, I rarely go above setting 5 (max out at 10) so it has power to spare. Whichever you get, make sure and use 6 gauge pure copper welding cables, you want to get every amp into the probetip, if you use lower gauge cable, they will heat up and you will have to use higher power settings. For probetips I been using copper nails, they work great. On mine I put a momentary switch right by the probe tips that to me is better then a foot petal. I also use the xt90 connector to connect to my 27ah agm battery.

 

[windtrader]

Thanks for the comments.

FTYI - The Malelectrics bundle runs about $160 USD, so getting into the kWeld price range. https://malectrics.eu

Seems like kWeld units continue being supply constrained but will go that route to be better equipped if doing a more robust pack.

 

[windtrader]

I ordered a kWeld a couple weeks ago, fully paid a week ago, and crickets. Just wondering about 18650shrink. Are such delays normal? There was hint of product constraints so unclear what is the typical time from order to delivery. thanks