How many amps can i put through this nickel

[lucajo16]

Hi all, i bought a portable spot welder from banggood and its limited to .10 to .12 nickel strip. I am looking to build a 48v 500w etrike with about a 20-40ah cell. Anything i should know about what im doing before welding up my cells?

 

[kdog]

Hey lucajo
.1mm nickel is quite thin, it will be limited to about 0.5amps per mm of width... so 8mm wide will carry about 4amps.
Then you need to find out what your controllers Max output is and provide enough series connections to cover the draw. For example...
40amps peak output of controller = 10 series connections. Ideally one per cell. If you can't fit enough at 1/cell then you'll need to double up ie. Two layers.
I highly suggest reading the battery building threads here on ES in particular
Spot welding repository, and
Battery design mistakes to avoid (or whatever it's called)
Don't forget to insulate the + ends and between P groups, and draw the power leads off all cells at each end.
Have fun, practice on some dud cells to get the hang of it first.

 

[lucajo16]

I know the controller will be pulling 48v at about 20 amps. I figure if im building a 12s 6p pack so to say i can add a strip to each connection and get 24 amps if i did my math correct. If its over the s connections then ill have 48amps worth of connections. I know i still need to learn more and i am reading micha tols books on battery building....i just thought id think it out now rather then wait on the thought.

 

[lucajo16]

Hey lucajo
.1mm nickel is quite thin, it will be limited to about 0.5amps per mm of width... so 8mm wide will carry about 4amps.
Then you need to find out what your controllers Max output is and provide enough series connections to cover the draw. For example...
40amps peak output of controller = 10 series connections. Ideally one per cell. If you can't fit enough at 1/cell then you'll need to double up ie. Two layers.
I highly suggest reading the battery building threads here on ES in particular
Spot welding repository, and
Battery design mistakes to avoid (or whatever it's called)
Don't forget to insulate the + ends and between P groups, and draw the power leads off all cells at each end.
Have fun, practice on some dud cells to get the hang of it first.

I know the controller will be pulling 48v at about 20 amps. I figure if im building a 12s 6p pack so to say i can add a strip to each connection and get 24 amps if i did my math correct. If its over the s connections then ill have 48amps worth of connections. I know i still need to learn more and i am reading micha tols books on battery building....i just thought id think it out now rather then wait on the thought.