RobertC
1 W
We know the gold connectors are not solid gold, right? So,it must be plated. How do they do it? googling "gold electroplating" showed a bolded hint with DIY listed. Hmm, OK, sounds good. There are many kits for this.
Has anybody tried this?
This seems TOO easy, but I did search the board first and electroplating has not been mentioned . It is either brilliant, or profoundly stupid. You decide!
Materials Required:
2 threaded nylon rods as long as your pack is thick..
2 nylon nuts per cell
2 rubber washers per cell
(or less nuts and more washers to achieve the needed spacing), ymmv
1 hole puncher
1 of these: http://www.caswellplating.com/electroplating-anodizing/brush-plating-products/plug-n-plate-kits/plug-n-plate-nickel-kit.html
optional 1 bottle of gold plating solution
The method:
1) punch holes in all the cell tabs the same distance from either edge.
2) place the pouches in two piles, with as close to an even amount possible in each pile
3) flip one pile over
4) using the plating pen, nickel plate the area around top holes in each stack with a nickel base layer. maybe 1 cm2 area?
5) optional: then apply the gold gold plate to the nickel.
6) un-flip the flipped stack, or flip it again the same direction
I dare you..
Assemble the stack
1) put a bolt and washer on each rod
2) take a cell from stack 1 and mount it on the rods.
3)) put a washer and a bolt on the rod.
GoTo step 1 but use a cell from the other stack
chemicals needed for gold calc link: http://www.goldn.co.uk/electroplating-support/brush-and-pen-plating-calculator/
assuming 1 cm2 contact size and 40 contacts (2 each on 20s pack) with 3 micron thickness (links below use thinner) shows 21.6 ml needed. starter kit is 25 ml bottle. good to go! it says required minutes is 12.5, so lets say a quarter hour. sounds faster than welding or soldering!
If gold can not handle the amps, INCREASE THE AREA. buy another bottle of solution and spend another 15 minutes painting some more on the contacts.
these guys think gold should be plated on top of nickel: http://www.te.com/documentation/whitepapers/pdf/aurulrep.pdf
Here is another: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/at/2012/893145/
after seeing "several decades" and 10's of thousands of contacts, I thought this should be sufficient.. And a few minutes painting it again with more plating solution is not so hard.
thickness of plating, underlayers, short and sweet article: http://plating.electro-spec.com/blog/use-of-gold-plating-in-electronics
Conclusion: Maybe nickel plating is enough for a press fit contact. Gold costs a bit more, but only maybe $50, so cheap compared to the rest of the bike. What does a welder cost? then your pack is fused solid. plated press fit solves both these problems
Or maybe gold on one side, nickel on the mating contact?!?
No idea.
I need some help here!
Has anybody tried this?
This seems TOO easy, but I did search the board first and electroplating has not been mentioned . It is either brilliant, or profoundly stupid. You decide!
Materials Required:
2 threaded nylon rods as long as your pack is thick..
2 nylon nuts per cell
2 rubber washers per cell
(or less nuts and more washers to achieve the needed spacing), ymmv
1 hole puncher
1 of these: http://www.caswellplating.com/electroplating-anodizing/brush-plating-products/plug-n-plate-kits/plug-n-plate-nickel-kit.html
optional 1 bottle of gold plating solution
The method:
1) punch holes in all the cell tabs the same distance from either edge.
2) place the pouches in two piles, with as close to an even amount possible in each pile
3) flip one pile over
4) using the plating pen, nickel plate the area around top holes in each stack with a nickel base layer. maybe 1 cm2 area?
5) optional: then apply the gold gold plate to the nickel.
6) un-flip the flipped stack, or flip it again the same direction
I dare you..Assemble the stack
1) put a bolt and washer on each rod
2) take a cell from stack 1 and mount it on the rods.
3)) put a washer and a bolt on the rod.
GoTo step 1 but use a cell from the other stack
chemicals needed for gold calc link: http://www.goldn.co.uk/electroplating-support/brush-and-pen-plating-calculator/
assuming 1 cm2 contact size and 40 contacts (2 each on 20s pack) with 3 micron thickness (links below use thinner) shows 21.6 ml needed. starter kit is 25 ml bottle. good to go! it says required minutes is 12.5, so lets say a quarter hour. sounds faster than welding or soldering!
If gold can not handle the amps, INCREASE THE AREA. buy another bottle of solution and spend another 15 minutes painting some more on the contacts.
these guys think gold should be plated on top of nickel: http://www.te.com/documentation/whitepapers/pdf/aurulrep.pdf
Here is another: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/at/2012/893145/
after seeing "several decades" and 10's of thousands of contacts, I thought this should be sufficient.. And a few minutes painting it again with more plating solution is not so hard.
thickness of plating, underlayers, short and sweet article: http://plating.electro-spec.com/blog/use-of-gold-plating-in-electronics
Conclusion: Maybe nickel plating is enough for a press fit contact. Gold costs a bit more, but only maybe $50, so cheap compared to the rest of the bike. What does a welder cost? then your pack is fused solid. plated press fit solves both these problems
Or maybe gold on one side, nickel on the mating contact?!?
No idea.
I need some help here!
