View Single Post
Old 05-13-2015, 05:11 PM   #15 (permalink)
RedDevil
Master EcoWalker
 
RedDevil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Nieuwegein, the Netherlands
Posts: 3,999

Red Devil - '11 Honda Insight Elegance
Team Honda
90 day: 53.59 mpg (US)
Thanks: 1,714
Thanked 2,247 Times in 1,455 Posts
True - nevertheless a string of 36 cells could get damaged if the voltage over it drops to from 117 Volt (fully charged) to 107 (average OEM pack voltage), if one of them is discharged deeper than the rest.

Bottom balancing the cells once in a while should prevent that.
But then I'd need to charge them on the string while monitoring each cell like a hawk, as LiFePO4 voltage tends to hold steady during charge and then suddenly go through the roof, damaging itself, when full.

I might pair each cell with a small Lithium-ion cell to buffer the overcharge differences.
When the pack is nearly full the voltage over all cells will rise more or less simultaneously, so the charger could just have a voltage cutoff.
But I'm scared of what would happen if a Li-ion cell fails.

I could use a BMS. But I don't have any experience with those and stories of packs killed by a faulty BMS make me wary.

If only I could just buy a black box with one dial to set the desired voltage and another to set the max current and hook that up...
__________________
2011 Honda Insight + HID, LEDs, tiny PV panel, extra brake pad return springs, neutral wheel alignment, 44/42 PSI (air), PHEV light (inop), tightened wheel nut.
lifetime FE over 0.2 Gmeter or 0.13 Mmile.


For confirmation go to people just like you.
For education go to people unlike yourself.
  Reply With Quote