Battery Storage DIY

Quite a few lithium iron phosphate based battery projects have ben published on the channel. Each one solved a specific problem, allowing us to power our gear for hours,d says, weeks or indefinitely at home, or in the field. The majority of these projects use the Headway range of LiFePO4 cells, ranging from 10ah to 15ah cells, with 1-4 cells in parallel. there rely on the A123 26650 LiFePO4 cells, making a compact power source. These are extremely popular projects!

These projects are not necessarily “cheaper” than going off and buying a commercial solar generator or battery pack. What they offer is the ability to build a solar generator or battery pack, which meets your unique requirements.

LiFePO4 Tutorials by OH8STN:

Pocket Portable Solar Generator

This project is a much needed pocket-sized LiFePO4 solar generator desperately needed in for man-portable field radio. Withe the new energy efficient radios recent released to the ham radio community, a small, lightweight, renewable power sourcean keep these energy efficient rigs powered up, without weighing us down. Add a lightweight solar panel, and to complete the kit.

45ah 576wh Solar Generator

In this video tutorial, we are building a portable off grid solar power system for communications. We’ll be using Lithium LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) cells for a 2000+ cycle, cycle life LiFePO4 solar generator, compared to 500 cycles for other battery chemistries.

This build includes solar battery storage,  Bluetooth shunt, fuse block with LED blown fuse indicator, Anderson Powerpole pods, ground bus, Bestech BMS, Genasun MPPT charge controller, ammo can enclosure, …

There is an update for this video. I decided to use a standard Automotive fuse block instead of the ham radio power pole distribution board. It was easier to work with and offered more amperage rating for the system.

Episode and build notes.
https://oh8stn.org/blog/2018/12/09/diy-solar-generator-576wh/

It’s been some years since putting this system together. The parts list may be out of date.

Parts List:
Headway LiFePO4 Cells: https://goo.gl/NencLf
Bestech BMS 4S LiFePO4: https://goo.gl/JYHJLD
Enclosure: https://amzn.to/2BGleMV
Genasun MPPT Charge controller: https://amzn.to/2DTDse7
Powerpole USB: https://amzn.to/2DPzHqc
Alt Powerpole USB: https://amzn.to/2XacPKY
Powerwerx Powerpole POD: https://amzn.to/2V76azr
45A Powerpoles: https://amzn.to/2Xad7RT
Powerwerx Powerpole crimper: https://amzn.to/2X852NA
Thornwave Bluetooth Shunt: https://amzn.to/2ElUhkH
Powerpole distribution board: http://www.k9jeb.com

10ah 128wh 50A LiFePO4 Headway pack

For the ham radio operator in the field, portable battery power needs to be light enough, small enough, modular, have enough capacity,  and above all it should be possible to charge with solar power, off grid, and in the field. In North America Bioenno battery power seems to be popular, but there is no way to repair it, if it goes wrong in the field.  For the high speed, low drag Amateur Radio

Operatorr in the field, we need something a bit more special, something which can be customized to fit our own operating requirements.
Thankfully, we can find the answer for this from the lithium battery family.
Most diy builders use 18650 batteries for diy builds. For this build we are going to step it up in performance and ease of build by using the Headway 38120 family of bLiFePO4 calles. These cells are safer to use, and easier to put together in a 12 volt battery pack.

Parts list and info: https://oh8stn.org/blog/2018/06/14/50-60-amp-lifepo4-bms/
You can find the original episode notes Here: https://oh8stn.org/blog/2018/03/04/diy-qro-10ah-lifepo4-pack-yaesu-ft-891-857/

10ah 128wh 10A Headway Pack

For the ham radio operator in the field, portable battery power needs to be light enough, small enough, modular, have enough capacity,  and above all it should be possible to replenish it off-grid, and in the field.

This battery pack build is very similar to the previous 50 amp version. The differences the BMS and naturally the smaller current output.

Episode notes can be read at https://oh8stn.org/blog/2017/09/07/portable-power-for-qrp/

The portable off-grid power for amateur radio articles can be found here: https://oh8stn.org/blog/2017/07/05/man-portable-off-grid-power-for-amateur-radio-introduction/

5ah 64wh 10A A123 26650 Pack

This was the third DIY build video in the portable ham radio battery power series. In this video, we build a 5Ah 64wh A123 based LiFePO4 lithium iron phosphate battery pack for field communications. The pack has 2 cells in parallel,  4 cells in series. The BMS I chose, provides 10A current draw, upgradeable to 20-50A with a change of BMS.

Like it’s big brother the 10Ah Headway based pack we built previously, the Genasun GV-5 MPPT Solar charge controller integrated with the pack, giving us simultaneous charge and discharge capabilities, on the bench or in the field.

Episode notes: https://oh8stn.org/blog/2017/10/12/4s2p-5ah-lifepo4-with-bms/

Vruzend 18650 Li-Ion/LiFePO4 kit

The DIY 18650 battery pack is very popular. We can choose lithium Ion,  or Lithium Iron phosphate 18650 cells for our build. Most 18650 project use li-ion cells, but we will be using LiFePO4 cells for this build.. Repurposed or purchased new, these lithium and lithium iron phosphate cells are a popular choice for diy power banks, solar generators, or other battery projects.

One of the biggest problems with diy building 18650, battery packs is damage caused by overheating cells with a soldering iron. An often overlooked fact of 18650 building, is they were designed to be spotwelded, not soldered. The Vruzend kit solves this problem by using polymer end caps on the 18650 cells. These end caps are removeable, replacable, and allow the builder to make custom packs in varous shapes and sizes.

This diy battery build uses LiFePO4 cells in 18650 format. if you would like to use Lithium ion cells, you might want to use a 3S4P configuration, to achieve a roughly similar 12v battery result. Lithiun Iron Phosphate cells are much safer than Lithium ion cells. For the maker wishing to build a 12v battery pack, the LiFePO4 cells offer a nearlly one to one replacement over lead acid batteries.
You can consider this build a kind of DIY Powerwall for your pocket.

Purchase the Vruzend kit: http://www.vruzend.com

Background and episode notes:
https://oh8stn.org/blog/2018/04/29/build-your-own-18650-lifepo4-battery-pack-for-ham-radio-no-soldering/

DIY Lithium Ion Pack 4S1P

Many of you probably don’t know it but the project would started off this whole portable power thing, what’s the qrp battery pack for the Yaesu ft-817. This was the first and only lithium ion battery pack we did on the channel. It wasn’t extremely fun project, and paved the way for the lightweight portable power projects seen on the channel.

Episode notes can be read at https://oh8stn.org/blog/2017/09/07/portable-power-for-qrp/

I supposed to put get enough interest in doing more lithium-ion based battery projects, I would be willing to take what we’ve learned already and apply to lithium-ion.

In addition to the videos shared below, there are also a plethora of articles on this website. Here are articles related to Lithium and LiFePO4 technologies, on oh8stn.org.

73
Julian oh8stn
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