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Building a 2.5kWh battery from disposable vapes to power my workshop [video]

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Re: Building a 2.5kWh battery from disposable vapes to power my workshop [video]

#11

Post by PaulKeeble »

viraptor wrote: post #3

Just curious: if you wanted to do something like that, but prevent a... thermal event, how would you protect an experimental battery realistically? Build a brick enclosure? A fire safe?

Current building regulations in the UK are moving towards outside storage of batteries now because of NMC's having a high tendency to combust. The battery management systems do detect a lot of issues, thermal and shorts but at some point I think government is going to force these to be on the outside of houses.

The right answer is LifePO4 for home storage, does not combust and has good enough density.

Re: Building a 2.5kWh battery from disposable vapes to power my workshop [video]

#12

Post by Animats »

viraptor wrote: post #3

Just curious: if you wanted to do something like that, but prevent a... thermal event, how would you protect an experimental battery realistically? Build a brick enclosure? A fire safe?

Small outbuilding. Concrete pad. Cinderblock walls. Sheet metal roof. Safe distance from anything important. Typical cost is $3000-$4000. Farms often have little buildings like this.

(There are pictures of such buildings online. Search is returning awful LLM-generated garbage landing pages, so I don't have a link.)

Re: Building a 2.5kWh battery from disposable vapes to power my workshop [video]

#14

Post by Animats »

PaulKeeble wrote: post #11
viraptor wrote: post #3

Just curious: if you wanted to do something like that, but prevent a... thermal event, how would you protect an experimental battery realistically? Build a brick enclosure? A fire safe?

Current building regulations in the UK are moving towards outside storage of batteries now because of NMC's having a high tendency to combust. The battery management systems do detect a lot of issues, thermal and shorts but at some point I think government is going to force these to be on the outside of houses. The right answer is LifePO4 for home storage, does not combust and has good enough density.

Agreed. I think that about ten years out, when solid state batteries are widely available, lithium-ion batteries bigger than laptop-sized will be prohibited.

Re: Building a 2.5kWh battery from disposable vapes to power my workshop [video]

#15

Post by killingtime74 »

viraptor wrote: post #3

Just curious: if you wanted to do something like that, but prevent a... thermal event, how would you protect an experimental battery realistically? Build a brick enclosure? A fire safe?

Doesn't matter. If you try any of these techniques your insurer will still void your home insurance if your house catches fire.

Re: Building a 2.5kWh battery from disposable vapes to power my workshop [video]

#16

Post by PaulKeeble »

Animats wrote: post #14
PaulKeeble wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Current building regulations in the UK are moving towards outside storage of batteries now because of NMC's having a high tendency to combust. The battery management systems do detect a lot of issues, thermal and shorts but at some point I think government is going to force these to be on the outside of houses. The right answer is LifePO4 for home storage, does not combust and has good enough density.

Agreed. I think that about ten years out, when solid state batteries are widely available, lithium-ion batteries bigger than laptop-sized will be prohibited.

Once we have solid state cells I really hope the entire industry moves over to them and we just have solid state, LFP and Sodium Ion, all nicely non combustable chemistries that offer different price, power and weight density trade offs.

Re: Building a 2.5kWh battery from disposable vapes to power my workshop [video]

#18

Post by knowitnone3 »

louwrentius wrote: post #6
viraptor wrote: post #3

Just curious: if you wanted to do something like that, but prevent a... thermal event, how would you protect an experimental battery realistically? Build a brick enclosure? A fire safe?

A runaway NMC battery is notoriously difficult to extinguish, so the best thing to do is to not do it and investigate LFP prismatic cells instead. Many people building home storage batteries use a shed a few meters away from their home.

what's a NMC battery?

Re: Building a 2.5kWh battery from disposable vapes to power my workshop [video]

#19

Post by hamdingers »

viraptor wrote: post #3

Just curious: if you wanted to do something like that, but prevent a... thermal event, how would you protect an experimental battery realistically? Build a brick enclosure? A fire safe?

If you have the space for it, just put it outdoors 5' from anything flammable and you're good to go. This is not a hobby for folks in apartments unfortunately.

I've had one of my DIY ebike batteries short and fail spectacularly at near full charge and was able to push it with a broom out of the garage into the driveway before any damage was done. Now I have a bench with wheels that I can take into the driveway for initial testing.

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