AdrianM

iTrader: (4)

You will never see a top factory driver with his cells glued toghter.

Gluing your cells toghter is bad. It traps heat in your pack and will shorthen battery life. I assemble my packs and do not glue them. I have been doing this for 10+ years with no problems.

azenis

that is what i was worried about

azenis

so what do you do to stop the solder joints breaking when you pick them up? how do you hold the pack together?

AdrianM

iTrader: (4)

I make good solder joints...lol! I have used Deans and Reedy bars and they are more than strong enough to hold the pack toghter.

Yokomo Aust

You can buy the stuff from Coles Supermarkets. Not sure on the cost.

071crazy

iTrader: (8)

If your solder joints break when you pick up the pack, then the solder joint itself is bad and probably inefficient anyways. Make sure you use a hot iron and prep the cells before soldering.

azenis

just resoldered pretty much the whole thing
i took the pack out of hte deans jig and it pretty much fell apart

so i resoldered it and it is much more solid, though i would think you would still need to be pretty careful when handling/transporting the pack!

I just hope I havent cooked the cells

Entropy

Oh well, you can always use stuffed packs for powering soldering irons, lathes and tire warmers.

WC

iTrader: (28)

I think I paid ~A$15 for my last tube.

Try a Rebel Sport or a skateboard shop.
Think my last one came from some Athelete's Foot.

your soldering is suss.

A good joint will weld the battery bar to the cell, no way it'll
come off the cell ever. Bar will bend before that happens.

You need a good hot iron that has enough thermal mass to
keep the temp high when the batt & bar sucks all the heat.
Get it right and it only takes 2 seconds to make a good joint.

barug

iTrader: (9)

try 5 minute epoxy. works great for me.

AdrianM

iTrader: (4)

I took a crap pack once and yanked it apart. I got a long pack that like sausage links. None of the solder joints gave way and the bars justbent into U's.

edseb

I've done shoe goo, but it does trap heat and over time the goo will get stiff and brittle. The best way is to make sure your solder is done right. Prep the cells and use an iron at a really high heat. You're right cells don't like heat, but if you go really hot, the solder will liquify instantly and a good bond will be made, the bonus is that it will be really quick. You don't want high heat for extended time. If you get a good joint, it won't come apart. If you have to use shoe goo, your soldering isn't good.

Qwiglee

The last 2 packs I built I decided to not use glue at all. If the solder joints are well done then they should be strong enough to hold the pack together. Just handle it carefully when it is out of the car...dont drop it off your pit table or anything like that and it will be fine.

Griffin

I use RTV - it's basically the same thing as shoe goo - a silicone adhesive that cures at room temp. Go to McMaster.com and type in RTV - you can pick a color and compound that works for you.

I don't know about having a 'sausage' string of batteries if you pull them apart - that's some SERIOUS soldering skill, however, you sould definately be able to hold onto an end cell and even give it a light shake without any damage to the joint.

Make sure you have a very hot iron with sufficient thermal mass (read large tip) as the WC said. Make sure you 'tin- the battery surface first, and even scuff it first with steel wool to promote better adhesion. Use flux also if necessary to get a nice, even, thin coat of solder on the battery before trying to solder the bar on.

I would even recommend you tin the bar a little before soldering it down.

Then make your solder sandwich. High heat for a brief period is the key.

071crazy

iTrader: (8)

Scuffing the cell surface makes a huge difference! The solder can "grip" to the cells a lot easier.