George S.
Well-Known Member
I searched for any references to this on EBR and couldn’t find any. The product is interesting and the inventor is very dedicated.
Most flashlights have springs that keep the battery connected to the lamp. After a few years, the connection can go bad and the light can fade, or go out. Sometimes it will work again if you jiggle the spring or spray contact cleaner.
The standard cell for ebikes is the 18650. No one puts them in a spring loaded case. They are generally spot welded. There are machines that can spot weld the brick in a few minutes. The absolute best practice for soldering ebike packs may include spacers, special adhesives, fuses, and different grades of battery management boards, welded together. But a basic pack is a set of cells and a BMS in a case with some connectors.
Google sends my Android phone YouTube videos it thinks will interest me. Last week they sent me a link to a new video about Battery Blocs. I had never heard of Battery Blocs, though I do follow Shawn McCarty. He's a battery experimenter on YouTube. Apparently Shawn gets credit for inventing this system, something you have to dig around a bit to figure out. The company has too low a profile, I guess. But that's the problem with anything in the ebike sphere, it just isn't going to have any visibility.
The idea of the Battery Bloc is fairly simple. There are top pieces and bottom pieces that form the battery. There are magnets in the top/bottom pieces, and they provide structure until the thing is bolted together and then bolted down. It's easier to look at the video, for sure.
The electrical issue is hard to nail down. If you look at the pieces and how they fit together, it is clear that there is a lot of surface area, both at the terminals and at the connections. There is a long discussion on Endless Sphere. (Isn't there always?) The system is somewhat idiot proof, as long as you understand series connections and how to mount the cells in their cases.
The Battery Bloc pack is something of a screaming bargain. Shawn will sell you some of the best cells around, the 18650 Sanyo GA, for about $5-$6 including the case assembly parts. You need long threaded rods for final assembly. You can buy the cells with the case parts, one for one. Like everything, you have to check all the details, like balancing issues, cases, and chargers. If you can make your own, use RC stuff, etc, it might be simple and cheap.
There are some excerpts from a book Shawn wrote, on the website. He played with the concept a long time, getting help along the way. To prove the integrity of the system he set off on a very long ebike trip. You can find the book links on the website
www.batteryblocs.com
Most flashlights have springs that keep the battery connected to the lamp. After a few years, the connection can go bad and the light can fade, or go out. Sometimes it will work again if you jiggle the spring or spray contact cleaner.
The standard cell for ebikes is the 18650. No one puts them in a spring loaded case. They are generally spot welded. There are machines that can spot weld the brick in a few minutes. The absolute best practice for soldering ebike packs may include spacers, special adhesives, fuses, and different grades of battery management boards, welded together. But a basic pack is a set of cells and a BMS in a case with some connectors.
Google sends my Android phone YouTube videos it thinks will interest me. Last week they sent me a link to a new video about Battery Blocs. I had never heard of Battery Blocs, though I do follow Shawn McCarty. He's a battery experimenter on YouTube. Apparently Shawn gets credit for inventing this system, something you have to dig around a bit to figure out. The company has too low a profile, I guess. But that's the problem with anything in the ebike sphere, it just isn't going to have any visibility.
The idea of the Battery Bloc is fairly simple. There are top pieces and bottom pieces that form the battery. There are magnets in the top/bottom pieces, and they provide structure until the thing is bolted together and then bolted down. It's easier to look at the video, for sure.
The electrical issue is hard to nail down. If you look at the pieces and how they fit together, it is clear that there is a lot of surface area, both at the terminals and at the connections. There is a long discussion on Endless Sphere. (Isn't there always?) The system is somewhat idiot proof, as long as you understand series connections and how to mount the cells in their cases.
The Battery Bloc pack is something of a screaming bargain. Shawn will sell you some of the best cells around, the 18650 Sanyo GA, for about $5-$6 including the case assembly parts. You need long threaded rods for final assembly. You can buy the cells with the case parts, one for one. Like everything, you have to check all the details, like balancing issues, cases, and chargers. If you can make your own, use RC stuff, etc, it might be simple and cheap.
There are some excerpts from a book Shawn wrote, on the website. He played with the concept a long time, getting help along the way. To prove the integrity of the system he set off on a very long ebike trip. You can find the book links on the website
www.batteryblocs.com
