This truck was turned into a NIMH pack and lead acid 12 volts put in it and now it is ready to move up to LiFepo4 cells ... this truck will have a new add on BMS system specifically made for 100 cells (you pick what cells you want to use) I am installing 100 of the Hi-Power 100 AH cells .. This new BMS will have some add ons that will be available later on if wanted but right now we just want it to protect the cells and that it will do .. with changeable voltage highs and lows to protect the cells ............................ I will post pics and test as I go through the install .. I am a little over a week from receiving my cells so I was just getting the website ready for the upgrade ... |
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 As always we drop out the original pack and recycle all the batteries ........ and in this case since we are updating to NIMH wiring case etc. so we can show a NIMH truck being changed over to the LiFepo4 cells we strip everything and start from a scratch case .............. |
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 Strip everything out, plastic inserts etc. we want a clean case to start with .....even the fan goes .. |
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 add a recirculation fan with a custom case to make the flow higher .. you can use the original case but I thought it was too big and awkward to use it in these cases with the limited space available when using the bigger cells.............. |
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 add an original Flow through fan to the front ................ |
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 add a grille to the case and now we have turned this into a NIMH truck without the NIMH batteries of course ..... |
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 Time to set up the rest of the case ... I add 1/2" square tube to get the batteries up off the bottom of the case for air flow and for the fact we live in oregon and water does get into places ... if you look in the bottom of the case they knew that too .. there is drain holes in the pack ..... here is the case with all the risers added and I use a stuff you can get from any auto parts store called amazing goop ... really good stuff ............................ |
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 Just about time to get into the matching and fun part ... but first it is pretty important to equalize all the cells together ... the best way I have found to do this is using a power supply I like to charge them in about 20 to 25 in a row, then line them all up into one long row ... then again with the power supply set to 9 amps and approx. 3.6 volts I charge them for another 4 to 5 hours ... then let them just sit for 24 hours ... since they are all in parallel they wil float each other to perfectly match all the cells together ..... |
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 Set the batteries in and connect them as you see fit ... but the new BMS system is great and easy to install !! unlike the other systems there is only one board for 4 cells ... you install the board on one cell and then just run wires to each positive ... simple P1, P2, P3, P4 ...... done ...... but here is what I installed , I used some neat studs ... and some nice nuts to raise the board off the cell .............. |
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 Here is a single board attached in the pack so you can see the 4 positive wires .. a lot less room needed for this system and in the future the guy doing it has some great ideas to make it even better ! |
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 Here is a pic of the front of the pack finished up ..................... |
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 Here is a pick of the pack in the back ............ |
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 currently there is a serial connector ... in the interface that will become wireless to be able to get the readouts , right now there is a switch that has been installed to have the readout show .. either all 100 cells scrolling by or just the top 3 high readings and the bottom 3 low readings and the pack voltage and the temp. highest reading .. every board has a temp reading ... These are great .................................... here is a showing of the readout hooked to my laptop right now .... |
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 finished up pack ready to go full length pic ...... |
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 put on the top and re-install a brand new pack with the great new BMS system ... There is a lot that I could tell you about it but I think you can probably know more by just downloading the install manual .... I will show a little more of the actual install of this system with the next install which is a direct lead acid to LiFepo4 so we will use everything the system has to offer ............. |
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 All done , cold night out and I need to empty some stored things out of the back of my truck .. Time to run tests and drive it for a while ... Its nice to be able to run these in my truck to break them in and make sure that they are working very well before moving them to another truck ... I have currently ran 5 cycles with the pack under the Ranger ev , a nice slow discharge and charge ... to break in the pack without any damage ....................... I then ran to work and back today after finishing putting it all together ... a nice 24 mile run ... Charging it back up and will test it for the next week .... Hope you enjoyed this one ................ I sure have .................................. |
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