Building your homemade battery pack to provide more voltage or amp hours is a fun project to tackle. You will save money in the process, as homemade batteries are more affordable.
You may have heard of a saltwater battery, Earth batteries, coin batteries, and other fixes, but we have the ultimate guide on how to make a legit, homemade battery right here — no aluminum foil or copper wire required.
You can build a rechargeable 12-volt battery pack out of NiCad batteries. Do you need a 24-volt deep cycle pack but only have some 6-volt AGM batteries available? No trouble. You can build a 24-volt battery pack in a few hours. Read on to learn how to make homemade battery(s).
We will not be discussing Lithium-Ion batteries. While they are great batteries, their special recharging requirements make them problematic when building homemade batteries.
Did you know that the battery in every electric car is a bank of thousands of individual battery cells soldered together, functioning as a car battery as the electricity flows?
The battery pack in a security light is just three or five rechargeable AA batteries fused in series. A 12-volt car battery is nothing more than six 2-volt battery cells connected in series.
It is best to have a specific goal before beginning a DIY battery-building project. What device do you need to power, and what is the problem with the current battery? Often, the original batteries do not last long enough. If that is the case, we will discuss wiring batteries in parallel to increase the Amp Hour (Ah) capacity.
NiCad and Sealed Lead Acid Batteries are best suited for building battery packs. NiCads are suited for small electronic devices. Lead Acid cells are great for larger electrical devices. A lead-acid battery pack can also provide Alternating Current (AC) via an inverter.
Every type of battery is built to provide a specific voltage. How much voltage depends on how much electrical energy you’re looking for.
Typical Rechargeable Ni-Cad batteries (AAA, AA, C, D) provide 1.2 volts of electricity. The larger mass of each size enables it to provide more MilliAmp Hours of current.
Recharging these cells is most straightforward with an appropriately sized solar panel, allowing you to easily produce electricity.
Seal Lead Acid (SLA) or Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) lead-acid batteries are the best choice when building a large battery pack. They can not spill like regular Flooded Lead Acid (FLA) batteries. They also do not require maintenance as FLA batteries do.
You can build a Ni-Cad battery pack with just a few components and minimal effort. You can achieve any voltage required for a battery-operated device. The battery pack will be rechargeable via a solar panel or a plug-in charger.
Determine the voltage required for the battery pack. A 12 volt, 800 mA pack will be the target for this example. Have all the parts on hand before you begin.
Batteries will be arranged side by side in an alternating orientation. The first battery will have the “+” positive terminal facing up. The second will have the “-” negative terminal up. Continue this sequence for all batteries. You will end up with eight batteries arranged as pictured.Tape or glue the batteries together. If using tape, be sure that the terminals are not completely covered.
Cut seven pieces of wire approximately 1 inch long. Strip the insulation from 1/4 inch of each wire end. Flatten the exposed wire on each end of the pieces. The flattened end will facilitate soldering.
Use a clamp or other fixture to stand the batteries vertically. Solder one wire to the four “+” terminals facing up. When the solder has cooled, solder the free end of each wire to the adjacent “-” terminal. See figure below.
Turn the battery pack over and repeat the process. DO NOT attach a wire to the last “+” or “-” terminals on the ends of your battery pack. See Diagram.
Measuring the voltage at the “+” and “-” terminals as indicated by the green arrows should show a voltage of 9.6 to 12.0 volts. Ni-Cad batteries tend to hold only 1.2 volts. A reading of 9.6 is correct. If your meter shows no voltage, check for a bad solder joint at one of the connection points.
You can now attach a red lead wire to the “+” terminal and a black wire to the “-” terminal. The lead wires can be as long as you like. Paint all the battery terminal ends with a coat of Paint On Electrical Tape.
The paint will protect the connections from damage or short circuits. The last step is attaching a plug to the end of the lead wires.
The battery pack can be charged either with a 12-volt universal Ni-Cad charger or a small 12-volt solar panel. The current of the charging device should be no more than 100 mA. Charging dead batteries will take approximately 8 hours.
The construction of a large 12-volt homemade battery pack is similar to the small Ni-Cad pack. All of the parts are just bigger. We will consider building a 12-volt battery pack with 100 amp hours of service for this discussion. The batteries used for the pack will be 12-volt, 50 amp-hour batteries.
The components used for this homemade battery pack are variable. The size of the batteries, the battery terminals, and the connecting plug you wish to use will impact the construction of the battery pack.
For that reason, this discussion will not include specific details about structure. It is, instead, a general guide to planning and developing your design.
Set batteries side by side, with "+" terminals on the left and "-" terminals on the right. Tape the batteries together.
Measure the distance from the terminals on one battery to the same terminal on the other battery ( + to +) (- to -). Cut one length of red wire and one length of black wire 4 inches longer than the measured distance. Attach one end of the black wire to a terminal connector and one end of the red wire to another connector.
Connect the other end of these wires to the second set of terminal connectors. At the second connector, connect a length of wire long enough to exit the container you have selected. See the illustration below.
Connect the terminals with the black (-) wire to the “-” terminals of the batteries. Connect the terminals with the red(+) wire to the batteries’ “+” terminals. Be sure the wire and terminal connectors are in the same orientation as the black wires.
Estimate where you want the power wire to exit the container that will house your battery pack. Drill a hole in that location large enough to route the wires through. If you are using a metal box, rubber, or plastic insulators to protect the wire would be wise. If you plan to install a plug to the container box, drill the appropriately sized hole for the plug assembly.
Place the battery assembly in the box. Route the wires through the hole and connect them to the plug assembly or whatever external connector you have selected. Then, install the plug assembly.
Once the batteries are in place, and external connections have been made, secure the batteries with whatever material you have chosen. If you use spray foam, only use enough to secure the batteries. If you fill the box, you will never be able to get the batteries out if they need changing. Install the top of your battery container and secure it as you see fit. You now have a 12 volt, 100 Ah battery to supply your devices.
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