NiMH batteries

[zotdoc]

Anyone out there with battery expertise have thoughts on making your own NiMH batteries? I'm talking about large units for EV propulsion. Is this totally impratical, dangerous etc. ? To power an EV, I understand that a battery pack would cost $30,000.00. I have a lot of space and a fairly sophisticated workshop, so making 20 of this type battery is not totally impossible. Thanks.

[Smoke_Maker]

That is a very lofty goal to build your own Flooded NiCad. Finding the material to make the plates will be hard to say the least, making all the plates the same so they play well together will be even harder, but I think you should go for it.

I have no clue how to do this, but I think I would start by getting some batteries to play with. Get about a dozen cheap used batteries and cycle half of them (charge and discharge) to see how the act. Take the other 6 apart and study them, separate all the plates and then put them back together again, drop them in a home made container and cycle them to see how you did.

WARNING, study and know what hazardous materials you are working with FIRST, this stuff is nasty and your local hazmat people might not like what your doing.

Here are some cheap used flooded NiCad to play with if someone doesn't talk you out of it.
http://www.sg-photo.com/nicad_batteries.htm

PLEASE be safe, playing with this stuff could harm you or someone else, do a lot of research and use all the PPE required.

[jwax]

Hmmm. potassium hydroxide - yummy!
Can't help with the recipe for making NiMH cells, but do publish the article if you succeed, zotdoc!
Lots of us wingnuts would love to cut the cost of an electric car in half by rolling our own batteries!

[ringo47stars]

I built some nimh batteries that didn't work so good but after finding the problem i think i can make some that work good. I'm an artist so I don't have the workshop or equipment I think I need. I don't try to make them any more because of this lack of equipment. Check out my web site at http://www.geocities.com/tired94302. I dont see why people don't switch to using nimh batteries in thier cars except for the high cost of them so i started a groups page and didn't get very much response but maybe things will pick up.

[Smoke_Maker]

My bad, you were talking about NiMH not NiCad, the batteries are close in construction except the anode is made of hydride alloy. So the research stills holds, if you can put together a NiCad that works you will be a short jump away from NiMH.

[jwax]

ringo47stars-Looked at your site, but found little about the details of NiMH battery building. Could you share more tech info?

[Chris Smith]

Homeland security, tuning in?
Boom, must be a terrorist?

Sad but true.

[ringo47stars]

I'm not an instruction site for these things as I am experimenting myself. I could help if you were more specific as to the problem but you do need to be familiar with motor or transformer windings.