Homemade battery

Sorry for the late post today. My friend and I were working on the homemade 6 volt batteries made from the recycled free forklift batteries. Each battery that we are making will be 6 volts, 650 amp hours and weigh about 300 lbs. This is way easier to move around when compared to 1,500 pounds or so. Below is a video of "tinning" the bus bar.

We took a type "L" 1/2 inch copper pipe and cut it to length and then smashed it with a hammer. Then we drilled holes for the bolts. We then put the thermal paste on the ends and heated the ends so we could apply the solder. Before it cooled we wiped the excess off to make it nice and smooth. This will ensure good contact with the battery terminals and will prevent corrosion. (the picture below is before the tinning)

These copper tubes can handle over 800 amps. Isn't that amazing? Most people think they have to buy specialty copper bus bars that are expensive and have to be shipped from some exotic place. Or you have to be an electrician to know where to get the bus bars. Well, copper pipe is cheap and sometimes free. In fact, almost any HVAC technician or plumber will have some pieces laying around that they would gladly give you.

Below you can see that I ground the lead bar on the battery nice and flat so it can make good contact and have lots of contact area.
In the picture below, you can see the whole battery all connected and being charged. Notice, it is just a welded frame on a tray and there are tabs at the top where "all thread" is used to tighten up everything.
We still have to clean up the outside of these cells and paint the battery tray. This is just a test to make sure it all fits. We have about 15 more batteries like this to make over the next few weeks. And remember, everything was free except the "all thread" and bolts and angle iron. So, cost of each 6 volt, 650 amp hour battery is about $4.

Please, let me know if you have any questions.

see ya tomorrow,
Richard