Ultimate Milwaukee Packout Lithium Battery
Building the electric car has stalled, so I thought I'd post an update on my latest lithium battery. This one was dreamed up out of necessity. After doing many renovations on an apartment building and not having the power to charge the batteries and run the tools, I decided to build myself a battery. The 2 key factors for this build were: portability – it had to get in and out of my Ute easily, and modularity – I need to be able to add the components I need as I go without hassle.
I decided early on that I was going to use Milwaukee Packout cases. Yes, they are a bit pricey, but they fit the bill for portability and modularity. It is already set up so that it can be easily clipped on and off. They also have a wide range of different shells that would suit my build perfectly.
battery box
The idea is to have a battery as the main component. For the battery, I used the Packout 48-22-84-8424 toolkit. I chose this case because of its sturdy design and the extra stabilization/protection it has on the sides. You should be able to lay it in a corner and it won't break. This box includes 4 Lifepo4 prismatic cells, BMS, active balance board, temperature sensors, fuses and circuit breakers. A jumper cable is used from an Anderson 120A connector to connect to the control box. However, you can use this box independently if needed.
The control box is used to break in additional 12v accessories. As you can probably see from the battery box, it's limited on inputs and outputs. This control box includes 4 x 50A Anderson outlets, 1 x 120A Anderson outlet (connected via a 200A contactor), a 2.1A USB and CIG socket. All of these outlets are merged and controlled via a small touch switch panel with relay. A battery link cable plugs into the side. The control panel can be moved away from the packout via a 2 m cable. I plan to put magnets on it and route them to the back of the ute for easy access.
solar charger boxThe solar control box will house a Victron MPPT charger and hopefully a DC-DC to help with charging from the vehicle. I haven't built this one yet. To be confirmed
inverter boxI have a Renogy 1000W inverter to put in a box and deploy. The reason for the Renogy 1000W and no bigger is because of the 120A limit of the BMS and Anderson connectors. At full power we should see 90-100A @ 12v.
Other potential boxes to build Water pump CompressorIf anyone has any other ideas, I'm all ears!
Building the electric car has stalled, so I thought I'd post an update on my latest lithium battery. This one was dreamed up out of necessity. After doing many renovations on an apartment building and not having the power to charge the batteries and run the tools, I decided to build myself a battery. The 2 key factors for this build were: portability – it had to get in and out of my Ute easily, and modularity – I need to be able to add the components I need as I go without hassle.
I decided early on that I was going to use Milwaukee Packout cases. Yes, they are a bit pricey, but they fit the bill for portability and modularity. It is already set up so that it can be easily clipped on and off. They also have a wide range of different shells that would suit my build perfectly.
battery boxThe idea is to have a battery as the main component. For the battery, I used the Packout 48-22-84-8424 toolkit. I chose this case because of its sturdy design and the extra stabilization/protection it has on the sides. You should be able to lay it in a corner and it won't break. This box includes 4 Lifepo4 prismatic cells, BMS, active balance board, temperature sensors, fuses and circuit breakers. A jumper cable is used from an Anderson 120A connector to connect to the control box. However, you can use this box independently if needed.
The control box is used to break in additional 12v accessories. As you can probably see from the battery box, it's limited on inputs and outputs. This control box includes 4 x 50A Anderson outlets, 1 x 120A Anderson outlet (connected via a 200A contactor), a 2.1A USB and CIG socket. All of these outlets are merged and controlled via a small touch switch panel with relay. A battery link cable plugs into the side. The control panel can be moved away from the packout via a 2 m cable. I plan to put magnets on it and route them to the back of the ute for easy access.
solar charger boxThe solar control box will house a Victron MPPT charger and hopefully a DC-DC to help with charging from the vehicle. I haven't built this one yet. To be confirmed
inverter boxI have a Renogy 1000W inverter to put in a box and deploy. The reason for the Renogy 1000W and no bigger is because of the 120A limit of the BMS and Anderson connectors. At full power we should see 90-100A @ 12v.
Other potential boxes to build Water pump CompressorIf anyone has any other ideas, I'm all ears!
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