When I did my Sparrow lithium conversion I bought a bunch of the Nord lock washers sized for the CALB cell bolts. I used the copper bars that came with my 53 cells (I bought a spare). Then I made up a few longer copper bars out of 1/2" copper tubing, drilled and heat shrink wrapped as appropriate. Used the remaining Sparrow cables and it all worked well. I wanted a non-conductive hold down arrangement so used a bunch of the Harbor Freight large white zip ties. They are about 24" long, 1/2" wide, very strong and re-usable. Not cheap, though. Then when it was all tested, I put an inch of spray foam around the base of the cells to avoid vibration and movement. Cells were all tight up against each other and could never tell any heat build up charging or discharging. I would do it the same way again.
On Tue, Feb 24, 2026, 3:45 AM Jay Summet via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > With respect to just "connecting" them, standard cables like you would > use for Lead Acid batteries work fine, typically with ring terminals (vs > clamp). > > Size the cables based upon your amperage. If you are replacing a lead > acid pack, I'm going to assume 90-200 volts, and LOTS of amps, so you > probably want to use 00 welding cables. > > Get crimp ring connectors sized for the bolts that go into your cells > and a hydraulic crimping tool. > > However, you may find that the lithium modules are a lot smaller than > Lead Acid batteries, so need more connections (and the connections may > be closer together. > > Also, many/most LiIon modules need to be kept under compression so they > don't swell during charging or discharging. > > A solution I used was to package up the modules into "battery sized" > chunks, clamped together (threaded rod through plywood end pieces, > although you could use metal) with a copper busbar sized perfectly for > the "clamped" spacing of the modules. You don't want to use a solid > busbar between modules that can move relative to each other as it may > rip the bolt/terminal out of the module, but it's OK to do so far ones > that are physically clamped together. > > Then I just used the (flexible) 00 welding wire to connect the > "batteries" together, much like the original Lead Acid. > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjTwhR-DrqQ > > You can find a lot more here by going backwards in age: > https://www.summet.com/blog/tag/etruck/ > > Jay > > > > On 2/24/26 01:42, Daniel Eyk via EV wrote: > > I recently sent an email about lithium batteries and I want to thankyou > for > > replying as > > it helped me a lot. > > > > I have a followup question about how to hook up the lithium batteries and > > what > > parts are needed to do that. I am used to the old lead acid batteries and > > after looking > > at my battery box, I realized that I don't know how to connect the > > batteries. > > > > Also, someone asked me what kind of lithium batteries I have. They are > > Calb lithium ion batteries. They have a red cap and a black cap and > there is > > a barcode with this number on it. NSA 601305040234. I don't know if that > > will > > help or not in identifying the batteries, but that is what it says. > > > > Well, if anyone can tell me what parts I need and maybe cables, I > > would appreciate it. I did get around $300 worth of cables based on my > > knowledge of lead acid batteries and hate to lose that value, but you > > can't have everything. > > > > Thanks in advance for any information you can provide. > > > > Dan Eyk > > -------------- next part -------------- > > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > > URL: < > http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20260223/a965d6e5/attachment.htm > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Address messages to [email protected] > > No other addresses in TO and CC fields > > HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > > > > _______________________________________________ > Address messages to [email protected] > No other addresses in TO and CC fields > HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20260225/39cd3928/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ Address messages to [email protected] No other addresses in TO and CC fields HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/
