Advice for building 12v battery pack.

This is the issue.

I commute to work every day by motorcycle. In winter I wear heated gloves which are wired directly into the battery. They work brilliantly. The cable to the bike is a PITA though, on a number of occasions it has got snagged filtering in traffic and a number of times I’ve walked away with the cable attached and nearly dragged the bike off the stand. I would like to convert the gloves to battery operation with a portable power pack that just sits in my pocket or backpack. The manufacturer of my heated gloves has come to a similar conclusion and they now offer Lithium battery packs but they are not cheap at $200 for a unit delivering 12v@5ah. Also these are sealed units so when the batteries are shot the whole unit is junk. Since I already have already invested in 18650 batteries and chargers for my cycling lights it makes sense to build my own power pack. I have 4x protected keepower 2600’s available, what I need to know is if these will work ok in series and if anyone knows of any suitable battery boxes out there. I have seen waterproof battery boxes on Gearbest and similar sites (see link), they are wired in series/parallel configuration with 4 cells giving 8.4v. The idea is to re-wire them internally so all cells are in series. Any issues with doing this?

http://www.gearbest.com/chargers/pp_265032.html

http://www.gearbest.com/12v-jump-start-\_gear/

1 of these to exy? I have a microstart version never used as power supply just jump starting the mower…

heated grips ?

have you considered a small sla battery

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12v-2-9AH-AGM-SLA-BATTERY-VRLA-RECHARGEABLE-COMPUTERS-TORCH-SPOTLIGHT-/221943805187?hash=item33ace1b503:g:zasAAOSw~OdVePov

If possible use a 12v drill pack and charger—I have played around building battery packs—the hard part is to get the right protection circuit—the correct amp discharge/battery type is important—too much draw the batteries heat up pretty fast—I used some Riggid 12v packs for grandson’s four wheeler—- all ready to go—circuit inside pack—worked great

Drill packs are a good idea but the ones with high amp/hr ratings are quite bulky. Another thought is a LifePo4 power pack. Those things take high discharge rates well which is what you need at the start to get yer hands toasty, once warm there is a pot to ramp heat down. Then again its a different system and you need a balance charger.

I’ve been looking into heated riding gear as well and your not kidding about expensive! These people are probably making a killing selling this stuff. Let me know what you find out, as I’ve been toying with the idea of getting glove liners which are only fifty bucks but I keep thinking about how to run the wiring without destroying it. With my luck I’d catch it on the exhaust and set myself on fire lol

My gloves are Gerbing, probably the best make for heated clothing. They do heated liners too, a lot cheaper than the full gloves. I’ve had my gloves a few years but they still work ok. All their clothing comes with a main battery option as standard. That is the cheapest. Wiring has an integral fuse, you just attach the +ve and -ve to the battery terminals and cable tie the loom to your bike frame with connector coming out close to where the rider sits. They have gone fancy and upmarket lately, the new stuff has remote (wireless) heat controllers. Mine is just hardwired directly from the battery to the gloves, however I’ve spliced an adjustment pot into the loom.

Maybe a laptop battery. Most have all the protection circuitry built into them. You would need to rig a connector for both your gloves and for charging.

The problem is the current draw. The gloves are rated to 2.2amp and the system is fused to 3amp. If you buy the whole Gerbing kit (gloves, socks, inner jacket) you fit a 15 amp fuse. For the daily commute I would want the gloves to run for close to 2 hours, not all at 2amps though. After 15 mins they probably get dropped to 1amp.

My bike is similar to the KLX, a KTM950sm. I’ve an issue with circulation in my hands and joints, in the cold the tips of fingers start tingling. I’ve ridden BMW’s and find heated grips don’t sort the problem, they just keep my palms toasty. I commute across a busy city so my fingers are always off the grips and on the levers. Handguards plus heated gloves work really well for that sort of riding.

I kind of got off the point a bit in earlier posts, but can anyone point me in the direction of a compact rechargeable power pack or components to make one that will deliver a constant 12-14v @ 2amps for 2 hours.

Cheers

May be you can use a step up power converter.

8 battery protected on paralell(I will use protected maybe this are not the best) https://www.fasttech.com/products/1420/10002357/1384602

and one step-up converter.

https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10002934/4057100-dc-dc-power-supply-step-up-boost-module-w

insert all in a closed case and charge the battery every day on you charger. or all at one.

Other option is go for a RC battery pack. and a B6 charger…

Any of this options are more cheapest as the manufacturer battery pack :wink:

The other option is go for this but you must use a unprotected battery.

4A-5A PCB BMS Protection Board for 3 Packs 18650 Li-ion lithium Battery Cell 3S

But this solution will not give to you enough time of power… maybe one hour but not more… for 12V 2ah 2h you will need at least 8 batterys of 18650 maybe is time to think other batterys like 28650 or similar

28650 baterys the protected is max to 4A to get 12V with 4 battery you will need drain 2,5A more or less.

how are these regulated?
will they run well at 9v?
if so 3s 18650 howevermany p you need is easy. protection boards are cheap.
4s likely too high fresh off the charger.