coulomb wrote: And please tell me that the presumably unfused wires to the BMS boards will be getting a liberal coating with silicone or some other strain relief. I know fuses are a nuisance when the current through them isn't enough to keep mechanical contacts (like fuse to fuse-holder) clean, but those long unprotected BMS wires are a worry to me. So the last thing you need is vibration causing a break in the wire where the solder stops wicking into the copper. (Disclaimer: Weber and I promote our own cell-top BMUs, which have a surface mount fuse and avoid the unfused wires altogether, so you could say that we are biased on this.)
I agree that it is currently a bit dodgy, not having fuses on all the BMS trace wires. It is kind of depending on the wires being so tiny (AWG26 = 0.5A rated) that they'd burn out quickly if anything goes wrong, without taking much energy / creating much heat. (I'm experimenting with voltage monitoring only, no balancing, so the trace wires carry negligible current.)
Some kind of silicon holding the wires in place sounds like a decent idea, I will give that further consideration.
Johny wrote: While we are Ian bashing(something I'm not normally predisposed to do because I admire your work), I am concerned that the aluminium angle that holds all the cells in place could abrade the flimsy insulation (blue stuff) on the cells after a bit of road juggling (not clown juggling - bumping around). I'm assuming that the cells can move which doesn't make much sense but I'll post this anyway.
Bash away. Better that than have me overlook some important design flaw!
But in this case, never fear. Between the aluminium bars and the cells beneath them is a layer of 6mm neoprene foam rubber. It is compressed down to a mm or two at the highest point of the cells, but should insulate well and prevent abrasion.
