Battery distribution box

Battery distribution box

The problem

Batteries are heavy. When DIY'ing a battery bank, this is an issue, because entire battery quickly becomes too heavy for a single person to move around. For example, a single EVE 280Ah cell weights 5kg+; a 48V system would weight more than 80kg. I dislike that, this is not very DIY-friendly, especially, when one has to move things around.

Ain't many options here, one has to either use smaller cells (which is less cost efficient), o split battery into smaller blocks. When splitting into blocks of 12/24V, cabling becomes a mess.

Another issue is that BMS'es rarely have serious balancers built-in; usually, it is a separate device connected in parallel to BMS. This adds to the complexity of the wiring.

Finally, there's the wiring itself. Mixing up two balancer leads may result in destroyed electronics. Connecting BMS to the battery is one of the scariest moments for me, even though I always triple check if the order of the wires is corrrect.

Solution

An intermediate distribution box. It allows:

• Splitting battery into smaller banks and wiring them locally;
• Checking the wiring order before connecting expesinsive BMS'es and balancers;
• A convenient connection for the balancer (which is actually optional);
• A handy extra connection for diagnostic purposes.