Pics/Info: Inside the battery pack

[mitch672]

That's an interesting idea. What inverters are you considering? Outback Radians or something else?

Yes, was talking specifically about Outback Radians, as multiple inverters can be synced together to get multiples of 8KW
most likely 2 would take care of my house, its natural gas heat, hot water and dryer. the largest load is the Oven, and Air Conditioner compressor, and the oven doesn't need to be on "backup power", the AC is also optional, but would be a "nice to have" on backup power.

other than that, its the HPWC @ 80A to charge the Model S, everything else is lights, PC's, furnace blower, washer/dryer motors etc

 

[wk057]

I'm using the Radians... 8 of them for 64kW total. Enough power for my house as it stands with all electric HVAC, hot water, range, and a HPWC...

I do plan on improving efficiency however with solar hot water and space heating. I'm not 100% sure if I want to move anything to LP...

 

[wk057]

Let the games begin...

 

[mitch672]

never mind the pack, how did you get a yellow Model S?
(8) Radians, really? 266 Amps, that's huge. I guess if you have an all electric house, does seem like overkill though.

 

[wk057]

never mind the pack, how did you get a yellow Model S?
(8) Radians, really? 266 Amps, that's huge. I guess if you have an all electric house, does seem like overkill though.

The yellow Model S is my fiance's. It is a wrap. Glossy Yellow Wrap Completed

The decision to do 8 Radians was basically due to the auxiliary heating in the HVAC setup. With the HPWC going and the HVAC aux heat, I'm already at 50kW draw before any other loads. During super cold days the aux heat runs for a few minutes at a time.

Eventually I can scale it down, but, as things stand that's what I need. I currently have 320 amp service to the house. (two 200A service panels fed from a 320A meter box)

 

[henderrj]

Pack two

Very interested. Keep up the good work - give us anomalies; anything different.

thanks,

Well, anyone up for round two?

I have 85kWh pack #2 arriving tomorrow or Tuesday. :biggrin:

If there are any specific questions about the pack anyone would like me to try and answer while I tear down pack #2 let me know here and I'll do my best to oblige.

 

[Moonwick]

Very interested. Keep up the good work - give us anomalies; anything different.

...any "Hi, wk057 -- love, Elon" messages engraved in the aluminum. :biggrin:

 

[nwdiver]

I do plan on improving efficiency however with solar hot water and space heating.

Have you seen these?

http://www.geappliances.com/heat-pump-hot-water-heater/

 

[Dave EV]

The decision to do 8 Radians was basically due to the auxiliary heating in the HVAC setup. With the HPWC going and the HVAC aux heat, I'm already at 50kW draw before any other loads. During super cold days the aux heat runs for a few minutes at a time.

Many people disable the resistance coils on heat pumps to avoid those spikes in demand. If they only turn on for a few minutes at a time, you can probably live without them and save a decent amount of energy and reduce your peak loads, though you may get a bit of cold air during defrost cycles.

Looking forward to the tear down!

 

[wk057]

Finished the tear down in record time since I knew what I was doing this time around. lol.

Compiling my time lapse video.

 

[wk057]

Tear down time lapse

 

[apacheguy]

Congrats on doing it in one fell swoop. What was the total time, start to finish? Was there a reason you patched the enclosure back up after you were finished?

 

[spaceballs]

Tear down time lapse

So awesome!

 

[J1mbo]

Awesome! Was it a D pack or something else?

 

[wk057]

Congrats on doing it in one fell swoop. What was the total time, start to finish? Was there a reason you patched the enclosure back up after you were finished?

Total time of the video clocked in at 3 hours 11 minutes, plus some time during cuts where I gathered some things to use (like my air compressor).

I put the top back on with a few screws because the salvage yard was buying the casing back from me since I only needed the modules, fuse, and contactors. I have no use for it otherwise so, no point in keeping it. I'm going to probably build the crate again later also.

Awesome! Was it a D pack or something else?

Was another D pack.

Pack voltage was sitting at 320.5V (3.34V per cell, 20V per module). You can see me take the voltage after I get the first part of the cover peeled back. Pretty dead, but not below 0 miles this time like the last one.

 

[ACDriveMotor]

I may have missed it but were the cells in your previous pack OK even though the pack was below 0 miles?

 

[wk057]

I may have missed it but were the cells in your previous pack OK even though the pack was below 0 miles?

Yes. They were fine. They were at something like 3.2V per cell, which is dead, but not destroyed. The 0 mile barrier in the car still leaves something like 5% capacity available IIRC.

 

[tezco]

Neat. Can Tesla access the contactors without having to peel back the main cover?

 

[tom66]

Is the plan to extend your current battery system with this then?

 

[randompersonx]

Neat. Can Tesla access the contactors without having to peel back the main cover?

Yeah,
I was wondering if you have any insight on how Tesla does this repair when the contactor fails. Especially interesting since apparently they are starting to do this at SC's.