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Old 12-28-2010, 03:51 PM   #1
Ground Loop
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Ground Loop is on a distinguished road
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: San Diego, California, USA.
Posts: 517
5 yr Member
Talking My NiMH -> LiPo battery rebuild for i167. Success!

It's been a while since I posted, and indeed, since I rode my Segway. Hi y'all!

I've purchased six $400 NiMH packs over the years, and continue to disparage the battery design as the weak link in Segway -- certainly from an operating cost standpoint. (If anyone of the 60 NiMH cells falls out of balance and goes bad, the whole pack is junk..) With the batteries discontinued and nothing to lose, I thought I'd try building my own pack. This is the result:



For now, I'm using six $9 3S LiPo batteries, each 2200mAh and nominally 11.1v. It's a fit! The pack is much lighter, and I remove the packs to charge them on a proper balancing charger, but my Segway is road-worthy once again!



Of course, I can't use either of my Segway battery chargers to top off, and a short circuit would burn down the whole show, but at $100 all-up, I'm in business! Most importantly, when one cell fails, I can diagnose & service just that pack without discarding the rest.

With a little more Dremel work and tighter wiring, I think I can fit 5000mAh cells or larger into the same space.

Last edited by Ground Loop; 12-28-2010 at 04:03 PM..
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