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(ET) Report: BB600 NiCD battery performance in my Elec-Trak



With the fall and winter coming on I thought I would share the results of running BB600 NiCD batteries in the E20.

Currently I have two strings of 30 NiCD cells in my E20. They all fit in the rear battery box with a set of 15, then a 2*4 vertical spacer, then a set of 15, then a 2*4 spacer and the other 30 batteries mounted the same way. The result is 4 quadrants of 15 cells. This gives me a nominal voltage of 36 volts, with a capacity of 60ah for the pack.

I could put another 30 cells in the front, but right now I just have a pair of dead 80AH AGM batteries up there for ballast.

Overall performance is *excellent*. Using a Link 10, I have noticed that I can pull a good 26ah per string without problems. This is in the summer, winter, mowing, tilling, snowblowing. The batteries are totally unaffected by the cold. In winter I put an extra 30 cells in the rear weight box and run with three strings. With that I can do just about anything with the snowblower. I have been able to pull over 150 amps per string peak without the batteries sagging too much.

The E20 charger for whatever reason charges these cells perfectly. I think it's the 45 volt end charge coupled with the high current charge up to the taper voltage (around 44 volts or so) that makes them happy.

I typically have to water them once a year, the biggest problem is washing the dust off the tops before opening the caps. Takes about 15-30 minutes to do.

The biggest problem is that they weigh less than the T105's so there is less weight in the tractor. This doesn't seem to be a big issue for the back batteries, but I'm wondering if the front would be heavy enough to maintain steering traction if I put another 30 up there. Maybe I need a lead weight under the front or something like that; anyone know if one can have a weight cast in the shape of the front battery box base? On the other hand it would be easier on the steering. Hm.

Given reasonable care, I expect this pack to last about 50-100 years or so.

Part of the reason I'm writing this is because I am thinking of removing the 250 cells that are in my S10 pickup truck. I put them in there looking for a 30 mile range truck, however trying to charge 250 of them in series is a lot more complex than 30 of them. So if anyone would like to try these cells, please let me know. I probably won't swap them out before the spring, and 250 cells would be enough to do about 3 tractors.

Chris