Lmst

There’s Always Room for 3D Printed Batteries

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://hackaday.com/2026/02/14/theres-always-room-for-3d-printed-batteries/

<div><img alt="" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="396" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/pdw.png?w=800" style="margin: 0 auto; margin-bottom: 15px;" width="800" /></div><p>There are many applications where you have limits on how much you can cram into a particular space. There are also many applications where you need as much battery as you can get. At the intersection of those applications, you may soon be able to <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/3d-printed-batteries" target="_blank">3D print custom batteries</a> to fit into oddly shaped spaces that might otherwise go to waste.</p>
<p>Commercial batteries are typically cylindrical or rectangular. In theory, you could build tooling to make batteries of any size or shape you want, but it’s an expensive process in small quantities. [Lawrence Ulrich] on Spectrum talks about a new process, developed by [Gabe Elias], that can print anodes, cathodes, separators, and casings for custom battery shapes with no costly tooling.</p>
<p>As an example, consider an unmanned aerial vehicle crammed with avionics. You could put off-the-shelf batteries in the wings, but you’ll end up wasting a lot of space. A custom battery could fill the wing’s interior completely. The post also mentions batteries shaped like the earpieces of a pair of smart glasses.</p>
<p>A prototype showed that in the space of 48 cylindrical cells, the new process could deliver a printed battery that uses 35% m

There’s Always Room for 3D Printed Batteries https://hackaday.com/2026/02/14/theres-always-room-for-3d-printed-batteries/
#BatteryHacks #Science #3dprinting #Battery

Investigating the Science Claims Behind the Donut Solid State Battery

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://hackaday.com/2026/02/08/investigating-the-science-claims-behind-the-donut-solid-state-battery/

<div><img alt="" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="389" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/donut_lab_solid_state_battery_ziroth_youtube.jpg?w=800" style="margin: 0 auto; margin-bottom: 15px;" width="800" /></div><p>Earlier this year Donut Lab caused quite the furore when they unveiled what they claimed was the world’s first production-ready solid state battery, featuring some pretty stellar specifications. Since then many experts and enthusiasts in the battery space have raised concerns that this claimed battery may not be real, or even possible at all. After seeing the battery demonstrated at CES’26 and having his own concerns, [Ziroth] decided to do some investigating on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8mkD6g9Ujc" target="_blank">what part of the stated claims actually hold up</a> when subjected to known science.</p>
<p>On paper, the <a href="https://www.donutlab.com/battery/" target="_blank">Donut Lab battery</a> sounds amazing: full charge in less than 10 minutes, 400 Wh/kg energy density, 100,000 charge cycles, extremely safe and low cost. Basically it ticks every single box on a battery wish list, yet the problem is that this is all based on Donut’s own claims. Even aside from the concerns also raised in the video about the company itself, pinning down what internal chemistry and configuration would enable this feature set proves to be basically impossible.</p>
<p>In this summary of research done on D

Investigating the Science Claims Behind the Donut Solid State Battery https://hackaday.com/2026/02/08/investigating-the-science-claims-behind-the-donut-solid-state-battery/
#BatteryHacks #Chemistryhacks #Battery #Batterychemistry

Kei Truck Looks Like a Giant Power Tool

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://hackaday.com/2026/02/04/kei-truck-looks-like-a-giant-power-tool/

<div><img alt="A small white work truck sitting on a faded road with trees in the background. In its bed is what looks like an enormous drill battery in an upside down position. The "battery" is black with red and yellow stripes. It has the words "125V, 500 Ah, 52 kWh" and "Mr. G's Workshop" emblazoned on the side." class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="450" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Kei-Truck…-Cordless-_-The-Drill-Battery-EV.jpeg?w=800" style="margin: 0 auto; margin-bottom: 15px;" width="800" /></div><p>Kei trucks are very versatile vehicles, but their stock powerplant can leave a bit to be desired. If you need more power, why not try an electric conversion?</p>
<p>[Ron “Mr. G” Grosinger] is a high school auto shop and welding teacher who worked with his students to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usfm76aCqd4" target="_blank">replace the 40 hp gas motor in this Daihatsu Hijet with the 127 hp of a Hyper 9 electric motor.</a> The motor sits in the original engine bay under the cab and is mated to the stock transmission with a custom adapter plate made from plate steel for less than $150. We really appreciate how they left all the electronics exposed to see what makes the conversion tick.</p>
<p>The faux battery was made by a foam sculptor friend out of urethane foam shaped with a carving knife and then painted. It slides on a set of unistrut trolleys and reveals the 5 salvaged Tesla batt

Kei Truck Looks Like a Giant Power Tool https://hackaday.com/2026/02/04/kei-truck-looks-like-a-giant-power-tool/
#BatteryHacks #TransportationHacks #Cordlesspowertool #Electricvehicleconversion #EVconversion #Kei #Keitruck #Minitruck

Lumafield Peers into the 18650 Battery

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://hackaday.com/2026/01/31/lumafield-peers-into-the-18650-battery/

<div><img alt="Lumafield battery quality report cover page" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="450" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Lithium-Ion-CT-2-banner-2.jpg?w=800" style="margin: 0 auto; margin-bottom: 15px;" width="800" /></div><p>[Alex Hao] and [Andreas Bastian] of Lumafield recently visited with [Adam Savage] to share their <a href="https://www.lumafield.com/battery-report" target="_blank">battery quality report</a>, which documents their findings after performing X-ray computed tomography scans on over 1,000 18650 lithium-ion batteries.</p>
<p><a href="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/18650_detail.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-914750" height="316" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/18650_detail.jpg?w=400" width="400" /></a>The short version — don’t buy cheap cells! The cheaper brands were found to have higher levels of manufacturing defects which can lead them to being unsafe. All the nitty-gritty details are available in the report, which can be downloaded for free from Lumafield, as well as the <em>Tested</em> video they did with [Adam] below.</p>
<p>Actually we’ve been talking here at Hackaday over at our virtual water-cooler (okay, okay, our <a href="https://hackaday.com/discord">Discord server</a>) about how to store lithium-ion batteries and we learned about this cool bit of kit: the <a href="https://www.bat-safe.com/product-p

Lumafield Peers into the 18650 Battery https://hackaday.com/2026/01/31/lumafield-peers-into-the-18650-battery/
#BatteryHacks #18650Batteries #CTScan #LithiumIonBatteries

Lead Acid Battery Upgraded to Lithium Iron Phosphate https://hackaday.com/2026/01/23/lead-acid-battery-upgraded-to-lithium-iron-phosphate/
#BatteryHacks #3dprinted #Atv #Battery #Batterypack #Busbar #Ev #Leadacid #LiFePO4 #Lithium #Lithiumironphosphate #Screwterminal

Lead Acid Battery Upgraded to Lithium Iron Phosphate

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://hackaday.com/2026/01/23/lead-acid-battery-upgraded-to-lithium-iron-phosphate/

<div><img alt="" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="450" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/lifepo4-main.png?w=800" style="margin: 0 auto; margin-bottom: 15px;" width="800" /></div><p>Lithium batteries have taken over as the primary battery chemistry from applications ranging from consumer electronics to electric vehicles and all kinds of other things in between. But the standard lithium ion battery has a few downsides, namely issues operating at temperature extremes. Lead acid solves some of these problems but has much lower energy density, and if you want to split the difference with your own battery <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-nkiqVb0J8" target="_blank">you’ll need to build your own lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) pack</a>.</p>
<p>[Well Done Tips] is building this specific type of battery because the lead acid battery in his electric ATV is on the decline. He’s using cylindrical cells that resemble an 18650 battery but are much larger. Beyond the size, though, many of the design principles from building 18650 battery packs are similar, with the exception that these have screw terminals so that bus bars can be easily attached and don’t require spot welding.</p>
<p>With the pack assembled using 3D printed parts, a battery management system is installed with the balance wires cleverly routed through the prints and attached to the bus bars. The only problem [Well Done Tips] had was not realizing that Li

Battle Born LFP Battery Melts With New Problem https://hackaday.com/2026/01/16/battle-born-lfp-battery-melts-with-new-problem/
#BatteryHacks #Teardown #LiFePO4 #PSA

Just posted a battery status logger for Eco-worthy Bluetooth LiFePo4 batteries. There was a good sale on these during the holiday. This program, for a Raspberry Pi or similar, will connect to the battery and log volts, amps, watts, SOC, and cell voltages to a CSV file. Can even trigger events on high or low SOC. #solar #battery #batteryhacks

https://github.com/mike805/eco-worthy-battery-logger

Just posted a battery status logger for Eco-worthy Bluetooth LiFePo4 batteries. There was a good sale on these during the holiday. This program, for a Raspberry Pi or similar, will connect to the battery and log volts, amps, watts, SOC, and cell voltages to a CSV file. Can even trigger events on high or low SOC. #solar #battery #batteryhacks

https://github.com/mike805/eco-worthy-battery-logger

Long shot, but does anyone know if the Lithium Ion battery inside a #PS4 #Dualshock4 (I know there are two different connectors) has charge protection circuit built-in or does the controller handle all that.
I am toying (sic) with the idea of fitting a non standard replacement battery.
I may bodge a couple of throw away vape cells together.

#electronics #BatteryHacks

Lithium-Ion Battery Hotswapping, Polarity, Holders https://hackaday.com/2024/09/11/lithium-ion-battery-hotswapping-polarity-holders/ #BatteryHacks #Featured #Skills