18650 2x2 Battery Holder by simonwilson

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

Here is a 18650 LiPo Battery Holder that can hold 4 18650 batteries in various configurations. You can connect the 4 batteries either all in series 4S1P, all in parallel 1S4P or 2 in parallel and then those 2 sets in series 2S2P. It uses 8 m5 x 20mm hex head bolts as contacts to the battery terminals, I would recommend filing / sanding the heads of the bolts smooth for the best contact because the heads of the bolts often have little numbers or letters stamped on them for identification purposes. The main screw that runs through the middle of the holder is 1/4" x 3.5" Phillips head bolt with a matching 1/4" nut on the opposite side to thread into. For connecting the m5 bolts to each other for whichever wiring configuration you desire I used 1/16" thick by 1/2" wide aluminum flat stock that I bought in a 36" length and cut down to pieces that were 1.25" long. A hacksaw or diagonal cutters can be used to fairly easily cut the aluminum pieces. The aluminum bar can be found at most hardware stores for about $3. Ring terminal wire connectors can than be used to connect wires to the m5 bolts and back to whatever device your are trying to connect the batteries to. I wanted this to be a quick and reliable way to make 18650 battery packs without having to solder to them or spot weld tabs on them. So far with my testing it has seemed to work very well!
IMPORTANT note, be careful when tightening the center 1/4" bolt so that you don't screw it too tight together because you can potentially squeeze the m5 bolts too tight against the batteries and slightly dent them.
The batteries in the picture are all connected in series with one another, 4S1P.