23 Easy DIY Battery Pack Plans

Battery packs are required for powering all kinds of items, but the problem is, they can be extremely expensive to buy.

However, if you’re not afraid of a little DIY, you can make one yourself for a fraction of the cost – and if you’re interested in trying, here are 23 great plans we found for how to make a battery pack that you might like to try copying at home.

1. DIY Professional 18650 Battery Pack: 12 Steps (with Pictures) – Instructables

In this plan, we learn how to make a battery pack from 18650 batteries, the standard size found in a range of applications from laptops to e-bikes and power tools. The plan includes a list of all the tools and materials you’ll need, and it then takes you through the construction process step-by-step in a clear and logical way that anyone can copy. So why not check it out and see if you might like to have a go too?

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2. Beginner’s Guide to Building Safe 18650 Batteries

If you’re new to the idea of building battery packs, this is a video you’d do well to watch before you go any further. In it, you’ll learn the basics about 18650 batteries – including some extremely important safety information. After that, the YouTuber explains how to turn these batteries into battery packs the right way so that you minimize the danger.

 

3. DIY Lithium Batteries: How to Build Your Own Battery Packs

If, instead of a quick guide to building a battery pack, you want to go deep into the theory of how they work, this is a post you should find interesting. It teaches you everything you’ll need to know about battery packs in terms of the science. After that, it takes you through all the steps required to build a battery pack, so you’ll easily be able to make one of your own.

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4. How to Build a DIY E-bike Battery from 18650 Cells

In this detailed video, this YouTuber takes us through all the steps required for turning 18650 cells into a battery for an e-bike. One thing we like about this video is how well he explains everything, making it easy for just about anyone to understand. We also like the way he demonstrates everything you need to do, so anyone watching will have a clear idea of what the project entails – ensuring you don’t get started only to find it’s too complicated for you.

 

5. How to Build a Battery Pack From 18650 Cells

Here’s another great plan for a battery pack that’s a pleasure to read and easy to follow. It begins by giving you some background on 18650 cells before listing all the materials you’ll need for the job. After that, it takes you through what you need to do – and it includes discussion on things like how many cells you need and which ones to avoid – allowing you to build a highly professional battery pack yourself.

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6. How to Make a Lithium Battery Pack with 18650 Cells – Practical Skills for Makers

As this YouTuber explains at the start of his video, buying battery packs – along with the chargers that go with them – can be extremely expensive. However, with a little DIY know-how, it’s quite possible to make a battery pack of your own, as he demonstrates. He makes it look so easy, and if you copy his design, it’s sure to save you a bit of cash – so why not check it out and see if you’re up to the challenge?

 

7. Here is How to Arrange the Cells to Make a Battery Pack

One of the most common applications for homemade battery packs is to power e-bikes, and nowadays, even DIYers with little battery pack-building experience are trying their hand at it as a way of reducing costs. If that sounds like you, this is a recommended read since it covers all the basics of constructing a battery pack, giving you the best chance of making one successfully while avoiding all of the associated dangers.

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8. Creating a Huge DIY Battery with 2800 18650 Cells from Used Laptop Batteries

This might not be the kind of project that many people are likely to copy, but the video is still well worth watching due to the impressively huge battery pack this YouTuber makes – it incorporates no fewer than 2800 18650 battery cells scavenged from laptop batteries. But who knows? Perhaps some people will be inspired by his tutorial to try something similar – and if you’re one of them, don’t miss the rest of the videos in this series.

 

9. How to Build Your Own Lithium Battery (Part 1 of 2)

In this tutorial, we learn how to make a sizeable battery pack containing 48 lithium battery cells. The plan takes you through all the steps you need to follow, giving you plenty of tips and advice along the way – and there are lots of useful photos to help you see what you’re supposed to be doing. Note that this is Part 1 of a two-part series – make sure you check out the second part too if you want to know how the project looked at the end.

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10. How to Build the Safest DIY Li-ion Battery in 7 Steps

DIY with batteries can be a dangerous hobby if you don’t know what you’re doing, which is why videos like this one are important to watch. In the intro, this YouTuber explains how dangerous these batteries can be. After that, he goes on to explain how to build a DIY li-ion battery pack in seven simple steps in the safest way possible, allowing you to minimize the risks of something going wrong and somebody potentially getting hurt.

 

11. How to Build a 18650 Lithium Battery Pack with BMS

In this video, we get to watch a timelapse shot of this talented YouTuber demonstrating how to build a battery pack from 18650 cells. There are a few sections where the action slows to normal speed so he can explain the key points, but for most of the video, we just get to watch him at work, and it’s almost mesmerizing seeing his skills. It’s only a short video too, making it a great introduction to DIY battery packs for those who have never tried before.

 

12. How to Design Battery Packs – Tutorial for Design Engineers

This post includes lots of technical details about making battery packs from individual cells, including a discussion of why you’d want to do it and the different configurations that are possible. If you just want a plan to copy without worrying too much about the theory, you might find it a little science-heavy – but for those who want to know more about what’s going on behind what they’re doing, it makes for a fascinating read.

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13. Planning on Making Your Own Battery Pack? DIY Guide/Tutorial

The YouTuber who uploaded this video seems to be a bit on the eccentric side. However, the battery pack he demonstrates in his video looks awesome, so his eccentricity is something we can probably forgive! His video is also highly informative, telling us what we need to do to copy his idea – so if you want a battery pack like the one he made, all you have to do is watch his video.

 

14. Inexpensive DIY Lithium-ion Battery Pack

As this blogger writes, lithium-ion batteries give you great bang for your buck, and even better, you can make a battery pack yourself from nothing more than some scavenged 18650 cells and a few other inexpensive components. Since the plan lists everything you need for the project, you can easily prepare everything before you start. Then all you need to do is follow the assembly instructions and you’ll be good to go.

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15. Make Your Own 4S Lithium Battery Pack

With the background music to this video, this must be the most soothing tutorial for building a battery pack on the whole internet! Apart from that, we appreciate how simple this YouTuber makes everything seem. He explains what you need to do clearly, and he also demonstrates how he does it himself. So in short, you have everything you need – apart from the materials – to make a battery pack just like it.

 

16. Learn How to Build Homebrew Lithium 18650 Battery Packs – Hackster.io

For those feeling complacent about how dangerous it can be to make a DIY battery pack from 18650 batteries, this blogger includes a video at the top of the page to show you how things look when they go wrong. And then, with that as a word of caution, he goes on to explain the right way to do it – if the video hasn’t already put you off the idea.

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17. Things to Think About When Building a DIY LiFePO4 Battery — Offgrid Van Life

One reason to consider building a DIY LiFePO4 battery is for use in a van, campervan or other similar vehicle. That’s because buying one can cost in the region of $1,000, making the much cheaper DIY version an attractive prospect. However, before you attempt to make one, there are a few things you should know – and this blog has all the details.

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18. Battery Building Instructions – DIY Batteries

We’ve seen quite a few highly technical plans for building battery packs, but not everyone wants that level of detail for their project – some people just prefer to get started with only the information they need to know. If that sounds more like you, this is a tutorial you should appreciate since it allows you to get started without needing to go too deep into the science. Check it out and see if it’s the kind of plan you’re looking for!

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19. Make Your Own Li-Ion Battery Pack

As this YouTuber tells us in his introduction, this tutorial shows us how to create a battery pack, how to attach a BMS – or Battery Management System – and how to create a decent housing for it all. That, in a nutshell, is everything you need to know when building a basic DIY battery pack, so after watching this video, you should be ready to build something similar.

 

20. How To Make Power Bank at Home

This video is a little different to most of the others we’ve seen since it teaches you how to make a portable power bank that you can use to charge your cell phone or any other similar device. Nowadays, a power bank is an essential piece of kit to ensure your phone never runs out of battery – and if you don’t want to buy one, watch this video to learn how to DIY one instead.

 

21. Building Your Own Electric Bike Battery – Learn How to Do It Yourself

This plan is specifically for building a DIY power pack for an electric bike. As the blogger writes, being able to make one yourself gives you much more control over customizing the size and fitment. DIY versions are also a lot cheaper than the ones you can buy in stores, and for that reason alone, we’re sure lots of people will be keen to give this tutorial a try.

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22. A Very, Very Detailed Video on How I Built My Battery Pack for Electric Skateboard

The title of this video tells you everything you need to know – it’s a detailed explanation of how this YouTuber made a battery pack for his electric skateboard. The level of detail also makes it easy for anybody else to do something similar, so if you’re in need of power for your electric skateboard, this is the video you’ve been looking for.

 

23. DIY Lithium Batteries: How to Build Your Own Battery Packs

There are plenty of good reasons for learning how to build a DIY battery pack, and getting ready for the apocalypse is as good as any. That’s the reason behind this blogger’s project, but the tutorial is excellent in any case, making it well worth checking out whatever your reason for wanting to build a unit of your own.

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No shortage of creative plans to copy

As you can see, when it comes to making DIY battery packs, there’s no shortage of excellent tutorials online for you to copy.

We’ve enjoyed collecting these plans, so we hope you’ve enjoyed reading and watching them too – and above all, we hope we’ve helped you find the plan you needed for building a DIY battery pack of your own.