12V 6AH Battery Box

I had a 12V LiFePO4 Lithium battery die on me after a lot of use. Meanwhile, I had accumulated 12 unused 3.2V LiFePO4 18650 cells. I thought, why not make my own battery.

I printed in ABS for temperature insensitivity as I sometimes keep batteries in my car trunk and I don't want PLA to become soft. Unfortunately, I forgot how difficult ABS is to print with. My original print had warped corners on the bottom. They had curved up 10mm. It might be poor quality ABS filament, but I've had this problem with other ABS, and I took steps to ensure a good adhesion with the build plate (10mm brim, hairspray on the plate, dehydrated filaments).

For my second print I added tie-down supports, and made the box bottom have a hex pattern. Both helped to reduce the curving to an acceptable level.

For my third print, I wanted to see if PLA would have the same issues with warpage. It did not. There was some small curving at the corners, but not noticeable, and the dimensions were all accurate.

ABS is frustrating! The print shrank a bunch so none of my part dimensions were accurate. PLA was perfect.

For the PLA battery box, I decided to make a fake battery - press the button and it reads 12V - but if you do that with the terminals shorted out, the box opens up revealing a safe inside.

The panel meters are such as this one:
https://a.co/d/iB59W71

The push buttons are:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F8GBWGG
 

Print Settings

Printer:

QIDI X-Plus

Rafts: 

No

**Supports:**

No

Resolution: 

0.4mm

**Infill:**

20% zig zag

Filament: various ABS and PLA variious

Category: 3D Printers