Pure Nickel Strip for Custom Battery Packs

We got fed up buying “nickel” strip and finding steel underneath. At Unmanned Tech, we wanted to stock proper nickel, not nickel-plated steel with an optimistic product title. So we went looking for a supplier we could trust to supply actual pure nickel strip.

This is the result: 0.15mm thick, 7mm wide pure nickel strip, sold by the metre, for cut-to-length connections in custom 18650 and 21700 battery packs.

Why Pure Nickel Rather Than Nickel-Plated Steel?

• Lower resistance: For the same length, width and thickness, pure nickel generally has lower electrical resistance than the steel used in typical nickel-plated strips. At the same current, that means less voltage drop and less energy wasted as heat in the strip.
• No steel core to expose: Nickel-plated steel relies on its coating to protect the steel underneath. Cuts or damaged plating can expose that steel to rust; pure nickel remains nickel through the strip and offers good corrosion resistance.
• A known starting material: You can plan your interconnects around supplier-specified pure nickel rather than guessing what is under a shiny coating. That does not replace checking your pack design or weld quality.

Nickel-plated steel has legitimate uses when a pack is designed for it. The problem is treating it as interchangeable with pure nickel, particularly when your current and heat calculations assume the lower-resistance material.

Specifications

• Material: Supplier-specified pure nickel, not nickel-plated steel.
• Thickness: 0.15mm.
• Width: 7mm.
• Sold unit: 1 metre of strip, not a complete stock coil.
• Use: Cut-to-length series and parallel cell connections for custom battery packs, including 18650 and 21700 builds.

Before You Build

Pure nickel is not a current-rating shortcut. A 21700 cell does not automatically make this strip suitable for its full discharge current. Size the interconnects for the actual current path, strip length, temperature rise and weld arrangement. High-current builds may need a different conductor size or an engineered busbar arrangement.

Use suitable spot-welding equipment and settings, check the welds, and provide the correct cell insulation and pack protection. Battery pack assembly requires the skills to avoid shorts and cell damage; better strip material does not make an unsafe pack safe.

FAQ

Can I check whether it is pure nickel with a magnet?

Not reliably. Pure nickel is magnetic too, so attraction to a magnet does not distinguish it from nickel-plated steel. A magnet is not a purity certificate.  As a rule of thumb, if you use a Dremel tool to cut, steel plated strips will spark, pure nickel will not.  And longer term when you scrap/cut it steel plates will rust, but nickel will not.

Does this include the cells or a complete pack?

I cant believe I have to say this, but no. You receive 1m of 0.15 x 7mm nickel strip for your own pack construction. Cells and other pack components are not included.