The whole pack is welded up, with three layers of tabs on top — very solid; the charge level has barely dropped, so it should weld a lot of packs — very handy. Wiring the BMS: main + goes to +1, +2, +4 and main −; the leads are short, so extend them; red sleeve on the main +, yellow on the rest, foam pads for a first fix; trim any sharp protrusions; fix the pack first, then wire it, or it’s hard to secure afterwards. With the BMS and balance board connected it charges at 14.5V from a low-voltage supply; press the switch and it shows full, the lamp is quite bright; USB charges a phone at 29% — works, but a very slow trickle; Type-C charging shows normal, the last lamp blinking means not quite full. The main + and − ‘thick’ leads aren’t actually thick, so they’re swapped for wire a good size up from stock. With all the main leads connected and tidied, no heat-shrink to hand, so it’s bundled with electrical tape, two turns over each contact point; it fits back into the original shell exactly, with extra insulation on the main + to prevent shorts. Comments: a car draws 200–600A to start, 3P 18650 gives 60–90A at most, and with enough current the nickel-plated steel strip burns through in seconds (creator: cells picked up from a live stream, 2C is as good as it gets); does drawing power straight off the pack without going through the BMS matter (creator: discharge doesn’t go through the board); copper strip thickness and cell C-rate are both too low, too dangerous; where to buy the welder (shop window); leave a watermark to stop reposts; part 3 tests capacity.