Let's Build a Battery!!! I Love This Stuff!!! DIY Lifepo4 Rocks!!!
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- čas přidán 19. 11. 2021
- This video shows the process of taking a top balanced set of cells and turning it into a 14 KWh battery. I also discuss the advantages of DIY compared to ready made storage systems such as the Tesla Powerwall. I talk about the philosophy of self sufficiency while assembling one of the pieces of the puzzle to gaining our personal energy independence. Let's keep the conversation going. Why are you doing this?
*******It has correctly been brought to my attention and confirmed in the Seplos manual that I should have been connecting the battery negative prior to plugging the bms wires into the bms. It doesn't seem to have caused a problem in the batteries I've built to date but I will definitely make the change to my process and so should you.******
Here is one for you I was always told never plug the bms wires into the plug until the main negative is connected.
What do you mean by bms wires sir? The balance wires? Do you know why it is recommended to connect the battery negative first? Any consequence if done the other way around? I sincerely want to learn more.
You Are Right! I just rechecked the connection instructions. 1)battery negative, 2)BMS wires, 3)battery positive. Thank you. I will make sure that is what I do on the next 12 batteries.
@@adon8672 I can only guess it needs a path to release any static energy , yes balance wires.
That may explain why I haven't had a problem. I'm not in a high static time of year. It would seem that some conditions would be worse than others if that is the reason for the protocol but in any case it is an easy protocol to follow.
Many BMS manuals are totally silent or don't have up to date manuals (looking at you Daly). A well designed BMS should not be harmed by this, but some are poorly designed and poorly documented (looking at you Daly).
Ray: "I want control over all of the things in my life that are critically important for our survival" 27:46 Me to buddy.
You're like the Bob Ross of battery building. Enjoy the enthusiasm, slow pace of your build and your good explanations. Kudos.
You really should build at least one box with a plexiglass top to show off your beautiful creations. I have done this to one of mine and it is so cool to show it off. It’s like art.
You’re such a cool person! I really love how easy you explain it and that there’s no annoying background or flashing images, just like watching your dad teach you stuff in the garage in the summer. Great video!
I'm impressed with your bus bars with the screw connections for the balance leads. Much better than the last video I watched where the guy was just putting the lugs over the studs. So much cleaner. This is the way I will do my next setups.
Mr Roger's Neighborhood meets energy independence! Love it!
+1 on your comment. Super educational, spiritual, and relaxing!
I appreciate the information and how thorough you are about presenting it. Thank you very much.
Like a kid in a candy store!!
Your enthusiasm is contagious...... Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
I admire your infectious enthusiastic energy.
Thanks for posting. Nice delivery and easy listening
I really enjoy your videos, I appreciate all the knowledge and a little wisdom to boot man. Wasn't a fan of vinyl siding, but upon watching that video I have found some new respect for it. Thanks Ray
Those are some BEAUTIFUL boxes ! 🏆
I have No Idea why, But I feel we could hang out for hours together. And Talk about nerdy stuff. This Solar and battery stuff has always been a big interest to me. Great Job on the battery build. Wish I had to motivation and energy you have .
Loved your attitude and excitement. This slow paced real time format of the video was very relaxing and informative. I was working on one monitor and had the video on the second and 1 hour passed like nothing, and i also learned many things about diy Lifepo4 battery banks. Thank you.
I can watch at double speed and everything is very understandable, so a one hour video is valuable to me as someone more experienced, yet probably perfect for newbies to the sport. I find your experienced commentary very valuable also, and your relaxed presentation, even x2, is a welcome rest in my research. Glad to have found your channel Ray. Much appreciated.
It gives me time to take notes before I forget the good information.
Great Video. Love your excitement.
I love your enthusiasm. Cheers.
Great tutorial. Thank you!!
Thank you Mr. Ray, I enjoy watching your video and most of all I learned something interesting, keep up the good job & god bless...
Great video it helped me clear up a lot of confusion I was having about BMS's and charging
Thanks Ray, I hung in there all the way. Good job, I'm new to learning so I have a lot of videos to watch. I think between you and Will I will be ready to build my own.
Woohoo! Congrats on No.4 !
Thanks Ray, very helpful. I am also working my way towards a 48 v sysistem, stand alone from a 12v here in the s/w of Ireland, but it is much more expensive here unfortunately. All these videos are so very helpful. An I am very grateful to you all for your time an effort. Stay well an Good luck. M
Thanks so much for your comment.
Thank you for this wonderful video. Your father is so right, lets build everything we can!
Thank you very much from Spain
This video is relaxing and informative- reminds me what it would be like if Bob Ross built batteries.
You can buy crimps for the BMS side as well. This way you do not need to extend existing wires to reach all the way across and create another likely point of failure, and then you are even more easily able to fix things in future. Having the pre-crimped shorter wires around for future is also never a loss.
Thank you for the great video. I live in South Africa and our grid is becoming very unreliable. This gives me the confidence to start planning my own power bank. I love the wooden mobile idea. When I eventually get around to building my expedition truck I can merely transfer the system from my home to it and be completely independent.
That sounds like a great idea but keep in mind that the weight of a 16s 280AH battery with its enclosure and other parts will weigh around 100Kg or 220 lbs or a bit more. This old man will hydraulic help to lift up and down. There are a number of inexpensive ways to do that. I'm blessed to have a tractor here on the farm. I'll use the forks to move from here to there and then roll it around once it is on solid ground.
I have the same mindset. I'm a member of our local Repair Cafe here in Switzerland. I used to rebuild old cars in the UK years ago as a hobby. Now I'm getting into solar and battery storage DIY. I've been working with 18650 cells but these LiFePo4 cells look a lot easier to work with.
The only thing I'm really jealous of though is your hair ;-) Thanks for the great videos, I only discovered your channel today.
Funny how so many of us that worked on cars in the 70s are now the one that are DIY solar tinkerers.
I just purchased a couple Lithium Iron batteries to replace my Lead Acid I have in my pole barn that I play with (Amateur Radio) you are giving me ideas! I would have to figure out a way to get it up in the air my knees hurt just watching you on yours for so long haha.
You have some great woodworking skills! Those boxes are a thing of beauty!
Thank you for sharing with me.
Yesterday I watched a vid on You Tube on a channel called Vertasium and titled, The Big Misconception About Electricity, and it made me wonder if the way the batteries are configured could be a bit more important than just a personal or eazier configuration. I ' thinking that each battery turned maybe best, but that's only a guess and it might not even matter, but there a is a field around them something like with a magnets. Your camera operater does a great job, almost would think your alone, but then camera ange changes. Well done. Thanks for the time and work to share with us.
Hello, Nice channel and explaining things.
I have built a look a like battery with the same Seplos bms 6 months ago. Nice to see that more people do it. I have those connected to Victron and it works fine. I like those bms a lot.
Which BMS is it? I need a good one.
very enjoyable i like the story of your power grid.I am in United Kingdom and have a solar array and homebuilt battery from laptop batteries.I am changing to LFP cells 33kw/H Keep it going i like your perfection in the build
Really like your videos, good job!
Hi, I am from South Africa , super excited to have stumbled upon your channel, thank you , much appreciated.
Best of luck with your project.
you make great videos!! im new at this and you make it easy to understand . thanks
i love your videos u remember me of Bob Ross. I love your passion and admire you apply the teachings of your father. in this days we take all ready mades 4 granted at the cost of nature and the wellfare of our children, without understanding our habitat, working against it, trying to get the last dropp out of it without lifting a finger. ty.
Something about watching this battery come together calms me down and helps my head to stop spinning. The only thing better would be to be the one assembling it.
Just found your channel, very cool the batteries you are building, really enjoy watching your videos!!
Great work. Love the 1/0 jumper. :-)
With the Eve cells I can modify a copper bus bar for the jumper. That will be a little easier.
Great videos, hopefully someday i can do a similar project
your builds all look very professional, my friend. Im watching what you do ,and will try to do what you do, at some point. I have built 220 vdc lead acid battery back up for several remote transfer stations that went to Florida Power and Light, but this is a different ball game, IMO. TY for sharing . :-)
I like your reasoning.
Hi Ray again a fabulous video, sorry you had problems with cell one (first cell positive) BMS Lead, try and get a set of all the connectors as soldered into the BMS etc and make a test jig to assist the testing, especially as you have a small production line going. Stay safe
Tremendous Ray. I am right now taking a break from wiring my JK BMS but later this evening I will be attaching the 16S LiFePo4 cells on my system. Greetings from Spain 🇪🇸
Bravo, que bueno!! Me da gusto!
Thank you.
Hey Ray, I’m a big fan. I’ve got 4 Weize 100ah lifepo4’s and they work great. Then I saw your video on cells from china. I went ahead and purchased 4 lf280k cells from Ellie @ Docan back on September 7. I just got them today and they look great. I’m top balancing them as we speak. Thank you for finding a reputable company to deal with.
I’m in Au. Do you know if they supply to Australia?
You have good vibes.
Excelent mention on losening those bus bars as if there is any pressure from expansion in those cells, it would be compounded in them which could for sure cause issues with the integrity of them.
You can not only build it cheaper but better using DIY. You understand it, and can spot problems and repair them. If you need it, waiting on customer support and shipping is not good. Keeping some spare parts, I hear you say that as I type this.
Hi mate! Your video is awesome!
Literally this night I was reading the first time about balancing the batteries with schemes and have found your video!
Thank YOU man for making such a great content!
I'm from Ukraine and trying to learn how exactly this all works because of blackouts. God bless you man!
So happy to help our friends in Ukraine!
" I need control into my life " I love it ! I try to build my autonomous home in huge land and I try hard with one salary to buy all that where I called an "Expensive hobby", although my dream getting true step by step , panel by panel , battery by battery ( even If I am still using 200Ah truck batteries Acid. ( Dont lauph) :) . Thank you, I learned so many from your videos. I am still dreaming ...
I liked your comment about your parents. I'm a lot like you, my parents were adults during the Depression. I grew up on stories of hunger and hardship, most people in the Western world can't imagine what it was like and I'm afraid most now have the idea that peace and prosperity are the natural course of the world and I'm afraid they're about to get a big dose of reality, That explains why I have a 20KW solar system to run my home, 3 greenhouses, orchards, big gardens, etc. Like you I like to understand and have some control over the essentials in my life.
Absolutely this. I don't like to dwell on the possibilities because we can solve problems and avoid disaster but will we? Will we blindly fall into another black hole of disaster or will we reason our way out with steely resolve. WW1 or the cuban missile crisis? We have dodged many bullets but we have really botched a few too. If the lights go out things may become the worst the world has ever known. Time will tell and all I can do is be reasonably prepared and enjoy every day.
When I first started looking at solar I wanted to make a remote charger for tractor batteries. After watching a few videos by Ray I now realize the potential of making a solar energy station to improve my independence and continue to enjoy the luxuries of the 21wt century without dependence on someone I do not know. Therefore, my plans are now greatly expanded and I have several videos to view so I will be able to understand how much my plans will expand.
I started in as a precaution for a Hurricane that was coming. 2 Deep Cycle 12V batteries and a 2000 Watt modified square wave inverter. Charging them off of the truck alternator as needed. Then solar panels. Then 24V Pure Sine wave inverter, then bigger ones. Then a bigger one. Then now with two 6000Watt inverters ( one as backup ) and the rest of the items. Slowly switching from Lead/Acid to LIPO and LiFePo4 batteries. Was all set for power failures from Ian but didn't have more than flickers here and 10" of rain.
Your a great person, and great to watch , awesomeness
Wow thanks so much.
I hear you about trusting the grid companies. I'm trying to go fully off gird as well, because I was getting monthly bills and paying over the billing I used. The overdue balance continued to go up till I had no way to pay it off near a $1000s. I was off gird for several years before and had to go back on in a location I couldn't put up wind turbines, and the turbines all eventually went bad with no replacement parts available to repair them anymore.
Awesome ⚡️⚡️⚡️
Thank you!
I was a computer automation technician at the world's largest freezer plant. I estimate that the bagging machines were rebuilt about 4 times per year. When going 24-7 brand new machines are worn out in about 3 months all the nylon bushing is gone. It wasn't always a glamorous job swapping out buffer chips on I/O boards I was in food debris in fda grease rebuilding machines and wrenching on them all the time. Besides wrenching learning to weld helps too. You don't want someone welding on something connected to the computer. If you have smelled the smoke. FIX EVERYTHING! It's fun. LOL
"Boss, it worked well until I worked on it." I have enough Bluetooth devices I don't want BMS with Bluetooth. I think 4 cells will keep me powered while camping.
Feels like another great video could be made related to that tanks behind the table.
Trudat but I’m not sure it would be very helpful to many people.
The CZcams algorithm sent me to this video and I loved it, watched every minute and admired a beautiful build. Thank you for taking the time to share your learning curve with us. On a side note, how in the world do you manage to sit on the floor like that for that length of time? My knees would be revolting long before I got the last connection made 👍
Thank you so much for the kind words. I hope you will watch the others. The early videos about building the boxes and why I’m doing this are perhaps best watched at 1.25 or 1.5 speed. I try to be careful not to misspeak because I do these in one take with no editing. That leads me to talk a bit slow and careful and it was worse early on.
I have been sitting on my ankles to work for many decades. When I was approaching 50 I was feeling very old and was on 8 medications. I lost 60 Lbs by counting calories which was the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I feel like it gave me back 20 years. If I had kept gaining instead I would be 300 Lbs now. My knees and ankles thank me by letting me abuse them in other ways. lol Now I’m 60 and I just keep after it.
Subscribing. I´m not in to solar yet, but your mindset is enough for following. You´ve got a very pleasant tone in your videos, as well as a lot of interesting info.
thank you
The “Mr. Rogers” of DIY Batteries …. 😊
I would suggest the yellow tinted glasses for electrical work, it protects against arc eye.
You Go Ray :) Hi From Danmark
I like the wood battery boxes you made. I have 3 LiFePO4 batteries assembled and cycling. the 4th set of cells is almost here (waiting on 4 more cells to arrive via FedEx) took 79 to 82 days for the rest of this 32 cell EVE LF280K cells with double busbars to arrive via the slow boat ride etc from China via Alibaba(grade A as far as I can tell in perfect condition). I got solid copper tin-plated. but your video makes me want to test the bus bar ohms. tons of similar things I have encountered. mine are all 24volt builds 2P8S (two of those) and one 4P8S using the Lishen 272AH cells. the new build will be a 32 cell build 4P8S 24volt. keep up the great video documentation! cheers from South Dakota 😎
You will like tomorrow’s video
Personal energy independence is a wonderful thing.
Had another idea to clean up all those small leads for the BMS, use some convolute tubing or what ever to keep all the spaghettie organized and away from the bars and not.
To save your fingers, you should take a piece of belting or some insulation material with cords in it, make some little lug type pieces that will fit over those studs and rivet or bolt them to that belting so you have a nice handle to lift the cells with. It would be so much easier.
Watched entire show, how great. I am about to build my first battery 180Ah with Overkill BMS. Hope it will last over 10 years! You Rock.
Hope it works out great for you. Try to watch the others in the series to get the best connections.
If you do this enough times, it might be adventageous to get some JST type terminal pieces and a little proto boad and solder the pins and make it so you can plug in some proper leads to connect the meter so you have all hands available.
In Ontario they already charge for every kwh the meter measures and then I can bank the rest for winter or another time but it has to be used within a year or they take it for free.
I stayed with you, but must admit there was a little alcohol involved; It was late on a Saturday night. All kidding aside, this was awesome, you rock..
In Wisconsin the co-ops don't have to offer net metering but the public utilities do not.
And regardless there is a fee you pay just to have the service hooked up whether you use anything or not. In your example not only would you need to produce way more during the day to offset the nighttime rate back, but you'd need to generate $25-30 worth extra to cover your service fee.
CRIKEY!! Ive been in the repair/fix/build business all my life but still amazed at the quality of your mind! Oh ya your build Also! Amazing quality! Looks way over my head though. Ill watch a couple more of your vids but thus far I might be in to a cpl of Ampere Time 24V 200Ah 5.12kWh Deep Cycle LiFePO4 Battery But the price will likely break the bank! Ill give you that much to build me one, or two?
new sub for ya Ray!!
I have an idea you might want to try for those final output connections. Get some coupling nuts that fit the studs and put them on those, then install a short piece of stud in those, that way once you make a connection on the outs, you won't have to remove the nuts to put any other connections there.
Another comment about those end outputs, make those from either a larger square that gives you a place to install a seperate mout stud for the cables.
Love the videos. Thanks for sharing knowledge. If you don’t mind do you have the link for your build materials. I would like to build the same battery pack. Thanks again.
Thanks Ray, very very informative.
You mentioned a cost comparison between your solution and a tesla powerwall but you got distracted and never finished off your point. If you get the chance to discuss DIY v Powerwall I'd really appreciate it.
I believe in this video that I got around to saying that my friend installed for Tesla Powerwalls add an installed cost of $50,000. The batteries that I’m building cost $2800 for materials parts and cells including the cost of someone spraying lacquer on them. That does not count my time. It also does not include the cost of installation and integration with the rest of the system. The $50,000 that he paid included immigration with his solar panels.
In these PSUs you don't need thick cables and I recommend you to use an ideal diode to protect them.
Excellent video, I want to consult you based on your experience what you think about seplos BMS, and how is the issue of cell balancing with this BMS going. I currently have the jk bms with an active balancer that already integrates the bms 2A, but it does not have communication for investors, an advantage that if it has seplos.
Heya! I’ve been looking for some months now learning what I can about how to remain off grid. Sad to say , I’ve been running off a small generator and it’s noisy and expensive. I’ve looked at getting rack mounts which have low temp sensors, screens , etc built in, but for what I need, I won’t be able to afford as much as I can achieve as I can dyi. I know you don’t want to promote certain products, but you’ve run the gauntlet of various products and settled on what you use for these 48v systems/ batteries. We can all appreciate this! I’m hoping you could point me to a supply list I may have missed, or create one so I can order all the necc parts to complete a build. I do live in the northeast and wondered if you know of heaters that can be used and hooked up to work in colder climates. I also plan on helping a friend who’s planning on buying property upstate who desires to be off grid. Ty, and keep up the good work !
Great stuff.. What bms and parts did you use. Is there a link to your battery supplier?
Hey Ray, thanks for all the awesome videos. I am new to solar so I don't know if I trust myself to build a battery at the moment. Have you come across any of your reputable suppliers that sell a nice premade unit with the BMS and all the goodies already attached in one unit? thank you
I have not found a factory built unit that made me want to own one yet. Some use the same BMS I use but I don't like that they can't be serviced to replace cells and none have class T fuses inside. They tend to be limited to 5 KWh to keep the weight down and they aren't set up to parallel them well. Most have jumpers that make each one progressively further from the main connection. They are getting better but not what I would want to own yet.
Watching the section at 7” where lifting alternate batteries up to swap from parallel to series - requires finger strength to avoid dropping.
The newer larger capacity 300+A.hr cells are ~ 6kg (12 pounds).
I’m thinking a handle that bolts on the studs will make it much safer to lift.
I’m seeing much lower prices for cells and bms now.
So nice to see you use Class T fuse. All other builds I've seen has been with Mega or ANL... You should talk about that some day, or maybe I've missed the video where you do.👍
I talk about it when responding to questions about rack battery packs. It is one of many choices they make to save a few bucks.
@@RayBuildsCoolStuff You mean that rack battery packs (like eg4) use fuses with insufficient interrupt current rating? I don't think I've seen a spec sheet where the fuse is even mentioned.
@@Andeboy most use ANL
Looking forward to seeing the fuses and safety topics in general.
Nice and clean builds and a very decent amount of energy (I have one 14 kWh battery).
Only 2 remarks: Please don't talk about "Putting 80 amps of energy in" (cause that's current) and you shouldn't touch your busbars or anything else with your hands/fingers - it will result in bad contact if they are not perfectly clean.
Just curious what part of Texas you are in and what utility CoOp... I'm in Texas as well, with a CoOp. Just wondering if I'm going to have a battle when I add solar this year.
Hi Ray, do you have the solar charge settings somewhere? because of your videos im also building a 48v off-grid solar battery bank. but the charging settings for float and stuff are a bid weird, i understand a lot what it does but just like to know your settings. thanks and keep the videos comming
Hi Ray, I love your videos. Have you thought about using an Active Equalizer Balancer in your Battery?
The Seplos BMS does a great job of keeping in spite of the claims from Andy. He uses an odd use case to claim the need for active balancing but my batteries are always in balance because though the balancing is only at 150 ma, it continues until balanced.
Hi Ray. Great video as always. I’m still in the learning process but have learned a lot thanks to you and others willing to share. Many thanks. I have a question regarding compression. When I first came into all of this and heard about cell compression I was a little puzzled. At first I thought that the cells required compression because the cells would bloat and eventually ruin themselves. Later I came to understand that it was to immobilize the cells to stabilize the battery connections and reduce terminal strain. This made better sense. Still unsure about the bloating part though. When I build my battery I would like to employ an open cell design that would mitigate terminal strain. But concerned that compression might still be required for the cells. Is this a bad idea? I don’t mind building a box. I like building things anyway. Just for expediency’s sake I wanted to move the project along and replace the lead acids. Thanks. Here’s a tip that might be helpful. On crimp terminals I strip back twice the amount of insulation and then fold back almost halfway the wire. As long as this fits the terminal it seems to make a better connection mechanically. I fold back almost halfway because the wire is thicker towards the ring and makes it more difficult to be pulled out. In my case I prefer a soldered connection. But that’s just me. Keep with the slow steady pace on the videos Ray. This gives more time for people to mull over a point before you move on. The video can always be sped up to chipmunk speed for those in a hurry. I like the time to really study and think about something and your videos are excellent for this. When I get around to doing my build I’ll let you know how it went and what I learned from my particular setup. Best of luck from Arizona! 🌵
In some of my videos I focus on connections and even cut them apart.
The manufacturers recommend compression but we are at a disadvantage to do it properly as diyers. My approach is to stay at the low end of the stated values and give the cells a gentle hug like a loving mom. Enough to let them know I’m thinking about them but not squeeze the snot out of them. I feel that as they slightly move with their discharge cycles, this will keep them from slowly ratcheting to a different size and shape.
I hear y’all got some rain. Can you send us some?
Thank you for the videos. I have learned a lot. Building the first lifepo4 battery with 30kwh. Looking again for a good source of cells and get going.
You should really get insulated tools though. We need you unharmed ;-)
Thank you. Look carefully and you will see that my torque wrench and screw drivers are insulated.
@@RayBuildsCoolStuff Hihi, I am just used to the yellow-red tools w/ insulated parts.
Any thaughts of where to get good cells in europe?
@@digital-experiance2390 did you email Jenny Wu and ask her what she can do for you?
I really in joy your videos. Sometimes a little long. Lol but the fact you take time and tell us everything along the way is great. I buy a lot of server rack battery for Ukraine. Last order was 34 of the 5.12kwh. But I’m looking to build a diy for my new home. I see a lot of people using the seplos bms. There used in Al my batteries I buy now. But I have read about a few people that had problems with them. I have used JBD bms. And i think there one of the best. I see they offer a bms for these battery packs. Just like what I have now. And way cheaper. I ordered 2 of the JBD 200amp bms with everything. Rs485 can even offers heated plug. Power plug in for turning battery on. Everything my server battery has.
$145 each. Have you used JBD bms?
I got to stop and go look at the details of my billing with my co-op regarding my panels.
Ray. Do you have a build list of parts you used? Fuse? I was thinking of using a 250 dc Breaker.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I’m seeing the Daly smart bms 200A 16s 48v for AU$231 vs AU$361. Hard to ignore the > 50% price premium.
Really needs a features comparison.
Yes sistema Akb LiFePo4 🔋 ⚡ 👍
Hello Ray. Thanks for all your videos. I have learned a lot from them.. from reading a lot on the DIY solar forum. I’m under the assumption that if the cells are compressed by any amount then flexible busbars should be used so the terminal do not have unnecessary pressure on them due to the cells natural expansion contraction. Also that the busbar If not flexible could loosen and constantly need to be retightened.
Also under the assumption that if not using flexible busbars that the cells should not be compressed at all but instead space left between the cells so one cell doesn’t push on another when expanding. Then the terminals will not get tension on them and the busbars will not need to be retightened. What’s your thoughts on this?
I think that people often develop theories about how things work and state them as fact without supporting evidence. In this case there is evidence to the contrary. EVs and many prebuilt batteries come with rigid busbars and the terminals are welded and the cells are restrained. Others have busbars with a small raised ridge that can't offer a lot of flexibility.
I restrain my cells to minimize the movement between the cells.
I have seen no evidence and could find no examples or even anecdotes to support the correlation between restraining cells and using rigid busbars and then experiencing failure of the cell terminals.
These things take on a life of their own. That's my thought on the matter.
Cheers