Salvaging Lithium Ion 18650 Cells From an Old Laptop Battery

in #steemstem7 years ago (edited)

Some time ago a buddy of mine gave me an old laptop battery of his. He knew usually not all the cells are bad, one or more can be salvaged and used for other purposes. I can't sleep for whatever reason, so I absconded to my mad science workbench in the garage to crack this bad boy open.

Of course there aren't screws or anything, because then life would be easy and we can't have that. Instead I had to absolutely fucking demolish this thing to get it open. It's almost as if they don't want people replacing the cells themselves or some nonsense like that.

There's all the cells removed. Still taped together in pairs, and still soldered together at the tips. The connections are remarkably weak, it doesn't take much to pry it off completely. Then the cells will be ready for their new lives in my service!

Okay, there they are all untaped and with the connections ripped off. All that remains is to test them individually with a multimeter to see which, if any, can be salvaged. Generally a voltage below 2.5 means it's irreversibly fucked. I've seen some tutorials purporting to show how to revive cells discharged to this degree though.

Hoo boy. Haha. Well, that's not good. But hey, I assumed going into this that not every cell would be a winner. What are the odds they're all dead, though? Even I can't have such bad luck.

(Narrator: "But as he discovered, testing the cells one by one, he did indeed have luck that bad. Never again would he be so naive as to hope for anything but the worst possible outcome.") Oh well. Looks like I'll be needing those tutorials after all.

Out of the lot, only a single cell tested above 2 volts, and then only barely. It looks like I'm going to enter uncharted territory soon, making use of forbidden, arcane techniques pioneered by DIY power wall builders to revive these cells.

Is it really possible to revive a cell in this condition? I've seen stranger things. You'd be amazed at how far gone a lead acid battery can be, but still be revived, for instance. Anyway stay tuned, I'll do a followup with the results of the cell resurrection experiment. If there are no posts after this, the cells caught fire and burned my house down with no survivors. AVENGE ME!


Stay Cozy!

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I envision you having hundreds of these in your DIY power wall. Standing by for vengeance!

Update us if you find a way to revive these

@alexbeyman,
Now I got a new job to do to all dead laptop batteries of my company :D Let's see how things going on!

Cheers~

Haha. I love watching diy power wall videos. Great post.

You can't be serious!!! So that's what's inside that battery. Am completely taken off guard. But please don't blow your self off while working on this stuff.

What could be taking your sleep away? I don't joke with night sleep at all.It is the only time I have to relax my ever busy brain.

Please don't set yourself on fire. I'm still curious about the Stickman story.
You should be cautious with batteries, they can be really scary!

I really hope you can revive them, it would be great to use them from powerbank with the solar cells or in some project.

I never imagined that a laptop batery would be like that inside. I tought it was a massive only cell, but it turns out that i was wrong and its a collection of individual cells. I'm quite curious of you will able to revive them because if so that will proof that the industry prefers for us to buy them when they stop working instead of finding a way where we could give them to recycle and the would pay you us a part of the costs of a new one. Also be careful because batteries are toxic and shouldn't be disposed on normal garbage.

If there are no posts after this, the cells caught fire and burned my house down with no survivors.

I'll be waiting for a follow-up post.
Fingers crossed

Don't say that, Stickman isn't finished yet

I can't sleep for whatever reason, so I absconded to my mad science workbench in the garage to crack this bad boy open.
Now my ecofriendly friend alex is trying some engineering stuff. You got them naked man, nothing should be left aa such, we should try to find a way to fix them.

"But as he discovered, testing the cells one by one, he did indeed have luck that bad. Never again would he be so naive as to hope for anything but the worst possible outcome."

Aww such a ill luck, too bad . But there’s hope since you said they could be revived. I’d love to see that happen, pay close attention to the tutorial, I want your success on this
Your lamp is shining bright

It's almost as if they don't want people replacing the cells themselves or some nonsense like that

Lol thats true, i like your curiosity and creativity. I dont know which i like more

Of course there aren't screws or anything, because then life would be easy and we can't have that

They definitely do it on purpose.

I tried once to do the same but I couldn’t open the damn thing.It ended up thrown on the wall so I could calm down after this.
Lets see if you can make it work

Seems that your have quite some knowledge of cells and batteries. If I had find any old battery, would have sent it to the bin. Lol.
It's nice of you to salvage these cells from the old laptop battery.

Hey @alexbeyman, be careful guy. Do not let the fire happen because of your experiment. Safety is more important.

I just stuck mine on a charger. Most of them charged no matter what they were down to. The ones that didn't, I recycled.

Honestly, I just found out that the contents of the laptop battery was like that. I think it only consists of one cell only. Apparently there are many cells in it. Okay @alexbeyman, good luck you can make it work again. My insights so increase due to this post. Thanks for sharing...

You can do it @alexbeyman. I am sure that with sincerity you will be able to turn those cells on again. Most importantly, stay out of reach of children. And do not try this at home unless there is a warehouse separate from the house. Congratulations to work @alexbeyman.

Interesting article. I usually send my old batteries that are discharged to the recycle bin at IT shops, didn't know there is a possiblity for them to be revived. Will be following this with attention @alexbeyman :)

I'm impressed with this, i would be scared to "mess" with anything related to eletricity and i think lithium batteries can be dangerous. In planes when i travel they always ask my if i have lithium battery and if i have they say luggage go on special compartment. I do hope you're careful and don't explode anything.

""If there are no posts after this, the cells caught fire and burned my house down with no survivors. AVENGE ME!""
This is by far the funniest have read on the platform in a while .... I love the originality of the post...The cells were probably over used... and it's possible to revive a cell but the efficiency will by then be in question....

I thought it's a dynamite. What are you going to blow up this time!? :D

Is it really possible to revive a cell in this condition?

no i don't think so its possible, there are some techniques but those are for other batteries that are having distilled water... laptops are having dry cells, so no chance...

Certainly one can revive them
You have to bear patience and tell them well
Great article done well

With just a cell above 2 volts the batteries can barely do anything.. maybe get a flash light one. Technology has gone a long way from then. Now you can change almost anything

dangerous !! 😰

You are so interested in science. I am happy to know that. I have a little knowledge about a battery and the meter.

its true,you are intelegend of since

that's pretty cool to know, thanks for the tips by the way..

@alexbeyman its true Solar Power Bank with salvaged 18650, an old laptop's battery by replacing the lithium ion cells inside .. I like your creativity and appreciciat your hard working 👏

Hopefully after that madness something interesting will be generated, but first the security have at hand a fire extinguisher will be very helpful :)

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