Yeaaaaahhh... this is EXACTLY what people want to see... Peter the master of the DIY POWERWALLS going through the laptop batteries showing his techniques haha... AWESOME dude... so much POWEEEEEERRR!!!! =]
Hey, Electricbike, fall off bikes much? LMAO at that one, so if your riding of bikes is much to go by god help us with what type of powerwall you'd build. Love what you do as it's always 110%.
I just recently learned of the infinite possibilities of this wonderful little battery. In my voracious hunt for videos on the topic of those far more versed in it than I, I came across your channel. I now have your notifications turned on! Like everyone else already said, your technique for explaining everything is second to none. I even was previously going to do that "CID reset", thing. Until I came across your warning. Ha! I watched that video twice to make sure I understood and didn't even attempt the process after that. Thank you!! You are now my Number One Source on all things "18650"! Thanks so much!!
Very interesting method of testing capacity but in my experience i like to test them by putting them in the microwave. The ones with the largest explosions and most poisonous gas are the ones with the highest capacity. The extra high-quality ones have fumes that make me cry blood.
Hello! Maybe you answer so fast again. :) I want to buy a 18650 charger. It should load the cell alone -> unload and measure the capacity -> load. I waver between the VC4 and the Opus BT C3100. Can the VC4 itself measure the capacity? Unfortunately, I could not find an answer to the question. :)
OPUS is my pick, sorry logged in from other channel name. But I love my opus units you can get a good price on ebay here - rover.ebay.com/rover/1/705-53470-19255-0/1?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp2380057.m570.l1311.R1.TR2.TRC1.A0.H0.XOPUS%2Bbt.TRS0%26_nkw%3Dopus%2Bbt-c3100%26_sacat%3D0&campid=5338073988&toolid=20008 or on amazon here www.amazon.com/shop/hbpowerwall
Glad you're back to doing a straight up vid' again! The live streams are too long and not exactly on the subject for me to watch. I love to see some quick update videos - how you're getting on, performance, future plans, problems etc. :) keep up the good work man!
HBPowerwall totally understand, it's not a dig, just my own preference to what i like to watch sort of thing. Either way, love what you're doing, keep up the good work!
Thank you for grinding through hours of editing, and I realize it must suck. However I am extremely grateful for your willingness to share your knowledge, and for sacrificing your time to help noobs like myself try to catch up. My ADD prevents me from being able to sit, read, and... whoa, sweet! I just found a quarter in my couch cushion!
I want to thank you for this video, I have been thinking of building a powerwall for some time now and didn't know where to start. You have packed loads of info into this presentation and I now have a much better idea of how to go about my project. You have a new subscriber!
Very useful video, thanks! I also have a Opus BT-C3100 and i'm in the process of making a small battery pack for a xenon flashlight i'm making; I want to use some 2200mAh LG cells, I got a lot of them from a local shop that repairs battery packs for power tools and now, after months, it's time to select them. Basically I have to charge them, then run the discharhge process and see how many mAh the battery can give in order to match ones that are close.
Hey Pete, I love the database. Of course I'd have made it sortable on manufacturer, colors and most importantly, capacity. But that's just how I am. I wished I'd had this video when I first started with the hand slicing and coveting any cell over 1500mAh. Great job my friend.
Kinda interesting with how much passion you get to this topic. Some things you do are a bit dodgy and dangerous propably. And old batteries are still just old batteries... But this makes sense for DIY powerwalls for sure
Those ICR batteries are super useful and people will pay good money for them even though they are low capacity cells. The output from them is great! Let me know if you're selling any of those in bulk. I have 1000s of laptop batteries but most only give off 5-6amps max... (Not making a powerwall but lots of small projects)
Since there's a lot people in the comments regarding self-discharging testing I thought I'd leave a comment to help people understand. First off all batteries self-discharge no matter the chemistry, age, recharge cycles and the temperature they are stored at. Lithium-ion batteries discharge more in the first 24 hours than they should do over a 2 month period. Most manufactures publish their discharge rates within the datasheet for that particular battery, but generally its considered that Lithium-ion will self-discharge more in the 24 hours than it will over 2 months, to put this into usable understanding. the first 24 hours should lose no more than 1-5% then each month is between 1-2% which if we take the higher value of 5% in the first 24 hours takes 4.20v down to 3.99v which some of you may consider low, but for some applications it would be still usable since the cut-off is 2.75-2.80 for most batteries. In bigger projects with batteries running in series then you should try and match batteries in both self-discharge and capacity as much as possible but don't go overboard, its not that important if using a BMS. The main reason why some batteries fail to charge above a certain voltage such as 4.16v/4.18v is because the charger that you are using is not that accurate, OPUS for example is notorious for being very poorly calibrated which is noted within their manual having a Voltage Deviation of
Thanks for the info. Do you check capacity on 18650 cells in addition to your voltage reads 10 days later? Is so, what do you do with 4.2 v cells that after repeated charge/discharge do not show any capacity in mh?
I agree with your method. I first check the voltage of each cell as I break it out of the laptop pack, then I give each cell a serial number rather than mark it with its capacity etc. I record each serial number in a spreadsheet so I can record initial volts, max volts after first charge, then volts again after 24 hrs, then measure and record internal resistance and cell manufacurer & colour etc. Then recharge to full 4.1v and immediately discharge at 500ma to 3v and record capacity before recharge again to storage voltage of 3.6v. Then I have a bige spreadsheet full of data to make my decisions with.
Sorry for all the questions but I'm just starting out and have just got my first delivery of loads of laptop batteries, 1 should all battery charge to 4.2v? 2 Should groups of cell ah's be approx all the same if not what kind of difference would you allow, for instance just for the question a 10s 4p if the first 10 are all 2000mha what would happen if the next 10 are 1800mha and the next 2100mha each cell? 3 I have come across some cells that are below 1.5v but have charged up just fine will these cells be affected in any way some have been less than a volt, I know I should leave them a while but it's all exiting at the moment. I do blame you and a few others video's for the mess and batteries charging when the better half complains as your one of the reasons I got interested in the first place, but honestly, thanks love the video's for the entertainment and knowledge you've given me plus it's actually changed my lifestyle.
Excellent explainer Pete, and exactly the process I use too with pre- and post charging before and after measuring - life is too short! Just a note, cells will always fall below 4.2V after charging and even new cells will naturally self-discharge. Perhaps you meant 4.12V as a threshold after standing idle for a few days?
That got me a bit confused as well... There is no way a cell doesn't loose at least 10mV over the course of a couple of weeks... I charge mine to 4,21V, then let them sit for 48hrs, if they are below 4,18V by then, they get thrown out, testing is also done after that 48hr period, since testing directly after gave me higher values in some cases and lower ones in others??? Wasn't able to measure any significant self discharge on the packs build out of these cells, one of my unused 52ah (1s24p) packs for my UPS dropped from 4,15V (my max. charge voltage) to 4,13V in one month, which I would considder good...
Thomas Cruz, I actually set my charging process up in a way, that i tortures the batterys to some extent, that way they will get hot really quickly if something is wrong... Degradation of the cells should be really low from one "extreme" cycle, after that they'll run between 4,15V and 3,2V anyways :) Letting them sit for more than 48hrs just isn't practical for me, since i would probbably get them messed up or i'd need tons of boxes with dates on them... For now i have 3 boxes, one with freshly charged ones, one wit ones that are a day old and one that are 2 days old, where i take them from to test capacity :) If the ones to test are empty i just use that box for the freshly charged ones and put it at the beginning of the queue, that way ther's allways roughly 48hrs between charging and discharging.
that isn't a bad way to do it either i think.. I started testing at 2amps finds good from bad much faster, however, was concerned about actually hurting cells..lol go figure
fantastic video and still the best one out there. why dont you bother wioth cells under a certain voltage, is it a time thing?, i've had plenty of good cells come back from under 2volts and have worked fine.
Thanks for this video, I was looking for exactly those cells because I don't have the needed testing equipment. Unfortunately it seems like they're too low for my needs, so I will just recycle them.
thanks, the cell database will come in handy.... but when i checked the batteries i am currently testing, they were not on the list, they are INE 180650E10 with Orange wrap, and a White disc. ps, i bought a Opus charger specifically because you mentioned it in another video. its sooo much faster than the IMAX B6 i was using before it, and still use.
if you could add photos & description here www.diypowerwalls.com/t-DIY-Powerwalls-Cell-Database the community can check it out for you hopefully come up with something faster than you doing it your self ? Good news on the OPUS, really like them - they do die after being hammered every day for 12 months but you have to expect that lol
Hello! Great videos! I'm in the charging process and marking initial voltage.. most of them are around 4.05 to 4.18v... you only mention 4.2, do you avoid anything under 4.2??? Thanks!
Fantastic video, pure Aussie straight as a dye. I need help in selecting batteries to make a DC power supply for my vintage radios. I bought 40 from Aliexpress, Samsung 3500ma. I decided to fully charge 4 of them and check the capacity, using a LiitoKala Lii-PD4 charger. The highest capacity was 1829ma. The seller is OK to refund but he still claims they are as advertised. I can't afford a fortune, what would you recommend for radios that draw too much current and our Bissell vacuum cleaner that uses 4500ma types?
Not sure if I understood it correctly. So the way to capacity test is to pre-charge to a certain voltage, then discharge to its lowest voltage and while it discharges measure how many amps are utilized by the load or discharger. Is this correct? Thanks in advance mate!
Exactly what i was looking for minus how to find how many Amps the batteries are. I will keep hunting for that, thanks for this video, keep up the great work.
I see you do the charge test at 1000mA, I done some cells yesterday both the same brand on my Opus, One got very hot to touch and the other one was room temp. The hot one is rat s%#t?? or should I do the test at 200mA so they don't get as hot?
So all of the energy used to charge and capacity test the cells is wasted? Or can it do a regenerative discharge so you can use it to test your next batteries? My lipo charger does this.
At 5:25, after you tested for discharge capacity, what criteria did you use to determine that none of the batteries are worth keeping? Was it the measured capacity relative to the specified capacity on the datasheet? Is it a percentage (e.g. 80%)?
Yes hi how are you?...I went & checked a cell that I was curious about?...I entered its serial number?...& they have a cell close to mine?...but the cell that I have isn't in their database...any tips/advice?...
I have dell inspiron 15 3521 and my battery (became dead) is assembled in a same fashion as you have shown in the video. Is the batteries shown in the video are connected in parallel? I want to check their volts so my question is do I need to dismantle the cells to check volts? or how can I? Thanks.
Yep I get all that... what I was wondering?...was that can I build my 4s 20p groups with batteries that range in the 50mah's?...like 2300-2350, then 2350-2400, then 2400- 2049, etc. b/c in another video you have them sorted by capacity...like the 1100's, 1200's, 1300's, & so on...until you have reached the 3400's group...
Yeah gloves my hands have 5 plasters covering them I just started with my first load of laptop batteries, I found some Prismatic Samsung cells They are marked Line 1 77155A611, Line 2 ICP103450s, and Line 3 SAMSUNG SDI, well I've actually over 60 so what advice give for these type of cells I'm sure you and others have come across them but I can't find much info on them, Love the video's and have gained so much knowledge from you and you're video's.
Ok pet I've started building my own...thanks though inspired like I always say... one thing if you want to check your mah instead of checking with a multi meter even on the laptop battery before breaking it theyll show you which one...I've checked I might be wrong but pls advise
if it understand what your saying corectly - Voltage has nothing to do with capicity. a 0.2v cell can be recovered to a 3000mah cell and in the same light can also be a 500mah cell.. test them all
@@HBPowerwall ok totally understood....another question is y do you have to charge and discharge your batteries before using it in a power wall because I mean we put all cells to full charge putting them upto 4.2 volts first so y discharge?
Any recommendation on further readings on how this process works? I don't understand how the capacity is mapped out. And essentially what it is really -- AmpH ??
Is 1 Amp per cell a good discharge rate for a test? Can you let us know the differences. We would get a higher mah rating with a lower discharge rate. Thx in advance
lately i been wanting to learn how do do this and been wanting to build something. im JUST starting. helped clean a hoarders house which had 2 kobalt 80V lawn mower batteries which never saw use and degraded just sitting in that rate hole. of the 40 cells i got 20 in good "physical" condition. before i even bother testing charger discharging ( and buying all the relevant equipment) i need to start stocking up to make it worth my time. any suggestions for where i can acquire sources? this weekend im going to ask around at local Lowes/Home depots and see if they are willing to allow me to give some of these battery packs a second life.
Hello there, I have just watched your video and I don't have much knowledge about these batteries, I have got 6 of them and I would like to use them for a project, I extracted them from a laptop battery just like you did, multimeter shows they range between 1.75 to 1.90 volts , are they too low? can I charge them? or they are rubbish?
Can you explain again the specs of what is considered a good cell verses a bad cell when salvaging from labtop batteries? When you charge them back up and let them sit for a few weeks should the voltage not drop past 4.2? Is 4.0 still considered a good battery?
if after a few weeks it's above 4.1 would happily use the cell. If you left it for 2 days and it dropped from 4.2 to 4.15 I wouldn't use it. You have to work out what is acceptable to you. Short time should be near no drop - weeks with no load there should be at least some drop in voltage.
Hi, I have an old HP laptop battery sitting on my shelf for 3 years. I just recently tested it. 1 parallel set was dead at 0V, but the other 2 set both have 3.9-4V. Does that mean they're ok? How is it still having 4V after sitting on the shelf for 3 years? And they were used 4 years prior, so total of 7 years old.
Thanks for this video, fast paced and packed with info. I just charged, tested, and recharged 16 Panasonic NCR18650s using a Zanflare C4. They all show relatively good capacity (they were only discharged at 500mA though, so I don’t know how useful the measured capacity is). The charger said 4.2 at the end, but my meter shows 4.11-4.13 across the board. Would you consider that voltage reading at full charge to indicate a bad cell or should I just use that measured voltage as my baseline when I measure again in a month?
Nop ignore the voltages - every cheap device is calibrated with a coke can half full with water - just test every cell the same way with the same sort of equipment.
May be a really dumb question, but do we need to buy an IMAX and an Opus charger? Does one do a different job to the other or can they both be used for charging, then discharging and determining capacity? Would preferably like to only buy one if possible!
Hi. Im up to about 3000 cells so far for my power wall. To test cells I charge to 4.2 and again ensure they don't self discharge. Next I load with a 50w 12v halogen light bulb for around 5 secs. At 4.2v this load sucks around 2.5A. I do a quick load test and record the difference voltage. For example the best battery I have seen is the Samsung INR18650 25R which shows 100mV, ie 4.20 to 4.10 for a single cell. Most ex laptop cells are discarded for a reason, i would be happy if 2x ex laptop cells in parallel gave me 100mV. Whats your thoughts as im looking for a cut off point, ie chuck or use. Cheers, Mark ( in NZ)
You would help alot if you can answer me .I build a 3s-4p battery pack out of lg 18650 cells. I tried to measure the capacity.I firstly charged and then discharged the pack.Turnigy smart charger has cut off voltage at 9,6 when having a 3s battery. When the discharge finished i show total 8000mah and voltages 3,4-3,2-3,4. It did not stopped at 9,6 and my main problem is that my second series batteries discharged faster. So having a pcb when u use the battery will cut the output voltage, while there is still voltage left in the pack .how to fix this? P.m all are same new lg cells except 1
Or for people who don't want to buy this, just use a powerbank circuit, take a load like your phone charging at like 1A/2A, and record the time. You get the capacity this way, much simpler and less expensive.
Where did you get all those laptop batteries? I'm here in NY trying to reach out to local electronic stores and recycle facilities to see if they collect laptop batteries.
Is discharging at 1A recommended for all cells? If a cells only rated for 500mAh discharge is that cell just not worth using? I discharged a cell at 1A and it got hot enough to trip the Opus to stop discharge, so I removed it from the charger thinking it was bad. Later I discovered on DIY Powerwall that its only rated for 500mAh max discharge. Is it actually a "good" cell assuming overheat was due to discharging beyond its rated maximum. Thanks!
Yep, don't need them lol and never used them, to be honest. I guess they would be good for smaller systems but voltage sag on my bank is half a volt or something i think.. with a 80a load
I don't understand. You test your cells' voltages immediately after removing from their housings and cleaning them. Shouldn't you charge them first? Otherwise, how does a low voltage reading tell you it's a bad cell? Doesn't that just mean they need to be charged? Can you explain that in more detail? Thanks.
I used to buy bulk laptops every single battery the was under grade or obsellite I easy get $2 aud for the batterys from people doing the same type things. My question is it worth it to test and resell them?
If your in the US you could try bit.ly/2Oe9PLW (guys are great to deal with and fast postage) or secondlifestorage.com/misc.php?action=addir&id=43 or if your in Europe secondlifestorage.com/misc.php?action=addir&id=62
I know I’m a little late but I saw you put the one that was 1.18 volts in the zero pile but then at the end said “these were all above half a volt and came up to 4.2” what is your threshold to throw them away?
Don't make me watch another old video to see if i screwd something up lol Voltage doesn't matter so no threshold - it's the discharge capacity at 1000ma that is important.
![Cutting open an LG 18650 battery for science [ amateur video warning ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/per8ybI55bI/mqdefault.jpg)
Yeaaaaahhh... this is EXACTLY what people want to see... Peter the master of the DIY POWERWALLS going through the laptop batteries showing his techniques haha... AWESOME dude... so much POWEEEEEERRR!!!! =]
Not my idea... blame the sparkie :) Have a few more along these lines... be their own playlist. Time go give tubes what they asked for
working on a pile of zta's in front of samsung 28's and 30's. i think you have more capacity in the shot than my whole powerwall!
Hey, Electricbike, fall off bikes much? LMAO at that one, so if your riding of bikes is much to go by god help us with what type of powerwall you'd build. Love what you do as it's always 110%.
HBPowerwall where can I go to get or purchase some?
Finally somebody who knows how to make a good instructional video without wasting any view time. Good job!
Thank-You
I learned more from this video than other 10+ videos made by others I watched about these battery cells! Good work!
My job is done! THanks for tuning in
same here, subscribed
"I put them in packs because it's safer"
Also sets a running metal power supply on top of them.
Love your videos though! I always learn a lot. :3
Yes i spot that aswell,but is no chance they get shorted from psu anyways
Even if you want.
I just recently learned of the infinite possibilities of this wonderful little battery. In my voracious hunt for videos on the topic of those far more versed in it than I, I came across your channel. I now have your notifications turned on! Like everyone else already said, your technique for explaining everything is second to none. I even was previously going to do that "CID reset", thing. Until I came across your warning. Ha! I watched that video twice to make sure I understood and didn't even attempt the process after that. Thank you!! You are now my Number One Source on all things "18650"! Thanks so much!!
Very interesting method of testing capacity but in my experience i like to test them by putting them in the microwave. The ones with the largest explosions and most poisonous gas are the ones with the highest capacity. The extra high-quality ones have fumes that make me cry blood.
Sounds like you could make some very watchable youtube videos - have at it, I'd sub that!
i do post vids
I like when a lot of information is transmitted in a short time! No talking, only experiences and facts!
i'm not always like this lol
Hello! Maybe you answer so fast again. :) I want to buy a 18650 charger. It should load the cell alone -> unload and measure the capacity -> load.
I waver between the VC4 and the Opus BT C3100.
Can the VC4 itself measure the capacity? Unfortunately, I could not find an answer to the question. :)
OPUS is my pick, sorry logged in from other channel name. But I love my opus units you can get a good price on ebay here - rover.ebay.com/rover/1/705-53470-19255-0/1?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp2380057.m570.l1311.R1.TR2.TRC1.A0.H0.XOPUS%2Bbt.TRS0%26_nkw%3Dopus%2Bbt-c3100%26_sacat%3D0&campid=5338073988&toolid=20008 or on amazon here www.amazon.com/shop/hbpowerwall
Replyed from BatteryHasher account sorry
Glad you're back to doing a straight up vid' again! The live streams are too long and not exactly on the subject for me to watch. I love to see some quick update videos - how you're getting on, performance, future plans, problems etc. :) keep up the good work man!
Live feeds are a way of interacting.. it's boring as all get out editing for 10 hours straight lol I need some love too!
HBPowerwall totally understand, it's not a dig, just my own preference to what i like to watch sort of thing. Either way, love what you're doing, keep up the good work!
Thank you for grinding through hours of editing, and I realize it must suck. However I am extremely grateful for your willingness to share your knowledge, and for sacrificing your time to help noobs like myself try to catch up. My ADD prevents me from being able to sit, read, and... whoa, sweet! I just found a quarter in my couch cushion!
That REALLY helps!! Thank you. You answered all of my questions in a single 6 minute video. Thank you!!
Glad it was helpful!
I want to thank you for this video, I have been thinking of building a powerwall for some time now and didn't know where to start. You have packed loads of info into this presentation and I now have a much better idea of how to go about my project. You have a new subscriber!
Glad I could help!
Finally someone that explains it thoroughly. Thanks, now I can continue my little projects.
Happy I helped
Finally someone that explains it thoroughly.thanks u are the best
Thank bud
"QUICK IS GOOD"
In my experiencie, i find that the ones that are with low voltage, are actualy very nice cells. Go testing, you will get surprise how good they are!
Yes, i think that also. Most low voltage cells are because of faulty bms. A big percentage of my 2Ah cells are lower than 2v
I save my laptop batteries and I have two of them with 2.55V and some even lower. You mean they are still usable?
Well if you mix them in a pack with high voltage ones that can damage them or even be a fire hazard, right?
Very useful video, thanks!
I also have a Opus BT-C3100 and i'm in the process of making a small battery pack for a xenon flashlight i'm making; I want to use some 2200mAh LG cells, I got a lot of them from a local shop that repairs battery packs for power tools and now, after months, it's time to select them.
Basically I have to charge them, then run the discharhge process and see how many mAh the battery can give in order to match ones that are close.
Vey informative! Thank your for the time you spent making this for all us dummies!🙏
I'm the ultimate dummy, glad you took something away from my tinkering
Hey Pete, I love the database. Of course I'd have made it sortable on manufacturer, colors and most importantly, capacity. But that's just how I am.
I wished I'd had this video when I first started with the hand slicing and coveting any cell over 1500mAh. Great job my friend.
+Rocket Rose it does click arrows :)
Kinda interesting with how much passion you get to this topic. Some things you do are a bit dodgy and dangerous propably. And old batteries are still just old batteries... But this makes sense for DIY powerwalls for sure
We all do things that are dodgy, i just admit to them :) I like most learn from my mistakes and it's been kind to me so far
HOLY SHIT I just spent an hour getting two cuts and a blister trying to use pliers. I'm getting my gloves out and twisting that shit from now on!!
Those ICR batteries are super useful and people will pay good money for them even though they are low capacity cells. The output from them is great! Let me know if you're selling any of those in bulk. I have 1000s of laptop batteries but most only give off 5-6amps max... (Not making a powerwall but lots of small projects)
I sold 1000s of them and keep all others for him that i find.
Since there's a lot people in the comments regarding self-discharging testing I thought I'd leave a comment to help people understand. First off all batteries self-discharge no matter the chemistry, age, recharge cycles and the temperature they are stored at. Lithium-ion batteries discharge more in the first 24 hours than they should do over a 2 month period. Most manufactures publish their discharge rates within the datasheet for that particular battery, but generally its considered that Lithium-ion will self-discharge more in the 24 hours than it will over 2 months, to put this into usable understanding. the first 24 hours should lose no more than 1-5% then each month is between 1-2% which if we take the higher value of 5% in the first 24 hours takes 4.20v down to 3.99v which some of you may consider low, but for some applications it would be still usable since the cut-off is 2.75-2.80 for most batteries. In bigger projects with batteries running in series then you should try and match batteries in both self-discharge and capacity as much as possible but don't go overboard, its not that important if using a BMS.
The main reason why some batteries fail to charge above a certain voltage such as 4.16v/4.18v is because the charger that you are using is not that accurate, OPUS for example is notorious for being very poorly calibrated which is noted within their manual having a Voltage Deviation of
Dam man thanks for the effort - titbits in there I didn't know/understand... thanks for the effort!!!
Thanks for the info. Do you check capacity on 18650 cells in addition to your voltage reads 10 days later? Is so, what do you do with 4.2 v cells that after repeated charge/discharge do not show any capacity in mh?
I agree with your method. I first check the voltage of each cell as I break it out of the laptop pack, then I give each cell a serial number rather than mark it with its capacity etc. I record each serial number in a spreadsheet so I can record initial volts, max volts after first charge, then volts again after 24 hrs, then measure and record internal resistance and cell manufacurer & colour etc. Then recharge to full 4.1v and immediately discharge at 500ma to 3v and record capacity before recharge again to storage voltage of 3.6v. Then I have a bige spreadsheet full of data to make my decisions with.
love the video , explained in enough detial for anyone to understand
Thanks for the comment Ryan :)
Sorry for all the questions but I'm just starting out and have just got my first delivery of loads of laptop batteries, 1 should all battery charge to 4.2v? 2 Should groups of cell ah's be approx all the same if not what kind of difference would you allow, for instance just for the question a 10s 4p if the first 10 are all 2000mha what would happen if the next 10 are 1800mha and the next 2100mha each cell? 3 I have come across some cells that are below 1.5v but have charged up just fine will these cells be affected in any way some have been less than a volt, I know I should leave them a while but it's all exiting at the moment. I do blame you and a few others video's for the mess and batteries charging when the better half complains as your one of the reasons I got interested in the first place, but honestly, thanks love the video's for the entertainment and knowledge you've given me plus it's actually changed my lifestyle.
thanks for a simple straight to the point video.
Thanks for tuning in
Nice one . long time we miss
Since you setup the complicated expensive BMS I always feel stranger
Yes, i should spread my video subject matter out a little more.
Excellent video mate, learned a few things and just in time for my DIY 3kwh solar generator!
Awesome - my work is done :)
This video is about to help me out. Thanks man
Thanks for tuning in
Best ive used for cells seems to be crack them like pecan with channel locks.
Thank you for your excellent condensing of the great info! Best in Class for IPM: info per minute!!
TY sir!
Excellent explainer Pete, and exactly the process I use too with pre- and post charging before and after measuring - life is too short!
Just a note, cells will always fall below 4.2V after charging and even new cells will naturally self-discharge.
Perhaps you meant 4.12V as a threshold after standing idle for a few days?
That got me a bit confused as well... There is no way a cell doesn't loose at least 10mV over the course of a couple of weeks...
I charge mine to 4,21V, then let them sit for 48hrs, if they are below 4,18V by then, they get thrown out, testing is also done after that 48hr period, since testing directly after gave me higher values in some cases and lower ones in others???
Wasn't able to measure any significant self discharge on the packs build out of these cells, one of my unused 52ah (1s24p) packs for my UPS dropped from 4,15V (my max. charge voltage) to 4,13V in one month, which I would considder good...
usually, I leave it for a few weeks so if it drops under 4.1 v I recycle - perhaps I could have done that better.
Thomas Cruz, I actually set my charging process up in a way, that i tortures the batterys to some extent, that way they will get hot really quickly if something is wrong... Degradation of the cells should be really low from one "extreme" cycle, after that they'll run between 4,15V and 3,2V anyways :) Letting them sit for more than 48hrs just isn't practical for me, since i would probbably get them messed up or i'd need tons of boxes with dates on them... For now i have 3 boxes, one with freshly charged ones, one wit ones that are a day old and one that are 2 days old, where i take them from to test capacity :) If the ones to test are empty i just use that box for the freshly charged ones and put it at the beginning of the queue, that way ther's allways roughly 48hrs between charging and discharging.
that isn't a bad way to do it either i think.. I started testing at 2amps finds good from bad much faster, however, was concerned about actually hurting cells..lol go figure
It is very interesting to checkout your new videos
Thanks for tuning in
fantastic video and still the best one out there. why dont you bother wioth cells under a certain voltage, is it a time thing?, i've had plenty of good cells come back from under 2volts and have worked fine.
Great tips and advice, next toy for me Opus BT-C3100 tester. Cheers
Have fun!
thats for the website, saved me big time
no worries
That’s an awesome little video. Thanks.
I’m a Brissy Newby and like watching your videos 👍
Awesome - welcome to the channel sorry it took a few days to reply
Thanks for this video, I was looking for exactly those cells because I don't have the needed testing equipment. Unfortunately it seems like they're too low for my needs, so I will just recycle them.
Thanks for tuning in
great video mate keep up the good work
Thank-You Joshua
awesome explanation, you just saved me tons and tons of hours. That is why I suscribed to your channel, you da man....
I've wasted them so you don' t have to :)
Love your channel but think those sanyo zta you scrapped may have been good as charging voltage is 4.35 and not 4.2 hence low storage
thanks, the cell database will come in handy.... but when i checked the batteries i am currently testing, they were not on the list, they are
INE 180650E10 with Orange wrap, and a White disc.
ps, i bought a Opus charger specifically because you mentioned it in another video. its sooo much faster than the IMAX B6 i was using before it, and still use.
if you could add photos & description here www.diypowerwalls.com/t-DIY-Powerwalls-Cell-Database the community can check it out for you hopefully come up with something faster than you doing it your self ?
Good news on the OPUS, really like them - they do die after being hammered every day for 12 months but you have to expect that lol
Hello! Great videos! I'm in the charging process and marking initial voltage.. most of them are around 4.05 to 4.18v... you only mention 4.2, do you avoid anything under 4.2??? Thanks!
I have the same question
good battery is considered, what I've seen, at 4.15-4.20 volts. I think new battery may not even have 4.2 (after charging and sitting ofc) :D
my batteries never stay at 4.2 they always between 4.14-4.18 ...so i dont know where he gets 4.2 after 1 month lol
Fantastic video, pure Aussie straight as a dye. I need help in selecting batteries to make a DC power supply for my vintage radios. I bought 40 from Aliexpress, Samsung 3500ma. I decided to fully charge 4 of them and check the capacity, using a LiitoKala Lii-PD4 charger. The highest capacity was 1829ma. The seller is OK to refund but he still claims they are as advertised. I can't afford a fortune, what would you recommend for radios that draw too much current and our Bissell vacuum cleaner that uses 4500ma types?
Thank you for sharing information
My pleasure
Not sure if I understood it correctly. So the way to capacity test is to pre-charge to a certain voltage, then discharge to its lowest voltage and while it discharges measure how many amps are utilized by the load or discharger. Is this correct? Thanks in advance mate!
Yup
Most chargers having the "test" mode will do that charge-discharge-charge cycle and report the capacity value at the end
Exactly what i was looking for minus how to find how many Amps the batteries are. I will keep hunting for that, thanks for this video, keep up the great work.
you might want to check out the cell data base for cell info secondlifestorage.com/celldatabase.php
thanks for telling me about nickel strips after i cut myself on them. jokes aside where would you typically get a bunch of laptob battry packs?
I see you do the charge test at 1000mA, I done some cells yesterday both the same brand on my Opus, One got very hot to touch and the other one was room temp. The hot one is rat s%#t?? or should I do the test at 200mA so they don't get as hot?
So all of the energy used to charge and capacity test the cells is wasted? Or can it do a regenerative discharge so you can use it to test your next batteries?
My lipo charger does this.
what is the actual volt per cell? Plus what could the batteries be used for around the home?
Ripper video...thx mate.
No problem 👍
Hey mate. Where in Brissie do you get these unwanted laptop battery packs from?
Sir whats the safest voltage of 18650 battery should i use in my small setup power wall power wall?
Thanks for the education!
Ooh i educated? Ment to just show my process lol
would a normal recharge station for rechargeable batteries charge these batteries, a couple at a time
At 5:25, after you tested for discharge capacity, what criteria did you use to determine that none of the batteries are worth keeping? Was it the measured capacity relative to the specified capacity on the datasheet? Is it a percentage (e.g. 80%)?
IIRC, he only uses cells that have more then 2Ah capacity for his power wall
the discharger is a nice tester
I like them they seem to work well considering the work load they are put under.
i like your wall sir
Yes hi how are you?...I went & checked a cell that I was curious about?...I entered its serial number?...& they have a cell close to mine?...but the cell that I have isn't in their database...any tips/advice?...
I have dell inspiron 15 3521 and my battery (became dead) is assembled in a same fashion as you have shown in the video. Is the batteries shown in the video are connected in parallel? I want to check their volts so my question is do I need to dismantle the cells to check volts? or how can I? Thanks.
how can I get a graph for voltage vs. capacity out of these batteries? What kind of equipment can do that?
you could use an iCharger X8 and use the Junsi Console to log data - well that's how I would do it.
Yep I get all that... what I was wondering?...was that can I build my 4s 20p groups with batteries that range in the 50mah's?...like 2300-2350, then 2350-2400, then 2400- 2049, etc. b/c in another video you have them sorted by capacity...like the 1100's, 1200's, 1300's, & so on...until you have reached the 3400's group...
Yeah gloves my hands have 5 plasters covering them I just started with my first load of laptop batteries, I found some Prismatic Samsung cells They are marked Line 1 77155A611, Line 2 ICP103450s, and Line 3 SAMSUNG SDI, well I've actually over 60 so what advice give for these type of cells I'm sure you and others have come across them but I can't find much info on them, Love the video's and have gained so much knowledge from you and you're video's.
Nice video, can you please tell me, what should be the minimum capacity of each cell to make battery pack, please reply, I am waiting
it depends on the cell i guess
Nice video!
I save my laptop batteries and I have two of them with 2.55V. Are they usable?
Voltage is not an indication of battery suitability - capacity, resistance, self discharge & heat are your key metrics to test
@@HBPowerwall Thank you!
How can I measure them and which device should I use for this?
Can i take a pair of batteries of the same Specs forming one cell, and mix in series with other pairs of different brand and slightly different Specs?
Ok pet I've started building my own...thanks though inspired like I always say... one thing if you want to check your mah instead of checking with a multi meter even on the laptop battery before breaking it theyll show you which one...I've checked I might be wrong but pls advise
if it understand what your saying corectly - Voltage has nothing to do with capicity. a 0.2v cell can be recovered to a 3000mah cell and in the same light can also be a 500mah cell.. test them all
@@HBPowerwall ok totally understood....another question is y do you have to charge and discharge your batteries before using it in a power wall because I mean we put all cells to full charge putting them upto 4.2 volts first so y discharge?
Any recommendation on further readings on how this process works? I don't understand how the capacity is mapped out. And essentially what it is really -- AmpH ??
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
Is 1 Amp per cell a good discharge rate for a test? Can you let us know the differences. We would get a higher mah rating with a lower discharge rate. Thx in advance
1amp is good balance - will get the cell hot if there is an issue with it, but fast enough to be efficient to test.
holly cow I hope that wall and board are strong enough what I mountain of cells. Are they all good to to be tested?
40% good tested 60% bad tested - but looks 100% good, so we are all good lol
Hi Peter! I didn't find my battery on the data base. I dk t k ow what to do. I want to know the Mah on the battery that's why..
post in the forum photos and description or on FB - facebook.com/groups/diypowerwalls/
lately i been wanting to learn how do do this and been wanting to build something. im JUST starting. helped clean a hoarders house which had 2 kobalt 80V lawn mower batteries which never saw use and degraded just sitting in that rate hole. of the 40 cells i got 20 in good "physical" condition.
before i even bother testing charger discharging ( and buying all the relevant equipment) i need to start stocking up to make it worth my time. any suggestions for where i can acquire sources? this weekend im going to ask around at local Lowes/Home depots and see if they are willing to allow me to give some of these battery packs a second life.
Hello there, I have just watched your video and I don't have much knowledge about these batteries, I have got 6 of them and I would like to use them for a project, I extracted them from a laptop battery just like you did, multimeter shows they range between 1.75 to 1.90 volts , are they too low? can I charge them? or they are rubbish?
Can you explain again the specs of what is considered a good cell verses a bad cell when salvaging from labtop batteries? When you charge them back up and let them sit for a few weeks should the voltage not drop past 4.2? Is 4.0 still considered a good battery?
if after a few weeks it's above 4.1 would happily use the cell. If you left it for 2 days and it dropped from 4.2 to 4.15 I wouldn't use it. You have to work out what is acceptable to you. Short time should be near no drop - weeks with no load there should be at least some drop in voltage.
Hi, I have an old HP laptop battery sitting on my shelf for 3 years. I just recently tested it. 1 parallel set was dead at 0V, but the other 2 set both have 3.9-4V. Does that mean they're ok? How is it still having 4V after sitting on the shelf for 3 years? And they were used 4 years prior, so total of 7 years old.
Thanks for this video, fast paced and packed with info.
I just charged, tested, and recharged 16 Panasonic NCR18650s using a Zanflare C4. They all show relatively good capacity (they were only discharged at 500mA though, so I don’t know how useful the measured capacity is). The charger said 4.2 at the end, but my meter shows 4.11-4.13 across the board. Would you consider that voltage reading at full charge to indicate a bad cell or should I just use that measured voltage as my baseline when I measure again in a month?
Nop ignore the voltages - every cheap device is calibrated with a coke can half full with water - just test every cell the same way with the same sort of equipment.
Thanks! Just tested all the cells one month later and they have only dropped .01-.02v. I’m calling that a success.
May be a really dumb question, but do we need to buy an IMAX and an Opus charger? Does one do a different job to the other or can they both be used for charging, then discharging and determining capacity? Would preferably like to only buy one if possible!
Hey Pete, have you seen / done anything about where the Opus charger overheats and stops discharging for a bit until it cools?
I haven't had this issue yet, i run a fan pushing air kinda over the dischargers but not directly on them..
where can you get laptop batteries?
you'll find theme inside laptop batteries
Hi. Im up to about 3000 cells so far for my power wall. To test cells I charge to 4.2 and again ensure they don't self discharge. Next I load with a 50w 12v halogen light bulb for around 5 secs. At 4.2v this load sucks around 2.5A. I do a quick load test and record the difference voltage. For example the best battery I have seen is the Samsung INR18650 25R which shows 100mV, ie 4.20 to 4.10 for a single cell. Most ex laptop cells are discarded for a reason, i would be happy if 2x ex laptop cells in parallel gave me 100mV. Whats your thoughts as im looking for a cut off point, ie chuck or use. Cheers, Mark ( in NZ)
You would help alot if you can answer me .I build a 3s-4p battery pack out of lg 18650 cells. I tried to measure the capacity.I firstly charged and then discharged the pack.Turnigy smart charger has cut off voltage at 9,6 when having a 3s battery. When the discharge finished i show total 8000mah and voltages 3,4-3,2-3,4. It did not stopped at 9,6 and my main problem is that my second series batteries discharged faster. So having a pcb when u use the battery will cut the output voltage, while there is still voltage left in the pack .how to fix this? P.m all are same new lg cells except 1
Or for people who don't want to buy this, just use a powerbank circuit, take a load like your phone charging at like 1A/2A, and record the time.
You get the capacity this way, much simpler and less expensive.
You can do it many ways i like this way.. Do you have any videos of you doing it your way for everyone to view ?
What's the brand and capacity of those purple batts? I have a similarly colored ones and i cant seem to find them from your site. Thanks!
to what voltage is the capacity test down to 3.0v?
off the top of my head it's either 3 or 2.8v can't remember for sure.
Can I use yellow/red cable with any of the black?
Where did you get all those laptop batteries? I'm here in NY trying to reach out to local electronic stores and recycle facilities to see if they collect laptop batteries.
I look everywhere and anywhere - hospitals, government offices & schools have been good to me
Is discharging at 1A recommended for all cells? If a cells only rated for 500mAh discharge is that cell just not worth using? I discharged a cell at 1A and it got hot enough to trip the Opus to stop discharge, so I removed it from the charger thinking it was bad. Later I discovered on DIY Powerwall that its only rated for 500mAh max discharge. Is it actually a "good" cell assuming overheat was due to discharging beyond its rated maximum. Thanks!
Very helpful video 👍 👌👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 👍👍 👍👍 👍👌👌👌. thanks
Thank-You Sir
making a pack of this dead laptos batteries for my E-motorcycle how many cycles can I make?
Pete, have you given any thought to 'Super Capacitors' for solar storage?
Yep, don't need them lol and never used them, to be honest. I guess they would be good for smaller systems but voltage sag on my bank is half a volt or something i think.. with a 80a load
Hey, great video! I have 42 C° when discharging at 1 amp. Internal resistance 28mR. Is it normal?
Doesn't seem horrible.. how ever there is ALOT of variables
@@HBPowerwall Thanks.
Да... количество конечно впечатляет... особенно конечно когда он в конце переводит камеру на стену - а там... - целая гора 18650 на полке!
I don't understand. You test your cells' voltages immediately after removing from their housings and cleaning them. Shouldn't you charge them first? Otherwise, how does a low voltage reading tell you it's a bad cell? Doesn't that just mean they need to be charged? Can you explain that in more detail? Thanks.
I used to buy bulk laptops every single battery the was under grade or obsellite I easy get $2 aud for the batterys from people doing the same type things. My question is it worth it to test and resell them?
Starting here... just ordered Xtar VC4 and just broke a laptop battery to get my feet wet with this. hoping these are good cells
Good luck with your journey - don't forget to visit www.secondlifestorage.com to join our community :)
6:17 you toss cells that you charged to 4.2V and are below 4.2V after sitting for a month? I think many cells will read 4.13V-4.19V.
What amph per cell would be considered adequate for a 48V 20ah battery pack? If I do 13 series.
depends on your cells..
Why don't you use the mains to power the Nitecore charger?
I can't remember why now .. I don't really want to watch another old video to remember lol
hi there, I'm wondering where you get all the old laptop packs? trying to find a place to find lots of old cells. appreciate your help.
If your in the US you could try bit.ly/2Oe9PLW (guys are great to deal with and fast postage) or secondlifestorage.com/misc.php?action=addir&id=43 or if your in Europe secondlifestorage.com/misc.php?action=addir&id=62
I know I’m a little late but I saw you put the one that was 1.18 volts in the zero pile but then at the end said “these were all above half a volt and came up to 4.2” what is your threshold to throw them away?
Don't make me watch another old video to see if i screwd something up lol Voltage doesn't matter so no threshold - it's the discharge capacity at 1000ma that is important.