possibility of recycling broken batteries ?

hi

is there any possibility of recycling broken batteries ? either from overcharge or mis-use or what ever?

i was thinking that a "vented" battery might be cured if only we could get some more of what was vented back inside it. its KOH right?

couldn't we just put the hot batteries in a tub full of KOH solution and when they cooled down they would suck the solution back in?

or could some one cut open the batteries and use the cathodes and anodes to make a great big super battery?

Most flooded batts are H2SO4... gelled electrolyte in AGM and SLA is similarly nasty.

Deafscooter has plenty experience in altering electrolyte chemistry. He has strongly advised against experimenting without adequate training.

Dry cells are fragile and might not yield much usable material for anyone without bulk processing (like a commercial recycler).

Sulfated LA batts are being de-sulfated regularly... most indie battery shops are buying dead-lead and reselling it after de-sulfating.

:?

Are you talking about Nimh batteries?

I've added water to SLA batteries before to make up for what had vented during overcharge.
I've seen some flooded NiCd batteries before that you could replace the electrolyte in, but those are quite rare.

Something like a sealed Nimh or NiCd has a vent mechanism in the top that generally does not seal again once the cell has vented, causing them to dry out completely. It may be possible to force water back into the vent somehow, but I've never really looked at the exact structure of the vent mechanism to see if this is possible. It probably varies between manufacturers somewhat. Even if you could rehydrate them, I don't know if they would improve at all.

Most batteries can also suffer shorts in the separators, which are generally unrecoverable. Time to recycle these.

We can fix some NIMH ebike packs, especially Giant

email me

dick

yer i was thinking a bout Nimh and Nicd

monster said:

yer i was thinking a bout Nimh and Nicd

Click to expand...

the key elements of repairing Nimh and Nicad packs:

Ability to analyze and test what the problem(s) is with the pack

Access to the parts to repair (usually the dual tabbed appropriate sized single cell(s) )

ability to safely disassemble the pack and swap the parts.



In the past , it was not economically feasable- packs were cheaper and repaired packs not quite as good as new. Now with more expensive packs and more experience, it is worth while.


we have western and eastern USA people that can do this. I am the western one. If you can obtain a couple of packs that are not worn out but broken, after a few packs you will figure out how to do it . Need a good understanding of DC electronic circuits and battery safety.

Its not a money making , but a decent service that is needed that will pay for itself if you are good. But some packs are too far gone, got to be able to identify that fairly quickly.
d

cheers you seem to be the only person that knows anything about this. is there any place i can learn more about doing this, or is it secret business sensitive knowledge?

monster said:

cheers you seem to be the only person that knows anything about this. is there any place i can learn more about doing this, or is it secret business sensitive knowledge?

Click to expand...

Nothing secret at all, just everyone is comitting their attention and resources to Lithium packs, Lith seems to be the wave of the future, and not much is being done about Nickel packs.

Again, basic DC curcuit understanding is the foundation for doing this.

I must say if you are fresh to learning batteries, Nickel is one of the safer ones to learn. SLA's have soooo much current capability, and then the acid. Lith as a first chemistry to learn is a somewhat risky business, and the stories on the net of fires and explosions always get over exposure.

There are a couple of good books about batteries:
Batteries in a Portable World: A Handbook on Rechargeable Batteries for Non-Engineers, Second Edition: Books: Isidor Buchmann is a good one to start with.

Good chargers have some troubleshooting clues- but not real well documented. my charger will flash yellow when testing the battery--after about 8 flashes if the light goes off- there is a wiring/ voltage error. If it keeps flashing the thermistor is there but is out of range- too cold or too hot usually. If it goes solid yellow- then all is ok and it starts charging.

So one step is to understand the possible NIMH wiring possibilities and possible errors- sometimes a broken pack is not a bad cell but a basic problem of a broken connection.

Sometimes it is a bad charger not a bad pack- how does one determine this without a second charger?- (just calculate the 1/25 C rate and charge for a day with a power supply and monitor temp, volt and current)

sometimes it is a bad ebike and not a bad battery, but the user does not now how to tell the differnce between a bad/marginal/good battery. So one needs to know how to be sure it is the battery that is bad, and not the charger or the ebike. dummy loads of variable resistance and wattage along with decent meters helps here.

When messing around with batteries, not enough can be said to ensure good safety practices.
People have gotten hurt REALLY bad, lost fingers- severe burns, lost their eye sight, etc from taking short cuts. there will be folks that tell you they have worked with batteries for X decades with no safety precautions, and others that got hurt on almost their first attempt at working on one.

I can only say the reason you are inside a battery is because something is wrong in there, and you dont know what it is yet. Intermittents are the worst- could be a loose screw rolling around - waiting to short out a couple of hot wires.

No, nothing sensitive about working on them- just many folks dont think the payback from all the learning is worth the effort on a mature product space.

email off line if you want more.