18650s "Too Dangerous to Spot Weld"

[silentflight]

I took a 5S A123 18650 battery pack (for a solar light Christmas present) into a Batteries Plus Bulbs in Minnesota to have it spot welded. When I returned to pick it up the manager told me that 18650s were lithium and therefore "likely to vent and explode" if spot welded and that the store policy was to never repair or spot weld lithium batteries of any chemistry. I called four other Batteries Plus Bulbs locations in Minneapolis/St. Paul and was told the same thing. Each of these stores has a spot welding station next to the checkout counter.

My first reaction was that this policy was not only ridiculous, it would run them out of business as they can't repair lithium cordless tool packs, but then it hit me that perhaps this was meant to sell higher profit margin replacement packs.

What do you guys think? Is this even a remotely reasonable policy? What is the real reason for it?

Any ideas where I could get a 5S pack spot welded in Minneapolis/St. Paul?

 

[riba2233]

 

[mistercrash]

Maybe they know that any genuine 18650s from reputable companies are safe to spot weld, but with all the knock offs out there, those stores will not take any chances. They probably will only spot weld cells they sell or are brought in by well known and trusted clients.

 

[dnmun]

they will only spot weld batteries you buy from them into a pack for you and will not repair a pack you take in to them.

i had this same experience when i took a lifepo4 prismatic pack to a battery shop here but i was able to talk the technician into testing his spot welder on a nickel tab he had laying there on his bench. kinda to show him it was ok with me and not to worry about damaging it.

but that was just my luck in going directly to the repair guy and talking to him enuff to gain his confidence and was willing to try it, but as soon as the manager saw it then he came over and told the guy to stop.

so i took my pack back, with the extra tab already welded on, and left. went home and soldered the two tabs together and the battery i still have.

that was one of jason's first lifepo4 packs. the 36V 10Ah aluminum pack that E-BikeKit.com used to sell. jason was really good about providing warranty replacements so when someone turned in that battery which had the torn tab spot weld, i got to diagnose what went wrong with it for him, and somebody got a new battery. that was the only bad one i ever saw. i still get 9Ah from the 16S pack i built out of those prismatic cells from his returned batteries.

 

[amberwolf]

Yeah, it's just a sales tactic. All they care about is selling things.

Long time ago, when the one here near me was still "Batteries Batteries for Everything", I think it was, I was gonna have them build me a NiMH pack, at $1 a spot weld, and I had to buy the cells thru them in order to get them to do it. It didn't happen because they quoted me a price for the cells and work, I saved up and paid, and then they came back with a much higher price and wouldn't honor their original quote that I'd already paid for. So I (eventually) got a refund after enough communications.

Long time before *that*, they were much more DIY and helpful, but once they became a chain store they basically just started to sell stuff and that's that.

I expect most places are like that, and I don't blame them, but it doesn't help DIYers much. :/

 

[Arjoe]

There are 3 Batteries Plus Bulbs stores in town. 2 said emphatically no we are not allowed to weld LiPo batteries under any circumstances. The third said they could weld me up 13 packs of 8ps that I would then solder together in series - for $24 A PACK. So for the almost $300 I am buying a spot welder from eBay. They were happy to quote me a 48V 10Ah pack for $500. Not hard to read between the lines here.

 

[arkmundi]

At one point in time in my quest for the perfect battery for my then 500 watts of eBike, I spoke with the closest Batteries Plus store and we went over a bunch of options that they might provide. I crossed them off my list as a useful supplier and went another direction, suggested here on the ES forum, of making my own packs. Now that I'm pressing 2000 watts on my MAC/Trek build, and looking to press 3000 watts on the MXUS, my quest continues, even though I'm happy with my 48V 40ah A123 AMP20. I'm good, but what about my growing cohort of eBike enthusiasts? We need a permanent solution. I'm working on that. I believe Batteries Plus are a bunch of idiots passing on the opportunity.

 

[tomjasz]

There are 3 Batteries Plus Bulbs stores in town. 2 said emphatically no we are not allowed to weld LiPo batteries under any circumstances. The third said they could weld me up 13 packs of 8ps that I would then solder together in series - for $24 A PACK. So for the almost $300 I am buying a spot welder from eBay. They were happy to quote me a 48V 10Ah pack for $500. Not hard to read between the lines here.

Any luck on buying a spot welder? Mlt34 bought one but is to busy on an adventure to give a review. Inquiring minds are waiting for you!