ANR26650M1A testing with Imax B6.

[Kuebeker]

Hello

I'm a a tad ignorant on the subject so please forgive me.
Long story short, bought 2 motorcycle Ballistic batteries and both of them crapped out due to pour build quality.
I have enough cells to rebuild one and in order to do so I need to test all the cells before putting back the battery back together.

Testing my first cell I get:

The cells are A123 Systems ANR26650M1A.
The specs I found for my cells are 2300mAh 3.3v
The charger I have is a Skyrc ImaxB6.

To charge I set it to LiIO CC=3.0 amps CV=3.6 Volts.
When the charge is finish it stats 4.9volts. Is this normal?
When I read it with a volt meter it's 3.77 volts. Is this to much?

To discharge, it's set to 1.0amps at 3.10v.
It goes down to 3.01v @ 1803mAh for 108:19min. Is this normal.
Is the 2300mAh the max once it's completely drained or once it reaches it's discharge cutoff of 1.6v

Can the SkyRC B6 discharge all the way to 1.6v? If so how do I set it?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[riba2233]

You used wrong settings, you should use life setting, not liio (it's for 4.1V max cells, 3.6 nominal; you have 3.3 nominal 3.6 max). Also your connections have way to high resistance.

It should be 2300mah between 3.6 and 2 V. Do not go under 2.0 and dont go over 3.6!

 

[Kuebeker]

Ok I'll set it to LiFe 3.3v.
So LiPo vs LiFe vs LiIo is that they are all Lithium "Li" and the last 2 letters denominate the tech/chem used? (I don't know what to call it)
LiPo = lithium-polymer 3.6v
LiIo = lithium-Ion 3.6-3.7v
LiFe = Lithium Iron Phosphate LiFePO4 3.2-3.3v
Why are my ANR26650M1A called LiIo if they are LiFe? I'm confused.

For discharging, I should get 2300mAh when discharging from 3.6 to 2.0v? or pretty darn close.
The b6 discharge automatically stops at 3.01v. I guess the .01v is the safety / margin of error.

> Also your connections have way to high resistance.
Hum I'll check the connections out.

 

[arkmundi]

The cells are A123 Systems ANR26650M1A.
The specs I found for my cells are 2300mAh 3.3v
The charger I have is a Skyrc ImaxB6.

To charge I set it to LiIO CC=3.0 amps CV=3.6 Volts.
When the charge is finish it stats 4.9volts. Is this normal?
When I read it with a volt meter it's 3.77 volts. Is this to much?

A fine cell to use - shame to destroy them. Your volt meter is probably the correct read. Yes, 3.77 volts is too much. At most, charge LiFePO4 cells to 3.65V. I don't charge past 3.60V.

To discharge, it's set to 1.0amps at 3.10v.
It goes down to 3.01v @ 1803mAh for 108:19min. Is this normal.
Is the 2300mAh the max once it's completely drained or once it reaches it's discharge cutoff of 1.6v. Can the SkyRC B6 discharge all the way to 1.6v? If so how do I set it?

Safe discharge to 2.0V. Below that increasingly unsafe. 0.5V is absolute minimum discharge at which a cell might respond to resuscitation. Do you trust that Skyrc ImaxB6 balance charger? I mean if its giving you wrong voltage readings, why trust anything its doing?

 

[Kuebeker]

That's the hole point of understanding the charging process so I don't destroy all of them Ok maybe one.
Wish I had better equipment but for now I'll work with what I have.

Did a charge set to LiFe and it stopped at 3.6v B6 Reading (3.51 multimeter reading) so I guess that is kind of OK.

Started the discharge test. it should stop at 2.0v. will report back.

 

[Kuebeker]

I think I figured it all out.

First off the B6 Charger/Discharger is ok but not suited for the the ANR26650M1A cell.
Max Discharging is only 1ah. If I want to test my cells I have to discharge for 2 hours and then restart the discharge for another 18 min and see if it get another 300mAh without hitting the 2v cutoff for a total of 2300mAh.
I would believe that it would be best to discharge 2300mAh for 1 hour for proper test but then again it may make no difference. I don't know.

I also noticed that just after charging I get 3.55v from the cell and the next day it's at 3.35v and stable.
Is this behavior normal?

These batteries are said to be excellent, but need precise control measures, something my motorcycles regulator/rectifier cant provide.
Is there a gizmo I can add to make sure it never gets overcharged passed 14.4v ( 12 cell battery (3x4)) nor discharged past 8v ( 10v to be safer ) which is not to expensive?

Hey who knows where this may lead me, I just might build a pure electric motorcycle one day. That would be cool!

 

[wb9k]

I think I figured it all out.

First off the B6 Charger/Discharger is ok but not suited for the the ANR26650M1A cell.
Max Discharging is only 1ah. If I want to test my cells I have to discharge for 2 hours and then restart the discharge for another 18 min and see if it get another 300mAh without hitting the 2v cutoff for a total of 2300mAh.
I would believe that it would be best to discharge 2300mAh for 1 hour for proper test but then again it may make no difference. I don't know.

I also noticed that just after charging I get 3.55v from the cell and the next day it's at 3.35v and stable.
Is this behavior normal?

These batteries are said to be excellent, but need precise control measures, something my motorcycles regulator/rectifier cant provide.
Is there a gizmo I can add to make sure it never gets overcharged passed 14.4v ( 12 cell battery (3x4)) nor discharged past 8v ( 10v to be safer ) which is not to expensive?

Hey who knows where this may lead me, I just might build a pure electric motorcycle one day. That would be cool!

Do these Ballistic packs have any balancers in them? Sounds like they have the balance connector...but to require use of a hobby-type charger for what is supposed to be a commercial automotive starter battery is pretty hokey. A colleague wrote me several months ago to tell me he knew a vendor who had been selling these packs...before they even had the balance connector added to the design. With no means of balancing whatsoever, these packs failed in droves long before they should have. I posted some pics here of one cut open not too long ago....but it did not have A123 cells in it. They were some other (unknown to me) 26650 cell. Do you have pictures showing any of the cells? I'm curious to see what the innards of a more recent pack look like.

 

[dnmun]

i wonder if they are truly A123 cans also.

any vendor willing to make such a junkie battery would never invest the money in using a true A123 can since they can hide them inside a sealed case and none of the dufous who buy it would ever know the difference.

 

[wb9k]

i wonder if they are truly A123 cans also.

any vendor willing to make such a junkie battery would never invest the money in using a true A123 can since they can hide them inside a sealed case and none of the dufous who buy it would ever know the difference.

Seems unlikely to me as well, for the same reasons you cite.

Here's a link to what I posted on these packs before...

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=59366&p=979101&hilit=ballistic+battery#p979101

 

[Kuebeker]

Here are the pics.

 

[wb9k]

Interesting. I've only seen that overwrap on this forum with packs that came from China. Not sure if they're B-grade, or if that's just a commercial-market wrapper the company uses. Those were the original cells in the pack? How do you plan to connect the cells together in the reconstituted pack?

For good info on how to treat these cells, see the A123 Battery Handling Guide posted at the top of this thread: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=51435&p=760907&hilit=a123+handling+guide#p760907 . Don't overcharge!

Good luck!

 

[Kuebeker]

Yes they are the original cells from the pack. Are they authentic A123 cells?
So what does an authentic A123 cell look like? You have me wondering.

It cam with super thin copper strip tack welded between cells. Lame in my opinion since the vibration from motorcycles broke a bunch of them.

I will be using a thicker sheet of copper between cells and, if it fits, welders copper wire from the pack to the posts.
How about braided copper wire or should I stick to copper strips like in the picture.

I still need to add some sort of volt controller for the battery to prevent over and under charge.
Dopes any one know of a good non expensive unit?
How about DIY plans. I'm about to embark in a solid state electrical controller for my bike.