recycled laptop cell ebicycle battery pack builders club

[etriker]

For recycled laptop cell ebike battery pack builders only.

My first packs being tested.

11s 1p A123 and 10s 4p samsung 2600mah laptop cells in parallel running a Heinzmann 24v hub motor on a 20" wheel mini ebike.

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x218/biodiesel_2007/SUNP0009.jpg

Video we made. My wife wants to make more so I guess we will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoIpsuCDkl0

This will be the blog that goes with them.

I am so busy but the over 10000 hits has us thinking people want to know about this kind of stuff.

Me wife is greengirl and helped invent this.

World's only biodiesel maker off the grid !

http://www.biodieselpictures.com/viewtopic.php?t=160

 

[etriker]

It was this thread that got me interested in making a homemade pack for my bike.

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=26383

I had to read through it several times it is so loaded with info !

That thread woke up my old brain !

Put me deep into study like I was in the '80s !

(The more packs I build the less scared I am and the better my soldering gets ! )

 

[vodk1c3]

I'm looking to join the club, but could not find enough cells. Did a facebook post about laptop batteries; now I have 4 used.
What is the best way to get those batteries??? I was thinking going to Staples to ask them if they can keep them for me but I dont think it will work...

 

[dogman dan]

Good idea, build a good thread on it. I'll use this space, and go hunt down some links to the old threads on the subject of building your own pack from round cells.

Duhh, go here of course for those links. The threads on A123 packs should apply to any cylindrical cell pack build more or less.

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=26621

Sam Texas for one, has experience with the laptop cell builds.

 

[etriker]

I'm looking to join the club, but could not find enough cells. Did a facebook post about laptop batteries; now I have 4 used.
What is the best way to get those batteries??? I was thinking going to Staples to ask them if they can keep them for me but I dont think it will work...

I went to a local recycling place and they would not sell them because they thought they could be used to make crank

Not so but there is some wrong info out there about laptop cells.

Got mine buying several lots on ebay for cheap.

Ended up being less than $1 for each good cell.

The Samsung 2600mah cells like the ones in the video worked best for me and I found them in HP packs.

Even new they can be cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Hi-Capacity-5200mAh-Battery-40Y8315/dp/B001FP8LK0

I hope others will share what brand packs have the good cells to use and where to find them !

If the pack has 3 in series and 2 in parallel it would be a 5200 mah battery if it has 2600mah cells.

 

[etriker]

Thanks Dogman !

 

[migueralliart]

Let me just add my 2 cents here since I've made a couple of packs from laptop battery packs.

Source for the cells;
Ebay search for lots with the capacity you want and not too old
Local recyclers
Go to the nearest biggest PC repair place and ask for them bad laptop packs they usually stack them

DO NOT BUY NEW PACKS - the majority of these packs are remanufactured packs with cheap cells (not branded ones)

Equipment you will need to cycle and filter good and bad cells;
DVM
18650 pair charger (cheap on ebay)
IMAX B6 (cheapest discharger I could find)

In the end what I did was buy a lot of 18650 single cell holders and a 10S JST plug for my icharger and I cycled and discharged groups of 10. The icharger 3010 is expensive but I had it before getting into this whole making my own battery pack so it served its purpose.

Equipment you will need in order to solder your packs together;

Assuming you keep the cells paired you will need

Nickel or copper strips
60/40 flux
wide tip iron (40watt)
depending on your configuration you will need different JST plugs (search ebay for A123 balance and you will find the thickest wired JST pigtail I could find)
Andersons or your choice of main connect
Heatshrink (batteryspace has a variety of sizes and at a good price)
Some tape to keep the cells together



Other than this you might find having a sharpie and a laptop or pc with excel will become handy to make your list of cells and keep track of voltages as you filter them.

If I think of something else I'll try to add it.

 

[vodk1c3]

Thanks, will look at used ones to stack em for a future bike. I think it is a really innovative way of doing ebike batteries since we get our power from recycling.
New one is not really a good bargain I think since the HK lipo pack are 22$ for 14v@5000mah. New and 10C+.
Will call big surface, computer repair shop and local entrepreneur who might use power tools.

 

[vodk1c3]

Let the fun begin... I just had to ask for it at work
21 x 10.8v@5000mah (6 cells).
They are pretty old but... hey... it's free!

 

[Doctorbass]

Let the fun begin... I just had to ask for it at work
21 x 10.8v@5000mah (6 cells).
They are pretty old but... hey... it's free!

And... have a good insurance for your home!

Doc

 

[knighty]

just got these...

dismantled the packs


and cleaning them up


got LOADS more on the way...

I need to start charging/sorting them now

doing it all at work incase of a fire.... they could all catch fire and we'd hardly notice at work
(everything made out of concrete)

 

[SamTexas]

Let the fun begin... I just had to ask for it at work
21 x 10.8v@5000mah (6 cells).
They are pretty old but... hey... it's free!

And... have a good insurance for your home!

Doc

Hey! This is your second bashing on 18650 laptop LiCo cell. If you ACTUALLY know something about these cells that make them dangerous, speak up. If not, be quiet and start learning.

It's ironic coming from a guy who uses the most volatile, most unstable RC LiCo.

 

[Doctorbass]

Let the fun begin... I just had to ask for it at work
21 x 10.8v@5000mah (6 cells).
They are pretty old but... hey... it's free!

And... have a good insurance for your home!

Doc

Hey! This is your second bashing on 18650 laptop LiCo cell. If you ACTUALLY know something about these cells that make them dangerous, speak up. If not, be quiet and start learning.

.

Please Relax Sam.... Believe me i started with LiCo laptop cells 15 years ago for SPL car audio competitions and various projects... i tested alot of them too and what i mean is that these cells react very violently... faster than other chemistry... What worrie me alot is NOT people that i feel already have experience with diy lithium pack... no... BUT IT'S WHEN PEOPLE MAKE THEYR FIRSTS PACK WITH THEM !!! Lithium battery require a minimum of engineering ... thermal management, pack mechanical structure, proper current share over the p groups.. etx... LiCo can not be abused.

It's ironic coming from a guy who uses the most volatile, most unstable RC LiCo

Yes.. i made dozens ofd pack before building this and playes with thousands of cells for various pack... and if this is about he LiPo Pack i have on my Giant, dont forget that i'm keeping an eyes on this pack every charging process and also made an aluminum enclosure that keep a pressure on them to prevent them from puffing wich has prooven that it work 100% after 3 years of hard use and abuse.

LiCo are not a good option for battery diy beginner or people that dont have enough experience with. and... i would be surpeized that these persons who do that will match their parallel groups to ensure the capacity and RI is uniform over the groups... so that's another danger... ... and worst case.. that they would not use a BMS...

I dont like to see more and more threads on our great forum about LiCo and beginner of diy packs period! The stats about fire event is stable and acceptable at the moment.. i dont want anything to make it worst.

but.. i'm sure some will do anyway... i preffer to prevent instead of staying quiet :wink:

Even if you think i have something to learn about these, please let me know i never stop learning! 8)

Doc

 

[emiyata]

And... have a good insurance for your home!

What worrie me alot is NOT people that i feel already have experience with diy lithium pack... no...

First off smart remarks make people just disregard your statements as bunk. Second how can you ever have experience with lithium packs if you don't experiment with them. Third I don't tell you how fast you run your bike or say I hope you have good life insurance.

 

[icecube57]

Wow did you two just really snap back at the Doc.... Remember this is the same guy that made a pack from 432 konion 18650 cells.http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2764&hilit=doctorbass+konions I would try to soak up everything this man says... cause its pure gold.

 

[SamTexas]

... Believe me i started with LiCo laptop cells 15 years ago for SPL car audio competitions and various projects... i tested alot of them too and what i mean is that these cells react very violently... faster than other chemistry... What worrie me alot is NOT people that i feel already have experience with diy lithium pack... no... BUT IT'S WHEN PEOPLE MAKE THEYR FIRSTS PACK WITH THEM !!! Lithium battery require a minimum of engineering ... thermal management, pack mechanical structure, proper current share over the p groups.. etx... LiCo can not be abused.

It's ironic coming from a guy who uses the most volatile, most unstable RC LiCo

Sorry. I don't believe you. I'm not going to repeat, so see the other thread.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=48746#p719182

 

[etriker]

Even if you think i have something to learn about these, please let me know i never stop learning!



Doc

This is how I use them without overloading them and getting them hot.

Use them in a way that gives them an easy life.

I never charge unattended, use a quality rc charger and treat them like they are hk rc lipo.

http://motorbicycling.com/showpost.php?p=379764&postcount=6

 

[Doctorbass]

... Believe me i started with LiCo laptop cells 15 years ago for SPL car audio competitions and various projects... i tested alot of them too and what i mean is that these cells react very violently... faster than other chemistry... What worrie me alot is NOT people that i feel already have experience with diy lithium pack... no... BUT IT'S WHEN PEOPLE MAKE THEYR FIRSTS PACK WITH THEM !!! Lithium battery require a minimum of engineering ... thermal management, pack mechanical structure, proper current share over the p groups.. etx... LiCo can not be abused.

It's ironic coming from a guy who uses the most volatile, most unstable RC LiCo

Sorry. I don't believe you. I'm not going to repeat, so see the other thread.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=48746#p719182

I can say that I have the right experinece to play with any chemistry Sam I could build any pack with any popular chemistry no prob, I have the equipement and experience for doing that.

I dont feel it's a good idea to have an LiCo laptop cells club here for many reasons that you seem to not understand.

Think what you think Sam, but i strongly recommand to not let this becoming popular as long as i feel it represent a real danger for the level of knowledge and experience of people have.

At least you have been advised.

Good luck

Doc

 

[etriker]

dr bass, I don't think you know how to use laptop cells for an ebike extender pack.

Or you would not be saying this.

They work great as extender packs.

Why no interest in how we learned to use them safely as extender packs backing up a main pack ?

These tests have been going on for over a year now ! Where have you been ?

 

[etriker]

I did 1000s of miles on that trike in Tampa Bay area testing this stuff out so it is way too late to tell me it does not work.

Then I gave it away. Showed people how to do it and NEVER put up an ad trying to sell ya'll my stuff.

Never tried to make money off any ya'll.

Laptop cell extender packs, zoom over your head too.

 

[Doctorbass]

Even if you think i have something to learn about these, please let me know i never stop learning!



Doc

When you can understand this post come back and talk

http://motorbicycling.com/showpost.php?p=379764&postcount=6

Hi etriker,

I have read your post and it is a good sumary of the work you did about the charging process and
measured capacity of your pack with the hyperion equipment.

No worrie i 100% understand what you did. I'm testing or asssembling or designing or matching cells nearly
everyday since 5-6 years now and i'm using the proper equipment to do that. I have played with thousands of
these single 18650 baby... and measured capacity and Ri of all them to have perfect matched pack and i developped my own tools, software and jig to do that.

I said everything i have to about the risk of LiCo.

The rest is up to you guys.

I dont want to bother anyone here about LiCo dangers and you all know that,

You know my intentions are positives.

Doc

 

[Doctorbass]

I did 1000s of miles on that trike in Tampa Bay area testing this stuff out so it is way too late to tell me it does not work.

Then I gave it away. Showed people how to do it and NEVER put up an ad trying to sell ya'll my stuff.

Never tried to make money off any ya'll.

Laptop cell extender packs, zoom over your head too.

The reason why i've been selling these great LiMn and LiFePo4 18650 and 26650 SAFER cells and since 2006-2007 is because people asked me to do it after i have been able to show them that they are safe and one of the cheapest and safest way to build a POWERFULL ebike battery. and i have been able to proove that based on many lab test and thousands of km ride using 432 of them together and also occasional overcharge and abuse without any issue. I would never try the same with used Laptop LiCo !! i would simply not be able to sleep.

That's all. If you can't take any comments or advice based on experience of hundreds of members on E-S it's your choice.

I wish you feel confortable with your club....

Doc

 

[migueralliart]

I commuted nearly 1.5 years with a 15.6ah 36V pack I built off recycled laptop batteries.

They are less volatile than LIPO for sure. I mean with lipo just a stupid simple puncture and game over. I don't know what's the big deal on trying to bring down people who use 18650 cells. I mean there's a headway builders club, lipo , a123 20Ah and why not recycled laptop cells. People have the knowledge now to filter good and bad cells and make their best effort to design a pack that stays within 1-2C.

Why not just explain the dangers in the first post, the procedures and the cell filtering process in detail so that everyone that comes here just knows before hand what they are getting into.

This way you won't get people bashing your thread and repeating the same argument OVER AND OVER AGAIn.

 

[etriker]

I did 1000s of miles on that trike in Tampa Bay area testing this stuff out so it is way too late to tell me it does not work.

Then I gave it away. Showed people how to do it and NEVER put up an ad trying to sell ya'll my stuff.

Never tried to make money off any ya'll.

Laptop cell extender packs, zoom over your head too.

The reason why i've been selling these great LiMn and LiFePo4 18650 and 26650 SAFER cells and since 2006-2007 is because people asked me to do it after i have been able to show them that they are safe and one of the cheapest and safest way to build a POWERFULL ebike battery. and i have been able to proove that based on many lab test and thousands of km ride using 432 of them together and also occasional overcharge and abuse without any issue. I would never try the same with used Laptop LiCo !! i would simply not be able to sleep.

That's all. If you can't take any comments or advice based on experience of hundreds of members on E-S it's your choice.

I wish you feel confortable with your club....

Doc

That is great ! I have learned a lot from you.

I don't like large packs made with any cells. I have learned how to get around using smaller packs made from cells that I can almost get for free.

I sure could put them for sale on here and sell them to ya'll but then I would not have a leg to stand on ? ? ?

The A123 m1 cells last almost forever and if you know how to discharge them in parallel with laptop cells then you don't need to buy batteries for your bike for many years ? ? ?

Don't need your cells dr bass.

It takes too many of them.

Those new Panasonic laptop cells are the stuff and it does not take a large pack at all if you know how to use them.

 

[999zip999]

Doc may be right about a used laptop club on E.S. as if appoved by E.S. and the risk of laptop battery fires of unknow used cells. There is a risk.