Just to keep it real, I thought I would post a couple of failures.
Today I found these 3 packs. 2 old discontinued Ryobi 24V packs and a new Echo 58V pack.
Turns out the Ryobi on the right had been through some sort of catastrophe and had melted parts inside. All cells were zero and there is evidence at the terminals of what happened on top of the pack.
The other Ryobi looks like it was used just a couple of times and it is on my charger waiting to be tested.
The 58V Echo is definitely brand new, never used.
ImA4 had already found one of the Echos, he said it looked new and it seems that the cells are in perfect condition, He found a 4A pack that contained 28 2A cells. I found the 2A version and it only had 14 cells. My pack looked brand new, but all cells were at zero. All I could do is strip the pack of itsâ cells to get at the only thing left of use to me.
Cell holders!
And after a lot of work stripping everything out, I ended up with this. Enough to hold 56 cells!
Sure you âcouldââŚ. but whereâs the fun in that. LOL âŚ. âŚ
Plus, and this would be very unlikely; though not impossible: wood might contain just enough moisture to make the part of the battery contacting it do âfunny thingsâ.
^
Agreed. Breaking down power tool packs is dangerous and fun enough to be addicting. Plus, there are usually nice quality components in them for folks that tinker with SMD electronics.
As dcho said, I was fortunate enough to get one of those packs with 28 like new cells. I can testify that the cell holders are very nice quality. Really holds the cells nicely with just the right amount of pressure. I liked mine so much that I ground off the tabs that stick out to the sides. They have been designated to hold my best high drain cells.
I used to hit the neighborhood CVSes, Duane Reades, etc., anyplace that sold disposable cameras, and ask for those with flashes. When pressed, Iâd say I was teaching a basic-electronics course, and wanted to give the students a circuit (the flash) that was pretty simple, yet interesting, to dissect.
Mostly worked. Some people (usually younger girls who couldnât care less, as it wasnât their property) would cheerfully fish out a dozen or two, load âem up into shopping bags, and send me on my way. The younger guys would be all like, âNaw, you gotta talk to my manager, I donât wanna get in troubleâ. The managers would be the ones who would give me a hard time, saying the store gets ârebatesâ or somesuch, which I kinda doubted.
So there was moreân one reason to go when the teenyboppers were there.
Nice, though. Flashtube, HV circuit, HV cap, and a lightly-used AA, in each one. Plus various gears, optics, etc., to play with. Donât think I had to buy an AA cell in yearsâŚ
And parallelled caps when charged up make a nifty spot-welder! Clear âwhiskersâ from worn NiCd cells. Etc.
I forgot to report back on the condition of the purple celled âhoverboardâ pack.
I charged the pack up and drained it into 2 - 3 ohm power resisters in series. After doing this I estimated that pack to have a capacity of â4108 mAhâ or about the rated 4Ah. It could be that it is a brand new pack. Maybe thrown in the bin by someone who just didnât want to risk using a hoverboard after seeing them in the news.
Apart from the wimpy weld joints, the pack seems to be well made. The included Chinese cells seem to perform well, how safe those individual cells are on there own is unknown.
Also of the last 3 packs I reported on here,
The pack on the left, a Ryobi 24V pack, charged up and is working perfrectly. It looks as though it is very lightly used and originally was rated at 2.6Ah. I tested it and estimate that this pack is good for 2.4Ah. My theory on this one is that the person that owned it threw it away because the tool it goes to broke. Ryobi has discontinued their 24V line, so that person had no other options other than ditch it.
I have a working 24V Ryobi weed wacker and can put this pack to good use
Regularly coming across big packs these days. I got excited when I pulled the 56v pack on the right. Ended up only having 14 Sanyo UR18650RX's at 3.67 - 3.68v. This is the second big pack I have found that was labeled at a voltage greater than nominal voltage. In the past, such a pack would be labeled 50v.
Very well built pack. 2Ah cells dated S37 (September 2014). Haven't tested yet, but the pack looks unused. No dust, dirt, or scratches to be found, even in the corners and contacts. Maybe it was a display model being disposed of by the store. Maybe HD is closing out a product or product line.
that brown glue might be the cause of self discharge.
that curse has been known over 40 years.a built in failure point.
peeling a bunch out of a uniden hr2510 right nowâŚ.
No brown glue and I don't think there has been any self discharge. It appears the pack was never used or charged. Every cell is sitting at a nice storage charge. I think HD is clearancing a product or product line and this pack probably belonged to a product that was put on display without the pack in it.
ImA4, you beat me by just hours to this pack :weary:
But the good news is mine is the 4Ah version. If yours contains 14 cells, mine should contain 28.
But the bad news is I donât have much hope for the condition of mine, it looks like it has seen some rough service, perhaps even some abuse.
Before I open it up I measure 36V across the output terminals. 36V/14 equals on average 2.57V per cell. If all cells are 2.57V then I would hope this pack is just fully discharged. That wouldnât necessarily be bad, and the fact the test button blinks red rapidly could mean it IS fully discharged. Well, at least it blinks
Iâll know more when I take it apart.
If you have the same cells, I think they are rated for down to 2.5v (IIRC). Looking forward to hearing what you find. I wish I hadn't tore mine down now. It has all the balancing circuitry (tons of wires) self contained.
I had that same feeling after I tore down that âAnton Baurâ Pack in Post 137 of this thread
Bad news and Good news.
The bad news is this pack is toast!
The good news is that seems that only a few of the cells are shot. Itâs looking more and more like a new pack that got wet, maybe even while still at Home Depot. I have taken voltage readings on a number of cells and they either read 0.0V or 3.6V. That could be a new pack that got wet. After cleaning up the top of the battery case where it mates with the tool, I donât see any wear on the slides.
It looks like only the bottom first inch of this battery got wet, as though it was sitting on the floor and water pooled underneath it. To me it seems that if each cell that went bad shorted thru itself, the circuitry of the pack could have been undamaged.
I am inclined to not mess with it, just harvest the good cells and be done with it. I am charging a 4Ah cell-pair with my OPUS right now. It will take the rest of the day to know what the results, capacity wise, are.
EDIT:
I just realized that if the bottom 8 cells are dead, that would leave 28 - 8 or 20 cells good. That would be 10 cell pairs in series. The 36V I measured at the external connectors before I opened it up divided by 10 equals the 3.6V that I measure across each good cell.
More proof this could very well be a new pack that got wet!
Your analysis makes sense. When I saw your pics and report, I figured someone swapped their used pack for a display pack. Then the swapped pack was recycled when the product was pulled off the floor. Your reasoning seems more plausible. It also explains how new the wrappers look in the bottom cells in your pics. 20 maybe like new 22 continuous amp UR18650RX's. I'm rooting for you/them. Mine will remain untested until I need them. For now, they continue to be kept in a storage state.
â4079â
Thatâs the number OPUS reported back to me when I discharged one of the cell-pairs. I could only discharge at a maximum of 1A. That would be 500mA from each cell, not a very high draw at all. But even so, I think it sort of confirms the undamaged cells will be in like new condition.
When and if I ever get around to removing the good ones, I will then be able to check the internal resistance.
I found 3 of these in the recycle bin yesterday. They are NiMH packs, 1 is rated at 9.6V and 1050mAh, the other 2 are rated at 7.2V and 1800 mAh. What caught my eye and the reason I pulled them was âMAHAâ I know that name from my MAHA charger. Just had to explore and see what was inside of these.
Turns out the 9.6V pack had what measures out at 8 - 16270âs. Is there such a cell?
The 7.2V packs contain 6 - 16420âs?
I am testing the cells now. If they have decent capacity, they could be useful, size wise, some day.