Look what I found in the recycle bin

Home Depot sells Ryobi products. This pack could also have been from a display. Sometimes when they breakdown a display they chuck the batteries.

Sorry to hear that, don’t feel too bad though, I know a guy that eats cold, dead fish. :stuck_out_tongue:

Keep looking!

You are right. I was so ready to believe every word he said as he did an EXCELLENT job of his break down of both the chainsaw and the battery. Here is his link:
http://www.etotheipiplusone.net/?p=3324
I should of known better, I have come across those very same cells before.

On the recycle bins I used to bring something to deposit, in my mind that gave me the “right” to be there. Then I would just help myself. Now I just walk up to it in a purposeful way. No one has ever stopped me.

The first time I ever attempted it, I asked an employee for permission. He replied “Oh, why did you do that to me”. I took that to mean that he couldn’t say yes, and didn’t want to say no. In other words, don’t ask.

Yes!, and free. :wink:

Good answer. :slight_smile:

Can’t beat a free pack for pulling, mind if I put it in the community pull thread?

Yes, please do.
When i posted this and mentioned the other cells in the “chainsaw” guy’s pack, I thought about the other thread. Keep in mind that as far as what brand cell is in such and such power pack can vary. In my experience they can vary all over the place. Especially drill packs.

they have free battery packs at Home Depot? where can i find them?

Awesome find, lucky you.

I wonder why the owner threw it away, even though it’s half full?

Nice finds. My best find so far was 2 Ridged Li-ion 18v packs. I've been using them for over a year now and they still work great. I have no idea why someone tossed them into the recycle bin.

See, there’s gold in them yar bins!

Just yesterday in the same bin as the Ryobi 40v, i recovered 2 - 18v Ridgid packs. But they are NOT compatible with my 18v Ridgid. The packs were made in Germany and contain Sony cells. Never seen them before in a Ridgid.
I will post a picture later

I think HD threw it away. Just one more reason to look forward to Pittsburgh.

In each picture the German pack is on the left, my compatible pack is on the right.





Notice there is NO sophisticated balancing circuit in the German pack. I suppose it is possible that it is in the charger or the tool itself.

If you would like to know where the recycle bins are, do a Google search of the 800 number on battery packs. :slight_smile:

Man, that pack is scary. I gotta watch out for that in my future Ridged battery acquisitions. Thank you for sharing dchomak.

vuanhquoc wrote:

they have free battery packs at Home Depot? where can i find them?

The bins are usually in the front of the store near the Customer Service desk. Most stores frown on people pulling packs out of them. I've been asked if I needed any help several times while digging. So you need a good excuse like your contact lens fell out.

Usually confuses them since I wear glasses.

If there is not balance harness then the pack will not be balanced. A balance harness taps the connection between EACH pair of series cells, plus BAT+ and BAT-. Normally the BMS in a battery pack would have the harness directly attached to it.


All of the simple 3 cell, 12V Li-ion packs I have seen work that way. My 12V Ridgid is and when I upgraded to a 6 cell 12V bat pack it had a BMS in the pack.

IMA4, no need to worry, the German pack will not fit your Ridgid. :wink:

Oops, I didn’t understand what I was looking at from the original pic. I agree, BMS in the charger. FWIW, BMS on battery is safer IMO (I’m sure we all realize that).

You have 10 cells in series, you would need at least 11 connections to the charger if the BMS was in it.

Yes, I think so too.
In fact I believe that some packs will actually “Brick” themselves when something goes wrong. I saw a reference on the internet once on how to un-brick a Makita pack, but it was removed. There seems to be very little info on the subject.

That is right, but that pic is of the German 5 cell Ridgid. Sorry, I switched which cell I was talking about.
You are correct, the 40V Ryobi is 2P10S and the BMS is in the pack.
And it’s a mother. As the series cell count goes up, with all the necessary connections between the pack and the charger, it makes more and more sense to include the BMS circuit in the pack. Safety issues aside.

Can you check on that Ridgid pack if there are balance leads going to each cell?
I recently opened a Makita pack found in the bin and found 10 Sony 1600mAh (5S2P) green cells like yours (US18650V). Can you confirm you have the same cells on the following pack pack please?

I noticed on my Makita pack that there is no balancing circuit and no balance leads! I think I know why but I want to see if your pack is the same…

There are no balance leads to each cell on the German Ridgid.



And that pack was made in 2012

That’s very interesting. It seems that these sony cells are self balancing. I did a few tests and if you charge them to 4.2V they’ll come down to 4.12V after a few hours. If you charge them to 4.1V they stay at 4.1V.
I believe that this is the reason why they don’t need balancing leads.

Interesting indeed. Thanks for the info.