Well, thanks for the link, I tried two of those packs to see how they turn out.
There ya go… 
Do some reading in the meantime. These packs an be tricky to get apart, and harvesting the cells is as tricky. I accidentally ruined one of the cells separating it from it’s cluster. If you’re thinking you’ll dremel the pack open…nu-uh.
Thanks for that link, I guess I need to do my first laptop pull now. 
I use an ultra fine cutting tool on my dremel, actually used more for repairing power pack on laptops , but works very well on laptop packs, I always rewrap the batteries and label them.
For someone’s first or second harvest it’s not a good idea, or for someone without a steady hand. Certainly it’s potentially feasible, I’ve found that there is enough leeway to cut the very ends off, which would make opening the pack a piece of cake.
If you start by by peeling the label off, this may expose the cells. (Dell and Acer)
I then use aviation (aka compound action) tinsnips to gnaw through the plastic case joins.
After that, tear off the cell connections, dremel the sharp bits off, charge and check after a week, then shrink wrap with a relevant label.
Fasttech have a range of shrink wrap: http://www.fasttech.com/search?shrink%20wrap
Ordered one of those HP packs linked by TheGT man -- Thanx! $15 for 12 SONY cells is a nice deal.
I received one of these packs today. The cells have a pink/red translucent covering, with an orange ring around the positive contact. They are marked under the outer covering, so the markings are a little hard to read.
The impressed markings appear to be:
Sanyo L 5A
UR18650FJ M18C
The markings consisting of black dots are:
B
MDBF J12
also has another line like 024226, but this number varies on most of the cells (another cell reads 072956 for example). I don’t know if this means they are from different lots, but I would guess that they are. I just hope that it doesn’t mean they are recycled cells from old pulls :quest: .
There was a white sticker on one of the cells that said:
W51-860200 above a bar code. Below the bar code was marked:
86A90EX1A SAN 2.2
The factory packaging had been opened and resealed with tape. All 12 cells read 3.89 on the DMM. Although the pack looked new, I would assume that it had been purchased, charged, and returned. I guess that this is why it was listed as New Other on ebay.
I have some of the cells charging now, so I will see how they work later.
Jim
I received two of the packs in today, and they opened without a hitch. The dremel cut the end caps right off and it showed me the best places with clearance to cut the furthest away from the battery, so NP.
I bought two packs expecting to find some dead cells, not a single one was bad. I also got in today an Intellicharger which (as a newbie) worked fine. The batteries barely got warm unlike the “Ultrafire” POS that I had charged previously which got hot in the crummy 2x chargers I bought off EBAY. I’m charging some of the Sanyos in the 2x charger to see how they charge.
So now I have some 30 cells, I guess that means I need more flashlights 
Anyway, what’s the consensus on the cheap chargers from China? Should I toss them too?
…It depends. The reason why the ultrafires got hot was likely because they either had those laughably small cells inside the tube, or were just bad ‘normal’ cells with high internal resistance. The cheap chargers will charge cells just fine, it’s just that usually when they get to termination voltage they’re still putting significant current into the battery. Also, they only have one mode, one current, so cells with lower capacity, such as 17670’s, or on the ones that have adjustable sliders, 18500’s, 14500’s, 10440s, or 16340s get charged at a current higher than they should. I’ll never use the charger that came with my Trustfire X9 but I have no doubt that it will charge cells. Actually, since my i4 is ‘broken’ and terminates at 4.15v, the cheapie might have some use after all. (goes off to look for it)
And congrats on your successful pull. Yes, it does mean you need to buy more torches. And since you have so many, look for something with silly output that will burn batteries. 
[EDIT] NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Dump the eBay chargers! I tried putting some of my cells charged to 4.15v in the charger that came with my Trustfire X9 and when checked them a half-hour later they’d been over-charged to 4.3v!!!
“Actually, since my i4 is ‘broken’ and terminates at 4.15v, ”
My I4 is brand new and t charges to 4.15 also.
Got my pack today from inandoutcomputerstore (linked above), and I got 12 Panasonic CGR18650C's. Cant' find specs, but looks like they are 2900 mAh, sold here: alibaba_CGR18650C. All survived the extraction well - charging some up now, Spot checking showed they were all at 3.8v.
Huh, guess they plop a number of different batteries in these packs.
Mine had these: Review: Sony US18650GR 2550mAh laptop cell
All @ 3.92v. Only 2 wrappers survived, anything with a blemish will get rewrapped.
What dremel bit[s] do you guys use to get rid of the 4 little spots on the posts ?
I actually just live with the boogers. I’ll carefully file them as smooth as I can, but really they don’t do anything bad.
I used to file them, but now I use the sanding drum on the rotary tool and carefully touch them. Gotta be very careful not to go too much.
So those SONY's are 2550 mAh, and these Pana's are 2900 mAh or probably 2150 mAh - sure is weird...
Tom, you sure they’re 2900’s, not 2250’s? Your link shows 2900 button top protected…that doesn’t sound right at all.
I have no idea - been google'ing and finding the same exact label for a 2150 and 2900 cell, but the 2900 always seems to be listed as protected and pretty sure these aren't. Thinking more likely it's the older 2150 cell. There's a Pana spec sheet PDF on it - can't link it here for some reason...