I get HP, Dell, Acer,etc…… what ever is there. When I started out was checking every cell. Got to decide for yourself what parameters are acceptable, mine were skipping any cells that are not at least 2400ma original capacity and have at least 80%+ capacity. First thing is pull the big sticker off and removing the thin plastic covers. This is a major time saver as there is access to the cells (not all but most) with the least amount of effort as in busting open the pack. This allows identification of cells and DMM access to check voltage. From there toss them or proceed to dismantle, charging & checking. It’s not for everyone and kind of like fishing with good and bad days.
I'm typing this on a Qosmio x775 as we speak - it's good to know I could cannibalize her pack, if the SHTF. 
Off-topic: the "brick" (charger) for this computer is literally a brick; it's the largest I've ever seen, period. I guess it needs to be large, outputting 19V at up to 9.5A... 
if you want to be selective, go for the ones most recently manufactured. Doesn’t matter what cells are inside if they’re dead, lost 1/2 their capacity or self-discharge like crazy. Or just take all of them, test all of them and take back all the duff ones. My hit rate is probably ~15%, with no rhyme or reason as to brand name packs vs. generic, brand name cells or plain wrappers.
As Mr. Gump said; “life’s like a box of chocolates”
+1 About 1 in 8 for me. Had a run on good Samsung pink 2600s like 15 good cells like almost new capacity over a month period. Used 12 for a 4s3p HID pack. Been dry lately but haven’t been hitting the bins as hard. Have plenty for FL use at the moment.
So just where is everyone finding these battery packs?
I get mine from E recyclers, costs them money to recycle them so they give them to me free :bigsmile:
Obviously the newer the better however most battery packs I get are 2400 or 2600mAh cells. Dell and Lenovo packs yield the best I have found so far (Sanyo 2600mAh).
Battery manufactures I have found so far:
Samsung
Sony
LG
Sanyo
FHG (or something…. Chinese apparently)
From:
Dell
Lenovo
HP (mostly Sony 2600mA green (past it))
Acer
Toshiba
No Panasonic yet 
I get mine from recycling bins around campus or the workshop in the next building. I’ve found Panasonics before, in older Macbook batteries (’05 ish), but almost all of them were toast or self-discharged. I have a couple that are decent.
So far I’ve never had a salvaged cell above 2Ah. Still useful, but if I need high capacity I’d rather buy new.
OK RF,
I just pillaged a Laptop pack with 8 LG Salmon colored cells inside.
2 Cells low voltage = Recycled responsibly 
6 Cells Good range charging now.
Pack states 14.8v & 4.4Ahr
14.8v/3.7v per battery = 4 x 4.4Ahr = 17.6 total Ahr / 8 batteries in pack = 2.2 mAh per battery??
Must be close, all the numbers came out even.
Now if I can figure a way to tell how much life is left in these, or any battery I have…….
Thanks for the help
it’s a bit simpler than that. If you have a 14.8V pack, you have 4 cells in series (4S). If you have 4 cells total in your pack, it’s 4 series 1 parallel (4S1P), so the pack Ah rating is that same as 1 cell (more cells in series = higher voltage, same Ah). If you have 8 cells, it means that they’re 4S2P. Doubling the cells in parallel (1P to 2P, for example) doubles the Ah of the pack. So if you know the Ah rating of the pack, divide it by two to get the capacity of the individual cells.
so, 4.4Ah pack in 4S2P = 4.4/2 = 2.2Ah per cell.
You all make it sound soooo simple…lol.
Before cracking open the cases, I suppose we could estimate the number of cells and mAh of the batteries by numerical bracketing. This may help choosing the potential quality of the cells inside.
Thank For the help
yup. If it’s 14.8V it’s 4S, if it’s 11.1V it’s 3S. If the capacity is over 2.9Ah or so, then it’s 2P. Most laptop cells are 2.2 to 2.9Ah in capacity.
I just salvaged 13 battery packs. I didn’t keep good track of which cells came from which pack because it seems really random. I had planned to note the name of the laptop and which cells I found in which packs.
I had 5-6 HP packs that were all very similar if not identical. Several must have been from the same model of laptop. After cracking them open, I found different cells in the packs. I expected to find pretty much all the same cells in the HP packs but it was not the case at all.
My point is, any advice about which cells are in which packs is going to be more a guideline than a hard and fast rule.
Probably the easiest way is just look at the pack. The bigger the pack, the more cells it probably contains. I had one large pack that contained 12 cells.
From Post #15 in this thread, here is the pics of the slavaged cells.
Obviously they were LG cells, Korean specials. I was happy.
The batteries came apart without issue, peeling off the tabs as I went. There was a gum-rubber type sealer over the metal tabs which was peeled off as well.
These were flesh colored, not pink at all.
Then I found the ‘salmon’ colored reference and the pics matched, even though mine were a lesser 2200mAh capacity I was pretty happy with my treasure.
Better pic of removed pair:
Do these numbers have any reference values…LGDS218650??
So far 3 fully charged to 4.15- 4.17v. 3 more on charger.
I have another pack which may be “Quiz of the Day” material…
I bought this aftermarket to replace a dead pack. Shortly thereafter the computer crashed…off a wall to a ramp 9 feet below. I saved the pack in a small bit of wisdom.
There is NO numerical markings on this pack at all, aside from the model/SKU numbers.
Looks like it would hold about 5 pairs of 18650’s
Any guesses as to which batteries will be inside??
Cheers
I took apart a 6 cell from an MSI 17” gaming laptop (about 3 years old).
They were Samsung ICR18650-24E
I don’t have any measuring equipment, but they seem to go well in all my lights.
I posted another thread about a special on a Dell Inspiron 6 cell replacement for about $18. Not sure whether to grab that deal.
I spoke to a friend who works for , a major mobile phone company. He told me their company uses laptops by the thousands, and their in-house Tech team sends at least 10 battery packs a month off to recycling as they fail.
As I do work for them on occasion, I will ask them about the possibility of working out a deal where I would pick up their packs and recycle them.
to get a maximum mah rating battery look for a battery bank that has highest wh ratings.
an individual cell having WH rating above 9.5 means it at least is 2500mAH.
now to get capacity of each cell look at below text of mine which i wanted to post at other thread but found this one relevant.
i got a way to calculate the exact theoratical capcity of the cell by just looking at the battery pack.
only three things are required and all are readily available.
1: Voltage of battery (most will be 11.1 or 10.8 v ) . this is written on battery.
2: Total Capacity (either in mAH or WH ) .. we need to do all calculations in Wh. if its given in mah then multiply the capacity in mah by the voltage of the pack.
3: Number of Cells -- one can judege them from the size of battery. (most will be 6,9,12 cell batteries)
Here is the its implementation
Dell PC765 11.1V 5200Mah LG LGDB118650 2600Mah Post Downlinx
total capacity in watt hour : 11.1 x 5.2 (remove the mili part by moving decimal over three points) = 57.72 WH
now since all cells are of equal charestristics so from battery appearance we can say its 6 cells so total capacity of each cell in watt hour (Wh) is 57.72/6 = 9.62 Wh
now to convert form wh to mah we divide the capacity in wh by voltage of that cell. Liion voltage are in 3.4-3.8 ranges. mostly .. so if its 6 cell battery and total voltage is 11.1 then we can say its 3 series and 2 parallel. we are concerned with series cells. so to get voltage of each cell divide total voltage of battery by 3 in above case 11.1/3=3.7
now we got voltage of individual cell so going back to our calculations .. we got capacity of each cell in wh ,, for mah divide wh/volts
9.62wh/3.7 volts = 2.6 Ah.
Second Example:
Fujitsu FMVNBP135 7.2V 5200Mah Sanyo Light Blue 2600Mah Post ChibiM
wh=7.2 x 5.2 =37.44
total cells assume 4
37.744 /4 = 9.36 Wh of each cell.
since 2 cells seems to be in parrallel to give 7.2 volts . so 7.2/2= 3.6
so mah of each cell
9.36/3.6 =2.6 Wh
Example 3:
Toshiba PA3382U-1BAS 14.8V 6450mAh Sony US18650GR 2150Mah Post Suncoaster
14.8 x 6.45 = 95.46 wh
seems 12 cell battery (4 series 3 parallel ) from look so 14.8/4= 3.7 volts to each cell
wh of each cell 95.46/12=7.95 wh of each cell
7.95wh/3.7v=2.15 AH
i hope somone good at andorid programing would code a little utility for this purpose ... dang i never worked with visual programing. all were console based.
I’m interested in changing the cells in my old Toshiba battery. The original battery went out and I replaced it with one bought in Bangkok.
Anybody interested in seeing photos from the original Toshiba battery and a “new” one made 4 years later?
Thanks for the calculations USSR
This is my first posting. I read the whole tread, a lot of good info, thanks guys.
I have disassembled hundreds of laptop batteries, some from the local junk yard, others from auction sales,and some from friends and other sources. I bought 38 brand new Gateway batteries from a local source, I believe they were disposed of because they were the ones that caught on fire. I believe the problem was in the charging circuitry, the cells seem to be fine.
The cells were Sanyos they are pink, Sanyo cells are color coded, look at the positive end. White is 2000 mAh, red is 2200 mAh, green is 2400 mAh, blue is 2600 mAh, and purple is 2800 mAh.
I recently purchased a lot of laptop batteries, maybe 25, the ones yielding the highest capacity were Lenovos, I found two or three with 3000 mAh cells. The best part of this find was a large percentage of the batteries were almost fully charged.
I have been disassembling batteries for a number of years, the best method is the brute force method, grasp the battery firmly on one end, slam the corner on a hard surface then turn it and do the opposite corner, turn the battery end for end and repeat. It takes me about a minute to finish the job. Be careful not to hit the center of the battery, you might damage one of the cells.
Most of the lithium cells are rated at 3.6 or 3.7 volts, if they are charged to 4.2 volts it increases the capacity to almost double, this new batch seems to be happy at 4.2 volts.
Junkman Jim
What’s the best way to recycle the dead laptop pulled cells? Just drop them in a LOWES recycling bin (with the ends taped)?