A123 Systems Bankrupt

Uh oh, just read that A123 systems battery manufacturer declared bankruptcy.

I’ve always been amazed by the punch the batteries deliver; they even can start a car. I don’t believe this will impact the flashlight community though.

Yep, read about that yesterday. It’s a shame. A123 has a facility about 10 miles from me, and it’s a hell of a facility.

This won’t affect the flashlight community at all.

A123’s aim was to secure automotive business. They tried and tried and tried to capture the Chevy Volt business. To my knowledge, they haven’t scored a single major automotive contract. That’s what forced their bankruptcy.

A123 can deliver huge current, but capacity is quite low compared to LiIon… I suspect that was the killer… They aren’t cheap either, and Automotive likes cheap.

PPtk

And I literally did that one morning a few years ago using 2 A123 assembled 13.2v RC battery packs in parallel. The car battery was almost completely dead too.

Such a shame this news. Perhaps some other company will pick up their R&D.

I think Johnson Controls is picking up their entire Automotive-Based operation.

I would love to have a few of their Nanophosphate 26650 cells

http://www.a123systems.com/lithium-ion-cells-26650-cylindrical-cell.htm

I for one am planning on placing an order for a bunch of 18650s and 26650s before they disappear. :D

Check out this badboy! At 113mm in length they could be excellent cells for a multi-XM-L setup in a Mag D. Or a Mag build requiring a boost driver.
http://www.a123systems.com/32113-lithium-iron-phosphate-high-power-batteries.htm

Yes, They would be awesome. Unfortunately, good luck getting any. I’ve never seen one in the wild

What a waste of our tax dollars.

Yeah, I have been searching for those for a while, never was able to get any. :'( I did just order a couple 18650s. :D

Don’t worry our govbberment knows what they are dooing jus ass brock husain bumbba! :wink:

http://www.a123rc.com/goods-474-High+Quality+Original+Lithium+Ion+Battery+LiFePO4+Battery+(A123+32157).html - D diameter, 2.6D length (so would fit in 3D Mag quite nicely)
http://www.a123rc.com/goods-471-High+Power+Automotive+AHR32113M1Ultra.html - D diameter, 1.9D length, 120A continuous discharge

Enjoy :wink:

same applies to the billions of dollars wasted on tax breaks for the oil and corn industries, or any other government incentive/ support an industry receives. Better to take a risk and it fail than to cede entire markets to other countries.

I’ve been using A123 batteries every day for about five years now. They are what started me down this slippery slope of batteries and flashlights.

I bought a Black and Decker VPX cordless screwdriver powered by A123s and was so impressed with the battery I started googling them. I spent about a month on RC forums reading about RC hobbiests harvesting A123 batteries from VPX and Dewalt battery packs. Which led to CPF and eventually here.

Here are a couple of videos touting the A123s safety. The first one is someone pressing a nail through a regular LI-ion.

And this one pressing a nail through a A123.

Yep, the government trying to pick winners again. |(

What’s the ‘normal’ low discharge voltage for these (deepest discharge?)

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:zipper_mouth_face: Look again. I edited.

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2.0V by datasheets, but they don’t really have any capacity remaining after voltage drops below 2.8V.

2.5V (some docs say 2.0V). But once you get below 3.0V, there is very little energy left in them. The voltage falls off a cliff. Some of my testing at: A123 capacity vs charge voltage (and other effects) | Endless Sphere DIY EV Forum