Actually 23 of them. I have only opened 1 Toshiba so far and got 6 green cells marked CGR18650CE. 2@3.97v, 2@4.17v and 2@4.21V. I think that they are Panasonic 2250 mAh.
Most of the packs have a 2010 date code or later and one HP is still new in the bag.
I think that I am set for quite a while.
That’s insane where did you get so many? Ebay? Please dont say recycle bins i’m sick of hearing about free batteries for the taking. I once saw a old tube tv ready to be “recycled” so asked if i could have/buy it, no it doesnt have a test certificate came the reply, but its 50 years old i’m not going to plug it in i collect old electronic gear ? NO said the man. Grr. Cant get anything around here. Rant over…
They came from a local chain store that said they had to pay a recycle company to haul them off.
Same with me! They were more than happy to give them to me, but not without asking the obligatory “What are you going to do with all of those?” question.
Oh yes, the QUESTION. I feel that there will be two more flashaholics in training soon.
What kind of store needs to recycle batteries? I gotta find me one of those. 
Reading this thread, and timely as it is, I pulled the battery pack out of my old IBM Thinkpad that quit about a month ago. The display went out and the hard drive was deteriorating daily (more and more bad sectors) so it wasn't worth trying to fix it.
What this battery pack gave me was 6-18650's. There are no markings on them in any way, but for the price I won't complain about the capacity. I now have a light coming that uses 18650's. Yes - I had to order a light just to be able to use these batteries. I already have a charger that does everything from 10440 on up, so that's no problem.
For those curious, I ordered a SuperFire WF-501B LED Flashlight. Not a powerhouse by any means, but it'll put these cells to good use.
So far I have opened 13 of the laptop packs and the results are far better than I would have expected.
76 cells with 69 of them above 3.5 volts. , 6 at 2.8V and 1 at 2.1V.
39 Panasonic
16 Samsung
12 Sanyo
3 Sony
6 Unknown
I just realized that I need more lights or some flashaholic friends around here.
How do you test each battery to see if they are OK? I have a cheap Wallyworld multimeter…not that I know how to use it very well. Would this work? Is there a thread that deals w/this…here or at CPF? Something step-by-step w/o all the techie lingo would be appreciated! Moochas Gratchias!
without a hobby charger it’s hard to completely test salvaged batteries, but there are a couple of things you can do.
1) charge all of them, measure their voltage (should be 4.19 to 4.22V) and write it and the date on the cell. Then forget about them for a week and go back and measure them again. Recycle any that are <4.1V (that’s about 10% or so capacity loss in a week). Check the remaining after another week and keep the ones that are >4.15V.
2) of the good ones in 1), charge them fully and discharge them in a light with a fan blowing on it. If you have a decent cell of known capacity you can compare discharge times to this, if not you’ll just have to wing it. If your light doesn’t have a low voltage warning, test the discharging cells every so often to see if the light dims when they’re discharged. Don’t go below 3V or you’ll toast the cells.
I always do it in that order as capacity testing takes waaaay longer than the self discharge test.
Oh and welcome to the compulsive craziness that is laptop battery salvaging!
My wife’s laptop battery just cratered and I thought I would explore this option.
+1 here on an older Emachine laptop that died the blue screen of DEATH but the battery pack is apparently still good. Scored SIX Panasonic CGR18650CG’s all at 3.8 volts. Checked em in my Solarforces coz they are FlatHeads. Work fine!
All holding up. Saved myself some bucks :exmark:
OK, slow learner here. Where exactly do I go to pick these packs up local?