Can I Use These 18650's In My Flashlights? (First Time Makita Batterypack Pull)

Batteries and Chargers Rechargeable Batteries
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Edited

So first, Ive never pulled cells out of anything before.

If I were to clean the ends of these up, and re-wrap them, (all but two have damaged or no wrap) could I charge these up and use them in my flashlights? (All at 3.43v)

A Makita Batterypack was left at my house by contractors over a year ago and I finally decided to pull it open, to find five 18650s bearing the code SE US18650VT.

With a quick google search, It looks like its made by Sony.

So far, having only really looked at the link above. It seems like a decent cell?

Pretty low capacity, but may be relatively high drain?

I mean, it was in a battery pack for a drill, so I would think it should be pretty capeable?

Should be good?







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Be extremely careful with any unwrapped li-ion cells. The ones with complete wrapping should be good to go for charging and use in an 18650 format flashlight. Clean up spot welds carefully, maybe with a dremel type rotary tool if you'd like.

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Thanks.
I do understand the dangers of unwrapped cells. But thats about all I understand here.

Some further reading here about this cell shows its pretty dated.
This Quote is from 2015

I cant do any kind of testing other than checking their voltage.
Is there anything that may make these dangerous to use?
I dont know much about Internal Resistance, but have a vague idea it might be something relevant here?

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Yeah, you can use these just fine.

Be wary they’re old low energy cells :stuck_out_tongue:

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Would be interesting to capacity test them but yeah they will work fine.
I have the same multimeter

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Yes:

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If they were mine I’d use them since you have them and the price is right. Just know they are low capacity cells so carry a spare with ya if you plan on using the light long term.

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Im gonna assume youre in Canada then. Since its from Canadian Tire lol

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I'd charge them and do what we used to do without testing equipment .

Note voltage when fully charged .. let them sit and check voltage at

one hour ...one day ... 3 days ..one week ... 2 weeks

maybe do the same with a known good battery to have a baseline .

I'd toss any cell that got hot while charging or didn't fully charge up .

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i would be interested to see pictures of both sides of the circuit board in that battery pack, if you cared to investigate further.

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Thanks everyone.
I’ll test them as Boaz has described.

Ha, since I forgot to take the trash out this morning… I can take those photos for you.





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they are low energy

i also would not expect them to be high-drain either

and they may be well into their max cycle life span

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@CRC2, thanks for the pictures.

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Yes and yes.

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So I cleaned the ends up, and charged the four that still have their wrap intact.

Put them on the charger at 1:55pm (3.43v) at .5A.

They all finished at roughly 4:25pm at 4.19v/4.19v/4.18v/4.17v with about 1100mah added to each.

All good so far.

Will test voltage again in an hour.

Unnecessary photo.

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I wish I could reach into the photo and pull the green tab and remove the protective film off the screen. :slight_smile: Just me?

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Just checked their voltage again after an hour.

Cell #1 Went from 4.19v to 4.16v

Cell #2 Went from 4.19v to 4.16v

Cell #3 Went from 4.18v to 4.15v

Cell #4 Went from 4.17v to 4.15v

Still good so far.

Will check again in 24 hours.

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They appear to be fine as far a usability — but even new these cells are much to talk about — I had those same cells in a 12v Ryobi drill pack — replaced with VTC6 cells — drill now has 3 times the torque and capacity

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Your Makita Sony cells are 9 years old.

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