This video made me cringe but he is either oblivious to the dangers or they really are as durable and abuse tolerant as he claims…
What do you think? I realise a cell in a little pipe bomb in hand is more risky than this pack strapped at the far end of his bike but even so…
He’s quite safe, he’s a super genius. And if it does go up, he’s got a rocket pack!
I skimmed through the video, without audio… (I’m at work)… and it seemed fine except for wrapping the packs in a towel. I wouldn’t have done that. Styrofoam blocks are cheap… would have been a better packing material. And non-flammable.
Otherwise, I’d be more worries the frame/wheels/brakes on that old bicycle can’t handle doing 25-30mph and he’s gonna crash.
Watched the whole vid, thats awesome! He’s not being dangerous, obviously knows what he is doing. As far as us being overcautious? No, people are dumb, and if you aren’t willing to deal with the consequences of Your actions, don’t. You will never learn if you don’t try, so the best any of us can do is educate ourselves as much as possible and hope for the best when our (un)educated guesses are put to practical use. If everyone was as cautious as most people here, there would never be any advances, but some people really do not need to modify or build anything at all, ever, arguably me among them.
The only thing about that video that I caught was when he claimed 3.6V is 25% voltage of a full charged 18650. Almost all the cells I have ever looked at data for claim 3.6V is the nominal voltage, which is to say it is the mid range (50%) according to the definition of “nominal voltage.”
I like that he only uses the true battery specs for power from the cell above 3.6V. It gives a lot of overhead so his ratings are most likely on the low end of the spectrum. He claims at the end the bike will go 100 miles after he calculated 200 miles, which is already low because he is only counting mAH above 3.6V.
The main brow raiser was the 0.3VOC reading at 2.15sec in the video. Then he continues to say it’s not taking much power to raise the voltage, a clear indication of high impedance and a faulty cell!
I like what he is doing tho, it’s interesting to see he is using what I would of considered faulty rubbish but getting some use from them, and seemingly safely.
This guy is hilarious! He is budget all the way. And Holy soldering iron!!! :)
Impressive results and impressive iron!
If he would toss the cells below 2V and if he would measure the discharge capacity he could do lot better without using additional equipment and increasing the price only a bit.
But again it works like he did and 30mph on a old bicycle is very impressive.
What a solder iron!!! At first look i thought it was a truck shock shaft.
Both assertions appear to be true, just depends on the load. At 1A or less draw, the video author’s assertion appears to be true. At 2A or greater, the data you’ve read seems to be more correct.
Reference: HKJ’s website
He was reading open circuit voltage. Voltage is not a good indicator of charge anyway. What he really needs is an analyser or simply to test them on any sort of load and monitor over time. Even an impedance tester would be a better indication of cell health.
I wonder whether he’s seen a cell “vent with flame” before.
I recently opened up 3 laptop battery cases. in one of them I had two cells that were double the internal resistance. I cycled them to see if they would come back.
nope, these 2200 mah cells tested out at 60 and 90 mah so yes they were dead!
btw I have six 2200 mah cells that I just dont need or want, anyone want to pay shipping? cells free, shipping less then $6. samsung icr18650 22e cells
One should ask one of those exploding hoverboard owners if we are being too cautious
I laughed. I cringed a few times. Overall, I was simply too amused by this farm town super-geek that I just couldn’t stop watching. Obviously a very intelligent guy. Has he seen venting videos? Maybe so, maybe not… but the hundreds of cheap Chinese cells, including many drained beyond the “danger zone” that he’s experimented with are a testimony to the overblown emphasis on the danger of Lithium Ion cells.
The danger is in their being used improperly or in poorly made cell-packs by people cutting corners or not knowing what they are doing. Blaming Lithium Ion cells for fires is like blaming gasoline alone for a fire while ignoring the fact that something had to ignite it. There’s something to flame on… 
You’re right. HKJ’s charts are under load.
Taking into account rebounding after a short rest, I’d guess that the 25% estimate at 3.6V would be closer to remaining capacity. Almost certainly, the 50% estimate would be far off.
Touche
It’s all fun and games until he collides with a loaded schoolbus …
… or even an empty schoolbus?