Hi all,
I received the $9.99 HP pack and dismantled it. 6 186500 Samsung cells, all between 2.72-2.78VDC. Charged up the 1st one on my new Accucell6, at 1A. Took about 4 hours, read 2300 ma. So far, so good!
This is the first time I’ve harvested batteries, spent a while with a utility knife, didn’t go so well.
@DBCstm: wood chisel, friggin brilliant! As you said, 1 inch chisel is just perfect for prying open the sides.
Voltages were all 2.4ish. Will charge one up tonight and see how that goes.
Well I got my 9 cell pack today and MAN was it a bear to get cracked open! Once I got the seam started it wasn't so bad. Kinda feel bad cracking open a mint condition looking unused pack! Anway, looks like Sony cells to me. Here are some photos:
Any info on these cells? Like dates?
Edit, here is a review thread of this cell - says it's a 2,550mAh cell.
-Garry
Date code per this thread = March 28th, 2008! Yikes!
Ummm . . . voltages are only ranging from 1.58v to 1.72v! Isn't this too low to charge and use them?
-Garry
I thought anything under 2.5 was dangerous, and some seem to say 3 is the lower limit they would use. But then theres under load, and I assume not loaded so I have no idea really, but I would assume under load could be a lower number than unloaded.
Edit: I just tested the ones I pulled mentioned in the other thread. They test at… 2@1.6, 2@1.8X and 2@1.9X. Interesting how they appear to be in pairs.
Put only 1 on the charger for about a minute or two. Take it off and see if it charged up to over 3V. Then try another minute or so and see how it goes.
I got an old Li-ion pack for a Milwakee drill that had 5 Sony IMR’s out of a recycle bin. They tested at only 0.3V and after charging them up, they seem OK. Maybe IMR’s are different though.
The OP’s link of http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-New-6-cell-HP-Lithium-Ion-Battery-EV088AA-VE06-/190762791279?pt=Laptop_Batteries&hash=item2c6a59316f is back up and has more than 10 available, 60 sold. I don’t have any 18650 lights yet, but this will be a seed to my greed 
I’m new. I’m good at tearing stuff apart. What I’m not sure on is flat top vs button. But I can put a button on them if needed. Google and you guys will show me how. I’m not sure how to test them. I already have 2 single cell junky chargers, and a lot of Harbor Freight multimeters. Link to telling what’s good and what’s not without blowing things up? I’ll get a good charger someday, but I don’t have an 18650 light yet…
- Joe
That is a good pack, but this one is the one I got to tear apart and it is cheaper. Only $10
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Genuine-HP-6-cell-Battery-Series-VN06-CB87-NB800AA-/191052147627?pt=Laptop_Batteries&hash=item2c7b986bab
You turkey. I just bought one of them now. That means I really NEED a SkyRay King or something as my first 18650 light. And probably a Vstar or such charger. You are taking food from my children’s mouths. I hope you feel good now…
- Joe
You guys have caused me to spend the last couple hours scanning the web for battery deals lol. The OP definitely found some great deals, I will probably order the toshiba 12-cell or the HP 6-Cell for $10. I found this lone HP 9-Cell on ebay for $14.00 shipped and bought it, its like a gambling rush!
If you are old enough… We are like Mr. Haney on Green Acres, trying to buy deals from China for the most part. It’s not pretty, but is fulfilling when we do score…
- Joe
After sitting on my pack for a few weeks I finally tore it open today (this pack was a bit of a pain to open.)
I purchased OP’s pictured 6 celled pack and also received those Samsung cells.
Q: Now with all my harvested cells from packs I’ve always used them unprotected. This time I want to add a few protection PCBs on a few of them an run them in a serialed liion light. For unused PCBs for purchase so far I’ve only seem them available on DX. I’m wondering if there is a more reliable alternative for protection PCBs (that don’t cost an arm & a leg.)
As I have a few protected AW cells that I am recycling -> I wonder if I can reuse those protection PCBs with these harvested cells. I think it should be fine (those strips might need to be added to though as they will be too short after being cut of the original 18650 cell) but I wanted to see if I could confirm this on the forum.
Any pointers/faqs would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
AZ
FYI: On the cells from this pack I have kept the spot welded tabs on. I’m under the impression that soldering protection PCBs will be much easier with them on.
I’ve been looking at these boards. How many protection pcbs are you looking to get? 4x 2pack (8pc) will cost the same as a 20pack.
2pc 18650 4A-6A Seiko protection $5.56 ($2.78 ea) free ship
20pc 18650 4A-6A Seiko protection $22.30 ($1.12 ea) free ship
Only place I’ve found seiko protection.
The metal battery strips are on ebay.
garry i really like those cells! I got a 12 cell pack with them in it but they were all at 3.75v. I use them often on lights, my enb battery back, and my ecig battery box mod. I vaped all day on one of them today and checked the voltage before i put it on the charger and it was still at 3.8v. Wished the voltages were higher on your pack, would definitely buy more of them. Sorry the voltage was low.
Just got in yesterday one of the 6 cell packs that the OP posted about. Havent opened it yet though.
@ Helios-
Those are great. Thanks for the lead!
As to how many I intend to install -> I guess that depends on how smoothly it goes in the installation of my 1st board…
AZ
Garry - from my notes, it has been suggested to charge them to 3V and let them sit a week - if they have fallen below 2V, it’s a dud.
Here is the quote - I am very sorry I did not keep who the original poster was, but all credit goes to them.
In addition to the many rules posted here for using laptop cells, I have a few comments from the past 2 years of recovering laptop batteries.
2.5 volts is a good low voltage threshold for safety circuits, however I have found 1.50 volts to be the absolute limit for cell cutoff extracting from packs.
One way I test cells that suffer from low voltage is to charge the cell at 0.05C until the cell reaches 3.0 volts.
Once there, remove the cell from charger and let stand for a week. If it falls back below 2.0 volts, it’s a dud,
if it’s above that, most likely no damage has been done and can be charged normally after that.
I have come to this conclusion after evaluating >500 cells and having fully cycled every one of those cells for capacity check.
The only exception to this is if you accidentally short a cell trying to extract it while it was under 2.5 volts.
It may very well be a good cell even though it reads under 1.5 volts. Just use the above procedure to check it.
One nice advantage for this test is that there is almost no risk of fire as the energy stored in the cell for this test is almost nil,
the big reason I prefer to do the leakage test at low charge instead of full charge listed in this thread.
The charge leakage in the 2.0-3.0 volt range is also highly sensitive as the cell generally only takes on about 50-100 mAh in that range.
A leakage rate of a hundred microamps will be easily noticed over a week.
The full charge leakage test is a good second test however, if it passed the low voltage leakage test.
Hey Guys,
I am Corey from In and Out Computers. I just came across this thread regarding our company and the batteries we are selling. I just wanted to let you guys now that we are in somewhat limited supply but want to offer you all a special deal. We currently have the ev088aa up for $14.99 in new in open package condition per unit. We can ship 5 units removed from the retail packaging and bubble wrapped in a padded envelope for $50. Keep in mind the outer cases may see some cracks on the corners in shipping. If this is something you are interested you can PM me for order information. I hope I haven’t overstepped any forum boundaries by posting this but I thought you may want to take advantage of this deal.
Corey
If you guys want to let me know of other batteries that you are in the market for as well. We may have them. PM me what you are in the market for and I will scan our warehouse to see if we have it for you.
Well would you look what the cat dragged in! :) Just Kidding. You must have ESP as I was just wondering about you. Glad to hear these cells do well for you.
Ok, well I brought in a charger to work today and did like you said. Using my ML-102 (good old model), I picked one cell and charged it for 60 seconds, let it rest, charged another 60 seconds, let it rest, and now it is being left on charge until it's done. Cell never felt warm at all. Here are the stats for this one cell:
Beginning Voltage: 1.64v
After 60 secs charge (& rest 1 minute): 2.69v
Let cell rest another 10 mins: 2.65v
After another 10 mins rest: 2.65v
After another 60 seconds charge (and after 1 min rest): 3.01v
Let cell rest about 12 mins: 2.98v
After another +/- 20 mins rest: 2.98v
So how's this look? Cell seem ok? How well can I trust these cells? Guess I need to test voltage after 24 hours too. I may as well this one in my direct-drive test light and see what kind of Amps it puts out.
-Garry
Thanks for posting this Jaidmaster! Sounds like some good advice and I will proceed with that test on a 2nd cell.
Welcome Corey. You've probably been wondering why the sudden interest in these particular packs you're selling :) .
-Garry