Hot do I charge salvaged 18650 from makita bl1830?

Batteries and Chargers Rechargeable Batteries
1

Hi guys -longe time no see :-)

I salvaged 10 18650 batteries from a makita cordless drill. Can anyone help me figure out specs for the? what voltage my batteries are, and what to set my xtar vp2 carger for (3.2v 3.6v or 3.8v)

http://imgur.com/gallery/FExOd3P

http://imgur.com/gallery/5ynj3UC

http://imgur.com/gallery/uReFeKw

2

they are sony vt2, or similar. they are 3,7v cells, high drain 20A cells. i got 5 of those from same pack, use them in 200w hotwire mod, i use regular li ion charger.

it would be a lot easier, if you posted picture of cells, and their markings, instead of closed battery pack. if i did not take apart same pack, i’d have no clue what cells are inside.

3

Thanks! :-)

Third link is a photo of the cell

4

Found out the cells are not US18650Vt. They are

US18650V 3.7V 1600mAh max. output of 10A

Info here, here and here.

When you guys salvage batteries - what are your criterias for "thumbs up / thumbs down" for a 18650 battery?

Some of the batteries I salvaged are at ~ 2.5V - should i get rid of those, try to charge them, or how do I assess them?

5

2,5v is not that bad, low, but i’d try to charge it once, i opened up dozens of laptop packs, anything lower than 2,5v i throw away, 2,5v and up i charge, than discharge see how much mah left, if less than 1000, i throw it away. if you do not have hobby charger just try to use them in single cell light. see how they work. if you want to use multiple unprotected cells in series, than it get more complicated, you want to make sure cells are same type, same capacity, but unless you need high current cells, imr, or ncr, and draw is too high for pcb (that is why such cells do not have pcb) than you use unprotected, in any other case, i’d use protected, you really do not want one cell to start reverse charge, and go bang.

if you salvage cells often, get yourself hobby charger, and charge\discharge them so you can see how “healthy” the cell is. even if you do not use laptop pulls, hobby charger is a good thing to have, thou the cheapest one, that is good quality is around 60-70

6

Thanks for the advice. I'm not sure what a hobby charger is. I got a xtar vp2

I charged them all last Friday - will test the voltage tomorrow.