hmm… that batteries is seem similar to 2000 mAh sanyos that i got from bgmicro.com for $2 each
Ubehebe gets 2800mAh Samsungs all the time. I’ve got a 6-pack heading this way myself! 
The OP of this thread found Panasonic 2900mah 18650’s in the thread below.
Thanks for the updates everyone. If harvesting is going to become more popular, makes me wonder if it would be worth it to renew and get behind the spreadsheet that Aftrburnr floated in August?
You might want to check that link.
I was the “OP” in that thread also, but couldn’t remember how we ended up and didn’t go through the entire thread. I think that you are correct though :)…
Still charging batteries. One came off of a TF 1 bay charger about 3 hours ago at 4.22V, and is now 4.20V. Waiting to get more of them fully charged, running 5 different chargers simultaneously, including 1 battery on my Accucel 6, which is now at 1965 mAh and still going :)!
EDIT: One of the batteries came off the Accucel charging - 2043 mAH - 4.18V - 167 minutes. For some reason, when I charge batteries on my Accucel, they always terminate at slightly less than 4.20V. I’m waiting for a couple more to complete, then will run a discharge test.
So, so far:
- Battery1: Off TF 1 bay charger at 4.22V - currently (3+ hours) 4.20V
- Battery2: Off Accucel charger at 4.18V - 2043 mAh charging
Gonna be a long night (may not complete the 12 batteries tonight :laughing:…
EDIT 2: I started a discharge test on Battery1. It’s already at 2364 mAh and 152+ minutes and still going on my Accucel!
EDIT 3: Discharge test done:
So, 2420 mAh!
What discharge rate did you use?
1 amp.
If you really like to get the cell’s max capacity, you may try using the Li-lo mode and set to 2.8V
Are you thinking the capacity is >2420 mAh?
What is “Li-lo mode”? I am using an Accucell 6, and it was set for LiPo (which is what Accucell calls the 3.7V batteries) and cutoff voltage 3.00V.
EDIT: Ahh - re-read the manual, and there’s “LiIo” mode, 3.6V. Is that what you mean? Also, if I set that, does it automatically change the cutoff voltage for the discharge, or do I need to change the cutoff voltage manually?
I don’t know about your Accucell, but my iCharger has a lower cut-off and reconfigurable minimum voltage that can be set. I think yours can do such a thing too. Yes, the “lilo’ mode it is.
You didn’t answer the other question: You’re thinking that these batteries might have more than 2420 mAh capacity (that’d be good, right?)? I’ll try that, but not tonight since it’s 02:45 now :).
Also, BTW, every battery I’ve taken off the chargers after termination has been 4.20V - 4.22V so far.
And, also, I want to do a test later that I did before with another set of battery pulls, run an XM-L2 DD with a clamp meter. The last batch I tried got 7.9 amps when I did that (just really, really briefly).
Seems like ok batteries?
The one thing I noted that I don’t like is that the wrappers seem kind of flimsy.
Thanks,
Jim
Yes, the cells could give a higher, true capacity than what you got in the LiLo mode.
Yeah, those cells are still excellent.
Usually, cells from packs are flimsily-wrapped because they are usually intended for industrial uses (like inside battery packs, etc.) so probably no need for more expensive thick wrappers and printing.
When I do another discharge test, I’ll use another battery, to see if that one I did earlier wasn’t just a fluke…
Thanks,
Jim
You know what Jim, experimenting with the cells, specially from OLD laptop packs, has become another hobby of mine aside from lights. Since I don’t do modding, having a hobby charger and acquiring old and new packs can be quite satisfying, it’s a continuing process and the suspense of the health (or shall I say its remaining life) of a cell harvested from an old pack can be quite intriguing, to say the least.
I haven’t looked it up, but I think you mentioned that these were for an older laptop. What year(s) are you talking about for these?
I really with there were some decipherable markings on the cells. Maybe that string of numbers I posted earlier is the date code?
I don’t have the codes anymore but I remember at that time the date codes were a hot topic and some of my oldest cells are 2003 deep yellow Panasonic CGRs I think, I still have some of them today, some retaining as high as 80% of its nominal capacity, although there were some packs (Sanyo, Panansonic, LG and Samsung) that were only 60% and were discarded, most were given away to friends who wanted free back-up cells.
Checking the Toshiba site, their docs for the A35 laptop go back to 2003 … 10 years ago :)! That’s not saying these packs are that old, i.e., they may be aftermarket.