Harvested some batteries, what are they?

[Gappa]

I pulled apart one of my laptop batteries last night and got 8 18650 batteries from it.
They have a pinkish red coating and have several markings.
HLUFJT6 and also IO3A

They are also a little bit heavier than the cell that came with my Arctic.
I put one of them in my charger and am also currently charging one with my RC car computerized charger.
They seem to have A LOT more power than the stock cell that came with my laser.
But down to my ? what are they and has anyone seen any like these b4?

 

[Toke]

The 18650's in laptops are made in huge numbers and are supposed to be of good quality. The ones WL supply are known to be among the cheapest and poorest quality available.

A rather important point whether your laptop battery were working or not. If not there are likely one or more broken cells among them, those can be dangerous, as in fiery explosion in the charger.

Otherwise congrats on your new batteries.

 

[Benm]

Laptop batteries are often discarded because of reduced runtime - ie battery wear.

While a 30% or so drop in capacity can be very annoying when using a laptop, those cells could be fine for other uses... and still have more capacity than the garbage 18650 cells sometimes sold.

Within laptop battery packs, they often have spot welded contact strips on them, but those can often be easily removed by peeling them away with pliers. If the battery as a whole was still working, but at reduced capacity, there isn't any danger involved in re-using the cells really. The capacity will diminish further over time, but that would hold true for batteries sold seperately just as well.

 

[Gappa]

I checked them with a voltmeter! There were 2 cells that read 3.4v. 2 cells were at 2.8v, 2 were at 2.4v and the last 2 were at 1.8v.
The two that read 1.8v I don't even think I will attempt to try and charge.

 

[Toke]

I am not sure exactly where the limit is for damage through over discharge for LiIon.
The 1.8V are best thrown out, but I am not sure about the 2,4V ones.

 

[Gappa]

well the ones that were above 3v were spectacular so far and I will play with the others to see what I can get out of them.
What do you think the amh rating is on them?

 

[Toke]

well the ones that were above 3v were spectacular so far and I will play with the others to see what I can get out of them.
What do you think the amh rating is on them?

This article suggest 2200mAh when new.

Specifically the 18650 battery cell has a nominal voltage average of 3.7 V. It has a nominal capacity of 2200 mAh. It has a maximum charge current of 2.4 Ah and a max discharging current of 4.6 Ah. Its dimensions (DxH) are 18.3 mm (Max 18.4) x 64.9 mm (Max 65.1). It weighs 46.5 g (1.64 oz). It has cell cycle performance of 80% of initial capacity at 300 cycles. All in all the 18650 is a very good battery cell.

​

 

[rpaloalto]

The pinkish red color of your salvaged cell, sounds like it is a Sanyo battery.
What color is the top of the battery?

info from LarryDFW
The 2200mah cells have an orange insert at the positive end.
The 2400mah cells have an green insert at the positive end.
The 2600mah cells have a light-blue insert at the positive end.
The 2700mah cells are stamped "2A7" .

 

[Crazy Jay]

I had no idea that laptop batteries contain a few 18650 batteries

Damn I shouldn't have thrown out that one I had...

 

[Crazy Jay]

The 18650's in laptops are made in huge numbers and are supposed to be of good quality. The ones WL supply are known to be among the cheapest and poorest quality available.

A rather important point whether your laptop battery were working or not. If not there are likely one or more broken cells among them, those can be dangerous, as in fiery explosion in the charger.

Otherwise congrats on your new batteries.

My current laptop battery wouldn't hold a charge for very long. Like maybe 20-30 mins. I just took it apart without destroying it and I discovered 6 18650 batteries! Took them out and tested each one on my laser and they provide great power.

I'm guessing they were all getting old. Going to buy 6 new ones and I'll have a much better laptop battery plus 6 extra laser batteries.

I'm so excited by this. Thanks Toke, I don't have to spend extra cash for a new one.

EDIT: Whats odd is that the batteries are protected cells too

 

[bootdsc]

Good find with those cells, the typical 9 cell laptop battery you find on amazon for $40 will get you 9 cells with a claimed 2400ma each.

At least thats what i had hoped to get but it turns out to be closer to 900ma each. haven't tried to use them with a laser, i actually bought a few of them for there intended use with laptops. Ended up being a bad choice though because as i soon found out the computer run times were now shorter then with the old battery's.

Such is life, so this can be avoided in the future by others is there a list to keep track of what laptop battery manufacturers are using good cells and who to avoid?

Yes i searched,didn't find enough info to consider anything a complete list.

 

[Toke]

EDIT: Whats odd is that the batteries are protected cells too

Yes, that looks odd.
The laptop should have the circuity to protect the batteries making one in each battery superfluously.

Unless it is some way to ensure against uneven battery quality/discharge.
Maybe batteries can not be counted on to age evenly, and protected cells is a way to avoid that one faster ageing cell dies from over discharge while the rest are still fine. Batteries in series cannot be protected from that by the laptop.
Suddenly it makes sense to me.

BTW: Glad to be of help, and thanks for the rep.

 

[Gappa]

Well I checked the voltage with my Fluke meter and it would seem that the cells that read the lower voltage were the cause of the diminished capacity. These cells had a pinkish read sheath and a red top.

 

[Crazy Jay]

Yes, that looks odd.
The laptop should have the circuity to protect the batteries making one in each battery superfluously.

Unless it is some way to ensure against uneven battery quality/discharge.
Maybe batteries can not be counted on to age evenly, and protected cells is a way to avoid that one faster ageing cell dies from over discharge while the rest are still fine. Batteries in series cannot be protected from that by the laptop.
Suddenly it makes sense to me.

BTW: Glad to be of help, and thanks for the rep.

NP. I charged each one over night and they seem to hold up just fine. Hey Toke the specs for that specific laptop battery is rated at 10.5 volts. You think it would be ok to replace with the same number of cells totaling 22.2 volts?

 

[Toke]

NP. I charged each one over night and they seem to hold up just fine. Hey Toke the specs for that specific laptop battery is rated at 10.5 volts. You think it would be ok to replace with the same number of cells totaling 22.2 volts?

10,2V and 22,2V WTF?

It looks like the cells were connected in pairs*, with 3 pairs in series.
I recommend that you be very careful with how you put in the new ones.
Look carefully at the wires/metal bands connecting the old ones, and measure the output voltage of the battery, ensuring it is 10,2V, before you even take it to the same room as the laptop.

*like this ===.

 

[Crazy Jay]

10,2V and 22,2V WTF?

It looks like the cells were connected in pairs*, with 3 pairs in series.
I recommend that you be very careful with how you put in the new ones.
Look carefully at the wires/metal bands connecting the old ones, and measure the output voltage of the battery, ensuring it is 10,2V, before you even take it to the same room as the laptop.

*like this ===.

Yeah thats how it was set up. But looking at the official battery its rated at 10.2 volts. If I use replacement 18650 batteries wouldnt the voltage total 22.2 volts? (3.7 volts each)

EDIT: After I fully charged each battery the work perfectly for my 445nm laser. I don't know what to make of it. Amazon actually sells the battery for 25.10 so maybe I'll just buy that...