FREE 18650 Cree Torch Batteries

[The Ghost]

I have been trying to find a spare 18650 Cree torch battery without much luck and don't want to pay the postage to get a couple sent to me. I suddenly had a brain wave (first this year) 'I have some old Laptop battery charger packs and these have them in' the one I broke open had six in and all are 18650's I now have six rechargable's for nothing....nice start to the day.

I have added some pictures below to give you some idea what chargers look like inside, some have nine 18650's in them.

[Lord Geordie]

So not really free then? Just happened to be laying about is a more fitting description.

 

I hope they have not been flat too long too, chances are IF they have been flat a good length of time they will not hold a charge

[stoogey]

It would be intresting to find a list some where of what batteries are inside tbh, i have panasonics in one second hand pack and some i cant find any info on.

 

On the box it'll say 10.8v,11.1v for a '12v' pack 14.4v or 14.8v for a '14v' pack. some are 3.6v cells and some are 3.7v, if divide the stated voltage by the 3.6 or 3.7 one will be the answer.

 

And as far as i've found out so far, samsung and panasonic ones charge at 1 amp max (idealy) and discharge fine on my 1.5amp draw DIY NV rig, 1 amp of that is for the IR illuminator.

Very few recover from a 2.5v state of discharge(might have some thing to do with how long they were dead for..dunno tbh) 2.7v usualy does. after a charge up leave them for a day, if any lose charge you may as well bin them as you'll have a few others..for the risk of exspoision it isnt worth meddling with just on the off chance you can get 1 cell to finally hold a charge etc.

 

The little board inside the box rigged up to the battery is the ciruit that monitors/balances and controlls like the circuit in a single 'protected' cells. so once thats gone the cells are of course unprotected.(the laptop monitors it through an interface so the board is probably useles, dunno the ins and out on that though).

Some of the drivers in the torchs warm you of low voltage by flashing, or halfing the light then shutting down so unprotected could be used there without killing the battery by over discharging.

 

ebay do a multitude of new replacement pc and lap top batteries, butthe one i got had no names on the cells, so my thoughts werewell they go in laptops so must be reasonably safe as a while ago thre was a huge thing about batteries exploiding/burning on peoples laps.. its 'been sorted' or was just hushed up lol..i think sorted tbh.

 

And.. if you want to know how many cells in a pack theyre often stated as 3S1P, this is 3 series (add the volts up) and 1 parallel (add the capacities).

so a 4S2P is 4 in series, and 2 in parralel, thats 8 cells.

Or they just state 3cell, 4 cell, 6cell or 8 cll etc, i've seen 9 cell '12v' packs before.. just a matter of getting a good price and you'll have plenty of cells.

 

Going the second hand or dead pack way, usualy one or two cells are dead, the ones that get hit by the charge for all the others, but, if the packs been dead for 12 month odd then its safe to asume the others have been in a discharged state for too long and are papped too..might not be though.. yu never know lol.(3-5 quid is reasonable price with p+p..6 quid max, because you really dont know, you'll 'probably' or might get some cells, but how long they will last you dont know that eather).

or buy ultaffire, the black and gold ones lol..1 amp actual marked as 4 amp 'new'.

 

 

A word of serious warning, little knicks in the plastic rap can cause a melt down in a battery holder, the metal touch's..and glows red followed by a tople effect as the batteries get to hot and exspliod or just vent a very hot steamy gasious white cloud. (cover the holes in the jacket or replace the heat shrink for definate) your torch becomes a bullet casing, and the tail cap the bullet..

 

also, cells dont like being rapped to tightly, they exspand ('swell') during charge or discharge, restrict that and it may well go pop, a bit like a shotgun cartridge going off in you pocket.

 

http://lygte-info.dk/info/BatteryRewrapping%20UK.html

Edited May 6, 2013 by stoogey

[The Ghost]

Some good advice above Stoogey, will take care.

[stoogey]

thank you.. i've had one exsploision to date..lol scarey, but it was my fault.

[The Ghost]

I have them wrapped in tape, so far three are working...doing number 4 now.

[aris]

I get my 18650's from dx.com. About a fiver for a pair delivered.

Edited May 6, 2013 by aris

[stoogey]

after the lap top battery episode, the search still on going i came across 26650 batteries, wider but they average in at 4 amp per cell.. so i bought a torch and 2 cells thinking what the hell..

 

4 hours odd on a 1 amp driver..hmmmm i thought i like them lol, alas the torch body is 31mm odd so i havent got a clamp to put it in, well, bar those two peace things with one center screw knob.(i cant adjust them though as its for, or was for digital DIY NV..the veiws tight so the beam needs to be well on when well focused).

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310541159016?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

torch driver used n the original LED http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-AK47-Mode-Circuit-Board-7135+3-Dimmer-Circuit-For-Fishing-Lamp-Flashlights-p-63074.html

 

this type of battery, theyre like a longer C cell ish http://www.tmart.com/1pcs-SoShine-26650-4200mAh-3.7V-4.2V-PCB-Protector-Li-ion-Rechargeable-Battery-Black_p161839.html

 

edit in..a 2amp charge takes up 4-5 hours on one cell though.

Edited May 6, 2013 by stoogey

[stoogey]

http://budgetlightforum.com/node/8799