Using 18650 laptop batteries for my drills

[snellemin]

Nice link man. Thanks.

The ones I use are 5A cont and 45A peak. That is with the datalogger. I wouldn't be playing with the cells if I didn't get the packs for free.

[pinkpanda3310]

I've been to tool repair shops and asked for redundant battery packs before. Too many nicads, lots of l-ion and I was really lucky one day and got a heap of A123's. I didn't take any nicad's but it was all free Just had to be careful not to mix the batteries as they obviously had different cycle life.

[sikeston34m]

Something I'm playing around with here lately is:

Leave the pcb inline to protect the cells on the pack, then use a dc to dc converter to adjust the output voltage to match whatever is being powered.

Small dc to dc converters are pretty cheap. I just bought a 3 amp unit off Ebay.

It's specs are:

Input Voltage: 3-30VDC.
Output voltage: 1.3-18VDC.
Max output current: 3A.
Built in LM2596S-ADJ.
Compact size. (about 1 1/2" x 1 1/2")

For lighting, this would be a great thing.

It has a pretty wide input range. (as low as 1s or as high as 7s)

I'm thinking it could run a large amount of Led lighting in the event of a power outage.

[lincpimp]

Originally Posted by snellemin

Nice link man. Thanks.

The ones I use are 5A cont and 45A peak. That is with the datalogger. I wouldn't be playing with the cells if I didn't get the packs for free.

That is interesting, have a link to these cells? I would like to make a few better packs for my milwaukee drill, 28v model.

I use 18650 cells for almost all of my flashlights. Get them out of laptops, 2600mah cells, sony, IIRC.

[pinkpanda3310]

Milwaukee uses batteries similar to A123's don't they? Or at least they are a similar size? You might be able to reuse the same battery pack by replacing just the cells.

Or maybe not it's been a while since I've looked at stuff like that

[sikeston34m]

What's the largest 18650 pack you've built?

Did you know the Tesla Roadster uses a pack built from 6800pcs of 18650?

The pack weighs 992 pounds and the car will 0 to 60 in less than 4 seconds.

It also has a 200 mile range.

Just some interesting facts I found. Thought you might find it interesting.

[lincpimp]

Originally Posted by pinkpanda3310

Milwaukee uses batteries similar to A123's don't they? Or at least they are a similar size? You might be able to reuse the same battery pack by replacing just the cells.

Or maybe not it's been a while since I've looked at stuff like that

They use an emoli cell, it is lipo, so 3.7 nominal. Might be the same dimension as a 18650 cell. I currently have it wired as a 3s and a 4s for balance taps so I can use a hobby charger to get the job done. Might just buy a real battery for 100 bucks or so... That way I can use the stock charger...

[pinkpanda3310]

Emoli rings a bell. I didn't know there are lipo