Don't ya just hate it when...

[mr.squatch]

Dell says the battery you bought for your lappy just a year ago is dead and you need a good one,,,, when you know good and well that it's good enough, they're just hosing you for another 100 bucks once a year.

Also, when your company tells you to just go buy one and expense report it.

Then after the new one is in and working great, you bust open the old one rather than throw it away...

:twothumbs :naughty: :laughing: Yeah, me too 9x 3.8v each woot! And I just got four new 18650 lights in the mail today too.

 

[TigerhawkT3]

1. A year is a little short. Were you charging/discharging very frequently?
2. If you were getting poor runtimes from that battery in your laptop, you'll probably get poor runtimes from some or likely most of the cells.
3. 9x18650 at about $10 each is $90... Now you know why they charge $100.

 

[mr.squatch]

Nope, dell has robbery programmed into their lappys. After about a year the battery refuses to charge, shows dead and says needs replaced. Put in a brand new non-dell battery and it says sorry, can't charge this pack. Proof lies when you go into the startup menu and turn back the clock by a year, turn the lappy back on and voila, mystery dead pack now shows good as new. Hmm. Huge scandal over it, I guess you're lucky if they don't burst into flames lol. My pack worked great up until the day it said sorry you're dead. Cells individually show 3.9v, and charge up nicely to 4.2 Plus they bust off a rop hi first clicky woot. I gotta 5mega 2x18650, 1x 18650, and two malkoffs in the mail today Also got a 24w hid that takes 3. :naughty:

g

 

[TexLite]

Nice.

Are the cells individually protected?Seems so by looking.

Can you find a mAh rating?

Yep,Dell has that "battery management" software.Thanks for the clock tip,I haven't gotten the message...yet,but I uninstalled the program.

They have the same "feature" for their laser printers.But there is actually a "non Dell cartridge" setting you can activate.

Thanks,
Michael

 

[shadowjk]

I doubt they're individually protected. Looks like there's a circuit board along the side down left in the picture.

 

[Nubo]

Sounds like they're trying to avoid anymore "flaming dell notebooks" at all costs. I wonder how the cutoff date gets established? Could it be avoided by setting the clock forward a couple of years right before installing the new battery for first use?

 

[Juggernaut]

Wow this is sick man:twothumbs! I'm always getting free "dead, ya right!" SLA batteries, I guess I should be on a look out for these things to. Talk about a conspiracy!

 

[rockz4532]

well not really my concern, but how do you get one of those dang things apart? its driven me crazy with the sonic welded plastic!!, i have the latitude 630 and the battery says its flat after 1 year too. no problem for me though, still using same battery, and my dad gets free ones at his work, since he has same laptop as me. ive gotten to the point where ive given up taking it apart, when me and my trusty pliers scrape the plastic off the panasonic 18650
edit: i guess all the "spent" notebook battteries at the lowes recycling program are still good, hmm gives me an idea :laughing:

 

[Illum]

one year is really short, laptops like IBM/Toshiba/Acer usually have their batteries lasting a "normal life of 3-5 years" before it goes completely ka-put:shrug:

depending on what brand, they can be either ridiculously easy [aka, flat head screwdriver] or hard [dremel, several cutting disks, flathead screwdriver, vise, pliers, and sometimes (listen up sony!) a hammer]

 

[rockz4532]

one year is really short, laptops like IBM/Toshiba/Acer usually have their batteries lasting a "normal life of 3-5 years" before it goes completely ka-put:shrug:

depending on what brand, they can be either ridiculously easy [aka, flat head screwdriver] or hard [dremel, several cutting disks, flathead screwdriver, vise, pliers, and sometimes (listen up sony!) a hammer]

mine is completly sealed, exept for two holes on the sides

 

[mr.squatch]

Mine was cracked when I got it, used work lappy, haha. I just bent it a little and voila the top popped off, rest was easy to pry. Wasn't plastic welded, it had little snaps in there you can't see from the outside. Good luck! I'm chargin away as we speak.

g

 

[TexLite]

I doubt they're individually protected. Looks like there's a circuit board along the side down left in the picture.

Yes,I saw that,but there is also what appears to be a PCB in the end of each individual battery.

I'm chargin away as we speak.

Cool.Keep us posted.

-Michael

 

[mdocod]

Nope, dell has robbery programmed into their lappys. After about a year the battery refuses to charge, shows dead and says needs replaced. Put in a brand new non-dell battery and it says sorry, can't charge this pack. Proof lies when you go into the startup menu and turn back the clock by a year, turn the lappy back on and voila, mystery dead pack now shows good as new. Hmm. Huge scandal over it, I guess you're lucky if they don't burst into flames lol. My pack worked great up until the day it said sorry you're dead. Cells individually show 3.9v, and charge up nicely to 4.2 Plus they bust off a rop hi first clicky woot. I gotta 5mega 2x18650, 1x 18650, and two malkoffs in the mail today Also got a 24w hid that takes 3. :naughty:

g

I'm assuming a MalkOff M30, M60, and the HID, in which case, probably all 3 of those have the ability to over-discharge those cells pretty significantly.

The M60 doesn't even drop out of regulation until 3.8V, and I doubt you will be able to see any noticeable dimming until ~3.7V or less, at which point, your 18650s would be operating at 1.85V each.

The M30 will boost from either a 3.0V primary or 3.7V li-ion, it too can drag cell voltages below 2V.

Many HID ballast's can keep on going right down to ~6V input if left on (though some will not "strike" up from such a low starting voltage)... So that again is around 2V per cell...

---------

The reason they light up the ROP "first click" is because they are unprotected.

Ideally, take voltage measurements of the cells before charging, and since they do not have over-charge protection either, it would be best to only charge them in a nice charger like a Pila IBC or other quality hobby style charger that reliably terminates the charging.

Each time you discharge below 2.5V, you should put a little mark on the cell with something permanent. If you are starting to accumulate a lot of marks on the cell, it would be best to recycle it.