Old 18650 Of 2008

DENGOH

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Oct 13, 2011
Messages
69
Hi, I was given some unprotected 18650 with date code 2008.
I am told they are not charged for 1 to 2 years time.
I measured their voltages to be around 2.4V to 2.7V.

I charged them up to 4.2V with WF-137 and I found that they are all working fine.
I put them into Ultrafire 501B T6 and tail cap current measurement is about 2A.

Although they are working fine, I am worried as they were discharged way below.
Am I risking myself using these cells? What can I do to check their condition?

Thanks in advance for sharing knowledges.
 

Shadowww

Banned
Joined
Dec 26, 2011
Messages
879
Location
Northern Europe
Hi, I was given some unprotected 18650 with date code 2008.
I am told they are not charged for 1 to 2 years time.
I measured their voltages to be around 2.4V to 2.7V.

I charged them up to 4.2V with WF-137 and I found that they are all working fine.
I put them into Ultrafire 501B T6 and tail cap current measurement is about 2A.

Although they are working fine, I am worried as they were discharged way below.
Am I risking myself using these cells? What can I do to check their condition?

Thanks in advance for sharing knowledges.
Measure their capacity using a hobby charger, if they're below 80% of original (datasheet) capacity - recycle them.
 

GunnarGG

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 21, 2010
Messages
861
Location
Sweden
What to do if you don't have a hobby charger?

I think that I have read somewhere here on CPF that you can measure the voltage direct after you take the cell out of the charger and then after 24 h rest and the voltage drop during 24 hours should reflect the condition of your cell.
Is this correct?

My RCR123 read 4.19 after charge and then the same or maybe 4.18 after 24 hours so I guess they are fine.
What if they read 4.15, 4.10 or maybe 4.0 after 24 h?

Anybody knows about this?
 

Bullzeyebill

Flashaholic
Joined
Feb 21, 2003
Messages
12,164
Location
CA
If your 18650's measure 4.10 after sitting for 24 hours, then you can bet that they are sub par, and won't perform well at high currents. You should expect some drop as your charger is forcing the cells to attain 4.2 volts, unlike better quality chargers, such as the Pila that will not work against the resistance in your older cells, and may only charge them to 4.13 volts, or so.

Bill
 
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