18650 Code Blue procedure?

[oregon]

Just received two TrustFire TR18650 2500mAh 3.7V protected batteries. One is DOA (the other is alive and doing fine thank you).

Before I throw it up onto the roof or hit it with a hammer is there any resusitation procedure I might try?

The multi-meter shows the ultimate in resistance and several stints in the charger yield only hand wringing and fretting.

Thank you for any suggestions.

oregon

 

[VidPro]

Re: 18650 cold blue procedure?

tear it apart and check the cell item itself, see if there is a breakage in the connections to the protection curcuit, reconnect, and re-insulate against shorts, then hand to nurse to close up with heat shrink.
if the cell item inside is very low in voltage , like less than ~2v and you figure its been that way for any length of time, "its Dead Jim" not worth doing surgery.

 

[oregon]

Re: 18650 cold blue procedure?

tear it apart and check the cell item itself, see if there is a breakage in the connections to the protection curcuit, reconnect, and re-insulate against shorts, then hand to nurse to close up with heat shrink.
if the cell item inside is very low in voltage , like less than ~2v and you figure its been that way for any length of time, "its Dead Jim" not worth doing surgery.

Thank you for the prescription VidPro. The patient is on the table.

I pealed the thin blue plastic wrap off of the cell.

Bypassing the protection circuit & chip I get 3.5 VDC off my multi-meter. The connections, thin metal strips, to the protection chip appear intact. The chip appears intact.

So I assume that the protection chip has failed and that I could remove it and the connector strip, re-insulate the cell and use it as an unprotected cell.

I am being precise and careful in my actions to prevent a short. I am wearing eye protection, have a handy fire extinguisher, a metal bucket and a hot-glove on the ready line.

A few pics for your amusement:

oregon

 

[VidPro]

Re: 18650 cold blue procedure?

nice pics, i dont see anything disconnected :-( the important insulation around the nipple is a bit ruffled, but we know it isnt shorting, so if you dont see nothing to fix yet, then carefully break the flat wire off the nipple, using a lifting wedging sharp thing like a point scalpel to break the weld, once you get that off, and away from the positive pole, the patient will be sedated :sick2: and then you can do about anything.

 

[Illum]

Re: 18650 cold blue procedure?

is it me of is half of those ICs have their contacts linked together by solder?
that can't possibly be normal..could it?

 

[oregon]

Re: 18650 cold blue procedure?

A better pic of the, now removed, protection circuit board from the cell in question:

oregon

 

[VidPro]

Re: 18650 cold blue procedure?

i dont see anything, probably should just send it back :devil:

birth defects, mabey Doc House can come in and diagnose it 12 different ways , and treat it 11 wrong ones ?

there is a little darkening by the B+ that might indicate the patient smoking but, none of the regions correspond to internal organs effecting it.

 

[Illum]

Re: 18650 cold blue procedure?

ahh, they were on the same trace plane

hmm...everything looks okay to me:thinking:

 

[oregon]

The operation was a success but, unfortunately, the patient is still dead.

I used super glue to attach the old wrapper to the exterior of the cell. Perhaps wacky glue is conductive...

It won't take a charge nor will it fire either of my 18650 lights. The cell now reads 2.6VDC. Up onto the roof it goes...

Frankencell pics for your amusement (I won't confuse it with its twin now):

oregon

 

[oregon]

I thought that I detected some varnish or other kind of coating on the formerly-protected end of the cell so I sanded and polished both ends of the cell.

Now the multi-meter reads 3.4. Unfortunately, it won't fire my direct drive EDC-MCE or my regulated Ultrafire WF-501B P60 host, both 18650 cell lights. And, I still get a green light on the charger.

I think I am missing the obvious.

oregon

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

so you are using the unprotected cell and it is still not operating correctly?
prognosis doesn't sound good, doc

 

[jirik_cz]

looks like a bad cell, throw it away.

 

[oregon]

If I wasn't reluctant to cause a short I would continue to dismantle what is left of the cell for autopsy purposes.

oregon

 

[Turbo Guy]

Photos of a A123 Systems LiFePO4 28650 ,2300 mAh. with ends removed.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6285371&postcount=7