ONN 6700 mAh Portable Battery @ WalMart What's inside?

[Sovende]

I'm wondering if anyone knows what type of Li-ion cells provide the storage capacity of the ONN (WalMart's brand) 6700 mAh Portable Battery? The size and heft (10.5cm x 4.5cm x 2.2cm and ~152g) strongly suggest that 2 18650 Li-ion cells live inside. I bought it for its intended purpose as a backup cell phone battery/charger. Once I took it out of the packaging tho, I began to think about the internals, if they were 18650 Li-ion cells and if they were of decent quality. If they are, in fact, 18650 cells AND are of decent quality, I'd certainly consider buying another one to serve as a 18650 cell donor for a couple of my flashlights. Can anyone comment?
Sovende

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Who knows with ChinaMart? Probably some craptistic Chinesium cobalt based 18650 cells in the 3350mAh range.

Chris

 

[HarryN]

Battery junction has an entire page full of protected 18650 cells for sale.

15 years ago obtaining protected 18650s was difficult, so people did all kinds of things to obtain them.

What is your motivation for tearing apart a pack in hope that you will like what is inside vs just buying some?

 

[Sovende]

Battery junction has an entire page full of protected 18650 cells for sale.

15 years ago obtaining protected 18650s was difficult, so people did all kinds of things to obtain them.

What is your motivation for tearing apart a pack in hope that you will like what is inside vs just buying some?

The ONN 6700 mAh Portable battery was clearance priced at $5. If I could harvest 2 decent Li-ion 18650 cells for $2.50 each, I would be pleased. I've read posts and/or watched videos where battery packs from various devices (i.e. Laptops) are disassembled (usually destructively) to reveal usable Li-ion cells within. I was curious as to the possibility of this being one of those situations. Yes, Battery Junction has an intire page of 18650 batteries but none for $2.50 a piece!
My motivation is both economy AND curiosity.
Sovende

 

[bcm00re]

My motivation is both economy AND curiosity.
Sovende

I hear you but I really doubt they contain anything but cheap, generic chinese 18650s. After just a few cycles they will probably be lucky to have 3000mAh capacity so you are likely better off spending $3.50/cell on these Samsungs: https://www.18650batterystore.com/Samsung-18650-Battery-p/samsung-29e.htm

 

[DIWdiver]

I think bcm00re is overly optimistic. It is REALLY unlikely that you will get 2 decent 18650 cells in anything for $5.00. For $5.00, you will be lucky to get half the claimed capacity on the FIRST cycle, much less the 30th or 100th cycle.

The thing you have to understand about these low-cost sellers, wherever they are in the world, is that some care about their reputation and some don't. Those that do will sell a quality product at an attractive price. Those that don't will sell garbage at whatever price you are willing to pay.

 

[Sovende]

Thanks to all that have opined on my original post. I have yet tho, to get an answer to my initial question that being "what type of Li-ion cells provide the storage capacity" in this product? I may just have to do a "destructive assessment" and report my findings. At that point, opinions from those in the know will be way more valid since they will not be based on conjecture. If someone else had taken one on these "portable batteries" apart, it would have saved me and possibly others, from having to needlessly destroy the product. As I stated, I do have an immediate use for the battery in its designed form (regardless of its life cycle) so any action on my part won't be happening for a while. I am still hoping that someone does actually have an answer to my question that is based on fact i e. has seen with their eyes what's inside 🙂.
Sovende

 

[HarryN]

For $5 it is worth the curiosity even if you throw the cells away.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

If you aren't worried about getting sub par batteries enough to harvest them from a cheap chinese power bank perhaps you could just contact a local battery recycling place and see if you can buy some laptop battery packs from them for scrap prices and tear into them. I bought 9 laptop packs and about 2/3 of the cells turned out good ranging from about 2000-3000mah. You have to do your homework so you can read the pack labels and figure out what cell capacities are in the packs and how many and ripping them apart and cleaning them up ant testing them to see if they are good is a chore but I got about 60 cells for $9 or about 15 cents each. Most of them were name brands with markings that you could ascertain the capacity and current capability of them. It is best to label each battery in a way to later discern the capacity and what pack they came with to match them up in use. If you are ok with paying more for more cells try buying a large more name brand pack. I've picked up a few Anker packs used for about 1/3 the new price that for $12 or so I could harvest 6-8 3000+ mah batteries from.
I lean towards what others say here based upon how cheap Onn branded items are in the Walmart stores it is probable that you have cheap no name cells in their power banks if rated that high. If the power bank was a 4000mah 2 cell bank then they could have decent quality cells inside.

 

[DIWdiver]

Thanks to all that have opined on my original post. I have yet tho, to get an answer to my initial question that being "what type of Li-ion cells provide the storage capacity" in this product?
Sovende

We have actually attempted to answer your original question as best we can without going to some effort that nobody (including you) thinks is worthwhile. Given your description and the source and price, there is almost zero chance that there is anything in there but two unidentifiable garbage 18650 cells that won't come close to meeting the published specs.

You have more interest in this than anyone else, and you aren't willing to invest $5 to see what's inside one. Sorry to say, it's not likely anyone else will either.

 

[Sovende]

We have actually attempted to answer your original question as best we can without going to some effort that nobody (including you) thinks is worthwhile. Given your description and the source and price, there is almost zero chance that there is anything in there but two unidentifiable garbage 18650 cells that won't come close to meeting the published specs.

You have more interest in this than anyone else, and you aren't willing to invest $5 to see what's inside one. Sorry to say, it's not likely anyone else will either.

Well, it is clear that I probably have more interest than anyone else 🤔. It's not that I'm NOT willing to "invest" $5 to see what's inside but just thought why waste time, effort or $$ if someone else had already done so? I view that as a major benefit of any forum regardless of its area of focus.
So now I'm at the point of "venturing into the unknown" 😉. I have purchased a second "Portable Battery" and will proceed with my exploration in the least destructive manner possible. I'll photo document the process for possible posting in the future.
Sovende

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Ironically I picked up one of these 6700mah Onn powerbanks for $1 today. I charged it and it took several hours so it could be around 3000mah/cell It has 2 DBK INR 18650 @3350mah that is what the battery is marked. I tore the power bank apart as the plastic case was split anyway and I bought it thinking I may be able to get a couple of 3000mah cells for lower power items (1A or less) I think the batteries for 50 cents each are a good buy even if they are only 2500mah. I may tear them apart they are welded in parallel and test them on my OPUS BTC100 charger for capacity.