andrewnewman
Enlightened
So you know the story, I got this "great deal" on a bunch of those grey Ultrafire RCR123a protected cells. They are basically "just ok" as far as capacity is concerned but the big downside is that the protection circuit is flakey on many of them. It sometimes refuses to charge, occasionally it shows a weird low voltage (~2.3V) for no reason and it trips if you look at it cross-eyed. (For the record, I have none of these problems with AW RCR123a batteries).
So I figured I have a number of flashlights with built-in Li-Ion protection circuitry. If I remove the protection PCB I can use these batteries. So, first pass, I cut through the wrapper and removed the PCB (carefully!). I then took a Dremel tool to the "new" bottom of the cell to clean up the spot where the PCB was soldered in place.
Cells worked well. Always charged accurately and never showed any weirdness.
But I began to get paranoid. There was that metal strap running down the side of the battery from the positive terminal just waiting to short out with the bottom of the battery.
I decided to cut the grey wrapper off of the entire battery, remove the strap and insulating tape and then replace the white insulator ring around the top of the cell (surrounding the positive button) and tightly tape up the whole battery.
Is this a) stupid, b) dangerous, c) not-worth-the-trouble? (Or any combination of these).
So I figured I have a number of flashlights with built-in Li-Ion protection circuitry. If I remove the protection PCB I can use these batteries. So, first pass, I cut through the wrapper and removed the PCB (carefully!). I then took a Dremel tool to the "new" bottom of the cell to clean up the spot where the PCB was soldered in place.
Cells worked well. Always charged accurately and never showed any weirdness.
But I began to get paranoid. There was that metal strap running down the side of the battery from the positive terminal just waiting to short out with the bottom of the battery.
I decided to cut the grey wrapper off of the entire battery, remove the strap and insulating tape and then replace the white insulator ring around the top of the cell (surrounding the positive button) and tightly tape up the whole battery.
Is this a) stupid, b) dangerous, c) not-worth-the-trouble? (Or any combination of these).
