Battery Safety: What is a Current Interrupt Device (CID)? (18650, 21700, vent)

Lithium ion batteries are regularly in the news because of individual batteries catching fire. But most people don't know, what mechanisms are in place to keep batteries safe.
In this video, you will learn what the Current Interrupt Device (CID) is, how it works and why it is important to prevent battery fires and explosions.
The paper I am referring to can be found at
doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2020.10...
Credits to the title music:
Your Intro von Audionautix unterliegt der Lizenz Creative-Commons-Lizenz "Namensnennung 4.0". creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Künstler: audionautix.com/

[@FredMiller]

Nicely explained!

[@noneyour2461]

Thanks for the rest of the story, the important part!

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching!

[@indieelectroworks]

Your content on youtube is golden and you seem to be well educated on the topic! I would really enjoy like to see you cover more topics on li-ion batteries or on pack design safety precautions (for example case studies on existing designs by certain manufacturers).

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching and your feedback! I'll keep it in mind and see if I can get to it in the future.

[@mrschnider6521]

i cant hear what he is saying.

[@tejeshav7949]

Amazing work. Appreciate it.

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching and your feedback!

[@x0mmexx0mmex69]

Wow, thanks, now i know how to revieve my batteries ❤

[@guyshtienberg1259]

Very clear and informative, thank you

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching and the feedback!

[@ShivamVerma786]

Thank you, For sharing knowledge on such an important topic.

[@meandthebattery9628]

My pleasure! Thanks for watching!

[@thedogxy]

This is very good, thank you.

[@usturakemal7]

well prepared and quite informative video. congrats.

[@meandthebattery9628]

Glad you liked it!

[@norwayblackmetal1]

Very educational

[@pratikdesai8355]

Great video. But given the last statement about the dangers of trying to re-establish continuity of an activated CID, I feel like that should be in the opening statement and video title. Slightly off emphasis aside, great video nonetheless, thanks for making it.

[@changxianghe2459]

So nice to see these videos! Very clear introduction. Thank you very much!

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching and the nice comment!

[@poccodroid9464]

Superb and most needed to be acknowledged containt...!! Rightly said that there are numerous videos showing revival of such batteries those have become unchargable due to overcharging induced gas formation leading to disruption of cap contect. This kind of videos should always be made awailable with all languages support like few movies, as Manny unfortunate, poorly literate users or utubers , then will have advantage of your knowledge sharing...Thanks a ton friend.

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching and your feedback! Very much appreciated!

[@gamunujayasinghe3829]

Very informative video . Sir , thank you so much for shearing your knowledge . I am from Sri Lanka .

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching and your feedback!

[@bro7269]

I've been safety testing cylindrical lithium ion cells for some time. I just want to add my 2 cents. While the safety mechanisms are there to prevent thermal runaway, there is no guarantee that they do. I've overcharged cells that have had both the CID open and have vented but still go into TR. The threat is still there. Having one cell in the middle of a pack with already elevated temperature is the worst situation. The surrounding cells will prevent the suspect cell from cooling and increasing the risk of TR. In our systems we are counting on the charger system, mechanical system and monitoring systems to prevent these things but we still have returns from the field because this. It pains me to see people building power walls in their homes because I know it only takes one cell in a batch 3000-4000 to turn the house into a smoldering mess. Chinese manufacturing is still suspect. Please be careful and understand all the safety issues surrounding these cells. Edit: Watching people pry at the tops of the cells with a screwdriver and/or other conductive tool is just crazy. This can cause the CID to touch the collector thereby reconnecting the current path. Please don't do it....!

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching and your comment! I fully agree. Even if the likelihood with cells from quality brands is small, there is always a remaining risk that a single cell is faulty or develops a fault over lifetime.

[@carldurrett4364]

Thanks for all of the story with out your info a lot of people could be in harms way

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching!

[@abhimanyugoyal5659]

very nice. i dont find these details anywhere else other than research papers.

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching and your nice feedback. Very much appreciated!

[@abhimanyugoyal5659]

Moses I am going to send these videos to atleast 20 colleagues who are working in selecting battery for our EV fleet. Thank you.

[@madcow3417]

Thanks for the info! I have a fully charged battery that I accidentally shorted. I fixed the short, but the the CID tripped. I don't trust this cell for use since you said the pressure went way up meaning something weird happened to the chemistry. None of the reset videos talk much about what actually happens in the battery, just where to stick a screwdriver. I'm going to try to reset the CID (outdoors, with PPE on) so I can discharge it for safer recycling.

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching and your feedback! Please be careful with that. You can dispose the cell also without the reset and discharge.

[@janus911rsr]

Hi Moses, Great video. Can you imagine having a battery without CID? Especially in tables cylindrical cells I have trouble imagine how to put CID into that. What do you think?

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching and your question! Yes, there are cells without CID. That saves some volume in the cell, but you need to make sure on system level, that the battery stays safe. But also in such cells, a vent is typically still present.

[@kundeleczek1]

Activating CID is crazy crazy idea.

[@meandthebattery9628]

Fully agree!

[@keenowl1410]

Hi. Thank you so much for your video. I had the same questions you answered. I tried very delicately to pry the nickel tabs off of the negative side of the battery. And no matter what method I seemed to use, being as gentle as I could possibly be, I always seemed to leave a tiny pin size hole on the flat negative bottom side of the battery. Hearing a quick hiss and a sweet smell. I stopped trying to remove nickel tabs from the negative side and just cut them down as close as I can. But I always wondered about that quick hiss and sweet smell. Is it you opinion that this was part of the CID protection or electrolyte or lithium or something else? I always see people man handling these when prying off these nickel tabs with plyers screwdriver etc. And wonder how many have had the same experience and just ignored it. Thank you so much for your time and thoughts.

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching and your question, and apologies for my delayed response! The CID is located underneath the positive terminal. The negative terminal is on a thin steel wall. If you have a good welding connection, the cell wall is the weakest point and it rips a small hole in the cell can. The hiss is the internal pressure that forms inside the cell and escapes through the small hole. The sweet smell is the electrolyte vapor that is also harmful to breathe in. In any case, the cell is damaged afterwards and should not be used anymore!

[@gabrielconstantine7384]

I reset one dead 18650 the other day. It came to life showing 2.60 volts. Charged it normally, it remained cool throughout the charge and is now still holding at 4.11 volts. Seems good.

[@portalkeeper978]

I need some help if you don’t mind sharing some of your knowledge. I bought some battery pack modules each with a BMS. The modules came from factory robots. I have not even opened the shipping box to measure voltages of these modules. The modules have lg m50lt lithium ion cells. I was taking a look at the data sheets online and could not find information on how to properly store them for greater than 2 years. I have been storing them in their shipping box for a little over one year now, but I’m not entirely sure if I need to discharge and then charge them once in a while. Would you be able to give me some instruction on how to preserve these cells? Thank you very much for your time and information.

[@chingmakjank9962]

Sir I feel some hessss sound when I pearce the top, is it a toxic u are talking bout?

[@meandthebattery9628]

If you mean piercing the top of a Li-ion cell, yes. The gasses contain toxic components!

[@dilipdas5777]

My lithium battery has sometimes no output current during operation but when I shake the battery it's giving current. Is it CID fault

[@meandthebattery9628]

Hi, thanks for watching and the question. I can't imagine that it is the CID. I would bet on a bad contact somewhere in the assembly but to tell for sure, it would require a detailed analysis.

[@manjulabw]

is it safe push back the pin and power up battery again.

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching and your question. No, it is not safe!!!

[@Peter_A1466]

I just replaced the 18650 cell in a powerbank. The powerbank circuit board and other contacts were nearly pristine, but I noticed the top cap of the cell is corroded. Is this an indication that it most likely vented?

[@meandthebattery9628]

Thanks for watching and your question (and sorry for my late response). Venting usually occurs together with high temperatures, so you would definitely see some impact on the other components. My guess would be, that there either was some electrolyte leakage or some water that caused the corrosion.

[@jamesrossman5054]

Asking permission to use your videos for my educational videos in concerns to changes to the 2026 National Electrical Code? All my videos are nonprofit for educational purposes. Jacob Riddle Edu.

[@x0mmexx0mmex69]

Wow, thanks, now i know how to revieve my batteries ❤