DIY Lithium Ion E-Bike Battery Pack from 18650 Laptop Batteries

[@jaylme1]

*This battery reconditioning program exceeded my presumptions. It worked on any drill battery, several AA and AAA batteries, **batery.repair** and any camera battery. The steps are simple and the act itself is exciting to do. No matter what type of battery you`ve got, it is sure to function again!*

[@simonlinser8286]

the act itself is exciting to do lmao

[@susansusansmith2377]

Thank you. You inspired me to build my own battery 26p 14s and it rocks! 100+ mile range and i cannot thank you enough. All old new stock 2004 lenovo battery packs with panasonic cells!

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

susan susansmith That's amazing, thanks for sharing!

[@ck8291]

susan susansmith 100 mile range that's insane @@

[@Arshhhh_vlogz]

@@MikeAndLaurenTV brother please tell me the connection of the 7 pins it would be a great help love from India you can reach me at 9855107070

[@ebikesolutions500]

@@MikeAndLaurenTV hi what discharge amp is a laptop cell 2200mah 3.7v I have built a pack 14s and 10p was wondering what the continuous amps would be ?

[@usbrasilcafe]

Mike... great video. I was Googling for info on my Go Motorboard, and came upon your video. Your video reminds me of myself many years ago (mid 70s) when I built my first electric go-cart for the kids in the neighborhood. KZbin is certainly one of the best outgrowths from our new-age of technologies. And your spirit comes through in this video. I'm going to subscribe. Thanks for taking the time to share.

[@GeneJordan]

Great job on the project and on the video. I could see the pure joy on your face and hear it in your voice when you took it for a test spin. Even while getting ready to do so, you could barely contain your excitement. It sure feels good to make progress on a project, doesn't it?

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Gene Jordan Oh man, it's been on the back of my mind for months. It feels so good to have it working!

[@GeneJordan]

I'm inspired! Now I just need the budget for it!

[@jimsmith3971]

Greetings Mike ( and Lauren ). I really appreciate you taking the time and effort to make this video. You inspired me and gave me the confidence to attempt my own electric bike conversion.Thank you for presenting this information in a friendly manner and free of patronisation and ego. I'm learning as I go, making mistakes, not fully understanding all the terms, yet I know one day soon it'll all make sense.Multimeter bought, old laptop batteries dissasembled, imax b6ac ordered. Soldering iron next on the list. Peace out.

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

+jim smith Awesome! Good luck.

[@DMAN22yeah]

+jim smith watch all of rinoa super genius ebike vids. they will help greatly.

[@aurick861]

That was one of the nicest built batteries I've seen. Great work!

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Bulete Aurelian Thanks. Those battery clips did all the work. $8 dollars well spent :)

[@tobsta30]

Nice work on the packs. I recommend using network plugs ( cat5 ) for your balance leads as that white balance plug gets worn out very quickly. Running 3 x 20v 30 amps on a 48v 1000w rear hub.

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Tobias Cooper Great tip. Thanks.

[@DDCRExposed]

I've been wanting to do this for a while now. The links you've provided will definitely get me out there and make an eBike as well. I've been watching laptop battery prices on eBay for a while now and I'm just waiting for a good time to snatch a batch of them. Thanks for all the info! I look forward to making one as well.

[@w19ely85]

Nice little project, I actually find that 7s works better for 24v as nominal voltage of a 6s battery is only 22.2v

[@BastelPichi]

i think he used 6s because the imax b6 cant charge above 6s

[@jehugarcia]

Very cool project

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

jehugarcia Thanks!

[@MrMenime32]

are not they with 3.7v???? they are 4.2v?

[@jehugarcia]

3.7v nominal 4.2v 100% SOC

[@MrMenime32]

thank you

[@alexsalsemp]

an what about their amps , these batteries might be about 1c or 1.5c .

[@rutatutut]

YES! I love the joy in your voice @ 7:46. Thumbs up.

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Kevin R. That was a pretty great moment. I love getting first tests caught on camera.

[@175griffin]

A very good source of 18650s is a guy on eBay called alarmhookup. you can get new brand name cells for about $1.50 in 36v 10s2p packs. Each cell has at least 2.2ah and is rated for high current. I believe they were originally made for those self balancing "hoverboards" but when that fad went out of style there was a lot of surplus batteries

[@DoRC]

You can easily setup an arduino with a solenoid to cut the on time of that welder down so it wouldnt blow holes in the cells.

[@jerryreed2857]

You did a better job of explaining the balance charging. Thanks for the video....I needed it.

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Jerry Reed Thanks, glad to help!

[@tsilentgeni0457]

I loved this video! But I have got a lot of questions unanswered! 1. Can we change gears?(If yes, please do make a tutorial for that as well) 2. What happens when we apply sudden breaks without switching off the motor or do we have to always switch off the motor first and then apply breaks? 3. Does the battery get charged once we manually pedal the bike? If yes, Do the batteries get damaged if we overcharge them by pedalling? And how much do we have to pedal to get a full charge? 4. How did you connect the motor? 5. How long will this battery last? 6. (A problem) My batteries were of about3.6-.7 v! PLEASE MAKE THE PART II ASAP IN ORDER TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS!!! PLEASE!!

[@DMAN22yeah]

+Tsilent Geni0 there is a lot of ifs in the questions you asked, so i will pick what i think you meant. 1: if you have a rear hub motor, yes you can have gears too 2: most hub motor kits have special brake levers that deactivate the motor when braking 3: unless the hub has regen braking built in no, and it would just be better to regen downhill, not when pedaling 4: he hooked it up to the pos and neg of motor controller 5: it depends how many watts you are using, average is 20wh/mi at 12 mph 6: an 18650 is 3.6v nominal, full they are 4.2 volts. hope this helps.

[@grahammcdonald]

That's a lot of work time and effort! Fun to watch, though I'm no way attempting that!

[@Splortched]

Congrats on turning a turd into gold! Love how you explain this and how you designed this. I'm building a pack soon and will use this wiring design.

[@shaneweightman]

Good one ,,I have a plan of buying the kit and getting 48 volt motor etc,, was gonna use 4 motor cycle battery's ,,,about 160 uk pounds for the battery's not sure what the range will be thanks Shane uk

[@basacis]

That's a mad science video if ever there was one. Hopefully you get some good use out of bike version 0.1.

[@prettylegit0101]

hi, so with a balance charger you will not need a BMS glued to the battery pack itself? But you can soder the balance wires to the battery pack and connect the other end to the balance charger. That's so cool, i hope i understood everything right... (im not that good at this stuff, but im learning.) I'm trying to make a 48v 20amp battery pack using laptop batteries i got from batteries and bulb store.

[@steveauguste4498]

Great video! I appreciate your professionalism. You mention the electric motor being 24V, but how many watts is the electric motor?

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

+Steve Auguste Mine is 450 watts, but I'd like to upgrade to the 1000W motor.

[@paulrallo5570]

Killer project! I had one of those 2-stroke bicycle kits about a year ago -- it was so much fun, but someone stole it, so I've been looking for a new project for awhile now. I was going to build a new 2-stroke, but I think you might have inspired me to go green! :-)

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Paul Rallo Awesome! This was a really fun DIY. Go for it!

[@TerminalTwo]

Hey, awesome video! Can you tell what are the specifications of your 24volt motor or the exact brand which manufactures it?

[@adrianwagenhurst8984]

Thank you for this video!!! I was wondering as to what settings the iMax was set to for charging?

[@matto-san7631]

I didn't notice any discharge protection. Li-ions get damaged if they're discharged below 2.5V. Usually you'd put in a circuit that disconnects them from the load when they discharge to about 2.5V.

[@saltlakrids]

What a nice job. I hope it still runs very well! :D I'm currently in the making of a similar project. What gauge wire did you use for the battery, and is there any reason you didn't go for nickel strip welding instead of solid copper wire? Thanks

[@valveman12]

Hi Mike I have a question about balance charging. I don't understand how you are going to benefit from using a balance charger if the batteries are already connected in series and parallel. Wouldn't you need to disconnect the series connections before connecting the balance charger so you have isolation of each bank?

[@xiHasMilkx]

A bit of background before going into why balance charging is needed. Manufacturing is never perfect, the same batch of batteries coming off the same assembly line has different properties (max charge voltage, capacity, internal resistances, rate of discharge, etc etc.) This means that as you are using the batteries, the batteries will become out of balance for those that are in series. Those that are connected in parallel will maintain the same charge(self balancing), and you can view 1 pack of parallel connected batteries as one big battery. In this video, the configuration is 6s 12P, but you can also look at it as just 6 different packs of batteries that are going out of balance. Without the balance charger, the packs of batteries that are in series will go out of balance, eventually causing more and more charge loss, lowers lifespan of the batteries, and losing the full capabilities of your batteries (imagine the first pack being charged to 4.2V, while the 6th pack is only 3.9V) basically, the balance charger looks at the every point of connection in series and figure out whether or not the battery is in balance (first pack have 3.7V, 2nd pack have 7.4V, 3rd pack have 11.1V, and so on). If the numbers don't match those values, it will redistribute the charge between the packs so that they maintain perfect balance

[@valveman12]

I understand Balance Charging and thank you for the reply. The Batteries in Parallel yes will get the same voltage. I am just thinking since every cell is different. One cell may act as a sink if they have lost some capacity. It's is most likely this will happen as the pack gets older and therefore may cause charging issues. On the other hand, I see it would be a nightmare to balance every cell individually. Therefore, I suppose the answer to my question is that compromises must be made in light of reducing complexity.

[@NaluRash]

Awesome build Mike!

[@mibjt]

Cool! Just to confirm, the batteries scrounged from the laptop battery packs are they of different milliamps?

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

+mibjt Correct

[@singh2695]

yea different old cells and different mah how much mah minimum i need one cell

[@cybercapri]

Hey Mike, Here's a thought I had, when you consider making your next battery box you might want to consider this, design it to make the batteries removable. Those plastic clips look like they worked like a champ and if you can run copper for a busbar maybe you can attach the plastic clips to the wood with the busbar pinched between the wood and plastic, then you will have a top and bottom that will come apart without the need to solder. It sounds good in my head when I first thought of it, but now I I ponder a bit the logistics does not seem to add up; but think about it, maybe you can come up with a working solution. I don't solder well, small connections that is, I'm a wiz with plumbing but tiny connections is NOT ME. Oh, getting back to the battery box, you may want to use threaded rod in 4 spots throughout the middle to provide support and to structure. A nut on both sides would secure the threaded rod to the box bottom and then a nut and washer at the top can be used as a leveling system for the over all cover. I don't have the ability to "DO" as I once did due to old age and past injuries but my mind still has some ideas; some of them useful... LOL... Something else you may want to consider is making a battery locking system so that you won't have to take the laptop batteries apart in the first place, just lock it into a cover system. If one needs charged, or replaced, it's easily done. Great use of low priced items...

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Paul Bialozor Great ideas. I would be a little concerned about making contact with all 72 batteries all at once. If even one cell slipped down or something, the whole pack voltage would be off. But I do like the idea of quick replacement and repair if needed.

[@cybercapri]

Mike and Lauren Yeah, the more I thought about it the less sense it seemed to make, but the idea is plausible if you can work out the mechanics... LOL... Do you think that is a way to make an external connection for the battery pack itself? That way all you would need to do is replace each 10 dollar Laptop Battery as it went back...

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

You could if you bought newer laptop batteries. Some of the cheap ones are cheap because they have one bad cell.

[@RidwanMaassarani]

You talk about grouping cells and arrangement. In the update, you mention they are off balance. What does this mean ?

[@bestelectronicmusicfromnew5189]

I went for the opposite conversion... I made a 60 cell lenovo power pack for my laptop... too a 48v battery and devided it into 4 12v elements and equalized the voltage to my 9 cell lenovo and joined to the 9 cell with 4x plugs.

[@johnnyzee383]

Good work...I am redoing my 92 volt pack and instead of using nickle strip using the copper that you did as I had a problem with huge resistance on mine. The little 50 watt charger WILL NOT be able to charge that pack..lol..maybe in 2 weeks... ;) Im wondering because you are using thick copper instead of very thin nickle sheet, what kind of sag do you get?..do you have a watt meter to measure this?... You havent attached any balance wires...how are you going to balance the pack?

[@Olejo111]

From laptop commonly it come with individual BMS each.

[@johnnybenson2169]

Very impressive work and an enjoyable video. What are the chances that the old laptop cells you get are so old they are left with only a few cycles? Is it worth the $100? You mentioned buying even DEAD laptop cells from ebay for this. How can Dead cells be usable if they are really dead? You mean they look dead but are not dead , right?

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

+Johnny Benson Generally a dead laptop battery means it has one bad CELL out of 6. The other 5 usually have plenty of life left in them.

[@johnnybenson2169]

Mike and Lauren Genius!

[@joblessalex]

There's more than likely about half to 3/4 good cells. Out of the good cells, half of those should be high capacity.

[@johnnybenson2169]

joblessalex Thanks for sharing , bro. Very nice video.

[@TheZProtocol]

What is the motor from? Where can you get one? Also, does it have an individual sprocket that freewheels as well? Any modifications to mount it in the bicycle frame? Did you to the drop solder blob trick in order for not heating up and damaging the cells? I can't buy/make my own spot welder (trying to keep costs down). Thank you and greatly appreciate your reply!

[@jeremypatrickdahan]

Hello Mike, great video ! About the battery spacers, are they good and sturdy ? I always try to get reviews for mechanical parts I find on eBay, especially if they come from China, would you recommend using these ?

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Jeremy Dahan Once together they are very solid. But the spacers themselves are kind of weak. I made a mistake and had to switch some batteries around and two of the spacers broke in half.

[@NexiTech]

Isn't better to add balance cable leads to the last battery in the pack not the first? It seems that all the time first battery on every pack is going to dry out first and charge first. Or is it better to add balance leads to every battery with same cable length and then connect them all to balanced cable?.What is better solution? Thanks :)

[@JeffersonRamalho1]

Hi, I'm from Brazil, congratulations! I'll try to make my own 18650 bike lipo pack too. What was the battery life of this project?

[@yavuzzirhlisi]

hello sir. nice video guide... i will try an electric bike kit for my 26" MTB. and buy 1000w hub motor kit. i can solve my battery problem (expensive you know) with yout video. i have some questions,1. the smart charger in this video fits only li-ion batteries? 2. do i try to build 18650 battery pack or lifepo4 (38120) battery pack with BMS (its little expesive choice)?3. i saw 18650 and 26650 li ion batteries which are more powerful such as 6000 - 8000 mah. i think they are fake??? i need 48v 10ah minimum i guess as a pack ????your advices are important. thanks for all...

[@Vidgester1999]

Hey, I loved your video! I was wondering how thick the copper wire was that you used to solder together the cells. Is thicker or thinner better?

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

+Vidgester1999 I used 12 gauge solid core wire and stripped the coating off.

[@Nasonix2]

Hi I'm new to learning how to solder but plan on watching more videos on how to do it. Someone said nickel plated solder is not a good idea. And side from that, I'm trying to find out which soldering iron specs I need to look for in order to do this right. I'd like to stay within a 25$ range for the soldering iron if possible. I see ones online that are 60-100Watts for $17 but say nickel plated iron tips. I'm wondering if that's a bad thing. What wattage should I look for in order to do this job right? Ideally I'd like to start off with a battery pack just like this guy's setup. And then after seeing how that one performs, make a 2nd one to double the range. So please, any helpful guidance in finding a low cost soldering iron kit, without compromising any necessary quality would be highly appreciated. Thank you!

[@sparky5399]

I used 7 blocks of 12 18650 recycled cells to power a 24v Homelite push lawn mower. It works fantastic and can mow my lawn for about 2hrs each mowing takes a bit less than 1hr. The lead acid batteries in it were week so I got it for nothing. I bought a box of good (2.5Ah) Panasonic cells for about $1.50, a much better way to get cells than cracking laptop battery boxes and then about half the cells are bad or week, and it's a lot of work. You simply must check out Jehu Garcia's VW bus powered by blocks of these things.

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Sparky! Love the eSamba project! Where did you find the panasonic cells so cheap?

[@razvyjohn436]

Hello. I have a question. I have an 24V electric scooter and I want to change the 2S 12V Pb-Acid to a li-ion battery pack cells for improved range . My question is: Do I have to put 6S or 7S li-ion cells in a pack, to supply the 24V motor? Some chargers and BMS for 24V electric bike are labeled for 7S li-ion pack. For example, the 24V electric li-ion charger on the market (ebay) has an output voltage of 29.4V (4.2V x 7) and also the BMS for 24V it says 7S configuration. Some people make packs with 6S. I don't know what to choose between 6S and 7S. I don't want to fry my 24V motor. Please help me with an explanation. Thank you.

[@kaizze8777]

Does it matter what current each battery is? Or is it making sure they all charge up to 4.1x volts to ensure they are usable?

[@B-Ware321]

So the ground wire and all the others go on the negative terminals with the last going positive? Just want to quadruple check.

[@Demsy7]

hi Mike thank you for reply...do you used power supply for you imax B6 or just adapter cable? and if i count you battery you discharge below 2Volt and 2ahm you battrery? am i rite? thank you

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Demsy Rumampuk Depends on the model. I would get the Imax B6AC which has the power supply built in. I'm not sure what you mean about discharge. The imax has a discharge setting which drains the batteries and calculates the capacity.

[@johncarr123]

Can you add a BMS to the battery so you don't discharge below the nominal voltage?

[@BryceByerley]

it's been a while since you posted this, but what is your recommendation on how to discharge the batteries after the first charge.

[@matthiaswandel]

If you try to use batteries from a pack that has been unused for a few years, you have junk batteries. Batteries self discharge over time. And undercharged batteries deteriorate rapidly. This is why if you park a Tesla with dead batteries for a few months, you need to replace the batteries. This is why unused lithium batteries are almost always junk.

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Matthias Wandel Not junk, just not as useful and the price should reflect that. A "dead" lith-ion cell can have a capacity of 800-1000mA if revived. A good price for cells is about $1 per AH. So, if you paid more than $6 dollars for a "dead" laptop battery you got a bad deal. $12 dollars for a "used" but working one is a good price (assuming 2000mAH useful capacity). I tested all of my laptop batteries before cracking them open with a couple razor blades and a meter. i.imgur.com/YG2jw0E.jpg Any cells below 3.0V got returned. I ended up only having to return one. They were manufactured in 2012. But yes, a Tesla with 1/3 of it's original range is not ideal.

[@mb3581]

Mike and Lauren I am certainly no expert, but have you considered using LiFePO4 (Lithium-Iron Phosphate) cells? They are much safer than standard Li-Ion (I'm assuming these are lithium cobalt?) but the biggest factor to me is the cycle life. They may be more expensive (not sure about that) and don't have quite as good energy density, but you can get many more charging cycles out of the Lithium Phosphate batteries before needing to replace them. Between the long-term cost of ownership and safety factory, it would definitely be worth researching before building your next pack. Lithium Phosphate batteries are fairly robust against being deeply discharged. Using the proper electronics, they can protect themselves from being too deeply discharged in the first place by opening up the FETs and disconnecting the cells from the terminals. (To be fair, the same might can be said for Li-Ion...again, not an expert but I do have some experience with LiFePO). You shouldn't really run into any irreversible issues unless the cells go into cell reversal...at that point the cell chemistry has been changed, the bad cell dips into negative voltage, and you can't recover it. We use 40A/hr Lithium Phosphate packs at the company I work for and are able to charge them safely at 20A. Our particular batteries can be put into "shelf mode" for long-term storage and they are rated at 2500 cycles to 80% capacity (4500 to 60%) at 100% depth of discharge. They can recharge from 0% SOC to 100% SOC in just a hair under 2 1/2 hours. In real-world test cases, the capacity curve is remarkably linear and, should remain so, from brand new all the way to 0% capacity so you don't reach cliff where one day it works great and the next day it doesn't like with SLA batteries.

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Michael Baker LiFePO4 batteries would be better for this application, but they are not cheap or readily available yet (on the used market). A lot of the reason you can pick up these lithium cobalt cells so cheap is because it's kind of old technology.

[@kenandrebeach7900]

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[@ShanLiuGBM]

Matthias Wandel You call it junk, so let me buy it for cheap, if you sell me a "bad" tesla battery set, I will be forever in your debt. We love people who don't uderstand value of things.

[@versatec1]

Hi ..Great vid...have you got the link for the expandable 18650 holders? Thanks

[@morsonstudios8995]

Does it matter which points on the battery you have the extended bits of wire to connect to the bike?

[@ABIZAR_PRISTEL]

its amazing mike,where you buy batery holder

[@HughTube]

Quick question.... how come it is ok to put different mAh batteries together in a pack?

[@DannyTillotson]

Any more updates on your ebikes and batteries? Curious to see how it's going.

[@88s10Durango]

Cool , about how many Amp Hours is this battery bank ?

[@freedabicicletaselectricas1685]

Hi Mike, can you tell me what power is the motor? or how many amp the controller accept? thanks!

[@derrickcushshon7476]

have you ever considered using a variac to slightly lower the power of your spot welder so it wont melt holes in the batteries?

[@electronicartis]

Hi just checking is this battery pack still working.

[@danhle1032]

you mentioned grouping batteries of similar capacity together to make each "cell" and show how the crappier batteries will need more of them to make the same capacity, but your finished pack has an equal amount of batteries in all 6 cells. How did that happen? Could that be a reason for the weakness of the range of the batteries?

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

danh le I just wanted to experiment with it. It turned out my pack was unbalanced and I need to add a few cells to 2 of the groups.

[@bam1314]

Nice job. You are so right the batteries off of Ebay are very unreliable. Thanks for the info.

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Bill Mader You're welcome. From what I've read they actually just take dead cells and wrap them in new plastic. It's pathetic.

[@danmortenson9779]

I ride a recumbent trike with a 48v 1000w 10ah system installed. I want to make myself a 20ah pack, but with all the videos here on batteries, I've yet to find the answer to the question of how to hook up a bms. Yes, I know about connecting the bms wiring to the pack; that's simple. But how do I ensure that to charge the pack, all I have to do is feed it power from the charger?... as in most commercial power chargers. I don't want to have to hook it up to an iMax balance port every time I charge it, because even if I didn't mind the trouble of doing so, the timing of the balance phase is also not explained anywhere. I've got WHY balance down; I just need some WHEN balance...

[@sp3cialck]

+dan mortenson Balance your cells with the iMax before you make the pack, and after let the BMS do the work!

[@Demsy7]

hey Mike great video i try to make battrey for my ebike using your video..i have ebike motor 48 volt 1000 watt. if i build 48 volt battrey should be i double the battrey or there other way to make ? if you just 24 volt need cell 72 battrey if i make 48 volt should be 144 battrey? and how i conect the 12 block battrey to balance the charge ?thank you mike

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Demsy Rumampuk You would make 2 of these battery packs, and charge them separately. When you hook up to the bike, wire the two 24V packs in series to get your 48 volts. I'll be doing the same thing here in a few months!

[@amazingcreativitywork1438]

I make a 24v 15ah battery pack.The best 18650 (....) mah and how many batteries are needed? Please say if any kind of BMS will take place

[@KetansaCreatesArt]

Hello, Was wondering who else does ithis after Rinoa.:))) great work. So, if 4.1v is the full charge for 3.7v cell, then for the 24 volts battery pack to be fully charged the voltage should reach 28 volts right?

[@KetansaCreatesArt]

Forgot to tell, Rinoa said his pack give 200mile range. 😮

[@DMAN22yeah]

+Kketansa Art 4.2v is full charge, use 7 in series for 24v systems

[@KetansaCreatesArt]

DMAN22yeah Hello, thank you:) Actually what I was asking - If 3.7v cell, when full charged = 4.2v(charging cut off). Then, 7 in series 24v, when full charged = how much cut off limit voltage?

[@DMAN22yeah]

Kketansa Art you need to have a balance charger, so use a 7s balance charger. 3.7v on a cell open circut is fairly low charge. 4.2v is full charge. a 7s battery will give 29.4v, which will give you extra power and less voltage drop

[@hermannnicholsson132]

Thanks Bro. ...... this is exactly Wat I needed... I'm building a 24v ebike.... just got my 18650 dead laptop batteries and I'm doing the test now to check the capacity... how to stay in touch... God bless u..

[@hermannnicholsson132]

Hope to stay in touch##

[@VoltageLP]

What kind of flux do you use for battery soldering?

[@matamipru]

Hi my name is Mike friend Matheus I'm from Brazil! Everything good with you? I need to know how to leverage the built-in charger contained within the laptop batteries. I ordered imax b6 charger on ebay but it takes two months to arrive, during this time I really want an alternative to recharge the battery I'm doing. Thank you very much for your time friend Mike, your videos help me save my money !!!

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

+matamipru I would suggest looking up how to make a "DC power supply" from an old computer power supply. If you can dial in exactly 4.1 volts you can charge them individually.

[@joewarrick6043]

I am a reseller. I buy items from a certain auction I like. It’s all new stuff that either didn’t get delivered or was sent back. I buy laptop batteries almost on a daily basis. I get them for 2.99 each. I’ve been looking for an idea of what to use them for. Think I found it

[@Swirlstudios]

I've been waiting for this for so long. Thanks! Great video!

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Swirlstudios You're welcome! Let me know if I missed anything, or if you have questions.

[@Swirlstudios]

Mike and Lauren Have you tested the top speed for the e-bike?

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Since its 24V it's pretty slow. 12-15 mph. But the new hub motor I'm getting will be 15-20 mph.

[@Flyingwigs]

you should mention that to test the capacity, you should first fully charge the cell, then discharge to the minimum voltage. and the cutoff should be set just above the rated minimum voltage to prevent damaging the cells. *edit* yeah ok, you do say that bit :P my bad

[@phizicks]

phoah that welder. dude, get a super capacitor to do the welding so at least its discharge itself through and eventually stop. having a switch which is constant until you stop is a no no in my eyes. hopefully others can try use this method instead and use a couple of farad caps or something. even if you had put some limiter to stop after X amps for X time would be good.

[@Scott-pz1tt]

Hey Mike. I also bought an imax b6 off ebay and turns out it's a knock off. The knockoffs unfortunately over charge the batteries. You can tell by the SkyRC sticker on the back with a 4 or 6 digit number that you can check on their website to verify it's genuine. There are some good videos on youtube that outline the issues with the knockoffs. Thought this may be useful to you and your viewers. Does your battery pack have the sticker?

[@EngineeringNibbles]

it's definitely a knock off.

[@EFA22000]

Hi, I'm a few months behind you and I've stop my project because of the spot welding issue. So my question is : How did the soldering affect the cells? Were you able to measure it?

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

+EFA22000 I didn't attempt to measure any loss in capacity, but the battery pack is still working well.

[@garyjaffe9845]

+Mike and Lauren Can you tell me what pulse length you used, and the voltage output of your spot welder? If you lessened the pulse length, or lowered the voltage, could it have been more successful? Thank you

[@joblessalex]

+EFA22000 I soldered mine, no problem whatsoever. I even used buss bars of thick copper and a 450C iron temp. Some I even used two irons together to get the thermal mass! These guys are just scared for no reason. Be as quick as you can, but even if you aren't you should be fine.

[@EFA22000]

+joblessalex Ok thanks

[@akatamarvelous4687]

Hey man like you video, I would like to know how you can discharge 24 pack of battery with the imax charger cos I know the discharge can only be 1cell at a time on imax

[@mikex8254]

i found a tip from alibaba wrap finger tips in polyimide kapton tape to protect against shock when touching batteries. battery sparks can disintergrate volt metre probe tips so imagine damage to finger bones

[@dynten1]

Hi nice work! Due to your comments about the ebay 18650 and that they are bad/fake. The iMax B6 you are using are also a fake model!! I am not sure if you have read up about it and I dont want to be rude or anything. Just check it up and if I am wrong please correct me! Keep up the good work!

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

It may be fake but it doesn't affect the performance. The fake 18650s are not reliable enough to use.

[@ElectronicCreations]

If it don't have ''fake check code'' under it it is fake. Fake iMax overcharge the batteries.

[@cazzacowie243]

N

[@cazzacowie243]

Anderz Hellgren

[@kozdedemlibicay]

hy mıke your perfect :)but I have to you ask a questıon .you take it how many amps from the battery?I'd be happy if you answer my questıon.

[@skyerenard8939]

I am curious on how many AH that would be if set up as 12v rather then 48 (can't remember if that is what you set it up as). I am wondering as I am trying to replace my current setup that is 12v 95AH. I am assuming higher volt makes lower AH but still has the same amount of energy. just different configuration. any help figuring this out would be nice

[@Brant_Channel]

nice tutorial. I'll make one battery for electric skateboard.

[@kayquexavier]

What is the problem with your side mount electric bike?

[@harveyboy45]

Hi I have an error 8 message on my Chinese 1500 watt 48v ebikemotor kit any ideas why the motor will not switch on? There is no pas attachment. Only one white wire not attached to the motor to controller. Brakes not attached. Pas not attached. Sensor not attached. Thanks Robert

[@valveman12]

I like your neat workshop and the way you tools are organized. Just a few comments. You can still use your spot welder for battery tab spot welding. Go to Ebay and buy a timer circuit like this one: Search: DC 12V DC Multifunction Self-lock Relay PLC Cycle Timer Module Delay Time Switch It will allow you to set on time down to 0.1seconds. Therefore you will not burn through. I am glad to hear you are going to put on balance charging. Good video and nice job on the batteries.

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

valveman12 Thanks for the tips! I'll check out the timer circuit.

[@valveman12]

+Mike and Lauren I built my own Spot Welder from a Microwave Oven and using the timer will prevent the problem you were having. You should try it on some test pieces to discover the correct on time.

[@slendertv5682]

Simple questions. I'm just starting out learning alot of this stuff but I'm still a little confused about one thing. Each battery holds about 3.7v and my motor is 24v so wouldn't I need somewhere around 7 ion batteries to build a 24v battery. I see in the video you have much more than obviously so either your system needs more power or is it that you can use more 18650s and make it distribute 24 for a longer period of time. Again it's a pretty novice question but we were all novice once.

[@oldfard]

yes..that is amp hours..24 volts for longer time

[@pkdk3003]

i want to make 36v 10ah battery for my bike i have a 36v 250w motor if you could guide me how can i connect the battery to the controller inside the bike do i have to solder the connector? thanks.

[@tubularap]

Best is to use plug and socket connections between battery-pack and controller, instead of a fixed connection. So that at anytime you can unplug and test or swap. Thus do not solder to a controller.

[@ketoi12345678]

How did you organize the batteries? For each cells in one block, do they have to match capacity? And for each block, do they have to match capacity too? I'm bulding 48v pack, 13s10p but I'm still confuse how to organize them.

[@DMAN22yeah]

+ketoi12345678 each series pack has to be very close in capacity but each 18650 doesnt matter just mix and match until each parallel cell is similar

[@ManikantaRaju]

thats a good pack! but is it good to use the pack without a BMS :O

[@mehmetbagmanc1753]

Good video. Could you give me link or specs of Cooper wire,?

[@daniele-nocentini]

Hi! I need to build a 36v battery for Bosch engine, how many batteries I need to build a battery pack for ride about 50 miles with climbs?

[@sandunuindeepa4004]

Which motor did you use and how did you find it😀

[@romanitzki]

Can you please provide a link to where you bought the battery holders? I have issues finding them in Germany. On eBay I can only find some shipped from Australia.

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Roman Seibel Here they are: goo.gl/2o7YBE

[@romanitzki]

Thank you!

[@ivokun]

Do you have any recommend seller in Ebay for battery?

[@TheGrimshaw]

Can you tell me what voltage settings did you ues to charge it?

[@DanielQuirinodeOliveira]

How do you get the solder to stick to the batteries?

[@zakwithey9647]

what temperature is your soldering station set at

[@ebike8283]

I think you can do 36V on the pre-2009 currie ezip trailz. I have a post-2009 version so if it's over 29v, it won't start.

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

ebike Interesting. I'll have to check that out!

[@Tony0THUNDERCAT0Reynolds]

Did you not charge all the cells first,dong mine at the moment,can only do 2 at a time and I go 117 cells 3-4hours per 2 batteries 13s 9p,all kicking out 4.2v after charge

[@nautitard]

I will have my electrical bike with me in my van, in which I don't have access to 230 V and don't like the idea of going through an inverter. Are there any good charging solutions directly from 12 V?

[@DaveK-FL]

HiTech X4-80 will run off 12v

[@siddharthwadhwani8181]

hey hello...can u please guidr how to make a balance charger of our own..

[@mnhsty]

Mike - I have an old ebike that was originally powered with a custom made lead acid battery to fit in the case, but these batteries are no longer available. Do you think I can get up and running again by making a lithium pack?

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

+Ron Warrick That's exactly what my bike was. It originally used lead acid batteries.

[@mnhsty]

+Mike and Lauren Thanks. I was concerned maybe the peak current draw would be too much unless I change the controller also.

[@DMAN22yeah]

+Ron Warrick you might want to watch julian illets ebike sla to lifepo4 conversion, he does exactly what you are talking about.

[@gotbletu]

Electric Skateboard next?

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

gotbletu I don't skateboard. I have some friends that long board but I just never got into it for some reason.

[@makesaveinccomm]

Mike and Lauren bike good exercise and ride for commute rater than skateboard for hobby most likely.