Removing a dead cell on a lipo - 6s to 4s conversion

[@Tejaye777]

The hardest part of this whole situation actually is soldering on to the aluminum tabs. Usually you need a special Aluminum flux which is harder to get. Or you apply Oil to the surface to prevent Oxygen from reacting with the surface and oxidizing it, scraping out the oxide layer that already exist and applying very lots of heat.

[@the4hunters]

Man watching him hold the batteries and terminals almost touching each other is nerve wracking, kudos for doing this video

[@Vortecks]

When you've done it as many times as me, it becomes easy. I always expect something to go wrong so an explosion won't come as a shock to me 🤣

[@alensomek5216]

You can always discharge cell by cell, or bypass dead cell and discharge 5S cell to 3.1-3.2V and then deal with cells with small amount energy in them.

[@ahaveland]

Nicely done Tony! After your disclaimer, I was half-expecting flames!

[@Vortecks]

I'm still watching it, just in case there are :-)

[@michaellaframboise7646]

Hi,great video....I would take a blow dryer and put a little heat on that sticky white cover!might just peel right off and

[@simonsalt5169]

Dude this is like so close from fire haha... My palms are sweating literally, watching that vid dude

[@highflying82]

Thank you i just converted a brand new 6s 5000 i dropped and poped a cell .. into a 4s .. all works great .. just saved me £80 on a new 4s 👌👍😎

[@cncdavenz]

Hi Tony, I have done this before but I had a large bucket of water beside the bench so I could drop it in if the fire started coming out. Keep up the very interesting videos. Cheers Dave.

[@Vortecks]

Thanks for the tip, Dave. You're very cautious but it wouldn't be me without a bit of danger lurking in the background :-)

[@S30Uploads]

you should have an empty ceramic bucket and another of sand. Water wont put out a lithium fire hahaha just bubbles.

[@yugalsharma13]

Lithium reacts with water, doesn't it? 🤔

[@runforitman]

Water will worsen lithium fires

[@neptunes_hunter1321]

How to know negative and positive?

[@johnal4560]

how did u disordered this i use 500 w iron but still could not separate it and what did u use to solder it again do u have any other video to show thx

[@lloydprunier4415]

Very neat job. I have not had any luck soldering tabs on any lipos. Last one I tried was a camera battery and the tabs ended up breaking off so short that I can't attach anything.

[@Vortecks]

It's certainly an art and the first one I tried a few years ago, didn't work. I've realised that the tabs must have some solder left on them because they're impossible to put fresh solder on.

[@Duval_builds]

the tabs on them batteries are aluminum so it's virtually impossible to put normal solder on them.

[@Vortecks]

The art of it is, you cut the tag in the middle so you leave solder on all the tags. Aluminium oxide forms VERY quickly when exposed to air (within 10 seconds) and your solder won't stick to it. The best way to solder it is...... clean the part with wire wool and immediately wipe it with engine oil (any oil will do really) and then, you should be able to solder it with a very hot solder tip. One day, I might to a video showing how easy it really is :-)

[@Fpvfixit]

Saad

[@goku445]

​@@Vortecks Use aluminium flux!

[@jstump1972]

So I have a 4s and 1 cell is just not coming up to the same full charge as the others, lik 3 go to 4.2 and the one only goes too 3.10 not sure what to do with it :(

[@iindicaii]

Should go up sequentially. 1,2,3,4,5 etc

[@MonkeySwing]

I have this same exact battery and am struggling with the dimension. It's a bit too thick for my application, so I've been considering taking it apart and making it (2) side-by-side stacks of 3 cells. It would be ideal to still keep it as a single 6S battery for the sake of charging. Is that possible? It looks like I'd have to cut two tabs in half and then somehow bridge the tabs with a wire. How hard is it to solder a wire onto the tabs?

[@EnglishTurbines]

Well done Tony, saving the Planet for us..Lol....Your new title, "Tony the Reclaimer"....I have two 10amp and two 5amp 4S Lipos from this brand...They are pretty cheap compared to the others, but so far no probs...I suppose you tried to trickle revive the dead cell first..?...It sometimes works.

[@Vortecks]

Saving the planet? I was more concerned about saving a few quid :-) I did try to revive it but it wasn't having it. After I took it out, I tried again but it ended up puffing the cell.

[@EnglishTurbines]

Vortecks Lol...yeah cant fault you, its always nice to rescue something from the ashes...Hows the Mini Talon coming along..? I just got my first APM 2.8 FC..cheap...its hard work learning, but fun doing it....I love the Arducam Micro Minim OSD too....:)

[@Vortecks]

The MT build is nearly done. Part 1 should be next weekend :-) I'm finished with APM stuff. I had a bad experience with a 2.6 where a quad decided to bury itself into my living room wall for no reason - it was hovering fine until......

[@EnglishTurbines]

Vortecks Oh dear, well mine will be in the safety of a plane....Not nearly as risky...I hope....:)

[@Vortecks]

Make the most of it mate, we're all stuffed by the end of the year when the hobby will stop. I'll be doing a video about the new EASA legislation next weekend :-(

[@ksrnate]

Hi mate, I'm about to build a 6s from 2 4s packs, one had a dead cell so I'm making a 6s, can I ask when I solder on the balance plug does each wire go to the positive of each cell? So black to negative and the 5 others to each cell on the positive side? Thanks

[@Vortecks]

Correct! When you've finished, you need to make sure you've wired it correctly...... Get your multimeter, put your negative probe to negative on the balance connector and put the positive probe to the next terminal and it should read the first cell voltage. Move on to the next pin and it should read the sum of the first 2 cells. Move to the next and it should read the sum of 3 cells etc. When you get to the last connector, it should read the full voltage of the pack.

[@ksrnate]

@@Vortecks I see! Brilliant thanks for the reply and the video :)

[@farleyj1999]

What size shrink tube did you use for the finished battery

[@hex9688]

Pretty sure you only have a 4400mah 4s now..... 2 of the cells were removed, and as such 2/6th of the capacity...

[@Vortecks]

I'm sorry to tell you but it doesn't work like that.

[@88madsnake]

@@Vortecks Then please explain how you maintain 100% energy storage when a third of the cells have been taken away? do you think the remaining cells now store MORE energy just because the label on the battery says 6600mah?

[@Vortecks]

@@88madsnake A 6600mAh battery is a 6600mAh battery no matter how many cells it has. If I tested each cell, it would still be 6600mAh capacity but it would only charge to 4.2v

[@88madsnake]

@@Vortecks I apologise, you are indeed correct, i did some further research and it is as you say! I learned something today!

[@vortecksengineering884]

@@88madsnake 😁👍

[@onytabrayericmay]

whats the trick to get the solder to adhere to the tabs i have tryied doing this to 2 different brands of lipos and had the same exp

[@Vortecks]

The trick is, you leave the tab on the one you need to use. As you already know, it's virtually impossible to re-solder the tabs if they don't already have solder on them, so I cut the tabs from the dead cell and leave the soldered tabs behind.

[@goku445]

You can simply use aluminum flux, normal (copper) flux doesn't work on these tabs.

[@RobB_VK6ES]

As Jamie Oliver might say. Assembling LiPos is a pucker job...... Arse puckering :) I have rebuilt a few myself and I know just how nerve racking it can be. Not a job for the noobs or the clumsy. Where the balance leads cross over other tabs you should add some stout insulation rather than rely on the silicon insulation of the wire. see at around the 11 minute mark.

[@Vortecks]

Yup, you're right again Rob. I should have added some more protection over the balance leads but that's exactly how the battery was made. These clever Chinese people must know what they're doing :-)

[@billyshears9714]

I have a ton of 4s. Can i convert them to 6s

[@maximgolovashevich4651]

Clicked on the like right after reading the intro text :D

[@Vortecks]

Thank you 🤣🤣🤣

[@gejes9658]

Why didn't you take away cell 3 or 5 to make a 4 cell battery. You only have to solder two points and rearrange the plug. The rest stays the same.

[@Vortecks]

I couldn't because of the way the tags were spot-welded. The trouble is, you can't cut them off and solder any tags that aren't already soldered. During manufacture, they use a LOT of heat VERY quickly and it's virtually impossible to put fresh solder on any tag that doesn't already have solder on it. Does that make it clearer? :-)

[@geertjeklieder]

Does the amperage stay the same even when you take away two cells!?

[@RobB_VK6ES]

the C rating does not change

[@geertjeklieder]

Rob B but like in this case, It goes from a 6S 6600 mah to a 4s 6600?? Or does the miliamp hours also become less?!

[@Vortecks]

The mah stays the same, the C rating stays the same, the only change is the voltage. It's now a 4s 6600mah battery :-)

[@geertjeklieder]

Vortecks ow wow, I always thought since you took 2 cells away you also take a part of your miliamps away... funny... then now I have two 2200 mah 2cell lipos instead of 1450 mah ones.😂

[@Vortecks]

The mah is dictated by the cell size, the voltage is dictated by how many cells you have..... Simple as that :D If you split a 4s 2200mah battery in half, you have 2 x 2s 2200mah batteries

[@justins6465]

Thanks for the info👍💪

[@etab83]

Great video very interesting

[@Vortecks]

Thank you :-)

[@aaronfonseca6031]

What a great time to do this haha

[@mikelemon5109]

Those sh*t multi start batteries tend to die fairly easily happened to me too with a 6S 16mAh battery after a very little use.

[@ahaveland]

I try to avoid generalizing, but I've got 10 of them on my 1.5kW ebike since end of last year, all still working fine even after being balance charged almost daily, sometimes covering 40 miles. If there were any failures, I'd sure find out about it quickly, as they sit between my legs! While any cell could fail at any time with any battery, care and monitoring can go a long way to avoiding any mishaps. I try to keep them between 90%-40% state of charge, and only went down to 22% on one occasion. I would recommend them.

[@Vortecks]

^^^ What he said :-)

[@tomcrosse819]

Yeah fk that - looks too scary. Just going to buy a new one and not burn down my house

[@Vortecks]

It's easy..... when you know how :)

[@bdanielcal4608]

People so you know water will not put out these packs you need to smother it use sand

[@nikki33233]

Then you'll have only 14.8V

[@woohoosquadwhs3206]

This video should also be called (quick way to burn down your house)