Revive dead 18650 batteries (29) from severely damaged ebike battery pack

[@rickdff62]

Doood...I just fixed a couple of 18650s I had lying around and a Makita tool battery using you're technique. The magnet trick on the battery terminals to hold the leads is pure money. Thanks so much!

[@powerthoughtsontools4831]

I would have to review this video; but it is really commendable that you go through that whole process to truly determine a cell's potential for future use. Well done man! Would love to meet you!

[@scltechhelp9812]

You are my Bob Ross of Batteries and narration! Awesome videos!

[@Arubapower13]

One of the best videos for 18650 batteries

[@SailnowFun]

Just want to add my kudos for this procedure. I had a completely dead Iridium satellite battery that wouldn't charge. I didn't have a way to bridge the one that does work without a lot of hassle, so I used my volt meter's 9v output connection to do the same thing... 30 seconds. Worked perfectly, and the battery now accepts the charge.

[@marbesky]

I have been doing this paralel charging sorcery since 2004 with many lipo cells and 18650s 95% worked perfect

[@kmuralikrishna1582]

Really...? I have collected old/unused/scrap laptop battery packs. That packs have opned/breaked for cells. I want/need help how to check each cell, which one is good or dead. If dead how to make it restore it reuse make them active for re use for e-bike. I have volt meter for check voltage yes I'm checking also. Don't know which one is good or dead. Ex if cell has less than 1v then can I assume that cell is dead cell? After open that battery I need to charge it even tho if not charging do I need to follow the above steps(in the vedio which he did for reactive cell). Please reply

[@JarMagno]

what happen to the remaining 5%?

[@anggorotriatmojo1200]

@@kmuralikrishna1582 is the cells gonna dead again after it's charged or it remains become a good cell ?

[@lorditsprobingtime6668]

@@kmuralikrishna1582 He showed you cells well below "1 v" and how to deal with them successfully here. He also showed that down to a certain voltage that was below 1 volt at least some can return to pretty much full storage capacity (which I honestly didn't expect) and he showed that below a certain point it does affect the capacity. Personally I'd use a half decent multi charger like a Turnigy 1 he used in another video of his I saw except set it to NiCd or NiMh on a LOW current like maybe 300 Ma for several minutes till it came up to where a charger could recognise it as a lithium pack rather than paralleling it with a fully charged one because of the high current I would expect this way, even there he showed it wasn't as high as I was expecting and it I was more confident I'd probably try his way. I would be wary with some of the extremely high discharge LiPo packs I use because some of the ones I use are capable of huge currents and I wouldn't like to risk either that way. You said you've got a volt meter, just follow his directions here, he showed you exactly what to do in this video. If you can get the voltage up enough for the charger to recognise the battery then charge it normally once started then see if it holds it's charge, then if you have the means see what capacity it holds. Once again, a half reasonable multi charger like the Turnigy one he used in another video that are very cheap for what they can do can also discharge a battery and record the amount discharged so you can find that out. Either way, one the same or similar are surprisingly cheap and very versatile.

[@AsifAli-pt1tr]

@@anggorotriatmojo1200 I want that answer too if you find out then tell me brother

[@Neilhuny]

I've looked at quite a few of these battery related vids and this is much the best imo

[@luckylarz4269]

Good video I appreciate what you do and the Info you share! Thank you for the work you put in.👍

[@bellapool]

listening to you puts me in the mood for some Pho & Banh mi

[@Menstral]

@20:36 If the voltage is low... they are "pretty much toast". Funny,, you have mastered that idiom.

[@mochapella]

thank you so much for your clear and methodical demonstration. much appreciated!

[@aljsegovia]

Good explanation. I use to pre-charge those low-voltage cells with an old cell phone charger. It provides 5 vols, but the current is limited to 500 mA. 20 or 30 seconds are enough to achieve 2,5 or 3,0 volts. Voltmeter connected in parallel, just in case.

[@100roberthenry]

top tip on the parallel charge/ revive.... nice one man. gonna try this later.

[@JanErik1986]

Nice recovery of those cells. Clearly show they are not trash just cause they were drained completely. I haven't tried with cells lower then 1V on the Opus, but i have tried with several cells in the 1,12-1,45V range, and they did all charge up properly to 4.2V, and didn't stop at 1.5V (I'm curious what causes the charger to stop at 1.5V only with some of these low volt cells though?). An important thing to keep in mind is that while over-discharged li-ion batteries can safely be recovered, they are not all fully stable until ~3V from what i understand. Below the stable voltage the charge current should be limited to around ~0.1C (ref. Sanyo ur18650f datasheet, as an example), so to be on the safe side i would maybe recommend to use a resistor to limit the current when paralleling cells to boost the voltage up to a level where the charger accepts it.

[@E-BikingAdventures]

When the cells go too low, you need to go through several charge/discharge cycles. The capacity will improve.

[@viktorravnjak9413]

Do you have any proof of that

[@SaitoGray]

I've been doing it with a cut-off USB cable, works fine too ! Thanks a lot, you saved my battery salvaged from dead laptops !

[@Docbill57]

I tried this on an mp3 player that would not power on - opened case, tested battery at about 2V (rated at 3.7), applied 4.5V for about 30sec at which point battery tested at 2.8V, re-connected mp3 to charger for 30min, reset mp3 which powered on, reconnected to charger and mp3 is accepting charge. Thank you so much for your help!

[@CPUReD]

I'm glad im not the only one who loves this dudes accent.

[@Supercon57]

Thank you very much I have that same OPUS charger and was having a problem with some cells not charging because of their low voltage This is exactly what I needed!

[@davidstorton910]

Mate the trick with the box with cling film IT'S BRILLIANT

[@vuaeco]

This is what NASA uses to inspect moon rocks. :D

[@amberyooper]

I'm glad I found this video! This gives me some really useful information for trying to salvage cells from battery packs that won't charge. I think that half the problem with battery packs that won't charge is due to failure of the charge controller in the battery pack. I could be wrong about that, but it would explain sudden failures of battery packs.

[@anuruddhalogin]

Learned a lot from this video ! Thanks from Sri Lanka.

[@pointedspider]

i like to use a USB charger with a stripped USB cable to revive my batteries. Apply 5 volts for 10-15 seconds and it will raise battery voltage from 0.5 to 2.8-3 volts quick. i have some 18650s that i revived over 10 years ago by doing this and they are some of my strongest, longest lasting cells i have.

[@johnylmararingo14]

pointedspider how did you put the wires on the batteries? just either side is ok?

[@ahmettay2382]

@@johnylmararingo14 positive to positive, negative to negative. parallel.

[@Majestiicc12]

Awesome!! Are there any videos you can recommend me, based on YOUR experience with this sort of thing, that I can watch to get a grasp on this subject? It is so fascinating and absolutely limitless potential.

[@ahmettay2382]

@@Majestiicc12 dude you talk like gman in Half-Life

[@paveljelinek772]

Yea it boosts the battery, extend it's life.. You can do it many times until the bat. is very old, say 10 yrs, then it will short itself sooner or later (won't hold charge, that internal short causes it to self-discharge/then it's really dead)

[@exploitingtheirpower]

Your videos are so awesome very informative and entertaining. I was searching how to brake down e bike packs and came across your video I’m glade I did now I can start restoring batteries

[@Em.P14]

What a neat little dremel box

[@Anonymous-it5jw]

Thanks for this video. I have 3 chargers very similar to the ones you used, so I can test and bump up the voltage on my old batteries exactly as you did. I particularly liked your home-made box for safely removing battery corrosion using a Dremel-type rotary tool.

[@mhmdsaleh3502]

Hello .. how much does this charger cost ?

[@trhumblefun]

5 years have passed. Do you still recommend this method? Have alternative methods been found?

[@valvici3177]

Samsung INR18650-25R was one of the best 18650 cells ever made. It handles high current loads well (a max. continuous discharge of 20A) and has a good capacity of 2500mAh. INR18650-25R is now known as the *25R2* ( *blue* ) to distinguish it from a newer version of itself, the 25R5 ( *green* ) which came out in early 2015. From the blue INR18650-25R specs : - Max. continuous discharge current: 20A - Safe pulse discharge ratings: 95A < 0.5 sec, 65A < 1 sec, 40A < 5 sec, 30A < 6 sec

[@ahmettay2382]

hmm, i think lg he2 and sony vtc5 can be added to this

[@JamilKhan-hk1wl]

Chinese batteries are advertised to have 10000 mah lol

[@rockdzlss7664]

I found a good deal on Kobalt 24v 2 packs a couple weeks ago. 24v 1.5ah batteries 2 pack for $14.98. That's about $7.75 per pack with tax. I bought 4 packs for a total of 8 batteries. I plan to use this for Electric Scooters and LED light projects. Great videos. Keep em coming.

[@vuaeco]

That's a great deal. I don't think it would ever go that low again unless they are on clearance and close out the 24V line. They used to be $10 each but now $17. :(

[@dgb5820]

Watched this twice and learn so much

[@JC-XL]

They call this guy the Battery Jesus - raises dead batteries from their graves

[@williamvan909]

Out standing job well done buddy thanks for the great information on how to use these batteries wow .take care stay safe.

[@captainyak3948]

Very good info. I also learned from this experiment. Thank you so much!

[@maxtornogood]

I'd be interested to hear about the self-discharge rates of these cells after being exposed to water & low voltage.

[@test-193]

My thoughts exactly... self discharge is an issue when I revive 18650's below about 0.500 Volts. Sure I can bring them back to 4.20 Volts and get reasonable capacity numbers... but sometimes their voltages drop over the next few days/weeks/months. I've been doing testing similar to this gentlemen and came to many of the same conclusions. HOWEVER, I use a TP4056 lithium ion battery "chip" charger that I custom made. I adjust the current to charge the cell at ONLY 50mA until the cell voltage gets up to 2.50 Volts. The slower you charge these severely depleted cells, the better the chances of reviving them. (And it's safer too.) Zapping them with 5 Amps is not the best approach! During the charging cycle, always watch the cell Voltage and ensure that the voltage is perpetually rising. If the voltage rises and then starts to fall after a period of charging, the cell has internal chemistry issues that can't be overcome and likely won't be salvageable. Another important thing to check is the cell temperature. No need for a fancy thermocouple, just touch it with the back of your fingers while it is charging. If it's HOT, stop charging immediately and recycle that cell!!! Once I reach 2.50 Volts I adjust the charging current up to about 100mA until the cell Voltage gets up to 3.00 Volts. From there, I put it into the OPUS charger at 200mA until it reaches 3.90 Volts. Sure, this takes a very long time to slowly charge them, but it is the best approach! Delicate, slow charging is much smarter. (I have found these severely depleted cells can sometimes turn into "heaters" when they get up to 4.00 Volts for the first time. Hence my recommendation to only go up to 3.90 Volts on the first charge!) Once the cell gets to 3.90 Volts, I discharge it back down to 3.30 Volts at 300mA rate. I have found that this "90% charge cycle" helps the lithium chemistry to revive more graciously. And it prevents the cells from over heating when pushing them all the way up to 4.20 Volts on the FIRST charge. Ok, so now we are back down to 3.30 Volts again after the discharge cycle. At this point, go ahead and recharge all the way to up 4.20 Volts... but I would still recommend only using a 300mA charge rate for cycle #2. Once we are at 4.20 Volts we can run a capacity test. I like to go easy and only use 500mA for the capacity testing of these severely depleted cells. By now, you've cycled the cell a couple times and it should behave well... no heating up during charging cycles!

[@reho4083]

​@@test-193thank you!

[@maukaman]

@@test-193Doesn’t the newer version of the to4056 do this on its own as far as slowly bringing over-discharged cells up to 3v or so with lower current before charging normally? I am curious about your method of adjusting the charge current of the tp4056 though. Did you add a variable resistor into the circuit or just change out the resistor to a specific value to get a specific charge current?

[@danieldanielson2650]

​@@test-193thank you,sir!

[@N8SANZ]

Man, you made it again!! A new brilliant trick for "Sunday mechanics"... the food plastic as a dust protection while using an electric mini-drill. So freaking cool!! But bro, you should wear gloves and a face mask when you're playing around with all those dirty and messy batteries, specially the broken ones. We don't want you to get cancer or some sh1t, ok? 😧 Please be careful, friend. And I freaking love the "ready for an explosion" moment, that was a good one.

[@RedPillDosage]

If you hold down the "display" button on the Opus for like 10 seconds the backlight will remain constantly on.

[@deanp847]

This was a great explanation.

[@fm00078]

I stopped in to witness a Nuclear Explosion.. .. didn't happen. DARN (kid'n) Great work, now I can revive my pacemaker. THANKS

[@Delboy666]

I read that if you hook up a fully charged 18650 Li-ion battery to a dead one, you can damage your 'GOOD' battery unless you put a resistor between the two positives. This reduces the high current flow and the initial high load on the GOOD battery, so it does not damage it. Ever since I read this about 3 years ago, I have used a 42 Ohm 1/4 Watt resistor between the positive terminal of the good battery and the positive terminal of the dead battery. Ok it increases the bump charge time a little, but it still only takes a couple of minutes to get a charge of over 2Volts into the dead battery so it can then go onto a normal charger. The guy showing how to do it was also showing the calculations to establish current draw against the voltage in the dead cell, and he sure seemed to know what he was talking about. I have just found the video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJCwfHeqlp6Alas

[@fat_pigeon]

Or just use a proper current-limited power supply, rather than risk blowing things up if you do the calculations or wiring wrong.

[@metaruman333]

Thanks a lot.Revived a few low voltage 18650s just now by parallel charging.Nitecore UM4 did shit to charge those batteries.

[@darkatmedia6095]

Hi. A million thanks for this!!! My gimbal batteries had stopped working and kinda stalled my work; worse off corona had borders closed. this came in very handy!!! My batteries are now charging properly Thanks so much

[@gimmieliberty6514]

the dewalt charges at 4ampss but when current meets parrallel loads it divides, typicall battery packs are 4 P 4/1=1 amp

[@mangeshdhandre593]

Thank you man 😊 this is working method I have tested this method and internal resistance also same

[@rypin]

Thx for help. You give me good tip. Greetings from Poland.

[@bojackson3073]

If the voltage doesn't hold then it's garbage also your power tool battery has some batteries in parallel so you need to cut the amps in half for your theory but it's probably fine short term.

[@JamilKhan-hk1wl]

I used a LM2596 buck converter to bump charge the cells to about 2.5V for 10 seconds, then quickly connect the battery to a TP4056 and charge it fully. It works. Just be careful and make sure you dont connect it in reverse and it doesn't overheat

[@cphank3722]

I have had good luck using a bench power supply with adjustable voltage and current limiting. I set the voltage at 4.0V and current limit to 500ma. This the supply will behave as a constant current source until 4V is reached, then current tapers off to zero. This is almost fully charged.

[@mohamadsofitra]

Thanks for this valuable video.

[@knicks252525]

Is the run time also restored or is it severely dimished

[@irishguy200007]

Why did the cell drop below the minimum voltage to kick start the li-on charger? I guess you could modify the charger to lower the threshold voltage required to turn on the charging process.

[@phester28]

got mine to charge to 4.2 but if left for a day or two they self discharge. If you do a load test immediately then they would demonstrate normal discharge rates so you have to wait a maybe a week and see what stays at the full voltage better than 4.1V

[@jo9732]

Yup. I have the same thing. Even when I try cycling them a few times some of them have like an internal parasitic draw or something.

[@Salimag]

Yeah you can also do that with an USB adapter and when the voltage of battery reached 3.2v, disconnect and put in a real charger. It's working, but after that the battery has lost some mah.

[@ianprice2441]

Thanks for the help great video.

[@joeanania2257]

Great as usual...love your videos, in depth and informative ... Recommendations for a good charger that is not expensive?

[@aleksandersats9577]

You should buy one of those really cheap USB power banks. They come with no battery but they slowly charge the battery if it is too low which is the correct way of doing it

[@rhalfik]

I know I'm 4 years late but your Dewalt charger that is rated for 4 amps is putting this current into how many cells at once? Yeah, it's not putting 2 amps into a single cell. It's way less...

[@Idahomie]

Did you fingers get very warm when you parrell booster those low voltage cells? how bout with the rapid d/c cell boost...fingers warm, cables warm. How thick of wire for your jumper cables'? thx

[@rudycramer225]

Very well done and explained.

[@TexasPLNR]

Enjoy your battery charging videos!

[@quangvinh2145]

Hay quá Vua ơi, cám ơn nhé!

[@wattage]

I'm enjoying watching your project. Thx for sharing and explaining the steps along the way. Happy new year!

[@vuaeco]

Hi James, it's a pleasure. Happy new year!

[@vassiliskasassoglou9122]

@@vuaeco Hello, How can I find the discharge rate....High discharge.... Amps in a Liion cell ? Thanks

[@craftymulligar]

You can use a tp 4056 break out board to charge nearly 0 volts. Least my batt was that dead.

[@sciense3078]

get ready for explosion---lol! we have been doing this with garbage alkaline batteries that were once dead. i find by taping emery paper (fine sandpaper) on a table and holding the battery perpendicular to the sandpaper, removes fine film (enamel i think) buildup which dramatically improves power output. i sand it in a circular motion and back and forth until i can see the scratched cathode or electrode surface. i am sure the battery companies are sad that we are doing this stuff. Good work buddy!

[@Radar120155]

I understand that your source for the batteries is the original bike pack battery ? My project is to rebuild some Worx cordless power tool batteries(18650) but the dead batteries never raise in amperage just voltage . Used laptop batteries (18650) seem to work better for me . When you get this condition of Voltage but no amperage is it not retrievable ?

[@HunGyilok]

my Sofirn 3k amper batery went totally down! waht can be done is dead all?

[@OvidiuMarin]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, mate. All the best !

[@user-rs8zg8ey2b]

So many things wrong here: 1. never fast charge a dead cell, its just bad for it (hurts capacity/ESR/life-cycles) and can be bad for your health or property, you have been warned. Even if it was designed for 4A charging, its not when its dead. These cells should never get warm charging. If you parallel charge add a 10 ohm resistor in series. 2. Not checking internal resistance (using kelvin connection), especially for a higher discharge application like a ebike/etc. 3. Not checking self discharge properly. 4. Not cycling the cells to get a true capacity rating for a better balanced capacity pack. Its gonna suck to build a battery to have one or more cells go out of balance a month down the road, then your back at square one testing again. You have that RC charger, just put it in nicd or nimh mode, adjust current to 200~300mA and charge to ~3.3v/cell, then put on the normal li-ion mode (you can do 2 or 3 in series to save time, but watch them voltages of each cell).

[@wojomojo]

Thanks. Very educational.

[@bazzadebear8012]

Good info and video. Going to order one of those chargers.

[@Billbobaker]

If you leave these 'salvaged" cells fully charged will they self discharge in a week or two"?

[@MrIMacro]

I did the same thing and the dead battery started to have enough voltage to be charged but when i put in the charger it gets very hot even though i used many chargers!! What do you think is the problem?

[@gideonlapidus8996]

Very well explained

[@muhammadabdulbaset229]

Thank you for great work Is it possible to restore lithium Ion battery capacity to original like new cell?

[@lastravenmph]

Amazing! Do they still hold their voltage well after or do they go back to 0.02V after a few days or so?

[@AsifAli-pt1tr]

I want that answer too brother

[@BatteryGeek247]

That is a good question!

[@e-nuel]

Me too

[@kornshadow097]

You're using a harbor freight meter? Those are OK BUT you need to replace the leads, they are way off in my exp. They cheap out on the wires.

[@Mr.Wednesday.]

His English is mesmerizing

[@Utopiec1]

Many thanks for your films.

[@Scrumper66]

Good video for explanations! Thanks for all! :)

[@hurrai5519]

i have a roborock h7 vacuum, and i think its a 10s battery pack it dont take charge, but im thinking, what if you had a charger which you could set the voltage lower to charge it up a little bit? when you are pararell charging these 18650 batteries, im wondering what happens with the fresh battery when its discharging to the bad battery? does the voltage spike down or is it stable?

[@masty1107]

How do we know , that this battery can not be recharged now and it should be thrown away ? Is there any indication , please guide. Regards.

[@wraith8117]

You are a legend i love your vids

[@PatchworxStudios]

Came for the explosion.... was disapointed. Still much to dangerous if you understand what is or could happen.

[@kondalaraokarneedi2955]

Is there any way to repairing 18650 battery discharging too quickly please give me reply please

[@Beaudacid]

You are awesome, dude. Can I parallel charge an entire motorbike battery like this, or must I first disassemble it to its individual cells?

[@smithpianoservicing3421]

If you put an 84 ohm 1/4 watt resistor between 2 batteries when jumping one, it will charge slowly like a charger

[@mahaniyama]

Im wondering if the corrosion under the wrapper will lead overtime to a gap in the metal? I checked a bunch of corroded cells and they charge ok but when I take the wrapper off for a closer inspection and I securely brush away any leftover corrosion; some end up with what seems to be tiny gaps (not holes) in the outer layer of the battery, visible the see the next layer :presumably cupper and some even leak a little electrolyte after brushing away the corrosion. Does this mean its no use and can become a hazard when charged? I filled up those tiny gaps with some solder and tested them with the opus charger. But im afraid to take too much risk. At 4.2 V a puncture in the battery can be a fire hazard. But when i fill up the gaps, maybe its just fine. What’s you opinion? Thanks

[@markkennard69]

How about cells that have been at 0.0 volts for some time. Nothing works to get them up in volts.

[@austinsears7879]

The time machine comment at 6:45 cracked me up

[@christopherowens2635]

Love the video. Answer a lot of my questions regarding revived batteries. Do you know any other charger or device out there that can give me the mAH of each battery?

[@Mad-Coo]

What is the capacity of the blue cells you revived?

[@fat_pigeon]

6:35 Dangerous! You're charging an over-discharged cell without any current limit. Use a current-limited power supply.

[@teemck9921]

HI IVE FOLLOWED YOU VIDEO GREAT VID BUT CAN YOU TELL ME WHY MY BATTERY CHARGER WONT CHARGER AND THE LED FLASH RED AND GREEN CONTINUOSLY?????????

[@recnelizgaming]

Wow! It's work! I've used a wire and connect it using parallel . I'm shocked when I connect the last wire because it sparks. But after I count to 10 seconds, my dead battery is slightly heated but when I charge it , it's working perfectly! 😮😍 just be safe not exceeding 10 seconds for the safety

[@recnelizgaming]

But it's get over heated while charging. Why???

[@mohammedalhammadi4229]

I carrged batteries and i put thim together in a box , when i used thim i noticed the charge was lost.. why??

[@prof8957]

Very informative, indeed! Do the low voltage batteries need to be charged first in parallel before charging them in full? Or charging them straight will give same result?

[@snkkulatea1720]

Thanks for this!

[@zodiacfml]

yeah, i dont know with other channels that parallel charging is bad. it is not like we are shorting the battery, even quick short circuits is not bad. Temperature is the bad guy

[@tootalldan5702]

Nice video but could you check those bad recharged batteries for their capacity? I'll bet you have an 80 percent of the power available. I would recommend just using the similar bad batteries as a set and not mix them with good batteries to prevent ruining the good ones.

[@ronaldopatt3928]

I have a problem with mines i did that and it says it is charging but its been a whole day and it does not charge the light turns red indicating its charging however y has no voltage in it what can i do???

[@alltobuy]

This will actually help me a lot . Not only me but nature too as there will be less electronic garbage then and my pocket 😜