May 21, 2019

My harvested laptop batteries - 2019

I am back at it again. I found a new recycle bucket at a place where I work and am now keeping an eye on it for new treasures.

Pack 1 - Asus A31N1319

A long skinny thing, marked 11.25 volts, 33Wh.

Inside are 3 cells. Two measure 3.95 volts (great!). The other measures 0.95 volts. I guess there is no mystery why this got tossed, but I get two good looking cells anyway.

They are LG LGABD11865 cells (LG ICR18650 "D1" cells) originally rated for 3000 maH. They specify a 4.35 volt charge, but I will just use them with 4.2 volts.

I run these through my Xtar Dragon in test mode at 0.5 amps and get 2100 and 2200 maH for these two cells

These cells are marked 5-2019-A

Pack 2 - Dell 7FJ92

This was a devil to get apart. Once inside there were 6 turquoise colored LG cells. All measured 4.09 volts! This looks nice. No telling (yet anyway), why this was discarded.

The cells are LG LGDBB11865 cells with 2013 date codes. This is an ICR18650 B1 made by LG. A 2600 maH cell with a 4.35 charge target. I will probably never charge them to 4.35 and will just use 4.2 and sacrifice some capacity.

I ran these through test mode, two at 0.5 amp, four at 1.0 amp. They all test 1900 maH -- so this pack yielded six excellent cells.

These cells are marked 5-2019-B

Pack 3 - Dell 8N544

Inside are 9 red Sanyo cells in a 3x3 arrangement. They measure 1.5, 1.5, and 0.0. These will all be discarded. Too bad. (I have had fairly bad luck with these red Sanyo cells anyway.)

Pack 4 - no-name 7FJ92

This is some kind of generic replacement, made in China.

Inside are 9 purple cells, labeled ASO GN4N061H1. These measure 2.6, 2.7, and 2.8 volts.

2.5 volts is my usual rejection criteria. These are then borderline, and given the bad luck I have had with no-name Li-ion batteries from China, I ought to just throw them away.

The first 4 I checked out charged up nicely without getting hot. Testing them at 0.5 amps on the Dragon they give 2300 maH. Amazing.

These cells are marked 5-2019-C

Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's electronics pages / tom@mmto.org