a123 cell damage .. salvageable?
 

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...08012Small.jpg

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...08011Small.jpg

Is this cell worth trying to salvage? I'm such an idiot. :whistle:

It still reads voltage like all the rest.

If it's not salvageable, do any of you have an extra cell lying around you'd sell me?

Thanks,

Brian

Wouldnt risk trying to use it again, even if it does read a healthy voltage.

I would not use it again. what did you do to it?

looks like a soldering accident... a123 spot welds the strips on there and warns against putting a soldering iron to the cell caps for very long... :whistle:

Negative, Ghost Rider. :angel: It had not yet been touched by a soldering iron.

It happened as I was first dis-assembling the pack. I was trying to seperate the pack into two halves. I had clipped the battery bar as much as I could with some crappy pliers, and I was twisting the two halves up and down to finish breaking the battery bar. Very stupid. Two cells connected just enough to spark, do the damage, and scare the crap out of me. :gasp:

I was pissed because it was literally a brand new pack. Oh well, the other 9 cells are good to go. I built a 2s2p pack, and I guess I'll have to build another one unless I can come up with a single cell somehow.

Thanks for all your help.

I bet it scared you indeed. Could you not source a 2s pack direct from A123? It might be more expensive than a single spare cell someone has laying around, but at least you will have a spare, just incase :P

horizon hobby and a123 sell individual developer cells... although more expensive. $19.95 each. :oh:

$19.95 EACH?!.... ouch.

yep...ouch. but, they are different from the regular cells - i don't remember exactly, but i believe they have the solder tabs already on them so you can attach wires etc. more easily. it still would end up being cheaper to get a dewalt pack... that ends up to $8 to $10 per cell. and you'd have 9 extras. :party:

I can't see the pic, but I can guess. I accidently shorted mine when I was seperating my first pack. I was trying to get it out of the very tight dewalt case. I was being gentile, but all of a sudden it flew out like a string of sausages, and two cells shorted. #$%#$%#$%#

I ran it anyway. It had a little scorch mark on it. Figured the worst it was going to was be a weak cell. Never got the opportunity to do long term testing as I later overcharged the pack to 5V/cell. I'm the idiot. Tho it ran well for the first few charges. :)

I may have a spare developer cell if you are interested. I first have to go home and count my loose cells and decide how much insurance I need against my stupidity.

I accidentally shorted out one of my brand new Dewalt packs, all 10 cells. HUGE spark. The pack is still fine though.

I have an extra cell if you need one, PM me if you are still in need.

Accident prone lot around here.....

Mine has a hole in the top big enough to allow you to see into the guts of the cell. :smile:

I don't feel nearly as bad now knowing that I'm in such good company!

Mr. jonrobholmes, you've got a PM.

Thanks for all your help, guys.

There is a space between the cell and the cap that acts as a vent. Not so sure how big a deal this is to have open. In fact I will find out as I have a cell where the seal around the cap was damaged a bit and now it has a "vented" cap as well. Seems ok tho so far. Lotta battle damage of late...

Wow
 

I hope you guys will be more careful with your cells from now on? The thing I cannot get out of my head is the vision of you jumping through the roof when the sparks flew:gasp:. To bad you did not get a video of that for a lesson to share with everyone. I am sure that you had a good laugh after it was all over though. I know I was cracking up thinking about it:rofl:. Good day mates.

Drive fast, die hard. ;)

I use solderless power tubes from http://modelelectronicscorp.com and the astroflight A123 charger. I too am accident prone so I have eliminated the need for soldering by using Andersen Power Pole connectors and a Power Pole crimper. I haven't touched a soldering iron in a few years now :intello:

This has been working great for me as I use a min of 6S setups.

I shorted a 5s2p as well metalman.... WHOW! Probably over 400 amps on the blast, and blew off the terminal of one of the cells. It was a almost a white arc that appeared.... in the end, I am still using the pack, and performs great, although, I split it into two 5s packs.

Thanks guys.. I now know that I've got to be uber careful when disassembling the packs... I have 4 dewalt 36V packs coming in.... did you guys resolder or did you use that power tube thingy?...

Most everyone will solder the tabs and/or use copper batt bars to make connections, as I do. Just try and make as few cuts as possible, to minimize soldering joints.

May I ask what kind of packs you are making?

I was going to make a 14S2P pack for my 55" blackjack.. or 2x 14S1P
and was gonna make 2x 6S1P pack with the left over cells..

lol damn...must have given you one helluva jump...

Yeah, imagine 3+hp concentrated into a single spark!

I guess most guys buy the dewalt packs and tear them down because its cheaper. However, the cells used in the SPT's do not come with tabs so they have never seen solder or spot welding. The SPT's have several advantages over soldered packs. Anytime you add solder joints to your packs you introduce resistance so the SPT's have an advantage there. The one thing that the SPT's don't provide is an easy solution for balancing. However, I've been running my packs for almost a year and haven't noticed any issues.
The SPT's cost a little more, but for me, they are well worth the extra few bucks.

I've been using my packs for racing and I'm really surprised at the performance and run time I'm getting.

sorry for asking.. what are SPT? A123 Cells?.. Single?

SPT = Solderless Power Tubes. It's a way of making packs with the cells end-to-end without the soldering them.

ah.. thanks.. Those are $15 a pop....

That's about next to nothing compared to the shitload of lipo's you bought Bro!

Stop wining, and BUY them.. :yes::yipi:

Is it just me, or does the idea of not soldering the cells together sound slightly odd. I see in the PDF diagram they are clamped together from either end, but it still doesnt sounds as 'solid' electrically speaking as soldered together cells does? Maybe I worry too much.

Final thought: I know Im on RCM when the even the Mods swear- such a more casual attitude its refreshing & thoroughly entertaining!.....

Serum.. I gotta save money somewhere.. LOL

They use thermal paste in between each cell to reduce resistance.

they use a special paste to hook up the cells.

@ neil; It wasn't coursing or swearing, just a clear observation..

It is a shitload of batteries that dude has, you got to agree with that..

@aqwut; i know you like your setups HV, but isn't this a tad of an overkill? there is a certain point where DC becomes more dangerous than AC, and i think you might have reached that point with the few hundreds of volts of DC in your house..

I just like having a lot of batteries.. and for the price that I'm gettin' them.. it was just too hard for me to resist... Plus the girlfriend approved of it... How could I say no?.. :) Plus an early X-Mas bonus from work helps to... I'm so happy now.... I do agree Serum, I do have a sh*tload of batteries... I'm gonna put them all in a metal toolbox..

How this are the power tubes.. are they about 4mil?

hahaha, thank god. I got warning points @ TRX forums my first week saying something was a "PITA"....

seriously, not even the word, but an acronym for a word that is heard on every TV show after 7pm. WTH. 2yrs later and I still have those stupid points.

Meanwhile I go to a track and its like I stepped onto a pirate ship.....

You should join www.rccrawler.com , even if you're not into crawlers, just for the sheer hilarity of the goofballs over there. Noobs and r-tards get pounced on, the whole place manages to govern itself though.