Building Li-ION Battery Packs

[Delmustator]

I've been reseaching about Li-ION batteries and possibly building a rechargeable saber hilt. My source of batteries is (4) Dell laptop battery packs. All are fairly new.

Each battery brick contains eight Sony Energytec STG US18650GR G3 Li-ION batteries. The entire battery brick is rated at 14.8V 3800mAh or about 1.8V 1300-1600mAh per battery. They are somewhat larger than a standard AA battery but I think (4) of them would fit in a hilt nicely. They also contain a power storage level LED display that is memory cell activated and displays for 3 seconds.

This picture is of the G2 version. Their appearance is the same. The G3 version that I have has higher capacity.



This is another view of the G4 version. Each cell has a 18mm diameter and is 64.7mm long. Each cell is rated at 3.7V, 1800 mAh.



This webpage seems to have a lot of info using these batteries with LED applications in flashlights.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/.../f-9-p-34.html

[xwingband]

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.as...OD&ProdID=2763

Those 18650's are weak if that's the amperage. The same size above is 800mAh more.

Although they are larger (not a bit, but a lot) you can fit two across in a sinktube. If you have the room four (two across then stacked) would be lots of amperage.

These aren't terribly new either, but whatever...

[vortextwist]

Are those the ones that are exploding?

[Firebird21]

Are those the ones that are exploding?

[vortextwist]

[xwingband]

Any li-ion you let short can "explode".

[vortextwist]

yes, but I was just wandering about the batteries they talked about in the dell laptops.

[james3]

We actually have something good in here. Yay!
I have used a few recharge packs here and there for stuff and I think it is what I am going to do with my personal stuff. I have been looking at the 3 volt stuff so that I can get a lot of bang in a space that we are already used to working with.

[Jonitus]

Just for curiosities sake, have those of you that have been building rechargeable packs found a decent source for a 2+2 stacked AA or AAA battery holder? I can find lots of 2+2 square holders, but not stacked.

I'm hoping to use a rechargeable pack in my next saber and would really like to get a decent holder that could serve as a mounting point for Erv's board when it comes out.

EDIT - Never mind...checked the store...Tim has 'em. Damn you Tim for always having what we need for building our sabers! Curse you! j/k

[LordArgyll]

Does anyone have experience with rechargeable Li-Ion CR123s? With driver board, sound, a couple of switches, recharge port and a lot of wiring, I'm rapidly running out of room in my hilt and was thinking about using a couple of these to make a rechargeable pack. I've seen rating on various brands for anywhere between 600maH to 2000maH and was wondering if anyone has experimented with them and might have some insight into their uptime, etc. Thanks.