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

Рет қаралды 28,715

7 жыл бұрын

I bought a 6s 6600mah Multistar battery for my Dad but it had a dead cell. I raised an RMA with Hobbyking and they simply sent me another one.
Anyway, I decided I'd cut this one down and make myself a 4s 6600mah battery.
Please be cautious if you decide to take a lipo battery apart - it's very easy to short them out if you're not extremely careful. Some lipos have the positive and negative on the opposing sides of the cells and some are stuck together and won't come apart...... If you short the terminals, you'd better run!
You have been warned!

Пікірлер: 73

@Tejaye777 3 жыл бұрын

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 Жыл бұрын

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

@Vortecks Жыл бұрын

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 4 ай бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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

@Vortecks 7 жыл бұрын

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

@highflying82 2 жыл бұрын

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 👌👍😎

@simonsalt5169 4 жыл бұрын

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

@michaellaframboise7646 3 жыл бұрын

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

@MonkeySwing 6 жыл бұрын

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?

@farleyj1999 2 жыл бұрын

What size shrink tube did you use for the finished battery

@johnal4560 3 жыл бұрын

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

@neptunes_hunter1321 5 жыл бұрын

How to know negative and positive?

@DickGibson 7 жыл бұрын

Super duper way kool man! Very informative I got a 10,000 mah 4 cell from HK and it was dead just like that. I didn't use the battery for 3 months and when I did the RMA they refused it. I have also had two new 2200 Gens Ace batteries with dead cells. The replaced one and the replacement one was bad and they are ignoring me on that one. I may try to salvage one out of the lot?

@Vortecks 7 жыл бұрын

Be careful Uncle Deek..... some batteries have the + and - at opposite ends of the cells and some are glued together, it makes it much harder to separate them and figure out the correct way to wire them up.

@billyshears9714 3 жыл бұрын

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

@cncdavenz 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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 Жыл бұрын

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

@yugalsharma13 11 ай бұрын

Lithium reacts with water, doesn't it? 🤔

@runforitman Ай бұрын

Water will worsen lithium fires

@justins6465 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the info👍💪

@jstump1972 4 жыл бұрын

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 3 жыл бұрын

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

@ksrnate 5 жыл бұрын

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 5 жыл бұрын

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 5 жыл бұрын

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

@EnglishTurbines 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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

@Vortecks 7 жыл бұрын

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 :-(

@lloydprunier4415 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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

@Vortecks 7 жыл бұрын

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 5 жыл бұрын

Saad

@goku445 3 жыл бұрын

@@Vortecks Use aluminium flux!

@onytabrayericmay 6 жыл бұрын

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 6 жыл бұрын

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 3 жыл бұрын

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

@etab83 7 жыл бұрын

Great video very interesting

@Vortecks 7 жыл бұрын

Thank you :-)

@maximgolovashevich4651 Жыл бұрын

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

@Vortecks Жыл бұрын

Thank you 🤣🤣🤣

@aaronfonseca6031 5 жыл бұрын

What a great time to do this haha

@RobB_VK6ES 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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 :-)

@gejes9658 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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

@RobB_VK6ES 7 жыл бұрын

the C rating does not change

@geertjeklieder 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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

@hex9688 5 жыл бұрын

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

@Vortecks 5 жыл бұрын

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

@88madsnake 5 жыл бұрын

@@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 5 жыл бұрын

@@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 5 жыл бұрын

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

@vortecksengineering884 5 жыл бұрын

@@88madsnake 😁👍

@mikelemon5109 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

^^^ What he said :-)