Curious question about batteries

[flintlock62]

I have several battery packs from old laptop's that can no longer be used. Out of curiosity, I oped one of the packs, and found 18650 batteries inside. These are safe to use in a laptop, so wouldn't they also be safe to use in a PV? They have vented tops on the positive end. I measured one of the batteries and it is 18mm x 65mm.

 

[BGabe]

It depends on several factors. How old are the batteries that came out of the pack? I can almost guarantee they are unprotected li-ions because the protection is probably housed in the pack or the laptop itself. Use at your own risk. Some people have done it, but an unprotected li-ion is one of the most dangerous batteries "available" to vapers. If you're thinking of using it, please, please use it in something like a Provari (if it will even work) or a high end device that monitors battery drain and voltage. Don't use these in a mechanical mod that has no protection built in.

 

[rolygate]

Yes, the above is dead right. However you might like to know that there are numerous reports of battery meltdowns in expensive VV devices [1] and the plain truth is that if those batteries hadn't been safer-chemistry Li-Mn cells, there could have been a serious incident. If an unprotected Li-ion 18650 goes into meltdown then you are looking at a nasty situation - especially as many expensive VV metal tubemods have no realistic gas venting arrangements.

People said "it is impossible" for an expensive VV device with full electronic controls to suffer battery meltdowns. They have been proved wrong multiple times.

Maybe it is only because the cells were Li-Mn's did nothing much come of it [2]; or maybe the cells were counterfeits and did what fake batteries do: fail badly. Who knows. All we know right now is that single-battery VV tubemods can have batteries fail into meltdown, no matter how much the device costs.

It's probably best if you aren't using a large, unprotected Li-ion cell in a semi-sealed metal tube when that happens

Recycle old batteries. Spending painful amounts of good money on authentic batteries is a primary way of staying safe in the APV world. We are still learning about battery safety protection, either electronics or physical, and anyone who tells you different is either trying to sell you something or is seriously deluded. The fact that Provaris suffer from serious battery meltdowns even when using AW Li-Mn cells should reinforce that message, and in case you didn't get it, let's say it again:

DON'T EVER TRY TO SAVE MONEY ON BATTERIES.


[1] Several have been reported via the ECF Battery Incident report form and in threads here - with photos etc. This does not mean that the Provari has a bad safety record or that it is any less safe than any other APV; it's just a fact of using lithium ion cells - they are not intrinsically safe. That is why every APV should be designed with the principal aim of keeping the user safe, before anything else.

[2] The reported meltdowns involved AW cells. The device became very hot, and when the tube was unscrewed the battery was hot, melting, and with smoke issuing. Perhaps an explosion did not occur because the cell was a safer chemistry type, but everything is speculative currently.