[Swansea Hackspace] New Project - Powerpack for a laptop

[ioan hill]

Hello everyone,

My name is Ioan Hill, I came to the opening evening for the first time on Monday. I subscribed to the mailing list and have been following some of the things going on.

 I might be of use with this project. I have researched a lot into 18650 cells, and have recently been dismantling 'dead' laptop batteries bought cheaply off ebay. I now have around two hundred 18650 cells, and from the ones I have tested so far, I'm guessing half of them will be in a good condition. I would be happy to supply some cells for this project. Each cell weighs about 45 grams, so that's something to work with when considering the weight of this pack. I also have lots of the circuit boards from inside the laptop batteries. These have things like thermistors, charging circuit and chips etc, which you can have.

If you want to buy cells, I would not recommend the '4000mAh' ultrafire cells. There's no chance they're 4 Ah, much more like half that, 2Ah or less. They are cheap, but low quality and there are many fakes on the market. If you are looking for performance, the best cells are "Panasonic NCR 18650B", They have a capacity of around 3,300mAh (3.2 to 3.4Ah). There is no higher capacity cell commercially available. They are actually the closest you can buy to the cells used in the Tesla Model S. They are more expensive though, around £5 per cell.

So if you want performance, go for NCR18650B, AT £5 per cell and 3.3Ah

If you want value, I can supply second hand (but still perfectly good!) 2Ah cells for £1-2 each (cheaper than online+tested).

Also I'd be glad to help in other ways with the design of the pack. For example I suggest making the cells inside easily replaceable so when an individual cell inevitably fails, the whole pack is not lost!

Good luck with your project Richard. Perhaps I will see you at the sugru event tonight!

Kind regards,

Ioan



Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 08:59:13 +0100
From: ceri.clatworthy at gmail.com
To: hackspace at swansea.hackspace.org.uk
Subject: Re: [Swansea Hackspace] New Project - Powerpack for a laptop

Big ask to charge laptop my phone If I remember 450 mAtablets about 1 to 1.5 Amp
Laptop could be 3 - 4 Amps
as for a battery, then a some 18650 type batteries ?? 40000 mA/H  (4 A/H)  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>>> http://www.banggood.com/4PCS-UltraFire-18650-4000mAh-3_7V-High-Quanlity-Rechargeable-Battery-p-87803.html
although some serious power path management will be required,
and a good level of safety - electrical, mechanical will be needed,
because in the wrong hands, it's an incendiary device !!
Ceri
On Fri, Sep 12, 2014 at 7:50 AM, Richard Morgan <richard.morgan at avocation.co.uk> wrote:
Hi All,I'm looking to 'make' a battery pack that I can use for travelling and charging up my kit (iPhone, iPad, Mi-Fi and laptop) - laptop is a priority.
This is the kind of thing http://www.mophie.com/shop/mophie-juice-pack-powerstation-duo-smart-phones-tablets but it won't power a laptop.
Need it to:- Fit in the backpack (i.e. not too big and heavy)- Fast charging for the stuff I charge off of it via USB- Indicator to show how much power is left- Able to charge a laptop (ideally able to provide power to the laptop)
Has anyone come across a project page that talks of doing something similar?
-- 
Kind regards,

Richard


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