first, why you cant find info on the bq8030xxx (see last post)
http://e2e.ti.com/support/power_management/battery_management/f/180/t/196237.aspx



i am trying to fix the same problem

http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=55241.



the battery voltage is reported right and it even determines the proper capacity (i only put three new cells) but current is 0. So what i was thinking was it must be able to measure the voltage some separate way and something is stopping the current from flowing. So i found a meltable fuse on the back. http://www.sonycid.jp/en/products/dd6/sfh0412b.html


It seems to be open. I ll bypass the fuse and report.



everyone is gotto protect their revenue streams. what load of crap.

 

everyone is gotto protect their revenue streams. what load of crap.

How is protecting your revenue stream a "load of crap"? Why would anyone bother going to work each day if not to generate revenue and a paycheck?

And if you're complaining about TI not providing a public service, why should they? Their corporate customer/partners have paid big bucks for proprietary circuitry. Teaching the public about these components, which are not for sale, costs money and resources. It's unreasonable to expect TI to provide tech support for something they don't sell. Good grief.

Venting out of the way, I'll be curious to hear your results. Something caused that fuse to blow. Heat? A short somewhere?

Since these batteries are capable of exploding, proceed with caution.

 

How is protecting your revenue stream a "load of crap"? Why would anyone bother going to work each day if not to generate revenue and a paycheck?

And if you're complaining about TI not providing a public service, why should they? Their corporate customer/partners have paid big bucks for proprietary circuitry. Teaching the public about these components, which are not for sale, costs money and resources. It's unreasonable to expect TI to provide tech support for something they don't sell. Good grief.

Venting out of the way, I'll be curious to hear your results. Something caused that fuse to blow. Heat? A short somewhere?

Since these batteries are capable of exploding, proceed with caution.

My mistake, what i meant was lenovo engineering their batteries so they cant be rebuilt after their batteries "fail" in an year because of cell imbalance and charging 500% markup to buy a new one is a "boatload of crap." TI not providing specs was not what i meant.

Regardless, I jumped the fuse (still installed) but still the battery will not provide current. I think they must have disabled the PCB, so even if you attach new cells, the chip will not work with them after it failed once, including blowing the fuse. Or it must sense that the fuse is blown, seems like a controlled fuse, blowable through resistors.

 

The microcontroller will have set a Permanent Failure Flag when it blew the fuse. You need to reset the microcontroller. To do this you need an EV2300 interface board available from TI. You connect the interface board between your battery circuit board and your PC. You need software which is available for free from TI. There are also lots instruction documents available from TI.

 

@wayneh -- It is a myth that 18650 Lithium ion batteries will explode. To get it to go pyro, you have to really abuse them mechanically, or overcharge them at a high current to generate enough heat. Then you will see them steaming, and maybe turn into a flare. Enough time to safely exit the immediate scene. It is just a myth that these things are bombs. Have you seen one exploding?