Soldering leads on laptop cells

Thread Starter

Lectraplayer

Joined Jan 2, 2015
123
What are ths main considerations for durably soldering leads onto a lithium ion laptop cell? I know this can creats a pyrotechnic acid bomb if you get the cell too hot, and lithion ion can be about like napalm. While a battery holder would be best, the 4/3 A size I see quoted as a laptop cell is hard to find locally sourced, and I don't want to order an item I intend to use commonly.

Note: Do not solder directly to any battery cell unless you know what you are doing! Batterys can, and sometimes do explode, and the results are often horrid.
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
What are ths main considerations for durably soldering leads onto a lithium ion laptop cell? I know this can creats a pyrotechnic acid bomb if you get the cell too hot, and lithion ion can be about like napalm. While a battery holder would be best, the 4/3 A size I see quoted as a laptop cell is hard to find locally sourced, and I don't want to order an item I intend to use commonly.

Note: Do not solder directly to any battery cell unless you know what you are doing! Batterys can, and sometimes do explode, and the results are often horrid.
They are not soldered, they are typically welded with a very hot, small and, therefore, short contact time that does not heat the contained lithium much.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
If you are motivated and have several packs to do, you can build your own tab welder. I built one based on the description in this link: http://www.philpem.me.uk/elec/welder/

Here's a example of a 2S pack of RCR123A LiFeP rechargeable that I made this morning:

upload_2015-4-3_11-2-20.png

The little teflon washer is something I have been adding since NiCd days. It is intended to protect against any short between the nickel strap and battery case. In this example, I used 1/8" nickel straps, 0.005" thick.

John
 
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