What to do with 'dead' Lipo battery?

[JoannaK]

Summer 2011 I purchased low-end digital mini.-camera (one of those keychain type 808 #someting)  for a project. I tested the camera back then and it worked ok, not a great camera but for the price/weight it makes ok picture (720*480 or like)

The project delayed quite a lot.. (supposed add it to my smallish RC-copter) and that camera has been on shelf over a year without touching. Now, apparently the 250mAh single cell rechrgeable Lipo is dead. While  it seems to accept some tiny amout of charge it's not working as well as it should.

New Lipo is like 4 or 5 USD (with delivery from china), so purchasing a new is not a problem, and I can do soldering. But I'd like to know if there's any use for small lipo-battery or if there is a way to refresh those? And if not, how to dispose it properly. IIRC Lipo:s aren't as posonous as NiCd cells were..

[SeanB]

If it is a pouch cell then cut it open and drop in a small beaker of water outside. It will bubble for a while then it will be inert. Then you can peel it apart and look at the construction, the 2 foils ( one copper one aluminium) and the carbon paste on them that are the actual electrodes and the thin porous separator that keeps them apart.

Coin cells I punch a nail through, then drop in the water after pulling it out. Same with cylindrical, but use a bigger metal bucket and work fast..........

[JoannaK]

It's about 20*30mm flat piece (like 3mm thick) with like aluminium foil at the outermost layer wrapped at sides. Looks like really easy to open.

I think I'll need to check if there's any protection circuilt at the connection-end. I think, that this is so small and chep cell that there will be none what so ever.

[SeanB]

Pouch cell, cut open with scissors along the seam at the bottom and then drop in water for a hour or two. then you can peel it apart further safely. It will have an organic solvent in it, so do outdoors ( under shelter as you are in Cold Finland) so it can vent. NO NAKED FLAMES, unless you want bits all over the place.

[JoannaK]

Hmm. -19C  and about half meter snow out there. Sound like a plan.. 

[SeanB]

Make a bonfire and toss it into it........... Stand well back and watch the impromptu fireworks.

30C and sunny and humid. If I had a swimming pool I would be in it. Ah well, there is always the sea.......

[ceecrb1]

What we "dont" do (honest) at the rc club is take an old screwdriver, stab and run...... 

[bfritz]

Now that SeanB has given you every example of NOT what to do...

Seriously, the organic electrolytes in some of the newer cells can have a variety of different issues, in addition to being flammable.

Any Li based cell may contain small amounts of other heavy metals, that you'd rather not put into a landfill.

Why not put a little effort into this, and do what you should do with old cell phone, computer, portable tools, etc... batteries, recycle them!

http://www.call2recycle.org/

By the way, the idea of taking an 18650 and puncturing it with a nail, and dropping it into water is a really bad idea.  If the cell has been abused there may be metallic lithium present in the cell.  When one of these is punctured, water vapor in the air could cause the lithium to ignite, resulting in a fire, and the puncture from the nail may be inadequate to vent the pressure, or may plug with carbon, resulting in an explosion.  But if you'd like to see if you can lose a hand...

[JoannaK]

Recycling is valid option. But somehow I think I sould make a video first.  Pitty though it's so small cell...

[ptricks]

Do an experiment to find out how much voltage the cell can take before it burst into flames. Do this outside of course and with very long leads so you are not near the cell.

[MikeK]

And strap a Mr. Bill to it...Ohhh noooooooooo.

[Electr0nicus]

I let a old Sony Xperia X10 battery explode, just for me to see a liPo explode in real life.
The battery was really dead, I only got a few hours battery life out if it with my cell phone. So as the new battery arrived per mail, I was ready for the experiment.
I took my big 300W 30V/10A LAB- PSU out in the garden. Connected up the battery with very long leads to the PSU and stood back at least 3 meters. Then increased the voltage slowly. As the current exceeded 2A, the battery's safety circuitry disconnected the battery. I increased the voltage to nearly 25V, then suddenly the safety circuitry went up in fumes and stupidly remained open circuit. So I removed the safety circuity and connected the PSU directly to the battery. First I pumped about 40W into the already fully charged battery. As after 5 minutes nothing happened, even the battery hasn't bulged and was only slighly hot, I increased the voltage so much, that 150W were pumped into that battery. It took almost 3 minutes until it ruptured with a huge nearly 1m long flash. But unfortunately this magnificent spectacle was over in only 15 seconds. 

[Psi]

New Lipo is like 4 or 5 USD (with delivery from china)

Yeah, i noticed that.  They're crazy cheap.

Hard to understand how they can get the raw materials for that let alone the manufacturing.

[peter.mitchell]

New Lipo is like 4 or 5 USD (with delivery from china)

Yeah, i noticed that.  They're crazy cheap.

Hard to understand how they can get the raw materials for that let alone the manufacturing.

Well, i know for replacement batteries, most of the time they use the same cell is hundreds of different types of replacement batteries and then they just "pad" the battery to size with a plastic frame.

[JoannaK]

well, this pattery is from the same site that sold original camera.. So there's hope.