What is This Battery?

3.7 Lithium ion

Bondy, I don't mean to sound rude, but why didn't you just google the term "Panasonic CGR18650A" ?

If it's any consolation, I was once baffled by a battery from a mobile phone. I'd never come across a 4/3 AA size battery before (might have been 4/3 AAA, it was a few years back). Gave the phone to my mother, but now almost regret it. The thing is pretty retro now, and I'd be more than glad to swap it for the one I have with bells and whistles. Ah, well, ya live and learn. The phone is still running fine and although I don't have the name to hand, there was an excellent UK online supplier of batteries. Let us know if you're looking for replacements, I can probably dig up who the supplier was.

I did google it, but all it came up with was to buy a bulk order of them.

Is this the thingy ?

Strange, I did a search and got this.

Did you leave the quotes off and get a mismash? searching with the quotes locks the search to those two words together.

http://www.google.ca/#hl=en&source=hp&q=%22Panasonic+CGR18650A%22&btnG=Google+Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=%22Panasonic+CGR18650A%22&fp=2c632e1fcd336022

Ah, there's where I was going wrong

Ok, thanks for all the suggestions. I have found 6 2800 mAH ones on ebay, so am going to buy them to replace the ones in this battery. Thanks again everyone

Bondy,

Just a word of caution, some "smart" batteries are designed to make it hard to replace the cells. I have some Dell laptop batteries that will not work if you disconnect power to the microcontroller while replacing the cells. The microcontroller detects that the cells were disconnected (no voltage applied), and will refuse to charge/discharge after that. They call it a "safety" feature, but in my book, it's a "guaranteed revenue generator" for the laptop manufacturer. I did manage to replace the cells in two of them, though. I had to "hot swap" the cells, meaning I had to leave the old cells hooked up, while paralleling them with the new ones, then disconnecting the old ones. Kind of like doing open heart surgery, while the heart is still beating . Just wanted to warn you. Good luck.

Tom

Oh. My laptop battery is a smart battery. Its just you can get such a better one if you buy the cells seperatley. What about taking out the 'smart' feature, and just having it as a battery?

That's not going to work, Bondy. The power supply in the laptop "talks" to the battery (to get such information as; state of charge, temperature, etc.). If the laptop cannot communicate with the battery, it's game over. It may still run the laptop (but even that's doubtful), but it certainly won't charge the battery. Li-Ion batteries have to be treated with care, so there's a lot of protection circuitry built into the batteries and the power supplies that charge them. If you try to circumvent that protection, you will most likely end up with a paper-weight. Do you remember the Dell Flaming Laptop issue from a while back? Even with all the protection they have, Lithium batteries can still be dangerous.

Tom

Can be done, but do you really want to?

Laptop batteries are usually packaged with many safety functions to maximize performance and safety. Lithium-ion batteries can become very dangerous if mistreated even slightly. The microprocessor control, charge history memory, short-circuit, and thermal protection features are important and useful features. Although replacing the individual batteries may seem like an economical alternative to full pack replacement, you are risking property damage and possible injury.

I've researched and purchased similar size laptop replacement packs for $40 - $60 on ebay. So far, they have all worked as good as the OEM versions or slightly better.

Is it really that much cheaper to buy the individual cells and attempt the repair?

It is £13 to buy 6 new cells, which would total 16800mAH, whereas the cheapest I can find new is £24 but is only 4400 mAH.

Seems like good price.

Typical series/parallel pack would put 3 series/2 parallel. This would provide 3x3.7=11.1V and 2x2800=5600 mAH. Theoretically better than original if you can access that extra capacity.

I wish you good luck with your project. I've attempted it and had the "smart" part shut me down. Hope yours works safely!

Thanks. I will let you know how I get on

Hey Bondy

Remember that every laptop is having only Li ion batteries for the light weightness and long back up