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Notebook Computer Batteries

Started by Rod White · · Last activity · 6 posts · 1,631 views

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01 / Original postNotebook Computer BatteriesRod White · 7 Apr 2004 02 / This pagePosts 1–6Page 1 of 1 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #6stevek · 8 Apr 2004

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Cycling Equipment
Published
7 April 2004
Last activity
8 April 2004
Original author
Rod White
Posts
6
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Public discussion
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1,631
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Indoor trainers

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  1. Original post
    Rod White
    Archived post
    #1

    Hi

    When looking into the cost of 10+Watt lights I was not real happy with the cost of the NiCad batteries.

    Since I had plenty of used notebook computer batteries I pulled them apart and built my own Li-Ion batteries.

    If you open up a spent notebook battery you will liley find 9 3.6volt batteries in 3 groups of 3. Because I used the suspend function of the notebook must often and ran on power most of the time, I found that only 3 of the 9 battery cells were dead, leaving 6 rechargeable 3.6 volt batteries.

    I cut up one of those aluminium extension poles (like the ones used for paint rollers) into small sections and just soldered two batteries with wires and put them inside, plugging the ends and using cheap connectors on the wire ends.

    That gave me three batteries each two battery cells long. And the batteries fit perfectly into the vista light bracket.

    I bought the 10+ watt vista light for $65 and the vista bracket to hold the batteries for $10.

    I use two battery cells in series to give me 7.2 volts and then two of these in parallel to give me running time.

    The slightly high voltage has not blown a single globe and the batteries hardly ever need charging (they get used about 1/2 an hour each night).

    Note, using the six battery cells (or more if you have other batteries) in two batteries at the same voltage would give more running time. I'd say that I get about 2+ hours from the 2 by 2 setup I'm using.

    As for charging, I use a Li-Ion camcorder charger and the electronics from a spent Li-Ion camcorder battery.

    I broke open a Sony Li-Ion battery and it had the same (but much smaller) 3.6v olt Li-Ion batteries as were in the notebook computer. I just remove the dead battery cells and soldered wires into the open shell to connect my batteries to. Then I plug that casing into the charger and it thinks a 3.6v battery is on the other end. This charges the battery correctly and swithes off when finished.

    Hope this helps you if you want a very high quality though inexpensive lighting system.

    Note . the connectors I used to wire the batteries together I pulled from an old 486 PC, they are the white four wire connectors.

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  2. holokaibrown
    Archived post
    #2

    Hell yeah,
    Awesome post, as a tech head myself this is one of the best posts I've read in a while. Got a workin light right now but might give it a try for the fun of it. Any other cool bike related mods you done?
    Holokai

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  3. Rod White
    Archived post
    #3

    Thanks for the comments.

    I've attached a jpg of the batteries. You can see that they are pretty neat. They are shorter and lighter than a nightstick battery.

    I did the wiring in a real hurry with bits and pieces I had around the office. In time I'll find some better looking connectors but for now they work ok.

    The issue with the wiring is that each battery cell has two wires each and they come out of the plug, each battery cell having a positive and negative wire connected to one of four terminals in the female plug. In the male plug that connects to the light, I have a jumper wire that puts the two battery cells into series giving me 7+ volts from the combined battery. I do the same on the other battery and then in the cable that goes to the light I have another cross wire that puts the two battery packs into parrallel, thus keeping the voltage at 7 but making a (virutal) bigger battery.

    When I charge the batteries I have another male ended cable that puts the two battery cells into parallel making the battery a 3.6v unit. I did this because the camcorder charger is made to charge different sizes of 3.6v camcorder batteries and so it will charge one battery unit at a time. I'm going to modify this cable to charge both battery units (all 4 cells) in parallel so that it charges two batteries at the same time. This means that I can plug the batteries in in the morning and come back later when the light goes out and all cells are charged.

    You might question why my wiring is different for the light and for the charger, that is, why not just have the light wires the same as the charging wires, ie in each battery unit have the batteries in parallel (3.6v) and then put the two units into series (7v) . I did the units in series (to 7v) then parallel because it meant that if either battery failed (perhaps a solder broke or my wires came loose) I'd still have 7v (that is a very bright light) but which would not last as long. If I did it the other way and a battery failed, I'd only get 3.6v which would drop the light brightness. Since I only use the battery for 30 minutes a night in a very dark place, I wanted brightness and not time if a battery failed. Had I wanted a longer running time and could put up with a dimmer light, then I would have wired in parallel and then series.

    Rod.

    P.S. Although the white plastic connectors from my old PC don't look so great, they are very light and don't scratch the paintwork.

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  4. rek
    Archived post
    #4

    Looks great -- I ordered a cheapy NiCad version of some lights with a view that in the future I'll do something like you've done.. (replacing the battery unit with commodity high-end batteries)

    Have you thought about using some heatshrink tubing on the wires and getting waterproof connectors, to ruggedise it for bad weather?

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  5. stevek
    Archived post
    #5

    you can make the light too and save even more. http://www.truckaddons.com/Catalog/subpages/EagleEyeFogDriving01.asp
    these use mr11 bulbs. they are nice and compact and look cool. you get two for the price too.
    they use normal mr11 bulbs so you can save money.

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  6. stevek
    Archived post
    #6

    I forgot you want the black oens. they say mr16 but they are mr11's

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