Using salvaged lithium cells to power LEDs directly. (with protection test)
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- Опубліковано 20 лис 2019
- This video is just a demonstration of how salvaged lithium cells can be put to good use for either decorative or functional lighting with minimum circuitry.
It also shows a way to test whether a small cell has active protection.
Note that the short-circuit test resistors get hot quickly if there is no protection circuitry or the cell is rated for very high current. They should only be applied very briefly.
It's quite a neat way to add a bit of extra self-contained decorative lighting to your workshop or home that will stay lit in the event of power failure. If the battery is made waterproof with a plastic bag or other cover then this technique can also be used to add lighting to small plants/trees outdoors.
As always with lithium cells, make sure they are protected from physical damage and don't show signs of previous damage like significant sharp dents or puncturing.
The best way to render a lithium cell safe is to discharge it to 3V or less when there is little energy left to cause fiery incidents.
The charging modules shown are intended for traditional lithium ion cells with an upper voltage of around 4.2V (average voltage 3.7V) and are not suitable for LiFePO4 type cells that have an upper voltage of 3.6V (average voltage 3.3V) unless they have their own protection circuitry to cut off the charge at full capacity.
The lithium content calculation was based on roughly 0.3g of lithium per 1000mAh original capacity of a rechargeable cell. An equivalent non-rechargeable cell uses more lithium than one that can be recharged hundreds of times, but crams about four times the capacity in the same space.
In hindsight, maybe the title of this video should be "Inventing ways to use my stash of lithium cells."
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of UA-cam's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty. - Наука та технологія
Is it just me? I never hear the soldering iron buzzing.
Not just you, I've never heard it either.
@covishen - The only time I hear it is if I watch his videos and listen with headphones. Normally I watch his videos on my TV with the sound going through my stereo and I never hear it.
I thought it was just me being old and my hearing going out.
@@Rodville I think its very close to the ambient noise from my computer i do hear it some times when its very quiet around me but very seldom I think because it's interesting conmtent. Had it been on gilmore girls we would have probably heard it all the time.
I've never heard a soldering iron buzz. None of mine buzz. Maybe you've got some mechanical issues if yours does.
That hot glue in heatshrink method is a nice trick to know. Thanks for that :)
Back in the 60s we were doing something like that with a plastic soda staw, and rtv caulking. Minus the heat shrink, and it was for automotive applications.
We would slip a 2 or 3 inch piece of soda staw over one wire, solder the other wires to the first wire, and slide the straw over the connection, and squirt the rtv into the straw. In a wet environment it was the way to go. At least,, we didn't have any problems. ..
If you also watch Julian Ilett's channel, you can see that his production of the outdoor solar controllers he makes/sells/used to sell have a similar construction, hot melt glue under heatshrink.
ua-cam.com/video/hjAOvfk7pI8/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/_YGlRkArsyA/v-deo.html
From about 5 mins:
ua-cam.com/video/AB5-1nRMvFQ/v-deo.html
I just wanted to say thank you, I have learned so much with you. The technical stuff of course (very enjoyable) but as well as the basic trivial things no one is truly explaining such as soldering tips and tricks, cutting things the right length, using crimping tools ,terminating wires or just good/safe practices/habits to have and so much more of the little things in a very entertaining but skillful and understandable way. It gave me enough know how and confidence to try things myself and I wanted to thank you for that :)
N.B. This video is not sponsored or endorsed by DuPont, Motorola Mobility or Fire Containment Pie Dish Ltd.
I forgot I can use Fray Bentos tins for useful purposes.
Clive, your voice, content and delivery pleases my soul just about more than anything else on UA-cam. Keep the videos coming!
"There are other strippers that you can get that are easier" ...
... is that also in Glasgow?
@michel777ification I thought strippers were more of a nightly business than daily...
Just avoid Thai strippers. Believe me.
It's a puzzlement. Aren't they made for ambient pleasurement? Are you saying that strippers are not all the Siam?
@@michaelthibault7930 you ruined the joke...
@chara
Joke, what joke?
Cracked up when he pulled out that pink calculator
It says Sissy Squad. Must be some sort of awesome superhero team.
New here?
@@vicecapo8767 Nope lol
@@juliannesermon8057 Vince the crew chief at the tattoo likes to tease Clive. he stuck it on the calculator.
Pulling out a calculator to divide by 100
I was all focusing in a serious manner until the Sissy Squad came forward and the laughter took over.
7:10 Posssbly the BL-5C which of course comes from old Nokia phones, but now pleasantly makes an appearance in modern portable radios such as the Retekess V115 and the Retevis RB615.
Nokia and Technifone garbage
As someone who's been thinking about getting back into hobbyist electronics for the first time since I was about 12, these videos have been an absolute goldmine for simple, useful tips and bucketloads of information, free of the oft-seen "you need £200 worth of tools & equipment before you even start" gatekeeping of hobbies like these. Like here, strengthening (and I suppose insulating too) bare leads using nothing but a hot glue gun and some heatshrink! Simple but brilliant.
Thanks for your work & expertise in putting these together in a way that even an idiot like me can understand. And if you happen to be reading comments on this old video, I must ask where you get your equipment from, particularly those micro molex connectors? The only places I can find sell a single pair for about £2, or a million pairs for £20. Either way, a bit of an investment for a single project that I might give up on halfway through! :)
If you search for KF2510 you'll find the little Molex style connectors and their crimps.
Add a video on Deutsch plugs. I hate them
Love the simple explanation on how to calculate the amperage and the little adapter is a nice touch. I like the fact that you can still see the resistor value. Awesome video.
"I'm just gonna make sure I'm not doing anything weird here." That is something I never thought Big Clive would ever say. Ever. :o)
As a curiosity item, does anyone else actually hear the soldering iron buzzing? I never have.
Nope, never... I thought it was just me who couldn't hear it.
The human ear is better at picking up the sound than the phone microphone. Then UA-cam compresses it. There's little chance of us hearing it.
no
Nope, never.
On my bassy laptop (with headphones and/or inbuilt speakers) and TV I can, but they can stream at 4k (not that the videos are uploaded at 4k), so wonder if they are able to decompress more effectively, as never heard on my iPad (with same decent headphones or inbuilt speakers).
Did something similar with some old phone cells (motivated by previous projects of yours), used them to power a slow cycling RGB LED, in such a configuration that it can be charged while the light is still on, one could conceivably do that with these quite easily, just add a second connector on the battery without a resistor. For some of us IT guys, its all about uptime!
Perfect timing. Just like you I bought one of those Halloween Strobe lights with the nice housing on clearance and my plan is exactly this right down to the charger board. Ok back to watching.
Clive! Icon of freelance electronic technology implementation! I watch on 50 inch tvs as monitors and listen through workshop HI=FI receiver and have never heard your soldering station buzzing. Love your videos and view them promptly. Kudos!
I really enjoy watching your little projects, as they give me little hints on what I can use the same similar circuitry in other projects.
To release those connectors from the shell you can use a 180g-Force Pogo Pin - the spring takes up some of the pressure and limits the damage to the connector retention tab as you press on it.
Snip the tip off a spear-shape probe with a side cutter - a real one, not one for tiny component leads, the cheap component snips are too soft) and it won't skid as much on the tab
Love your videos Clive and it's a delight to listen to someone who speaks English very well.
I love the TP4056 modules. I converted pretty much all my LED flashlights (and the vintage ones that weren't originally LED got an upgrade) to use lithium cells using those modules to have built-in charging capability.
It takes only a couple of minutes to set everything up and I've got quite good at embedding the circuit inside the device.
Another fun thing is to restuff alkaline batteries (like the 6V lantern battery or the 4.5V flat square ones) with the lithium cell and circuit to make a completely invisible and reversible mod.
Hey thanks for sharing your experience. It would be really cool to watch a video of you retrofitting a 6V battery with lithium cells, I'd click on that in a second.
High quality racheting crimping tools are a wise investment.
“There are others strippers you can get“
Oh my. It all depends on your tastes and budget.
Mainly cheap ones.
@@bigclivedotcom i know who im inviting next time i get a fat stack of ones
@@bland9876, Excellent name. ;-)
@@MyName-tb9oz wire stripes = anorexic girl
Discounts available if you're not picky about age or number of teeth. 😉
I’m gonna be learning how to build my own battery bank soon. I’ve got recycled 18650 cells coming and I’m excited.
Wonder's if Clive has a red dot on his socks ! Chuckles and runs from the glare !
Dear Clive
Thank you so much for this vid
Love, Jawn
Whoa. Didn't expect to see unior tools in any of your videos. Also greetings from Slovenia where they are made!
Excellent little project very useful indeed! Thanks Clive!🙏
This is the Clive we know and love! Thanks for doing a well needed hack episode!
He was drunk on grappa
Thanks Clive, I learned something today. Best wishes.
You make it look so easy! I'm very glad I found your videos as I want to make a system to light up all my dioramas/doll houses.
Thanks that's very useful knowledge there.
I just need to get those charging unit bits.
Very timely with Xmas approaching. Thanks
I use these cells to build little night lights to guide you the way. I found out they give me enough light when i run the led with 0.1mA or even less. One 18650 liion cells will last for 2-3 years. Self discharge will be higher than the actual current of the led. I just use smd 5630 leds from 5m strips with a 10k resistor in series.
Love the thumb and index holding the wires and the middle and ring holding the solder. Not your 1st time doing that I guess 😉. I'll have to try that. Its always a dance with alligator clips over here.
I didn't even realise I soldered like that until people pointed it out. It also explains why people would ask me if I wanted them to hold stuff while I did repairs and then suddenly went silent when I started using my left hand to hold the PCB, hold the component in position and feed solder in simultaneously.
When I see Bigclive doing it, it looks amazing and difficult, but I've caught myself doing it too. Hands are amazing. Good to see you also watch Bigclive.
Good to see you dropping by Steve. Good luck with the saw restoration !
@@routercnc9517 Thanks. The saw is slowly coming around. I like watching what Clive gets into. I always seem to pick up something from his videos.
After a few prods with a hot soldering iron I learned to control my fingers pretty quickly. I assume the same for Clive :-)
I have a set of 100 warm white lights. They were powered off three AA cells and a flasher circuit. Funny thing was the circuit boosted the voltage to something like 24V and toggled the polarity for the effects.
I eventually replaced the controller with a small 24V transformer and a 27K resistor. The lights now take about 0.3mA and something like 7mW for the lot. At night they still give enough light for me not to walk into things in the room whilst still enabling me to see the stars through the windows!
It is impressive how efficient LEDs are these days, I remember my first ones in the early 1970s, 10mA and you could see red LEDs if the room wasn't brightly lit :-)
Modern LEDs are incredible. Visibly lit at literally microamps.
I have been using the TP4065 modules for ages now. Make sure to get the ones with protection built in to make sure shorts are protected. Lately I have been trying to implement the version with adjustable output which works well, until you want to fix the pot. It always seems to shift a bit.
Funny that I decided to use an LG phone battery as I began to watch this. It's been a few years since it got charged and still lighted up my LED tester. Having small LEDs and wires nearby opened up some exploration for me recently. Your videos are helping me with some circuits I wanted to make.
Your videos are wonderful Clive, I enjoy every one...... Thank You.
..... When the flux smoke rises towards the camera, I instinctively 'blow' it away, (as I have done for 50 years).
here 2 :)
Same here except I keep my breath while the fumes pass :-)
A little late for Clive, ok?
I always used a similar manual stripper to Clive's, except mine was much worse made in quality. Its jaws were straight and didn't connect very well and it didn't cut very well and it was a chore to adjust, and due to bad alignment, and visibility, the amount of covering removed tended to be pretty random.
I tried a few automatic ones at a store. They do tend to not work on thinner cables, but there are expensive ones that can. I watched a video by Andreas Spiess about wire strippers and chose the big clunky Chinese black plastic one, the FS-D3, ordered it for about 6€, it took about 3 months, and surprise, it actually works amazingly well for super thin wires and even for ribbon cables.
15:00 BigClive's electronic version of "Measure twice, cut once." 👌
This is actually pretty awesome, i have done this myself, but not with these kinds of batteries. I took a large retro looking lamp, with those big round glass tops and i have put an old color changing LED setup only in the glass part. So Basically its a big glowing ball when i put it on the floor with the light inside it. The LED changes colors slowly out of one single LED and with the diffusing of the lamps spherical dome that sits by itself on the floor, as if some kind of colored crystal ball, its a nice nightlight for ambiance. I will convert to these batteries next and i like the connector idea of it as well. :)
Cool trick for the protection circuit. I'm going to have to remember that!
Forget that trick, he's trying to burn you house down
how would you install the charging port so that you can just charge it while the led is on?
Love it Clive, would like to see you try a little light from the side where your wrists are, just to get rid of some of the shadows, only needs a little bit.
Indeed, I got one of the orange handle jobbies with three crimp jaws, it is very hard to do and I have ruined many a connector with the tool.
You beautiful man you are literally carrying my project with these well made videos.
What are you making besides a firehazard?
Them little TP4056 boards are handy, I've converted a number of things from Alkaline battery to Lithium batteries using these boards, just have to make sure to replace the charge current resistor to match the cell, otherwise it can pump too much current into the cell, which the protection will stop, but still better to be safe... :)
No, I don't hear the soldering iron xfmr either. Maybe I'm missing out on the ambient pleasurement?
Bill’s Tool Store in the Glasga Barras is my go-to place for impossible to find stuff. Best visited often, buy on impulse and keep for when may be needed. I really must build another shed. Staff know a lot of stuff too. As usual Clive, both entertaining and educative. Shame a lot of teachers don’t understand the need for both.
Nice modular approach Clive. I have a tub of assorted cells that need a bit of this action.
I like the hot melt glue idea to give the connections stability. I will use this first chance I get great idea.
Speaking of thoes crimping tools, I have on occasion had to use a pair of pliers in their stead, and yes they are very much worth every last penny for the correct tool.
Thank you for that reminder about measuring voltage drop across the resistor you know the value of to determine Amp draw. I appreciate you sir. You are very easy to follow and learn from.
I've ordered 3 sets of crimpers off Amazon with overwhelming positive reviews. All garbage!
Is there a direct link to the good ones? Searching, and wondering if the reviews are legit or a scam is getting tiresome.
@@ICNine Thats a nice tool and all but the OP said 'wire crimpers' you posted a link to a wire strippers.
Thanks this was a really good one. I like to watch you work and learn from you (rather than you just dismantling stuff).
Thanks for The ammeter info.Great Video This.
you show the safe application in electrical circuits, it is nice to see the methods and explanation
of how things safely work together. plus the use of the connections for easy applications with universal
connections and various resistors. along with changing set up for the battery.nice video
24:00 - "If, however, you have a big, *_fat_* battery pack..." How rude! It's not fat...it's just got big atoms. ;) lol
It was a penis reference
Great vid - that TP4056 looks like a useful bit of kit. I saw some batttery cob lights with dimmers for 2 quid in Poundland yesterday that might be usable with this :)
For those of you here on the other side of the pond, Klein tools, (e.g. ratchet crimpers and manual strippers), are also high quality. They are carried in some big box home improvement stores, and Amazon also has them.
You should have just stopped at STRIPPERS. YOU WOULD HAVE GOT A RARE THUMBS UP. Had to go geek it up....
Thanks Clive.
I should have sent my AvE ruler to you for assembly i managed to fudge it right up somehow. Also what should I look for if I want one of those crimper things?
Just found your channel and I´m liking it very much, you explain very well! thanks for sharing your knowledge!
¿Can you make a video on how to recharge this batteries ( I have several with different chemistry and voltages) ?
Greetings from Mexico!
The wire strippers you use are the same type as my preferred ones, I think I acquired them from a careless engineer at my factory, these are basic but consistent when stripping many wires. Great tool from great careless engineer.
What an amazing video! Loved the whole video!
Clive, have you any idea what make the terminal crimps you used in this video, as they seem to be very good.
If you mean the tool used for the crimps, it came from a UK supplier called Rapid Electronics.
www.rapidonline.com/rvfm-ht-225d-ratchet-action-crimp-tool-ht225d-85-0262
None of us can hear that soldering iron, Clive ... but it is nice to imagine we could ... go on, tell us another one
I got a crimper off aliexpress which does really good crimps for molex and jst, though the dial that is supposed to adjust the pressure fell off, dupont crimps need 2 goes as they are really long.
That linking connection is a great idea.
Nice. I have a few old Lithium cells lying about.
On a similar note I recently resurrected some old hair clippers where the 3xAA NiCd battery pack had died. I replaced the innards of the charger with a crap USB 5V PSU and rehacked the clippers to use a 18500 Lithium cell with one of those charger/protection circuits you used. They work brilliantly now. Charge very quickly and last for ages per charge and a bit lighter too. The charger weighs almost nothing compared to the big old transformer that used to be in it.
I now use the clippers to trim by little beard one a week :)
bigclive Do you tin both ends of the wires before crimping?
I must have one of the fake/cheap crimpers because I rarely get strong crimps out of mine
I don't tin before crimping. The matching of the crimping tool to crimp is important for the strongest crimp.
Hola nunca fui a la escuela de electrónica, siempre me a fascinado el tema, hago pequeños proyectos con Arduino .Ahora reciclo una batería de teléfono, con un TP 4056 y alcanza los 4.30 volts no apaga el led rojo (cargando) y por lógica no enciende el azul (cargado) busque todo el día como reducir la histéresis entre encendido y apagado, pensando en voltaje. A pesar de no comprender con precisión tu explicación, veo que la histéresis entre encendido y apagado es controlada por corriente, (i) voy a quitar la resistencia de 1k y pondré un trimpot, espero conseguir cambios en la histéresis, desde hace tiempo eres una de mis profesores favoritos de electrónica nunca me di el valor de hacer comentarios. Saludos desde Queretaro MX
Puede haber alguna variación entre los módulos TP4056. Podría valer la pena probar con otro.
Muchos de ellos disminuyen mucho la velocidad cuando la celda está casi llena.
7:09 That Nokia battery is model BL-5C. If anyone's interested.
As used on the fantastic and super cheap Retekess V115 radio
And if you buy a BL-5C type battery for a device and it's too thick, you need the thinner BL-4C instead. For actual, genuine nokia batteries the BL-5C would be 1020mAh and the BL-4C 720mAh. The fakes/knockoffs usually claim completely ridiculous capacities (I've seen anything from 1500-2900mAh for a BL-5C, which isn't possible in that physical size) and are actually far below the original batteries' rated capacities (usually 500-800mAh for an okay-ish BL-5C clone, less for really crappy ones)
Could you take a look at a Xiaomi Zajia? I cannot find any disassembled pictures or videos online.
i cant hear the soldering iron, or the noise from my desktop computer is outbuzzing it, heh.
Or its my damaged hearing :-)
Very neat project, need to look into it and see if i got some leds laying about, might have my old samsung s4 4000ish mah battery somewhere... or a old powerbank to salvage!
Nice calculator Clive.
Finally!
Pretty much did this with a 1000 Lumen solar motion light so I can manually charge it with a USB power bank or by plugging it into a socket
TP4056 + 18650 + 22 gauge wire + USB cable = Never having a dead solar light during winter ever again. I have the wire leading into the house so I don't have to go outside manually charge it.
Hey Clive, I'd suggest looking into graphene supercaps. You might find them interesting for how small they are compared to traditional supercaps(which are of course humongous.)
I don't think they've come of age yet. There's also the issue that if a graphene supercapacitor can be charged in seconds then it can also unleash all its energy in seconds too. I wonder what the failure mode is.
The strippers are quite hard to get. Amazon had them, but now it says, unavailable. Don't know when or if they will be back in stock.
at 23:17, your showing how the protection circuit works reminded me a lot of quassi connectivity (also known as a BUD switch, or block update detector switch) for redstone in Minecraft, where the only way you can get the component to update is to make some sort of change in the circuit, most times near the power source, or component being powered. I find there are a lot of similarities between electrical circuits and redstone, but this is the first time I've seen something that reminds me of the oddity of quassi connectivity, especially in a protection circuit. Quite interesting!
Quite you!
What a handy fellow with holiday lights- I should invite you to our Christmas dinner next time you're in the west of the colonies
Lol.
Clive, the Uni-T meter becomes a lot easier to use if you put a little dot of white paint in the indicator dimple on the dial switch. Try it and see if it helps you. I've applied this to other meters too. Cheers, mate!
Who are you? The next unabomber?
Can the tp4056 be used with a 6v solar panel instead of the USB port?
I've owned a Moto G 4, 5 and 7 and reckon they are unbeatable value for money. Gutted that the 5 was the only one with a "user-replaceable" battery.
That calculator killed me.
I've said it once and I'll say it again, I would love to have a video consisting of your life from leaving school onwards, I'm fascinated as to how knowledgeable you are with electronics and a vast array of other stuff. It's a complicated subject yet somehow you break it down into plain English, or Scottish in your case. You must have left school with some decent exam results to enable you to embark on the career you chose. So how about a Story of BC After School?? 😁😁
Short summary. Bottom of the class at school. Straight into an apprenticeship with an electrical engineering company. Then just absorbing huge quantities of electrical and electronic data throughout my life.
@@bigclivedotcom Just goes to show formal education isn't everything. Learning on the job and building experience as you go (good and bad) leads to a better engineer.
Get a life baby
thanks once again big clive. learned a thing or two as usual.
Those small TP4056 boards are excellent value.
I like to fold over the end of the kapton tape on itself so it's easy to grab next time I use it but most of the time it gets away and sticks down to the roll.
I do that too.
You're an artist!
Great project 👍
Thanks for sharing 👍😀
Something I do with those two-cell Christmas light strings: I make a "Joule Thief" circuit and mount it in the space which was supposed to be occupied by one of the two cells, then I run the light string from a single cell in the remaining space of the battery compartment. The single cell lasts about the same time as the two cells, but the string of LEDs drains the power fast regardless of whether you use it in the original configuration or with a joule thief circuit.
BTW, old CFL lamps are a great source for transformer cores to use to make the joule thief circuit. They each have a toroid and a straight inductor, and both of them can be used. The wire from the straight inductor can be unwound and re-used to make the coils for your joule thief circuits, with plenty of wire left over.
Have you tried the charging module in a solar light with a battery without protection?? If so how'd the module perform?
Galaxy note 10 has an incredible macro lens. As well as a wide angle. Thing has 4 camera sensors and takes amazing pictures. Also you can make ANY phone camera a macro lens by using the lens from a CD/DVD drive with a little hot glue.
Beautiful job 👍🏻
Was wondering. With a, for instance, 4S 5P BMS, can I use it as a 4S 3P then add the other batteries later? Or does the BMS need to be fully populated??? Thank you.
If it's for four groups of parallel cells in series then it should be OK for smaller parallel groups as long as the charging current is within their range.
Great little project
I just realised my day wouldn't feel the same if i didn't get to hear your voice, doesn't even matter which video that is i have probably autoplayed everything by now.
I love your work. I wish you could be my teacher and I had a way to practice those skills that kept me partially employed. I work 5 days a week and for my self on weekends if the work is there but I would love to simply know electronics and be able to repair them. I did an electronics course in year 10 but there was no follow up courses and I was one of the last classes to do electronics. I suppose they assumed robots do it now.
That was 20 years ago now.
I assume rechargeable comes down to rare earths.
I need to find an electronics course in my city to learn how to do it just for fun. It might not go any where but so far neither am I. Instead of complaining I lost my shot. I can just pay to learn for fun. While I am still kinda young.
I can afford it. I don't want to learn from old techniques 30-60 years ago. I have spent my career replacing 30-110 year old ceilings. I admire the 80+ year ceilings for the longevity but dam, grout smooshed into timber slats worries me.
I have already mastered my trade and I am bored, although I value my skill and the other areas I have been able to expand them to.
You can enjoy electronics recreationally on UA-cam and pick up knowledge free.