So over the the last couple of years despite not doing much work on my vintage computers I have been keeping a eye on the scrap pile at work in case anything interesting turned up on it, a consequence of this is that my iBook collection seems to have grown form 2 laptop's to 6 
Most of the battery's in them seem to actually hold some charge, however the battery in the one and only 14" iBook would not charge at all
I have opened up the pack which contains 8 Sony US18650GR G6 Cells in s 2p4s configuration, each cell is 2200mah. 2 of these cells had leaked pretty badly which explains why it wasn't charging!
The next step was to test the control board form the pack still worked, I didn't have any tabbed 18650's to hand but did have lot's of recycled 18650's and some vruzend connectors so built this as a test
(Yes I know I really need to clean the bottom of that iBook)
The good news is the board still works, the iBook charged the pack successfully (And I did test the voltage of each cell pair, they where all in spec (Around 4.15v) with a deviation between the pairs of no more than 0.02v so it is balancing the pack correctly)
I am currently charge cycling the pack to see if the controller board will correctly detect the capacity of the cells (Each of the cells has a capacity of about 1500mah so the total for the pack should be 3000mah) and although it is going up as it is being cycled it is still pretty far off (Currently it is saying around 1300mah, up form around 800mah when I started)
The next step will be to purchase new cells with tabs which will actually fit in the original shell, I am thinking of just using 4 cells as although it will half the capacity it will also half the cost (and also give me plenty of room for wiring) I just need to try and find a reputable source for the cells who can spot weld the tags onto them for me
Most of the battery's in them seem to actually hold some charge, however the battery in the one and only 14" iBook would not charge at allI have opened up the pack which contains 8 Sony US18650GR G6 Cells in s 2p4s configuration, each cell is 2200mah. 2 of these cells had leaked pretty badly which explains why it wasn't charging!
The next step was to test the control board form the pack still worked, I didn't have any tabbed 18650's to hand but did have lot's of recycled 18650's and some vruzend connectors so built this as a test
(Yes I know I really need to clean the bottom of that iBook)
The good news is the board still works, the iBook charged the pack successfully (And I did test the voltage of each cell pair, they where all in spec (Around 4.15v) with a deviation between the pairs of no more than 0.02v so it is balancing the pack correctly)
I am currently charge cycling the pack to see if the controller board will correctly detect the capacity of the cells (Each of the cells has a capacity of about 1500mah so the total for the pack should be 3000mah) and although it is going up as it is being cycled it is still pretty far off (Currently it is saying around 1300mah, up form around 800mah when I started)
The next step will be to purchase new cells with tabs which will actually fit in the original shell, I am thinking of just using 4 cells as although it will half the capacity it will also half the cost (and also give me plenty of room for wiring) I just need to try and find a reputable source for the cells who can spot weld the tags onto them for me
