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DIY Powerwall Builders Are Using Recycled Laptop Batteries to Power Their Homes

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Re: DIY Powerwall Builders Are Using Recycled Laptop Batteries to Power Their Homes

#61

Post by dave7 »

As an ecig user / moderate enthusiast, this horrifies me.

18650s are great! It's awesome to know you can easily and cheaply fix an old laptop battery to better than it's ever been by replacing the cells with some nice new VTC5s or 25Rs.

Hooking up tons of them with varying capacities and levels of resistance is surely not wise.

Ecig user knows using even an un-married pair of 18650s in a dual 18650 mod is a recipe for blowing up in your face sooner or later.

Idk, maybe there's something with such a large number that makes it less likely to fail catastrophically?

Re: DIY Powerwall Builders Are Using Recycled Laptop Batteries to Power Their Homes

#62

Post by robbles »

castratikron wrote: post #58

I take old laptop batteries apart and use the cells for USB power banks. You can buy cases off of eBay for a couple bucks that hold two cells and have USB connectors and a charge controller built in. It's no Powerwall, but they're still very useful. I power my bike light with them.

Would you mind posting a link to the specific case you use?

Re: DIY Powerwall Builders Are Using Recycled Laptop Batteries to Power Their Homes

#63

Post by castratikron »

robbles wrote: post #62
castratikron wrote: post #58

I take old laptop batteries apart and use the cells for USB power banks. You can buy cases off of eBay for a couple bucks that hold two cells and have USB connectors and a charge controller built in. It's no Powerwall, but they're still very useful. I power my bike light with them.

Would you mind posting a link to the specific case you use?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-5600mAh-5V-USB-Power-Bank-Case-1...

Re: DIY Powerwall Builders Are Using Recycled Laptop Batteries to Power Their Homes

#64

Post by voltagex_ »

castratikron wrote: post #63
robbles wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you mind posting a link to the specific case you use?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-5600mAh-5V-USB-Power-Bank-Case-1...

Do the cells have the protection circuits on them?

Re: DIY Powerwall Builders Are Using Recycled Laptop Batteries to Power Their Homes

#65

Post by nikodunk »

jacobsalome wrote: post #60
hackernoon wrote: post #59

reminds me of this http://gridlesskits.com – also a DIY storage/solar project that was on HN a few months ago

This is a repost of the Hackernoon article, no?

Nope, OP of the Hackernoon post here – GK is by us and is the new home of the project. Thanks for policing though :P

Re: DIY Powerwall Builders Are Using Recycled Laptop Batteries to Power Their Homes

#66

Post by dingo_bat »

chris11 wrote: post #57
seabird wrote: post #46

I appreciate the engineering and time people are putting into these projects. I absolutely hate the way this article is portraying these people's work. These are not "consumers who can't afford commercially produced powerwalls." These are people who could probably work professionally in the field if they're not already. These projects are not "a little research, invested time, and a little ingenuity," they are the cu…

I really agree with you. The idea of a homebuilt powerwall sounds really cool. But it's not something I would come close to working with. Awhile ago I did a some volunteer work at a radio station. One of my tasks was to check for arcing. That involved going into the transformer room, disabling the safety systems, unracking some of the electrical components, powering the system on, turning off the lights and then look…

Question: isn't it easier to use one of those fancy arc detector breakers instead of visually inspecting the whole equipment?

Re: DIY Powerwall Builders Are Using Recycled Laptop Batteries to Power Their Homes

#67

Post by brians »

dingo_bat wrote: post #66
chris11 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really agree with you. The idea of a homebuilt powerwall sounds really cool. But it's not something I would come close to working with. Awhile ago I did a some volunteer work at a radio station. One of my tasks was to check for arcing. That involved going into the transformer room, disabling the safety systems, unracking some of the electrical components, powering the system on, turning off the lights and then look…

Question: isn't it easier to use one of those fancy arc detector breakers instead of visually inspecting the whole equipment?

Not in a radio station. Those typically trigger from RF.

Re: DIY Powerwall Builders Are Using Recycled Laptop Batteries to Power Their Homes

#68

Post by LambdaComplex »

extr wrote: post #13
cyphar wrote: post #2

One of the really disappointing things about Tesla is how incredibly proprietary all of their products are. For a company that has such lofty goals as "saving the world", it feels wrong to me for them to then sell DRM cars and unrepairable black boxes. Maybe I'm just too idealistic, but surely if we have an opportunity to create a new market for solar devices why would we decide to recreate the proprietary world of t…

This isn't unique to Telsa, all vehicles are becoming more difficult to repair as computers and software replace what used to be handled by mechanical systems. I would actually much prefer to drive next to a Tesla knowing that the guy behind the wheel (potentially staring into space as it drives itself) hasn't implemented any "hacks". A similar argument exists for why DIY battery banks are not ideal. It's not inconce…

"all vehicles are becoming more difficult to repair as computers and software replace what used to be handled by mechanical systems."

Don't forget John Deere tractors!

Re: DIY Powerwall Builders Are Using Recycled Laptop Batteries to Power Their Homes

#69

Post by fasquoika »

ghaff wrote: post #26
gamad wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone licensed by their (US) state as an Engineer, and the only person (in most states) who can legally call himself an Engineer. https://www.nspe.org/resources/licensure

>the only person (in most states) who can legally call himself an Engineer Someone must have a PE to sign off on certain things when dealing with regulators and so forth. Which makes getting a PE in certain situations important. But not having a PE is hardly equivalent to calling yourself a lawyer if you haven't passed the bar in a state.

Whether or not it's equivalent is pretty irrelevant to the law

Re: DIY Powerwall Builders Are Using Recycled Laptop Batteries to Power Their Homes

#70

Post by noddy1 »

Question.. All my device lithium batteries seem to lose ~70% of their ability to hold charge after 500-1000 cycles, however the tesla car batteries/powerwall claim to give a decade+ of use despite being built of the same cells. How does that work?
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