Lithium cells not charging

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b.james

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I have a welding helmet that is powered it seems from 2 lithium rechargeables charged by a solar panel on the front . The batteries are a pair of 3V nominal CR2330 's and the m/m shows 2,81V and 2.72V on them respectively.

Now I thought to charge them a bit and connected my lab power supply to each in circuit and they would not take any current even when the voltage was boosted . So I un-soldered them and tried to charge each separately with the same response - no current going in?

So are these some sort of Chinese anti personnel device to cause cancer in the brain . Do they have a dust sized piece of plutonium or radioactive substance inside.

I ask because the cells don't take current even if I take the voltage to 20V . Attaching an led and resistor across them they seem to keep it alight for more than 2 days . I can't get them to discharge and I can't get them to charge ?

Whats going on?
 
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Lithium cells need a very specific charging profile for SAFETY REASONS and should have built-in protection circuitry to prevent the cell voltage going above or below set limits. If those limits are exceeded the cells can be damaged or, at the worst, catch fire or explode. Probably that circuitry is kicking in if you apply much above 4V to the cells.
Check out www.batteryuniversity.com for how they should be treated.
 
Typical rubbish posts . Not reading the post before replying etc . Stick to the post
Does anybody know what might be going on . This is a serious question asking for a serious response not the typical flippant garbage these gnomes lather on .
 
b.james said:
Typical rubbish posts . Not reading the post before replying etc . Stick to the post
Does anybody know what might be going on . This is a serious question asking for a serious response not the typical flippant garbage these gnomes lather on .
Click to expand...
Yeah, take one apart and you are likely to find what A.T says inside, or they are now duds. I take it this is for a welding helmet that darkens when you strike an arc? I wouldnt worry about the brain damage but I would get my eyes tested and looked at every 6 months, ask them to check for cloudiness How do I know? My dad has welded for years, the last 5 of which he used one of those that darken with the arc and he now has damage to the eyes.
I love your attitude by the way, I nearly wet myself laughing . Does the mask work? if yes put the batteries back, if not then go get a new one and stop buying cheap junk that puts your health at risk! Whats the solar panel for? Are you sure its not the detector? But then again you provide so little information it could be anything, your right though nothing changes same old rubbish posts! I was hoping for some better OP's by now..... Hey ho.

Ian you got too wonder about those fake battery vids, seems like alot more work and money to fake a battery than make a real one. I did a chemistry project last that basically took the batteries from the school recycle box and made my own from them. I mainly used the 6V lantern batteries (I forget the number of the battery but the square ones), I washed the MNO with weak citric acid then water and melted down as much of the zinc as I could get hold of from the box, then soak the MNO in potassium Hydroxide and stuff inside a plastic tube with a thin cardboard tube inside (I used toilet roll tube), wrap battered zinc around it and put carbon rod in the center.
Thats a brief description, I was convinced I would get at least 7-8V..............Turns out dosnt work like that! I got 1.V (pretty decent) and it lasted for for ages, when I worked the chemistry out I discovered the battery was a function of the chemical reaction and the voltage would never be higher than the eV volts of the reactants, so if I made one the size of a house it would still be 1.5V but last for years or deliver alot of current. Interesting stuff chemistry when you apply it to electronics.
i know I over simplified but lets face it the op will be in a rage reading that lot
 
When you look at the specifications for the CR2035 battery you will see that IT IS NOT RECHARGEABLE!
It might make a hot explosion splattering molten Lithium all over the place if you try to recharge it.

Why not simply buy new battery cells?
Also a battery should have a load when its voltage is measured. A multimeter provides no load so its measurement is probably much too high when measuring a "dead" battery.

Cheating Chinese companies make a lot of money by selling junk like batteries with cheap flour in them instead of expensive Lithium.
My electrical utility company gave away compact fluorescent light bulbs for free to promote saving electrical power. Some of these Chinese light bulbs dripped burning plastic so they were all recalled and replaced. The Chinese company that made them stole the certification number from a competitor so these light bulbs were made too cheaply to pass certification.
 
I have some Lithium from a battery in my element collection, its under oil and took me ages to get it out again using a oil bath and dremel. Interesting stuff Lithium, I had to wedge it down in the vial as it floats in oil. Nasty stuff though and oxidizes so fast if you try and get it out a battery in the air.
So maybe the solar thing is just the flash sensor? Ours was a different design and had a small box thing on the front.
 
Lithium.
Titanium.
Magnesium.
They all are metals that burn at a very hot temperature.
 
Magnesium you can boil in ethanol to get rid of the oxide layer, not something I fancy with Lithium , and Lithium is the least dense and a real pain to keep in a collection, Magnesium is pretty cool stuff and there is a reaction that uses magnesium to make Potassium at home but its a bit of a mare to say the least, I have never got it to work but seen others get it to work ok.
Titanium is good for electrochemistry especially with mixed metal oxides coated on it. Magnesium also throws out alot of UV light when it burns as well as bright white light. I havnt seen Titanium burn but would think once you got it going it would be pretty spectacular.
Anyone fancy making Lithium Oxide thermite
 
b.james said:
Typical rubbish posts . Not reading the post before replying etc . Stick to the post
Does anybody know what might be going on . This is a serious question asking for a serious response not the typical flippant garbage these gnomes lather on .
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Then why give it an "Unrelated" title..... The post asks about charging / discharging lithium cells... I can't see why the answers are "Rubbish posts"..
 
I do not believe that the "solar cells" are designed to recharge the CR2035s (As they are primary cells.) I think they are just used to trigger the circuit that makes the mask go dark.

Les.
 
Les Jones said:
I do not believe that the "solar cells" are designed to recharge the CR2035s (As they are primary cells.) I think they are just used to trigger the circuit that makes the mask go dark.

Les.
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Thats what I was getting at earlier, those masks are not great for long term use. There is a mask around that reacts chemically they are expensive and dont last forever for react faster, the other down side is they dont clear instantly. I tried to find out what the chemicals were, Silver nitrate seems unlikely but its got to be something similar, also when you look through them and strike an arc they are much darker than normal glass masks
 
I have a similar welding helmet, and since you are concerned about getting answers to all of your questions, here goes:

b.james said:
I have a welding helmet that is powered it seems from 2 lithium rechargeables charged by a solar panel on the front . The batteries are a pair of 3V nominal CR2035 's and the mm shows 2,81 and 2.72 on them respectively.
Click to expand...

Your assumption is wrong. The batteries are not rechargeable nor intended to be, as pointed out by others.


Answered above.

So are these some sort of Chinese anti personnel device to cause cancer in the brain . Do they have a dust sized piece of plutonium or radioactive substance inside.
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They are not an antipersonnel device and do not contain plutonium or other radioactive substance. Where did yo get such an insane idea?

I ask because the cells don't take current even if I take the voltage to 20V . Attaching an led and resistor across them they seem to keep it alight for more than 2 days . I can't get them to discharge and I can't get them to charge ?
Click to expand...

Primary cells may not take current.

Whats going on?
Click to expand...

To find that out, start by reading the manual for the helmet. If it didn't come with a manual, get a quality helmet that comes with a manual. Mine is a Lincoln Electric 3350 series helmet. The solar cell is intended to supplement battery power when there is sufficient light, such as during any welding or when welding outside in daylight. It is not intended to recharge the battery.

My eyes are too valuable to me to depend on a no-name import for their protection.

John
 
 
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My understanding is that both wavelengths of light can harm the eye, as your iris responds to neither UV or IR. Here's a powerpoint presentation from a local (Cleveland) university: **broken link removed**


Note, the lens, where cataracts form, is not mentioned for UVB or UVC. It is affected by UVA:
UV-A passes through the cornea to the lens and overexposure contributes to the formation of cataracts by creating oxidants that cause accelerated formation of cataracts.
Click to expand...

I almost never cite Yahoo and other such social media, but this comment about the danger of IR seems pretty accurate:

From personal experience, when I burn logs and trash outside, the fires are quite hot. One day, I did not wear my regular safety goggles. I just squinted or shut my eyes, and my eyes hurt afterward. Now, I wear regular safety glasses to block IR.

Just replace the batteries with new ones and be sure the welding helmet works.

John
 
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