What to do with cells below 60% of original capacity?

Hi guys i have been harvesting a lot of cells this past few months and i got manycells below 60% and tested okay with IR of 160-300mOhms.Now i have hundreds of them and i do not know what to do to them the capacities are

1300 -1600mAh = cellsto be used for?
1000 - 1300mAh = cells to be used for?
500 - 1000mAh = maybe not safe to use?
below 500mAh = are this cells safe to you use or i justbin them?


can anyone give me idea where to use them?

Toys, RC's, Torches (Flashlights), Solar Lights, Dog collars, etc.

Even the 500mAh ones are more than most capacities on solar lights

I'm using my low cells for APC UPS batteries - as these 'mostly' sit there at 3.9v and only need a little power to go thru our 'second or 2' power outages. If the power goes out for sustained time, it doesn't matter (in my case) if APC runs 10min instead of 20min... If I don't get to it in 10min I'm probably not available. The one caveat of course is that the cells must have sufficient amp output to support the APC UPS load.

And, I haven't actually done any of this yet - but plan to use 'lower' cells for e-bike experimentation.

There will come a point where the cells are worth more for their recoverable cobalt than for energy storage. I don't know where that point is, but I suspect it comes after the point where you have more low-capacity cells than are worth your time and space to do anything with.

On the other hand, people can be pretty irrational about things they already own, or can acquire "cheaply," while ignoring opportunity costs. So it's also quite possible that people will cling to cells they should take to the recycling bin . YMMV.

eas said:

There will come a point where the cells are worth more for their recoverable cobalt than for energy storage. I don't know where that point is, but I suspect it comes after the point where you have more low-capacity cells than are worth your time and space to do anything with.

On the other hand, people can be pretty irrational about things they already own, or can acquire "cheaply," while ignoring opportunity costs. So it's also quite possible that people will cling to cells they should take to the recycling bin . YMMV.

Click to expand...

It appears that in Canada this is already the case. In conversation with a main recycler in Ontario it is cheaper and easier to recycle the cells for the lithium and cobalt than determine secondhand reuse ability or offering them for resale.

A key factor is liability I am told.

[quote pid='52165' dateline='1563763222']
A key factor is liability I am told.
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Yeah, too many people are liable to have fun and learn something! Liability=laziness most of the time. I'm currently talking with a local recycler and they actually seem interested in things being recycled and are setting up a waiver for me to sign.


As for the original topic I'm looking at using lower capacity cells to practice welding on and have thought about converting pretty much everything NiMH to Li-ion. The mid-range-but-not-good-enough cells I'm considering for a camping battery. Thinking something the size of a milk crate.

So what does the liability form cover?

I would think if batteries are drained to zero the risk drops off.....

< 500mAh: green lasers, under 200 lumen flashlights.
500 - 1000mAh: 200-1000 lumen flashlights, walkie-talkies, higher power lasers
1000 - 1600mAh: walkie-talkies, LED light rails, other electronics that need power off-grid

Note: a 100mAh cell can last a low power green laser even a few hours, so any cell is definitely usable for something.