Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Using Li-ion laptop batteries?

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BikeManDan
01-25-08, 10:05 PM
Is it feasible to use li-ion laptop batteries as a power source?
Can they be charged using an off the shelf smart charger?

I ask since laptop batteries are considerably cheaper to purchase than other batteries for the same capacity

BikeManDan
01-28-08, 12:12 AM
Anyone?
cyccommute
01-28-08, 08:28 AM
Anyone?

A battery is a battery as far as voltage goes. If the laptop battery has the proper voltage and a high enough capacity for your system, I don't see why it wouldn't work. Making the connections to the system may require some McGuivery and some soldering. Make sure you get a charger that is compatible with the Li-ion chemistry, however. The charging regimes are different for the Li chemistry.

jeff-o
01-28-08, 09:11 AM
Instead of a laptop battery, find one of those external li-ion portable DVD player batteries. I used one for a while before replacing it with a larger pack from batteryspace. The battery was designed to provide extra power for those portable DVD players. It had a built-in charge controller, so all you had to do was plug in a wall-wart transformer to charge it up. It featured an LED battery level indicator. It was rated for 9V @5400mAh. I got it for less than $40.