No, I'm not gonna make meth. Reading about lithium batteries and the explosion hazard makes me leery about opening up the the battery but on the other hand I've never seen lithium metal. Before I open the thing up will there be any lithium left? The battery is dead. it is the 3.6 volt cv3 type. And will the lithium start burning when exposed to air? Thanks, Eric
I may not be correct, but I thought it was lithium hydroxide in there, not metallic lithium.
LLoyd
If it's dead, there's no lithium metal and a good deal of hazardous chemicals. I can remember one whole neighborhood being evacuated and a major freeway shut down after a chemical leak at a lithium battery plant when I lived out on the West Coast, IIRC, it was thionyl chloride. May not be what's in the battery, may be used in the some part of the construction process or electrolyte. What's left after the battery is run down probably won't do you much good, though. You'll probably end up with a toxic and somewhat corrosive mess on your hands if you try to open it.
IIRC, lithium reacts with water, somewhat like sodium, not oxygen, at least not violently. I've never actually had anything to do with the metal, when I was doing synthetic organic chemistry in college, we used various salts and compounds of the metal, not the metal itself. Those were nasty enough by themselves.
Stan
Right. The explosion hazard is from heat when a battery is overcharged. Not a big explosion, just a loud pop! They all have pressure relief devices. Will be some mess!
Paul
Just shows what I know. Which is why I asked here. Eric
Thanks Stan. ERS
Just don't hit it with a hammer...
KA-BANG! city, baby...
Strangely enough, I just saw a video by the Missouri State troopers that was about making Meth. They ran through the whole procedure of a couple diferent methods including tearing a bunch of lithium batteries apart with pliers to extract the metal foil. They did not seem too concerned. I do not recall seeing any particular safety equipment in use while the batteries were being ripped apart, but ...
On the other hand, a fiend of mine that flies electric radio control helicopters, tells me that he always charges his lithium batteries while they sit in a ceramic dish, as they can burn quite hot if they do burn.
Cheers Trevor Jones
Been here yet?
If it's the typical 3.6V lithium ion battery used for cell phones and such, what you have is a plastic case around the metal container of the battery. I cut the cases off all the time with a Dremel saw. They often have a circuit board mounted on top of the cell that is used to monitor charging and for overload protection. I remove the board and wire directly to the cell itself. When charging I monitor the charge manually. I have slipped up and burned a charger before. I have also cut into the battery before and never had a problem so far. They work great for powering radios and hobby projects.
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