A combination of friends of mine, discussions and photos of other peoples techniques for replacing cells. After working out how to remove cells, my good friend Rod worked out the technique/process on how to "repeatedly" replace and refit cells without breaking the banding and enable individual cell replacement.
Because words and pictures sometimes aren't enough I filmed the last of the 5 packs that had a low capacity cell in it whilst my friend did the work.
You might notice that I 'assist' him a few times but basically he has just had wrist surgery so he's not as strong as normal. Plus to be honest its a job that you need 2.5 hands for occasionally. Certainly doable with one person but having someone around to just assist when req. can be a life saver.
Essentially the key thing to this was 'bending' the pack in order to remove and refit the plastic spacers.
Occasionally you need to use a flat blade screwdriver just to lever a small amount of space occasionally... all becomes clear in the footage.
None of this is 'new' information for most of the long-term people here. But as a cell replacement newbie, as i was, you just can't have enough information before starting this job on your own.
So hopefully this will help people who have yet to delve into cell replacement and visually clear up any confusion or worries for people.
Start to finish for cell replacement for one pack - 7 mins 15 seconds !
Oh and lastly, something to bear in mind. This is the 8 cell pack in the video. This is the Hardest pack to do this, the 9 cell pack is considerably easier to get the pack together after. So as you can see 7 mins for the 8 cell pack and it takes about 5 mins for the 9 cell pack.
Hi
That looks great, Fast and easy, nice video as well, I doubt I could do a 7 min procedure on my V without swearing. I wonder if it would work as well with a pack with 3 or 4 really swollen cells.
No idea, I think that the 'bend' might help. Especially if it is a 9 cell pack. They are considerably easier to take apart than get back together.
But in your case it may be the opposite case.
Thank you very much for this great video!
Maybe now I'll finally tackle that battery I have sitting in the garage waiting to be put together...
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There is always a way if there is no other way!