# BB600? Nicads



## jcsevparts (Dec 1, 2008)

I've come across a bunch of old NiCads, they seem to be mostly 16ah, some are 34ah. 1.2 v/cell. Some of them are in the stainless case (24vdc) They have been in a shed for a long time. Last night I charged up ten of them in a 12 volt pack. They held their charge over night. But I really don't have the proper equipmet to deal with them. They have Marathon written on the outside. Maybe could be used on a small conversion or Bike if they are any good. I'm going to try to check some of them out, may make some good 12 volt packs. I'm going to get on the Yahoo bb600 list and see if I can find out more there.

Josh and Jen


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## madderscience (Jun 28, 2008)

I recently found some similar ones at a local transfer station.

Most likely these are old aircraft starting batteries.

There will probably be a date stamp on the individual cells someplace, though you might need to pull them out of their enclosures to find it.

These batteries can remain serviceable for decades if properly cared for; but they do need a fair amount of maintenance.

Before doing too much, ensure that there is enough distilled water in them that the plates are wet. If they have been sitting a long time there is a good chance some of them are dry. If the batteries are discharged, only add just enough water to dampen the plates fully. They will 'evolve' more water as they charge. Charging them while dry can wreck them.

The 34AH bb600's have been used successfully in EV's, though it will take about 200 of them to make a 30-40 mile traction battery for a small car. 

You can get more BB600's surplus fairly easily, about $10 per cell. 

Main disadvantage of these things in an EV is a lot of interconnects and a lot of watering.


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## jcsevparts (Dec 1, 2008)

Some of these were laying on their side, and looks like some of the electrolite ran out. They were stacked (the upright ones) with cardboard between them (the 16ah one had already been removed from the case). The card board has turned to powder almost. the bulk of them were in wooden boxes with this cardboard on top. I estamate their are 400-500 of the 16 ah ones. there maybe 5-8 (cases) of the larger (34 ah) ones still in the 24vdc cases. The dates that I have seen are from 1974 - 1981 so far. They were made by marathon in Waco Tx. I haven't had time to find out about the type of electrolite solution that are in them yet. The ones that have leaked out, should they be refilled with solution?

Thanks,

Josh
www.jcsevparts.com


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## madderscience (Jun 28, 2008)

1974-81 is fairly old even for these, but if they have been in cool storage they may still be serviceable. If the plates look clean (not much white gunk on them) that is a good sign.

Assuming they can be revived there is enough there for a traction pack. Like I said before the 16AH ones are kinda small but maybe for a small vehicle like an E-bike, motorcycle or lawn tractor they could work. (Or, a dragster....)

If there are eight 24V modules of the 34AH jobs, that is 96V at 70AH; enough for a small EV. A geo metro with that battery setup and an 8" DC motor would probably weigh only 2200lbs or so. 

Unlike lead acid you can pretty much use all of that 70AH so that is roughly equivalent to eight to ten 12V, 100AH golf cart traction batteries, but weighing a couple hundred pounds less and much higher power density. Nicads aren't bothered by cold temperatures or peukert nearly as much either.

The electrolyte is KOH (potassium hydroxide). With the right tools to measure battery condition and electrolyte density, they can be refilled. The bb600 yahoo group has, among other things, manufacturer documentation on maintenance so I would refer you to that.

Don't refill anything until you consults with the experts though.

If the wooden boxes are marathon boxes, these might be uncomissioned NOS batteries. I think what that means is that the electrolyte would have been shipped separately, kinda like a motorcycle battery, to greatly extend shelf life. If the batteries have shorting jumpers installed across their terminals, that is very likely. They are supposed to be stored fully discharged.

Marathon is a well known manufacturer and they are still around. The ones I found are Maration 40SP100's, which are 40AH cells, ranging in age from 1997 to 2002. They are all healthy. Unfortunately I only got 24V worth of them.

If worse comes to worse, These batteries may have significant value as cores for recycling. Figure out what aircraft mechanics do with their scrap nicads. There is a lot of nickel and cadmium there.

Sounds like quite a find. Good luck.


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## rmay635703 (Oct 23, 2008)

I am curious how I would locate some good ol nicad batteries for my comutacar. I like driving in winter but lead is slow.

I have looked online for several years but never found any on the usual government liquidation sites and the like.

Any ideas?


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## jcsevparts (Dec 1, 2008)

I have a bunch of 16ah ones, I'm currently going through them to see which one may still be good. Not sure how far they would take you??? I don't know how much they would be worth.....

Thanks,

Josh

www.jcsevparts.com


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## rmay635703 (Oct 23, 2008)

Unfortunately I would need a lot of them. My car is 72volt and I would probably need a minimum of 96ahr to really do anything usefull, that would be 6 strings of 72v. I might be able to get by with 64ahr but I don't think it would be good enough range wise, unless I can somehow mix the lead acid with nicad in parallel which as far as I know is very bad.

As toward value given their age and condition I would estimate that they aren't worth tons of money. My guess would be nearer the scrap value which is relatively high at the moment, I know from the government some where getting them for peanuts some time ago, new versus used is usually a hole other ball game. We will have to wait for the experts to say as I am realy not sure.

Ah well.


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## jcsevparts (Dec 1, 2008)

Quote:
As toward value given their age and condition I would estimate that they aren't worth tons of money. My guess would be nearer the scrap value which is relatively high at the moment, I know from the government some where getting them for peanuts some time ago, new versus used is usually a hole other ball game. We will have to wait for the experts to say as I am realy not sure.


I really do no have the proper equipment for charging and testing these cells, I put 9 cells together in a pack and charged them with my 12 volt charger, they charged up and held their voltage, but I can tell they need cycling. Don't really have the equipment to do all that. I'd say about half of what I found still have liquid in them, I've got them sorted out based on how much. the others are dry and look white and corroded through the plastic case. Where could you get these recycled, and are they really worth anything as a recycle value?

Josh


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## jcsevparts (Dec 1, 2008)

I have a 12 volt pack that I've put together when I started this thread, It hasn't been charged since, and is still holding it's resting charge. Is that a good sign?


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## madderscience (Jun 28, 2008)

jcsevparts said:


> I have a 12 volt pack that I've put together when I started this thread, It hasn't been charged since, and is still holding it's resting charge. Is that a good sign?


Yes.

The cells that look to have reasonably clean plates and still have electrolyte in them are probably OK.

The cells that dried out you can try adding a little bit of distilled water to and see if the electrolyte re-dissolves but if there is a bunch of white gunk that won't go away or if they won't take and hold a charge, those cells are probably scrap.

For what its worth, I sold the twenty marathon 40SP100's that I saved from the dump for $80, or $4 per cell. They may have been worth a bit more than that if I had advertised them more widely, but they went to a fellow local EVer who has 200 bb600's in a karmann ghia, so I know they will go to good use.


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