On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:01:04 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Jeff Liebermann wrote:
I've also been fairly successful with soldering wires onto the cells.
However, some cells use a stainless can, which won't solder. For
battery pack rebuilds, there's sometime not enough room for the
inevitable "lump" formed when soldering wires. That's not the case
with spot welded tabs, which lie flat.

I usually cut off the spot welded tabs from the old ones and solder these.

Yep. Same here. I inherited a large box of Metricom battery packs.
When I ripped them apart for the cells, I kept all the tabs. They
solver very easily and are quite handy. They're also quite sharp. I
have the blood stains to prove it.

But don't know how LiIon react to heat. You've got to solder quickly with
other types to avoid damage.

Dunno. I killed a few NiCads from overheating until I learned the
trick. I have a glass of water handy when soldering on the tabs. As
soon as the solder even looks like it's about to harden, I dump the
battery in the water. That keeps things quite cool and prevents the
heat affected zone from spreading.