Opening a capacitor-style lithium cell (don't try this) 

Now we need to see if the vent on top spews flames if overcharged.

Reminds me of being a kid and smashing D Cells to get the "black chalk" out of the middle so that we could draw on things. Given that this was at least 50 years ago, I assume they were all C-Zn cells. None of us died. Well, I mean none have died because of that specifically ...

It’s crazy how a battery that can power so many things is just a well rolled up piece of foil and copper!!! Amazing

When Clive puts a ‘don’t DO this’ in the title - immediate click. Somehow the delicate soothing tones of Clive’s voice describing how he performs the ill-advised task makes my day much better! Very educational - done so we don’t have to. Thank you Clive

I was fulling expecting a pouch-type cell in there...pleasantly surprised to see an actual rolled up type :)

I'm off to short a fully charged cell to compensate for the lack of burning in this video.

This new packaging makes sense, I wonder if a capacitor manufacturer wanted to break into the lithium battery market, considering the consumption rate for batteries on disposables must be through the roof.

As an inquisitive engineer I've opened all types of lithium cells, but have stopped for about a year now. Now Clive is doing more, I'm happy to sit back and watch him, I have retired my cake tin of surprises. Good post Clive, thank you and please take care 👍

They really are repurposing capacitor casings and possibly the production lines too. Makes sense really, given the construction of the battery. I wonder what happens when it fails in a destructive fashion? I guess either the case will blow off, or the top will dome and split, letting out all the fire demons.

I haven't got the guts to do something like this, so I'm living vicariously from the safety of my computer. Very interesting to see!

Thanks Clive, lovely stuff as always and, after reading the comments, I feel right at home here. Many, many, many happy hours in the 70's with homemade black power until the local chemist figured out what we were doing and banned us from the shop. Not to be out manoeuvred, I continued my pyromaniac pursuits by simply sending Granny in for the 2lbs bags of Sulfur and Saltpeter. Never did quite get the mix right as there was often a plastic-like residue left after combustion, probably too much sulfur I guess. Made lovely rocket fuel but no good for bangers. Biggest mishap was allowing a friend to bend some glass rods using a spirit burner on the same chest freezer (Mum's) I was mixing on. Burned his lip while trying to blow on the hot glass and dropped it in the plastic mixing bowel. There must have been half a pound of the stuff that went up with more smoke than I have ever seen before or since. What fun... still got all 9 finger and 8 toes though so came through all that, and more, without any major trauma🤞 FYI, the rockets were fused with salvaged cordite taken from a bunch of 1939/40 303 rounds found with a metal detector. When not compressed they used to give you a good 2 or 3 seconds to retire to a "safe" distance 🤣🤣🤣 Cheers all, thanks for the memories 🍺

Things just keep getting smaller and smaller. Just a pity they are so disposable. Interesting dive inside 2x👍

The FLUM brand ones I find most often here in San Francisco, CA are way generous with their battery capacity. They’re literally no bigger than the one in this video, but have a whopping 1000 mAh capacity, and I’ve tested and retested them to be pretty spot on. That’s great and all, but it kinda feels like and even more blatant slap to the face of people like us who can’t stand waste seeing these things carelessly discarded in the gutters all over the place. Now I have many more batteries than I have devices to power, but I’ll still pick up every one I see. SMH.

I was waiting to see the sparkle of all the electrons falling out as you broke the charge barrier apart 😊

I'd be quite apprehensive having on rubber gloves with things that could ignite on their own but you know what you're doing I guess. Having burned myself on a hotplate wearing gloves the meltiness really enhances the burn.

It'd be interesting to see those sodium cells end up on the channel someday. Thanks for giving us a teardown on these odd capacitor style cells.

I love videos where you say DON'T DO THIS, then immediately do it.

Watching that unraveled and seeing the two strips of each metal and seeing the solvent evaporate has explained completely how they work to me! Thank you!

I am definitely opting for electronics engineering and big thanks goes to this guy

​Ahhh the memories ... investigating battery internals... and more. ...Half a dozen discarded car batteries in series and a couple of the carbon rods from those ancient massive carbon zinc phone batteries (Eveready No. 6), was rather spectacular (even in daylight) when an arc was drawn. Lotsa light, heat, smoke, superficial burns and singed things. And yes we had the equivalent of the E.C. pie dish for flaming bits and pieces. Heaven knows what the neighbors thought. Gave a bit of a tingle if hands wet and mishandled. Added dubious bonus was occasionally a freshly overcharged battery would be ignited by sparks and spray acid around. (Had to keep leads as short as possible, so car batteries, carbon rods and user all in close proximity) Clothing with numerous holes from sparks and acid raised parental eyebrows. Survived. (& Learnt a lot of practical things that added to a really useful career)

No smoke, no flames, no heat, no explosion 💥 very disappointed Sir Clive 😊

Pyrotechnics was expected; don't know yet if that disappointment is out weighed by the acquired knowledge. Have a rewarding day, love your content. senior from Canada

The copper foil covered in graphite is the anode, and remains the same for both traditional Li-ion and LiFePO4 (but some new variants add silicon monoxide to increase energy density).

The Lithium battery tempted you from the last video didn't it. 😂👍💯

It's amazing how the only thing that's really changed about the technology in many years is the chemicals they make it with, yet the actual physical structure is basically the same.

Thank you Clive for doing the scary stuff so that we don’t have to. I am liking the new capacitor style packaging albeit looks to be slightly less efficient space wise.

If this were filmed in front of a live studio audience, the Explosion Containment Pie Dish would've gotten 10 seconds of clapping and cheering on its entrance. Beloved character, that.

Fun fact - the entirety of the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station is constructed within a giant explosion containment pie dish!! Sub-facts: 1.Fray Bentos were the first contractors on site. 2. The previously contained pie was used to feed the population of Burnham-on-sea for 3 months. 3. It took 3 years for the pie to cool to a suitable level before it could be served to previously mentioned population 4. The lid has been reserved and will be installed as the lid of the reactor pressure vessel - complete with original labelling. 5. Work is already under way for the Sizewell C pie.

That's one way of demonstrating that this WAS in fact a cell, and not a capacitor as some of yesterday's commenters would have us believe. Never doubt the Clive!

I’m always short of Christmas party activities….thanks Clive. Oh, you forgot to explain how to safely dispose of the ‘massive pile of rubbish’.

That's fascinating. It seems like basically nothing in there, yet it stores so much power.

That's a bummer, wanted to see flames and mayhem... Stay safe!

That was uneventful. I was half expecting some spontaneous burst into flames😁 I think you should try to do this with a fully charged one next time and see how far you get before it erupts. It's for the ratings 😂🤣😊🤝🤝

Always nice to see your program. It seems as if the broken lamp has a problem with the E27 fitting. Greetings MiKa

Exactly the dangerous shit I'm curious enough to want to do, so I'm glad experienced people do it on camera. Excellent work as always

Given the five minute time stamp I was actually expecting to see the Explosion Containment Dish to be used! Magic Smoke!

This is actually very interesting. This could be very usefull for some of my projects. If they fit i could just use some of these Cells to replace Caps, cut the traces and not have to worry about how to mount it. It makes things sooo much easier.

There's no doubt there are exploitative practices at many rare mineral mining operations around the world. If nothing else, underpaying workers is rampant. The less we have to rely on such practices, the better. Very cool teardown of a battery though!

I knew you wouldn't be able to resist taking it apart, Clive!

Disappointed not to see smoke and flames..... But glad to see that you are still around to dismantle the next dubious battery type to cross your path.

You do a great service to us curious fools who no longer need to open up these things just to see whats inside.

4:58 Looks like that time I dropped my film camera in the Grand Canyon 😂

Interesting to see that unique looking battery disassembled, and again at some personal risk. I will say it was much less exciting than the very first lithium ion cell you opened up. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥😂

It's funny how Cobalt is only a problem when it's used in EV batteries and not when most of it gets used to remove sulfur from diesel.

Great video thanks Clive you teach us younger folks a lot you’re better than any school teacher I had

happy 1M subs, Clive. Cant wait to see what youre going to do with the Play Button.

Oh, interesting, I was expecting there to be fully enclosed cell then crimped into the capacitor casing, not for the capacitor casing to be the outermost seal. How does the capacitor container compare to traditional outermost layers in terms of impact and puncture resistance? That'd be a factor in deciding whether to reclaim these for some projects.

Wow! The things you do for us viewers ! When you said that you're going to do "further tests" on the cell , i at first thought that you intended to put the cell together again...🤪 Now that would have been something else😁 Tnx for a good show👏🏻

First time I came across one of these capacitor shape lithium cells was in an led dog collar a few years back , strange choice of cell packaging.

Danger Clive lives on the edge so we don't have to, what a champ, luv from 'Straya.

Awwww, man, no sparking and flames like the other cell from a while back? 🔥🔥🔥 *That's* what we tuned in for! 💀💀💀

You know It's going to be fun when the explosion containment pie dish is on standby :D

fully discharged before opening it? ...COWARD! 🤣 Love your work, Clive.

I love the smell of open lithium cells. It's a very unique smell, but has a nice flavour when it hits the back of your nose and you feel it on your tongue. Wouldn't recommend breathing it in deeply, though! Strong stuff.

Thank you for taking it apart, so I don't have to. Really pleasant voice btw. 👍🏻❤

Great autopsy Clive, I was thinking the whole time that the cell may catch fire halfway through opening it up. Love your ECPD device, Explosion Containment Pie Dish. Priceless !

Hm, I'm starting to think this is not a li-ion battery with a strange form factor but a "li-ion capacitor" or LIC. It's a relatively modern (2010-ish for commercial product) bit of a crossbreed between a lithium battery and a supercap, it should have higher charge/discharge speed than a battery (but lower than an actual cap that can dump everything in a snap) and higher capacity than a capacitor (but much lower than a battery).

It's always pleasing to see the Explosion Containment Pie Dish - at least it wasn't actually needed in this instance. And there was no protection device in the cell so I hope that the manufacturers solder them well to the PCB without any intermittent shorts or solder whiskers.

Expertly disassembled Clive. Good job.

Hi Clive - Interesting you mention Sodium Ion cells - I have heard they are a lot safer but their voltage range is much much wider than lithium cells - ranging from 4V at full charge down to about 1.6-1.8V when flat.

Coming ready to be added to a PCB right from the factory is pretty awesome, in my book. (I would add a castelated edge, to make the battery easier to replace down the road.)

Interesting to see what's inside as i were not sure if they had inserted the tiniest lipo cell into a cap body or something. Probably good to attach to pcb's as a sort of backup power of some type ..

Glad youve got the nerve. I get scared handling my lithuims even with zero power in them

3:48 Watching you pull those last parts just triggered my tangled christmas lights PTSD XD The horrors!

I have found it very interesting how wee babies mining cobalt in the Congo has only become an issue since they started being used in EVs. When it was only used in phone/laptop batteries, or as a catalyst in oil refineries then that was fine! Still, it's nice to see the likes of the Daily Mail found their moral voice on the subject.

Discovered one of these in a rechargeable shaver a while back, its 500mAh in a 1450 package, it has one 6 pin chip on the board, was expecting it to be a DW01, it's similar size but marked 67c927, charging circuitry may be in the charging cable, I was intrigued.

Thank you for taking on dangerous tasks like this, it’s very enlightening.

A really neat strong package ... but ..... VERY easy to short out when desoldering or incorrect storage ... the pouch cells are more fragile but hard to short out by accident ..... DAVE™🛑

That's a well rolled up piece of fire!

Honestly, my biggest issue with the whole thing is that they used the black bar to denote positive rather than negative. I have been thinking about it, and can’t see anything good or useful about switching the terminals just because it is not an actual capacitor.

Nice educational video as always. Pity about the capacity. Placing the cell in a cap tube would seem to provide a little more protection. Thanks Clive

that's interesting, I was expecting more magic smoke but it seems this is not that dangerous. Could be an explanation for the low energy density, as the "safer" types of lithium chemistry cells have lower energy density. While the best and most dense aka lithium polymer is full of angry pixies and magic smoke

Is it wrong of me to have Mr. Photonicinduction's voice in my head going "I want flaaaaaaaaames!!!"?? :P

1. the reason that the leads are connected near the end is probably how they get the capacitor battery hybrid or the first inch is usually faulty due to being crushed up in the middle. 2. the separator is i think what gets punctured and causes shorts and fires. 3. all rechargeable cells require break in (the first few cycles) to get full capacity. 4. lithium does react with the air and water and starts fires if you ever take a chunk of lithium metal and throw it in water it will burst into flames eventually though very dangerous and should only be done in controlled conditions.

Easy to get the lithium strip w/o discharging battery. Use a small tube cutter to penetrate the metal. Immerse it in a hydrocarbon to keep it from reacting (such as naphtha, hexane, or even gasoline). Use 2 pairs of plyers to pull the cut tube apart. With some practice, you can do it in under 1 minute.

WHAT?? I had no idea what the inside of a battery looked like. I thought it was uber complicated wizardry that could not be seen with the naked eye. But all of those components can be identified on a macro scale! that is so wild.

I'm really unsatisfied by this video! You didn't put it together again! Why not! You did so well in the TOP ECO DIY TIPZ. How to repair LED lamps video and it'd be good to see the same here! Bollocks!

I just noticed I have 2 pairs of the same italian flush cutters as you , what a great little tool

Woooah!! Just realised you hit 1M subs!! Congrats Clive!!!

I';m also eagerly awaiting the forthcoming sodium-based cells. I thought at first it was wishful thinking, but as more data comes through it seems they're legit. So I seriously hope that the electrolyte isn't going to be something too dangerous or awful to manufacture.

😂😂😂! Explosion containment pie dish? You are one entertainment I cant miss for a break to the can! I'll change my shorts later😅

The woman in the kitchen shop gave me a very funny look, when I asked for an "Explosion Containment Pie Dish" 💥🔥🤣

I was waiting for a flash at some point. This was an interesting one that reminds me as a kid taking apart capacitors for the foil to shellac thin strips of the foil on glass windows for an alarm system. Now I watch other people do those kinds of things.

Yaaay! The explosive Containment Pie Dish is BACK!! What's next? A Fanny Flambeaux update?

When I was very young I would take apart and rassemble things like toy motors, bicycles, etc. out of curiosity. Clive still does 😁 so I don't have to.

I love these kind of Li ion battery thanks for opening one I always wanted to open one myself.

Don't let the magic smoke out Clive!

Was waiting for your workbench to catch on fire....... again:p

Those cells are so powerful and dangerous and suddenly, one guy shows up and says: "There's graphite on the ground!"

I was missing the explosion containment pie dish.

The "pear drop smell" might be amyl acetate, or pentyl ethanoate, as it would be called nowadays. I can't see, though, that it was used as a solvent in any kind of battery.

Sensible way to package them, construction is similar, plenty of electro cap can sizes available and easy to mount on PCBs and has built in overpressure protection.

Awww i wanted flames, gonna go sulk now. Thanks for this never seen this type before.

I am not quite as optimistic regarding sodium cells for a few reasons. Firstly, sodium has a significantly lower electrode potential (Li -3.04V vs. Na -2.71V). Secondly, sodium is very significantly heavier than lithium (22.99 g/ mol vs. 6.94 g/ mol) with both wanting to lose only one electron. In other words, you lose 11% of the voltage (unless you make up that difference with your choice of the other electrode) and suffer a 3.3-fold weight/ mass penalty on the group 1A electrode to have the same capacity in terms of coulombs discharged (or, to think of it the other way, a 70% penalty in battery capacity if electrode mass is kept constant). That would take a very - shall we say talented - marketer to sell someone on a battery with such a dramatic performance loss. We have been accustomed to batteries getting both higher in current delivery capacity and lighter at the same time, and the switch to sodium could not continue to obey that trend due to physics. That would mean that our portable electronic devices would have to either get bigger and heavier or lose processing power relative to current devices, as we have already accomplished the easiest methods to increase processing power and decrease mass (also decreasing power consumption in the process) at the same time. Now we need to get more creative with 3D geometry on the die and stacking of chiplets, with smaller and smaller generational gains in performance. Where I feel a sodium-based battery is going to have its biggest advantage is that the raw material is exceptionally plentiful and available throughout the planet, so we do not need to worry about an adversary or profiteering corporation gaining a monopoly on the raw material and artificially forcing the costs in their favor. Converting sodium chloride to metallic sodium is something a person with a background in high school chemistry could understand, and it seems reasonably unlikely that someone could make the process so much more efficient to gain patent-protected control of the supply, as the upper bounds of price would always be moderated by the traditional methods of producing metallic sodium. That could significantly limit the monetary value of a patent that improves efficiency, which might also be slowing research funding relative to other more seemingly lucrative areas.

If it is a one time use battery, perhaps they expect you can drain it lower than you would a cell you want to get many recharges from. I wonder if that explains the difference in the wHrs. thanks for another fun video.

The newest "capacitor" style battery in Blue 1000 ecigs don't even have leads, the whole thing is clipped together,assuming easier for automated assembly, tho they state not rechargeable, now got bout 50 of them to find use for

I recently had the favor to see how fast two 18650 cells heat up when put into a holder wired as 2P and not recognizing the one cell is upside down. They have that flat plus cap and they had some plastic shrink wrapped around, which just shrinked even more fast. Fortunately I was fast enough in removing one from the very tight holder to avoid further effects. Not sure if I prefer 50kWh if this over the 60l of diesel I normally use. 😂

well, now for the harder part, putting it back together! 😆 Interesting teardown still, it always seems a bit magical to me that yep, it's just sheets of materials rolled together that are somehow able to store energy :)

If I run out of toilet paper I will remember this. Thank you!

"Do not try this..." Ok, you've got my interest now... :)