Ryobi One+ Li-ion battery packs out of China.

I posted this on an OCAU thread and thought I may as well post it here too. There are literally tonnes of these packs coming out of eBay China right now… this is what I have to say…

I got a few of these "Chinese specials" that just arrived now. $37 each landed for a batch of 3 of the "big" li-ion Ryobi packs. Its cheaper if you buy even more in a batch BUT…

One of them doesn't charge. So I opened one up (being a bit suspicious about just how many of these Ryobi lithium packs are flooding out of China right now) and what I found was not pretty, not pretty at all.

The cells have been replaced with non-factory cells. The Sony US18650V 18650 cells that are now in there are good quality 1500mAh cells, pretty much the best you can get, but they look like they've been through absolute hell. Rust/corosion, bulging, physical wall damage, the works. To top it off they look like they've been removed and re-welded by a 5yo.

The pack outer plastic casings have been through hell too, and the date codes are weird. I have one 2007, one 2009 and one with no date code at all (I mean it just isn't there, like it was never there ie an original factory reject). But all packs have seen some serious power tool action regardless of date.

What I'm picking is that these packs came with the good original batteries. Then they were removed (either after they had been used up, or because the new cells were needed for something else), then they have slapped in some nasty old used-up cells from the rubbish dump. Then they caned the nuts off the packs for their own uses, probably for building factories etc. Then they turn up here.

I'm glad I didn't buy a bigger batch of these things to on-sell.

The cells in my three (assuming I can get teh dead one working) will be being replaced with cheap 5S1P li-po cell packs as soon as I can find a pack that fits.

Just be aware that these are "cheap" for a reason. They aren't even cheap really, they often go for $60 on eBay. I got mine from aliexpress.

EDIT: Sorry for the essay guys but I just opened the dead pack and ZOMG!!!!!
One of the cells is so badly rusted, and you can see where they have used a grinder to try to get through to what little bare metal is left, and the spot welds have come away. Thats why it wasn't charging. This pack is a mix of INR18650-13Q 1300mAh cells and the aforementioned sonys, neither of which are factory, all of which look like they've been pulled from the skip. I'm scared to open the last pack now.