So I have my old pack, that has been in the elements. The cells are corroded and the shrink wrap is cracked etc. Cells are soldered together. Originally I was going to dismantle and reconfigure, but it is gone, but still has charge.
What shouuld I do? I was going to turn it in to a store that sells them, but the shape they are in, I think they might run. I could put them in a field, and use shovel etc, to ignite them.
Does anyone know if stores accept janky cells, in pack? Do they have a safe receptacle that they dont care about ignitions?
OK, so home Depot takes batts in any shape, less than 13 pounds. And the receptacle is right next to customer service. I DONT trust them to accept them bound and connected. And even if they did take them, a tab touching a wrapless side would set the whole receptacle off, and cause a great deal of risk.
I cant be responsible for that. So, I took all cells apart, and only lost eight cells that are rusted. They were soldered, so not that clean, but could be soldered up again. In a smaller pack.
Let that be a lesson to me. Assemble pack knowing that I will have to fully dismantle when finished. Will need to rewrap.
If their recycling bin doesn’t state any requirements, and they don’t have an employee responsible for checking everything meets their requirements, then I’d say it wouldn’t be your fault if it caused a fire. It would be negligence on their part and not your fault legally.
However, I do think you are making the right choice by not using it. Since it would be a shit move to just toss them in and not care what happens
Should us DIYers recycling cause a fire or worse, it COULD cause stores to stop offering that service, and we all would be screwed. Just as fires etc could cause home ins and renters etc, to disallow ANY EVs on property.
Or it could lead the stores to putting proper procedures in place that they should have had to begin with. I still think we should all try to properly dispose of batteries or just hoard our bad cells in a safe location
Although given that HomeDepot already prioritizes hiring the least amount of employees possible they will likely just remove it. Better stores like Lowes would be more likely to fix the issue though also most of the employees at lowes can actually help you compared to home depot where they can only tell you what aisle something might be on. I had an employee at home depot tell me they didn’t know what child proofing products were when I asked where they were
It would be negligence on their part and not your fault legally.