Link please? My Xtronics 3020 is dying on me and I need something new
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Is it normal for a cell to bulge a bit after peeling nickel off of it?
How buldge exactly�
Normal? Absolutely not!
Does it happen sometimesâŠyes.
But it is NEVER a good thing! It can weaken the internal spot welds to the bottom of the metal can and could also indicate that you have torn a hole in the can. Take the sniff test (the liquid inside stinks) and carefully inspect the bottom with a magnifier.
Why does the pink wrap on bottom look separate from the rest?
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Yeah you probably pulled axially too hard when you removed the nickel, I personally would say itâs fine if it doesnât smell, maybe press it down again if you can?
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I spent a 5 minutes or so sniffying my batteries and I donât notice any stink; is it subtle or would I know immediately?
mm I think itâs because of the angle I took this at; its a bundle of 4 in the picture.
In my experience the electrolyte (liquid) has a very strong, distinctly chemical odor. Sort of a sickly sweet paint thinner type of odor. Hard to describe but very obvious.
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its okay for now then? assuming I donât notice any smell later
I donât know the internal condition of that battery. Iâm just not able to say itâs okay. Not smelling anything means the can is probably still sealed though.
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You donât have to change anything. But I lower the balance start voltage and make the cell delta smaller. Also usually the initial charge/balance I go up to 4-4.1 and then unplug and switch static balance on to fully balance for the next day to week depending on the pack capacity.
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Nice, lol.
You will know right away if it leaks or not while pulling nickel. Like âoh snap, what is all this smelly jizzum?â at least, thatâs what I thought when it happened to me the first time
Youâre salvaging cells, so itâs never going to be like a new pack, but if youâre careful and employ good construction technique and material, it should work fine for a while, and is great practice. I got a couple recycled packs from earlier this year running around that are working great⊠so far⊠more cells than I care to admit had THE BULGE. yolo 
(Edit: here you go)
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Thatâs reassuring 
Iâll be very careful as usual
(This is the Android app, but the iphone app has equivalents of all these settings. Some of them are just called slightly different things)
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Awesome, thanks dude!
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