First, let's take a quick look at the main components of a lithium battery.
The latest lithium batteries include:
Battery housing, usually ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) plastic
Prismatic Lithium Batteries
Battery Management System (BMS),
Connectors (bus bars, wires...)
All of these components can be purchased individually at dedicated battery stores and on Amazon. So it opens up the possibility of DIYing and repairing your own lithium batteries, as described in one of our recent articles.
Repairing a lithium battery is possible, but you should be very careful and follow safety rules.
First, if you detect one of the more worrisome warning signs mentioned earlier, your lithium battery will not be repaired and you should be extra careful. We recommend that you take it to a battery store. They will take your battery to a recycling center.
If you detect only the least worrisome warning signs, you will be able to repair your lithium battery at home or with the help of a battery expert.
A battery expert will evaluate the degradation status of all your lithium battery components, more specifically your BMS and prismatic lithium batteries.
They will measure the voltage and capacity of each prismatic battery by applying a power load and charging current. If one or more batteries are not performing well, they can be replaced.
Then they will test the BMS, because most of the time lithium battery failures are due to a defective BMS. The response of the BMS to power load and charging current and its ability to balance multiple cells will be evaluated.
