Of everything you’d expect to be the recycled by-product of disposable vapes, you probably never thought about their rechargeable lithium-ion batteries being put together to power an electric bike! Yes, you heard that right, an e-bike!

So, this guy on YouTube assembled a hundred and thirty disposable vape cells and used them to build a 48V battery to power his e-bike. He got the idea that since disposable vape batteries are rechargeable, and the fact that a battery remains a battery, regardless of whether it has a small capacity or not, he could combine lots of them to come up with something that would generate more power. Here’s a rundown of how he did it.

Turning Vape Waste into Power

One major problem vapers face is where to dispose of their devices after the e-liquid is exhausted. Of course, there are designated e-waste recycling centers where you can take the device, or return it to the vape shop where you bought it, but still, a lot of vapers face the challenge of properly disposing of their vape devices when done with it.

Well, maybe you should stop trying to dispose of the device and start considering if you could recycle them, or maybe, you could mail them over to some guys requesting dead vapes for their DIY recycling projects. It happens disposable vapes have parts that can recycled into several other helpful stuff.

Disclaimer: This post is simply for educational and awareness purposes; to let you know that your disposable vapes can be recycled into other “bigger” devices. The post does not encourage you to go on to try the technical procedures mentioned, as they can be very dangerous and lead to explosions. Lithium-ion batteries are more prone to explosions when manhandled or misconfigured together. THIS IS NOT A GUIDE or TUTORIAL.

How to Turn Dead Vapes into a 48v Battery Pack?

This is simply a rundown of the detailed video guide shared by YouTuber Chris Doel on how he turned 138 disposable vape battery cells into a 48V 1500W battery to drive his e-bike. For this, he gathered the vapes from vape stores and requested them on Facebook groups. Also, according to Chris, the additional parts he had to acquire for this purpose cost him $58.

What You Need:

• Hundreds of disposable vape batteries (depending on the battery capacity you want to use).
• A battery management system (BMS) and its connector
• Multi-layer PCB or battery cell tester
• Battery voltage test machine
• A battery pack case and 3D-printed modules
• Hand gloves and nose mask
• Insulation tape

Procedure

• Step One: Gather the number of disposable vape devices as you need and whack them open to bring out the batteries. You must disconnect all wired connections to the batteries and make sure you only got the cells.
• Step Two: Make sure the battery cells are of the same voltage before connecting them in parallel. You can use a PCB with resistance to let the batteries charge or a battery cell tester.
• Step Three: Balance and group the batteries in parallel. Then insert them into your 3D printed modules, which should be custom-made for the battery sizes. Solder the cells to a copper strip placed in-between the module, on both sides.
• Step Four: Connect the battery cells (which are now held in your printed modules) in series – positives to negatives. Afterward, measure the voltage on the negative and positive sides.
• Step Five: Connect the battery management system using a connector that will collect all the battery voltage into the BMS.
• Step Six: Test the battery with the e-bike or other device you want to power. If the setup works, couple the battery into the battery case and finalize the connections, including adding a charging port and LED battery indicator.

What More?

You can watch the moments on Chris’ YouTube channel and see how he played out these steps to achieve a 48V 1500W battery to drive his e-bike up to 35km with a top speed of 32mph. Please note that this article does not encourage doing this act! Except, of course, you’re a genius like Chris.

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• How to Properly Recycle or Dispose of Your Vape Batteries?
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