Editing Battery Refurbishment (section)

== Troubleshooting a rebuilt pack ==

{| class="wikitable styled-table" style="width:100%; text-align:left;"
|+'''Common problems after a rebuild'''
! Symptom !! Likely cause !! Action
|-
| '''Machine does not see the pack at all''' || Solid-state switch off; missing thermistor connection; pack locked by an activation code; sense leads in the wrong order || Probe with the 100 Ω resistor technique; verify the thermistor reads ~10 kΩ at room temperature; re-check the sense-lead order against your diagram
|-
| '''Pack charges but reports the wrong capacity''' || Fuel gauge still holds the old cells' learned capacity || Run a full charge / full discharge / full charge calibration cycle; repeat several times on an impedance-tracking gauge
|-
| '''Machine shuts down with the pack apparently still part-charged''' || One weak or mismatched cell group hitting the low-voltage cut-off first || Measure each group at the balance leads; the odd one out is the problem. This is what cell matching prevents
|-
| '''Runtime far short of the capacity fitted''' || Counterfeit or reclaimed cells; cells not capacity-tested; high-resistance welds || Capacity test the cells individually; check weld quality
|-
| '''Pack or a specific cell runs hot''' || Cold weld or high-resistance joint; damaged or high-IR cell || Locate the hot spot; re-weld the joint or replace the cell
|-
| '''Pack dies within weeks''' || Self-discharging cell that was never rested and re-measured || Do the one-week self-discharge test on every cell next time
|-
| '''Pack was fine, then permanently refused to work''' || Latched permanent-failure flag in the controller || Needs EEPROM-level access to reset; often the end of the road for that pack
|-
| '''Strip comes loose in service''' || Welds that passed a light pull but were never properly calibrated || Recalibrate on scrap and re-weld; a good weld tears the strip
|-
| '''NiMH pack overheats on charge''' || Charger expecting NiCd's larger −ΔV; thermistor not touching a cell || Refit the thermistor correctly against a cell; consider staying with NiCd
|}