I tried to read the rest of your post, but every 30 seconds I just kept going back up to this. That's just gnarly.
Yes. It's no joke. These batteries can put out some serious juice. They're designed for driving high energy motors for model aircraft or cars. I accidently ignited one by puncturing it with my pocket knife while trying to separate the cells. (yeah, not to smart, I know)
The whole point of using this battery is to prove without a shadow of a doubt that the constant current regulator is working. As you can see from the terminal capture file , it is working.
that oscilloscope is probably older than my dad.1
Don't laugh. I got a great deal on that scope ($95 at Halted Specialties in Sunnyvale, CA)
I have used that scope for about 50 forum projects, including my 300V HV switchmode EL Backlight P.S. driven by two ATtiny85s (backlight/)
I suspect it may have been the Philbrick K2-W