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Battery Construction

12-volts-battery

The word battery simply means a group of similar components. In military vocabulary, a “battery” refers to a cluster of guns. In electricity, a “battery” is a set of voltaic cells designed to provide greater voltage and/or current than is possible with one cell alone.

The symbol for a cell is very simple, consisting of one long line and one short line, parallel to each other, with connecting wires:

cell

The symbol for a battery is nothing more than a couple of cell symbols stacked in series:

battery

As was stated before, the voltage produced by any particular kind of cell is determined strictly by the chemistry of that cell type. The size of the cell is irrelevant to its voltage. To obtain greater voltage than the output of a single cell, multiple cells must be connected in series. The total voltage of a battery is the sum of all cell voltages. A typical automotive lead-acid battery has six cells, for a nominal voltage output of 6 x 2.0 or 12.0 volts:

12 volts battery

The cells in an automotive battery are contained within the same hard rubber housing, connected together with thick, lead bars instead of wires. The electrodes and electrolyte solutions for each cell are contained in separate, partitioned sections of the battery case. In large batteries, the electrodes commonly take the shape of thin metal grids or plates and are often referred to as plates instead of electrodes.

For the sake of convenience, battery symbols are usually limited to four lines, alternating long/short, although the real battery it represents may have many more cells than that. On occasion, however, you might come across a symbol for a battery with unusually high voltage, intentionally drawn with extra lines. The lines, of course, are representative of the individual cell plates:

unusually high voltage symbol for battery

How is the Size of the Battery Relevant?

If the physical size of a cell has no impact on its voltage, then what does it affect? The answer is resistance, which in turn affects the maximum amount of current that a cell can provide. Every voltaic cell contains some amount of internal resistance due to the electrodes and the electrolyte. The larger a cell is constructed, the greater the electrode contact area with the electrolyte, and thus the less internal resistance it will have.

Although we generally consider a cell or battery in a circuit to be a perfect source of voltage (absolutely constant), the current through it dictated solely by the external resistance of the circuit to which it is attached, this is not entirely true in real life. Since every cell or battery contains some internal resistance, that resistance must affect the current in any given circuit:

ideal real battery 1

The real battery shown above within the dotted lines has an internal resistance of 0.2 Ω, which affects its ability to supply current to the load resistance of 1 Ω. The ideal battery on the left has no internal resistance, and so our Ohm’s Law calculations for current (I=E/R) give us a perfect value of 10 amps for current with the 1-ohm load and 10 volt supply. The real battery, with its built-in resistance, further impeding the flow of current, can only supply 8.333 amps to the same resistance load.

The ideal battery, in a short circuit with 0 Ω resistance, would be able to supply an infinite amount of current. The real battery, on the other hand, can only supply 50 amps (10 volts / 0.2 Ω) to a short circuit of 0 Ω resistance, due to its internal resistance. The chemical reaction inside the cell may still be providing exactly 10 volts, but the voltage is dropped across that internal resistance as current flows through the battery, which reduces the amount of voltage available at the battery terminals to the load.

How to Connect Cells to Minimize the Battery’s Internal Resistance?

Since we live in an imperfect world, with imperfect batteries, we need to understand the implications of factors such as internal resistance. Typically, batteries are placed in applications where their internal resistance is negligible compared to that of the circuit load (where their short-circuit current far exceeds their usual load current), and so the performance is very close to that of an ideal voltage source.

If we need to construct a battery with lower resistance than what one cell can provide (for greater current capacity), we will have to connect the cells together in parallel:

batterys internal resistance

Essentially, what we have done here is to determine the Thevenin equivalent of the five cells in parallel (an equivalent network of one voltage source and one series resistance). The equivalent network has the same source voltage but a fraction of the resistance of any individual cell in the original network. The overall effect of connecting cells in parallel is to decrease the equivalent internal resistance, just as resistors in parallel diminish in total resistance. The equivalent internal resistance of this battery of 5 cells is 1/5 that of each individual cell. The overall voltage stays the same: 2.0 volts. If this battery of cells were powering a circuit, the current through each cell would be 1/5 of the total circuit current, due to the equal split of current through equal-resistance parallel branches.

REVIEW:

  • A battery is a cluster of cells connected together for greater voltage and/or current capacity.
  • Cells connected together in series (polarities aiding) results in greater total voltage.
  • Physical cell size impacts cell resistance, which in turn impacts the ability for the cell to supply current to a circuit. Generally, the larger the cell, the less its internal resistance.
  • Cells connected together in parallel results in less total resistance, and potentially greater total current.
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Lithium-Ion Battery Aging: Can We Prevent It

Coulombic Efficiency: Research Gate

We seldom stress about buying a new phone every few years. We want the new technology. Hence with phones, lithium-ion battery aging is hardly an issue. It is, however, a major factor with an electric vehicle. Those lithium batteries can cost as much as a small fossil-fueled car pumping out pollution.

Lithium-Ion Battery Aging

Concept Electric Car: NREL: Public Domain

It follows that scientists are constantly on the prowl to retard lithium-ion battery aging. Although electric car batteries should last for twenty years, the design life of the vehicle is fifty.

Thus, it would be really nice if the batteries lasted as long. Researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax think the answer lies in coulombic efficiency.

Coulombic Efficiency and Lithium-Ion Battery Aging

You can read about faradaic efficiency, faradaic yield, current efficiency, and coulombic efficiency here because they are all the same thing. In headline terms, they refer to the ability of a battery to sustain itself over time. We express this as a ratio using the formula Q-Out over Q-In. Q-out is the charge that exits the battery during discharge. Q-in is the amount of charge that enters it during charging. The result is inevitably less than one due to fundamental battery inefficiencies.

The Fundamental Inefficiency of Lithium Ion Batteries

Lithium-Ion Battery Aging

Lithium Research: Dept. of Energy: Public Domain

When we charge a lithium-ion battery, lithium moves across to the graphite, negative anode and lodges there. As we draw the current out, it theoretically all moves back to the cathode.

In practice, a small amount of lithium compound remains on the anode as a thin film. Every time we recharge the battery, this grows thicker. Eventually the lithium can no longer interact with the graphite.

Ongoing Research into Lithium-Ion Battery Aging

Scientists are on the hunt to retard the deterioration of lithium ion batteries. Some say this is the ‘holy grail’ of green energy. The key appears to be putting additives in the electrolyte. However nothing is perfect. Therefore a degree of lithium-ion battery aging will likely be with us forever.

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How To Betect The Quality Of Lithium-ion Batteries?

Li-polumer-battery

Batteries play a vital role in our lives. They are used to store electricity and power various electrical appliances. Especially lithium-ion batteries, they are used in a wide range and are often used in some small portable appliances, such as mobile phones. The battery is a consumable material, and it is often charged and discharged. No matter the battery is the best, it has a certain lifespan, and the price of lithium-ion batteries is higher than other batteries, so try to choose good quality lithium-ion batteries when buying, and the service life can be longer , Then how do we detect the quality of lithium-ion batteries?

Li-polumer-battery

How to detect the quality of lithium-ion batteries:

1. The fastest inspection method is to test the internal resistance and maximum discharge current. A good quality lithium ion battery has very small internal resistance and large maximum discharge current. Use a multimeter with a 20A range to directly short-circuit the two electrodes of the lithium-ion battery. The current should generally be about 10A, or even higher, and it can be maintained for a period of time. A relatively stable battery is a good battery.

2. Look at the appearance. The fullness of the appearance, such as a lithium-ion battery of about 2000mAh, is relatively large. The workmanship is fine or the packaging is fullness.

3. Look at the hardness. The middle part of the lithium-ion battery can be squeezed gently or moderately by hand. The hardness is moderate, and there is no soft squeezing feeling, which proves that the lithium battery is a relatively high-quality battery.

4. Look at the weight. Remove the outer packaging and feel whether the weight of the battery is heavy. If it is heavy, it is a high-quality battery.

5. During the live working process of the lithium-ion battery, if the two poles of the battery are not hot after continuous discharge for about 10 minutes, it proves that the battery protection board system is perfect. Generally, the quality of lithium-ion batteries with high-quality protection boards is better than ordinary lithium-ion batteries.

The service life of a good-quality lithium-ion battery is about two or three years. The non-durable performance of a lithium-ion battery is that the power consumption is very fast, and the charging time is reduced accordingly. In order to ensure the long-lasting use of lithium-ion batteries, pay attention to the protection of lithium-ion batteries, such as new batteries. Generally, the first three charges must be charged for 12 hours to activate the battery. Normally, you should also pay attention to it. There will always be a blind spot, which is to charge the mobile phone when it is completely dead. This idea is wrong. In order to protect the lithium-ion battery, try to charge the battery with half of the battery.

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How To Increases Battery Charging Rate?

According to the Physorg website, researchers at Northwestern University have developed an electrode for lithium-ion batteries that allows the battery to retain 10 times more power than the prior art, and the battery with the new electrode can be fast charging, increasing by 10 Double rates.

Battery capacity and fast charging are two major battery limitations. The capacity is limited by the charge density, which is how much lithium ions the two poles of the battery can hold. Fast charging is limited by the rate at which lithium ions reach the negative electrode from the electrolyte.

Fast-charging

The negative electrode of the existing lithium battery is formed by stacking a carbon-based graphene sheet layer, and one lithium atom needs to be adapted to 6 carbon atoms. In order to increase the amount of electricity stored, scientists have tried to use silicon instead of carbon so that silicon can be adapted to more lithium, reaching 4 lithium atoms corresponding to 1 silicon atom.

However, silicon can significantly expand and shrink during charging, causing rapid breakdown and loss of charge capacity. The shape of the graphene sheet also limits the charging rate of the battery. Although they are only one carbon atom thick, they are very long. Since it takes a long time for lithium to move into the middle of the graphene sheet, the phenomenon of ion “traffic jam” occurs at the edge of the graphene sheet.

Now, the research team has solved the above problems by combining two technologies. First, in order to stabilize the silicon to maintain the maximum charge capacity, they added silicon clusters between the graphene sheets, and the elasticity of the graphene sheets was used to match the change in the number of silicon atoms in the battery, so that a large number of lithium atoms were stored in the electrodes. The addition of silicon clusters allows for higher energy densities and also reduces the loss of charge capacity due to silicon expansion and shrinkage, which is the best of both worlds.

The chemical oxidation process is used to fabricate micropores from 10 nm to 20 nm on graphene sheets, which are called “face defects”, so lithium ions will reach the negative electrode along with this shortcut and will be stored in the negative electrode by reacting with silicon. This will reduce the battery charging time by a factor of 10.

The new technology can extend the charging life of lithium-ion batteries by 10 times. Even after 150 cycles of charging and discharging, the battery energy efficiency is still five times that of lithium-ion batteries on the existing market. And the technology is expected to enter the market in the next three to five years.

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Lithium Battery Shipping Certification

Himax Lithium-Battery-Shipping

Nowadays, lithium battery is widely used in various industries due to its high discharge rate, rechargeable and pollution-free. With the globalization of economy and trade, the demand of lithium battery in transportation is increasing. How to transport lithium battery correctly is also an important problem that cannot be ignored by lithium battery manufacturers.

Lithium-Battery-Shipping

What shipping certification does a lithium battery need to pass?

Lithium ion batteries are usually considered as dangerous goods in transportation, so they need to pass multiple shipping certifications to reduce the possibility of accidents. The following is a description of the certifications that may be required to transport lithium batteries.

UN/DOT

UN / DOT is a standard for transportation of goods formulated by the U.S. Department of transportation, which has clear provisions on the transportation standard for lithium batteries. Among them, UN38.3 is a regulation for lithium batteries for air transportation.

This test standard covers eight different tests, all of which focus on the hazards of lithium batteries in transportation. In recent years, UN / DOT has passed a new law to prohibit lithium batteries from being installed on passenger aircraft. Therefore, it is predicted that air transportation of lithium batteries may be banned in the future.

IATA (International Air Transport Association)

Unlike other laws and regulations, IATA does not carry out certification test on specific goods transported. IATA only certifies the shipper of the goods to ensure that the shipper understands the relevant requirements of lithium battery transportation. At the same time, the certified shipper still needs to re certify the qualification every year.

IEC (The International Electrotechnical Commission)

As a non-profit standard making organization, IEC compiles international standards for electrical, electronic and other related technologies. Its standards involve general, safety and transportation specifications. In the IEC standard, IEC 62281 is dedicated to the transportation of primary or secondary lithium batteries, which aims to ensure the safety of lithium batteries during transportation.

CE Marking

CE mark is a self declaration made by the manufacturer to confirm that the product meets the EU product safety requirements. The CE safety certification of EU is more comprehensive, which can ensure that products can get safety certification almost in the world. However, the CE mark does not apply to products sold in the United States.

ANSI (The American National Standards Institute)

Like IEC, ANSI is a non-profit standards development organization that develops consensus based standards. ANSI C18.2M and ANSI C18.3M provide safety standards for portable rechargeable batteries.

In addition to some of the above certification, there are many professional or non professional certification of lithium battery transportation in the world, which are suitable for different situations of transportation.

Do you use devices with lithium battery on the plane?

On the plane, passengers can normally use mobile phones, computers, cameras and other devices that use lithium batteries (mobile devices should turn on flight mode). However, these devices must be placed in their carry on luggage and pay attention to the safety of electricity during use.

Spare lithium-ion batteries, lithium metal batteries and electronic cigarettes, which are easy to generate heat or smoke, must also be carried with them. When carrying with them, passengers should also ensure that these electronic devices will not be accidentally started, damaged or short circuited.

In checked luggage, lithium batteries in operation are prohibited. If there is a lithium battery device in your checked luggage, make sure it is completely closed and does not start automatically, and pack it to prevent damage and short circuit. If it is a lithium-ion battery or a lithium metal battery, it should be protected with the manufacturer’s packaging or adhesive tape, and put in a special bag to prevent the risk of short circuit.

If it is a damaged, defective or recalled lithium battery, please do not take it with you. These batteries may cause safety hazards due to overheating or fire, which may be devastating to the aircraft and its passengers.

How do you transport lithium batteries properly?

First of all, before transporting lithium batteries, it is necessary to confirm whether the batteries or consignors have safety certification. According to the requirements of the transporter, test and register the corresponding safety certification, which is the most efficient method for the certification of transport lithium batteries. Some specifications of lithium batteries, transport companies will also require the shipper to sign a dangerous goods contract.

 

It is also necessary to choose a good transportation company. Because the transportation of lithium batteries is a complicated matter, it is not to pack and mail the batteries directly, so the safety issues in the transportation of lithium batteries must also be considered.

Therefore, it is very wise to choose famous express companies such as USPS and UPS to transport lithium batteries. They have comprehensive transportation guidelines for dangerous goods and a considerable number of trained personnel who understand how lithium batteries work and how to handle them safely.

 

In addition to registration and selection of transportation companies, there are many details to be done in the transportation of lithium batteries.

First, lithium batteries weighing more than 35 kg must be approved by the national authorities before shipment. The greater the net weight of lithium batteries, the higher the risk level, and the more strict control is required.

Secondly, damaged or defective batteries should not be transported, and batteries should be strictly packaged and labeled with lithium battery shipping products. Finally, used lithium batteries for recycling should not be transported by air unless approved by national authorities and airlines. All these measures are related to the safety of the goods and the life of the transporters, so there can be no negligence.

Under the background of economic and trade globalization, it is an inevitable requirement of the times for lithium battery manufacturers to master the methods of transporting products. How to reduce the possibility of safety accidents as much as possible during transportation is also the preparation that manufacturers and transportation companies must make. Hope you can find this article helpful.

 

Thank you for your attention!

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Why are Lithium Batteries Not Allowed on Airplanes?

Himax Lithium-battery-not-allow-on-airplane

Lithium-battery-not-allow-on-airplane

You must be traveling so soon, and most probably, that’s why you have landed into this great piece of information. Do you know what is involved when traveling with devices containing lithium batteries? I bet not! That’s why you are on this.

Well, there are restrictions when we talk about traveling on planes. One of those restrictions involves lithium batteries. They may seem small, but the impact they can have when they cause a fire on board is unimaginable. Lithium batteries can produce dangerous heat levels, cause ignition, short circuit very easy, and cause inextinguishable fires. That’s why renowned aviation authorities, including those in the USA, have banned lithium batteries when traveling.

What Batteries are Not Allowed on Airplanes?

  1. Lithium Batteries for Spare – Both lithium polymer and lithium metal are not allowed on planes both in carry on and checked baggage. Lithium batteries have hit news headlines in recent months. Suppose a single cell was to catch fire because of the dangers associated with thermal runways. There have been viral videos on YouTube involving various gadgets raging from hoverboards to a pair of earphones. These videos showed these gadgets burning into flames. Aviation authorities have banned some of these gadgets from getting into planes, and the recent ban was Samsung note 7 smart-phones from the USA after it was proven to cause fire and explosives. There are cautions if batteries have to get into the plane, and they should be kept strictly separated from other flammable materials.
  2. Spillable Batteries – Also known as car batteries or wet batteries too are not allowed in planes. But you can be let in with such batteries if, for instance, you have a wheelchair or using the battery to charge a scooter. You can be allowed to have the batteries on the plane. However, you are advised to inform the plane staff so that they can lay down the necessary measures to pack the batteries for the safe flight properly.

How Can Lithium Batteries Prevent you From Flying?

It would be good to let you know the limitation that air passengers are set to observe as they go with devices using lithium batteries or when traveling with spare batteries.

Here are some guidelines:

  1. Carry Fewer PEDs – PEDs are the equipment used with lithium batteries as the source of power. Such material includes electronic devices like cameras, mobile phones, laptops, e-readers, and medical devices such as portable oxygen generators. While traveling on planes, you are supposed to have less than fifteen devices with you either in carry on or checked baggage.
  2. Battery Content and Ratings – Every installed battery in a PED MUST not surpass the following: for the lithium metal or lithium alloy batteries; you are not expected to carry any lithium with more than two grams.

For the lithium-ion batteries, they should indicate an hour watt rating of less than 100 Wh.

I know you wonder how about that battery of yours with no Wh rating, you have to calculate it using the formula below to determine the watts hours rating.

Volts* ampere-hours = Watts hours.

If your battery’s capacity is shown in milliamp here hours, you will need to divide the ampere-hours by 1000 before executing the math.

  1. Protection From Damages – For the batteries that might be allowed in the plane and carried in checked baggage, measures should be put in place to prevent any damage and prevent any unintentional fire incidences.
  2. Complete Devices Switch Off – The devices on board using lithium batteries; they must be switched off entirely and not in sleep mode or hibernation.

Traveling and shipping lithium batteries can be complicated, and failure to know the traveling and shipping procedures and mechanisms can make you not travel.

How Do You Travel With Lithium Batteries?

  1. Smart Luggage – Some of the newly made suitcases, are coming with the inbuilt charging system to power up your phone. However relaxed, they may sound; it’s important to remember that many airline rules never allow them on board. These suitcases have built-in lithium batteries. It’s advisable to check your luggage to confirm it has the lithium batteries. Remove them from the luggage and carry them on board with you.
  2. Lithium Spare Batteries – If you honestly need to travel with extra lithium batteries, you need to transport them in carry-on luggage with every battery separately to protect and prevent short circuits. We recommend retaining them in the original package, taping over the exposed terminals.
  3. Electronic Cigarettes and Vape Pens – Although some airline companies still term vape pens as dangerous, need to confirm before with them in case rules, and procedures have changed. Otherwise, electronic cigarettes with lithium batteries are allowed on planes but only on carry-on luggage.
  4. Power Banks and External Chargers – Power banks and external chargers that are met to charge other devices have inbuilt lithium-ion batteries. You are advised to transport them with the same care as you do spare lithium batteries.
  5. Shipping Lithium Batteries– All shipping requirements should comply with aviation authority guidelines. For the cargo composing of lithium battery devices – laptops and phones being shipped and you as a staff you are not sure whether they are separately packed, kindly contact your business representative for further assistance.

Conclusion

Traveling with lithium battery devices can pose such a big challenge on board. They are avoided on planes following the dangers associated with them in case they cause a fire. However, there those that are entirely not allowed while others are allowed. If you have to travel with them, you either have them on the carry on or at checked luggage. Aviation authorities have gone ahead to ban them. For those that are allowed, they should be limited to keep the minimal chances of fire occurrence. Authorities are forced to do this despite planes having extinguisher systems because; a fire caused by lithium-ion batteries is so enormous such that the system has proven not to put it out. Mind your devices with lithium-ion batteries when on planes.

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What is a High Rate Battery?

Himax-High-Rate-Battery

A high rate battery generally refers to a lithium battery, and a lithium-ion battery is a high-charge battery that relies on lithium ions to move between a positive electrode and a negative electrode to operate.

Himax-High-Rate-Battery

High rate battery

During charge and discharge, Li+ is embedded and deintercalated between the two electrodes: when charging the battery, Li+ is deintercalated from the positive electrode, embedded in the negative electrode via the electrolyte, and the negative electrode is in a lithium-rich state; A battery containing a lithium element as an electrode is generally used. It is the representative of modern high-performance batteries.

Lithium batteries are classified into high-rate batteries and lithium-ion batteries. At present, mobile phones and notebook computers use lithium-ion batteries, which are commonly referred to as high-rate batteries, and true high-rate batteries are rarely used in everyday electronic products because of their high risk.

Lithium-ion batteries have high energy density and high uniform output voltage. Self-discharge is a small, good battery, less than 2% per month (recoverable). There is no memory effect. The operating temperature range is -20 ° C ~ 60 ° C. The regenerative function is excellent, the battery can be charged and discharged quickly, the charging efficiency is up to 100%, and the output power is large. long-lasting. It does not contain toxic or hazardous substances and is called a green battery.

The battery charging

It is an important step in the repeated use of the battery. The charging process of the lithium-ion battery is divided into two stages: a constant current fast charging phase and a constant voltage current decreasing phase. During the constant current fast charging phase, the battery voltage is gradually increased to the standard voltage of the battery, and then the constant voltage is turned under the control chip, the voltage is no longer raised to ensure that the battery is not overcharged, and the current is gradually reduced to the rise of the battery power. Set the value and finish charging.

The power statistics chip can calculate the battery power by recording the discharge curve. After the lithium-ion battery is used for many times, the discharge curve will change. Although the lithium-ion battery does not have a memory effect, improper charging and discharging will seriously affect the battery function.

Charging considerations

Excessive charging and discharging of lithium-ion batteries can cause permanent damage to the positive and negative electrodes. The excessive discharge causes the negative carbon sheet structure to collapse, and the collapse causes lithium ions to be inserted during charging; excessive charging causes excessive lithium ions to be embedded in the negative carbon structure, which causes the lithium ions in the sector to be released again.

The charging amount is the charging current multiplied by the charging time. When the charging control voltage is constant, the charging current is larger (the charging speed is faster), and the charging amount is smaller.

The battery charging speed is too fast and the termination voltage control point is improper, which also causes the battery capacity to be insufficient. Actually, the battery electrode active material does not fully react and stops charging. This phenomenon of insufficient charging is aggravated by the increase in the number of cycles.

The battery discharge

For the first charge and discharge, if the time is long (usually 3 – 4 hours is sufficient), then the electrode can reach the highest oxidation state (sufficient power) as much as possible, and the discharge (or use) is forced to The set voltage, or until the automatic shutdown, such as the ability to activate the battery capacity. However, in the ordinary use of the lithium-ion battery, it is not necessary to operate like this, and it can be charged as needed at any time, and it is not necessary to be fully charged when charging, and it is not necessary to discharge first. For the first time charging and discharging, it is only necessary to perform 1 to 2 consecutive times every 3 to 4 months.

High rate battery application

For electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, the core technology lies in high-rate batteries. Compared with other types of batteries, powerful lithium-ion batteries have the advantages of high cost and poor safety performance, but they have higher specific energy and long cycle life. Such important advantages, and therefore have a broader development prospect.

High rate battery

The technical development of power lithium-ion batteries is also changing with each passing day. Both the capacity and structure have been improved. Experts say that no matter which technical route the battery manufacturer adopts, it should meet the requirements of high safety, wide temperature difference, and charge and discharge functionality. Strong, high rate discharge and other conditions.

Battery capacity involves technology and costs Lithium-ion batteries can be divided into small batteries and large batteries according to their size. Small batteries are usually used in 3C electronic products. The related technologies and industries have developed very maturely, and the overall profit is decreasing. More than 85% of current lithium-ion battery products are small batteries.

Large batteries are also commonly known as power batteries. There are also two types of small power batteries and large power batteries. The former is mainly used for electric tools and electric bicycles. The latter is used in electric vehicles and energy storage fields, all of which use high rate battery.

At present, three types of electric vehicles, namely, pure electric (EV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid (HEV), are in a period of rapid development, which has attracted much attention from the industry. As the core of the future automotive industry, the development of the powerful lithium-ion battery industry has received unprecedented attention and has been raised to a strategic height by major countries.

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What Are the Dangers of Using the Wrong Wattage

Most smartphones on the market use LiPo (Lithium-ion Polymer) batteries. They are 3.8V per cell (4.35V when fully charged) and generally about 3 Ampere hour (Ah), or 3000 milliampere hour (mAh), in capacity. The charging voltage must be higher than the battery voltage. Because the battery is polarized when the battery is charged, the voltage must reach or exceed the sum of the battery voltage and the polarizing voltage in order to effectively inject current. Therefore, the standard output voltage of portable power banks on the market is 5V / 2.1A.

Here to mention, the fast charging technology we see is the next level of 3 Amps charging technology.

In this situation, the watts of phone batteries needed is around 18.5W (3.7 Volts times 5 Amps Hour capacity), and the portable power bank is around 37W, the battery has higher wattage than the device and it is sufficient to power the phone. What if it is lower than the device needed?

Battery (Watts) < Device (Watts)

Light bulbs are marked as 10W, 20W, 30W, etc. Suppose we use a 10W battery to power a 40W bulb, the result would be a lightbulb that is less bright and feels dim. If the power differs too much, the bulb may not even light up.

 

The secondary issue with this is that, the battery now needs to displace more power to meet the demand of the bulb, thus lowering overall battery capacity.

Battery (Watts) > Device (Watts)

A lightbulb has a sticker that clearly specifies the maximum wattage acceptable, if the power of battery is higher, it could cause a hazardous situation. There are two watts on a light bulb, equivalent watts and actual watts. For example, an LED light bulb may produce 95W equivalent lighting, but only requires 25W to power.

You must not exceed the required watt.

 

If you exceed actual watts, e.g. an incandescent 75W bulb that uses a real 75W in a socket that says max 60W then you may risk overheating and fire, and may have the following consequences:

  • The fixture might overheat
  • The fixture could be discolored and/or destroyed
  • The lamp could burn-out prematurely
  • The house could be burnt down
  • The wiring could be damaged
  • If there were enough of them in a circuit, it could overload the circuit
  • Other bad consequences

Why not overload when using high power batteries/wall socket?

The input voltage and power of our home appliances are different, but whether it is converting 110V civil AC (220V in China) to about 5V DC to mobile phone batteries, or 370V DC to Electric vehicles, only require two steps: “rectification” and “voltage transformation”.

 

In order to supply power to our different household appliances, the electrical plug is used to transform the voltage, and its power is adjusted to deliver electricity to the device.

Imagine that our electricity is like water, which is transmitted to all the devices in your home through pipes (grid network). The wall socket is the gate, and the plug is the water pipe connected to this gate. The water pressure is adjusted to prevent too much water pressure to damage the devices.

The AC voltage in different countries and regions is also different, so there are various plugs for us. If you want to use Chinese appliances in the United States, you need to buy a conversion plug.

Related information:

Complete list: Plug, socket & voltage by country

Plug, socket & voltage by country

Plug & socket types

Plug & socket types

That mobile power is the same reason, the voltage is transformed through the plug. However, the battery like the portable power station does not have the high voltage and power of the wall socket.

 

At present, the maximum power of most portable power solutions only offer about 150W ~ 200W. So utilizing a standard portable power solution to power a 1200W kettle is pretty unrealistic. Therefore, before purchasing equipment and batteries, pay attention to the power requirements of the device and if the battery is able to support it.

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What is The Best Battery For Kayaking?

Kayaking-Battery

According to Yakgear, kayak fishing has advantages over the traditional method by boat.  Just to name a couple, anglers can fish more economically and in smaller bodies of water.

What the general public might not know is that batteries are needed for motorized kayaks.

Kayaking-Battery

What do I need to know before choosing a battery?

Users should be aware of the basic terms outlined below:

  • Voltage (V):Like water pressure, it is the pressure from an electrical circuit’s power source that pushes charged electrons (current) through a conducting loop.
  • Ampere hours (Amps, A): This is the measurement of the current of electricity. It is also used to represent the battery capacity (Ah).
  • Life cycles: This is the measurement of battery life or the number of complete charge/discharge cycles that the battery is able to support before its capacity falls below 80% its original.
  • Depth of discharge (DOD): The DOD is often paired with life cycles, representing the percentage of the battery that has been discharged relative to the overall capacity of the battery.
  • Operation temperature (℃):This is the battery’s operating range of temperature. The battery should not be used outside this temperature rang as it will be damaged and become a safety hazard.
  • Watts:Watts represent how much energy is stored in the battery. If you want your electronics to work properly, you must confirm that the watts of the battery are sufficient (higher than the devices you used).

 

Where is the battery used on a kayak?

There are only three instances where we will need batteries on a kayak: When you need to charge your phone and power your light source and fish finder. The batteries must provide sufficient voltage and capacity to these devices while you are fishing so that you have enough power.

 

What is the best battery for kayaking?

A 12V and 10Ah battery is sufficient for most fish finders while providing extra power for other devices.  Most people choose between either Lithium-ion Polymer or Lead-Acid batteries.

 

Lead-Acid batteries

Lead Acid batteries have the advantage of lower cost and little to no maintenance fee, but they can be heavyweight.

For safety reasons, users should choose a brand new Lead-Acid battery and ensure it is made of strong materials that prevent leakage of hazardous chemicals.

 

Lithium-ion Polymer (LiPo) batteries

Users have also used LiPo batteries by connecting them in series or parallel.  They have they advantage of weighing less than other traditional power sources although they range from having 200 to 500 cycles.

 

Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries

LiFePO4 batteries have a cycle life of more than 2,000, and they do not require frequent as much maintenance and replacements as compared to their Lead-Acid counterparts.  These batteries are also more environmentally friendly.

Why Himax?

Himax is a cell and battery pack manufacturer that specializes in Lithium batteries.  As we have various designs for numerous applications, we can custom-make Lithium batteries for your marine uses.

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Why High Voltage Batteries?

High-Voltage-LiPo-Batteries

High-Voltage-LiPo-Batteries

Drones are being used more and more widely in all our lives, so the batteries that power these devices are increasingly advancing and being pushed to their limits. One of the biggest challenges to these batteries is endurance; more and more users need the power to last longer.

One such example is with an agricultural drone. Let’s say that the drone carries 10kg of pesticide with two ordinary Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries that have a capacity of 16000mAh in 6S (22.2V). This drone will only be able to last about ten minutes with these batteries, which farmers generally find to be too short. However, the use of high-voltage batteries with the same capacity and C rating can increase this flight time by 15-25%, which will increase the efficiency and operations.

We will explore why high-voltage batteries can improve flight duration and also look at the advantages of such batteries.

1. Weight

Without an increase in weight, high-voltage batteries provide better performance.  This is key for UAVs since each drone has a specific payload that it cannot go over.

2. Higher Voltage

If we compare ordinary LiPo batteries to that of those with high voltage, we see a subtle change in voltage. Through this little voltage increase, users are able to get increased performance in their products.

Ordinary LiPo Batteries

The nominal voltage for a single LiPo cell is 3.7V. A 6S battery pack has a nominal voltage of 22.2V, and a 12S has 44.4V.

A single LiPo cell that is fully charged has 4.2V while a 6S has 25.2V and a 12S 50.4V.

High-Voltage LiPo Batteries

The nominal voltage of a single high-voltage LiPo cell is 3.8V, a 6S pack has 22.8V, and a 12S has 45.6V.

A single LiPo cell that is fully charged has 4.35V while a 6S has 26.1V and a 12S 52.2V.

3. Better Cycle Life

Battery-cycle-life

In the chart above, we can follow the discharge rate of several batteries. The high-voltage 4.4V batteries (shown in green) demonstrate a higher discharge rate and discharge capacity.

Battery-cycle-life-1

The above chart shows that, under the same discharge currents and cycles, the 4.4V (in blue) has a longer cycle life than the other batteries at 4.35V or 4.2V.

4. Increased Efficiency

Similar to the example offered at the beginning, we put two drones together for a simple test.  Both drones carried 15kg of water with two batteries of 25C and 22000mAh in 6S.

The drone with the non-high-voltage batteries (22.2V) lasted 17 minutes and 50 seconds.

The drone with the high-voltage batteries (22.8V) lasted longer for 22 minutes and 10 seconds, lasting 4 minutes longer than the ordinary batteries.

Conclusion

According to the above data, the advantages of high-voltage UAV batteries are obvious.

We are able to custom, high-voltage cells and offer a one-stop service for your battery designs and solutions.