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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.

How To Charge Battery At Freezing Temperature?

Charge-the-battery-in-a-low-temperature

Charge-the-battery-in-a-low-temperature

I believe everyone knows that due to the structure of cells and the specificity of the chemistry, the battery cannot be charged below the freezing temperature. There are still a lot of companies are advertised as “low-temperature rechargeable“, “low temperature -xx℃ charge” words, Grepow’s low-temperature series battery can also charge in the environment of minus 20 degrees, how is it done? What about charging in a low-temperature environment? In this article, I will tell you how to achieve it.

Why can’t I charge the battery in a low-temperature environment?

Materials of lithium-ion batteries, such as separators and electrolytes, are organic materials with a low melting point. If the temperature is too high, some negative chemical reactions will occur inside the battery, which will seriously affect the battery life and even safety performance.

The key materials of the battery under low-temperature conditions: the conductivity of the positive electrode, the negative electrode, the electrolyte, etc. are reduced, resulting in a decrease in electrical conductivity, which will seriously affect the battery life.

Low-temperature protection is when the temperature is too low, the metal lithium in the battery will deposit, no longer react with the substance, resulting in internal short circuit of the battery, which will cause damage to the battery or cause safety hazard of the battery.

2 ways to charge the battery at freezing temperature

Battery charger self-heating charging

This way is rely on a special charger for heating because it can not be charged normally in a low-temperature environment, so the charger heats the battery till the temperature above the freezing point, and then charge the battery.

This method is more safe and effective, but it takes longer time, because the charger can only perform small-rate discharge heating in a low-temperature environment. Therefore, it will take around 1 to 3 hours to heat up before charging.

Advantages: Able to charge even when the battery is empty

Disadvantages: Longer charging wait time; Rely on a special charger

Condition by BMS / PCM

The battery with BMS / PCM can provide two functions, one is a low-temperature alarm, there will be a warning when the battery charge or discharge below the set value, or the protection function, directly disconnect the discharge to prevent damage to the battery caused by low temperature or accident.

The second type is to start the low-temperature self-heating function through BMS/PCM. The specifications are can be customized. For example, a 5000mAh battery with self-heating function BMS will reserve 1000mAh of power in the battery every time it is discharged. Before the battery charging, the BMS will discharge the reserved power to heat the battery until the rechargeable temperature, then the battery will starting charge automatically. These are all based on the settings of the BMS.

Advantages: The waiting time is short, and the reserved power can be customized according to the needs of the ambient temperature.

Disadvantages: The battery’s operating capacity will be reduced because BMS will reserve a portion of the power for low-temperature charging.

 

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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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Why are LifePO4 Batteries Expensive?

12V-24AH-LiFePO4

12V-24AH-LiFePO4

We know why lithium gets all the credit: the chemistry that makes these batteries so amazing wouldn’t work half without this particular metal.

Considerably other rechargeable battery-powered battery plans are constrained in manners lithium batteries aren’t!

What many people don’t understand, however, is that lithium remarkably makes up a little of the battery itself. Lithium-based batteries speak to one of the quickest expanding parts of the vitality business today. These batteries are long-lasting. Their life span is up to 5-7 years.

Why LifePO4 batteries are expensive because of what features they entail and these features even make better choice for you:

Safety And Stability

LiFePO4 batteries are most famous for their Strong security profile, the consequence of amazingly stable chemistry. Phosphate-based batteries offer unrivaled thermal and chemical dependability, which increases the well-being of lithium-Ion batteries made with other cathode materials.

When exposed to unsafe circumstances, for example, collision or shortcircuiting, they won’t detonate or burst into flames, altogether reducing any opportunity of mischief. However, you’re choosing a lithium battery and envision use in dangerous or sensitive situations. LiFePO4 is likely your best decision.

12v-lifepo4-battery-pack

Environmental Impact

LiFePO4 batteries are non-harmful, non-polluting, and contain no rare earth metals, settling on them a naturally conscious decision. Lead-acid and nickel oxide lithium batteries convey noteworthy natural hazards (particularly lead corrosive, as inside synthetic compounds debase structure over the team and inevitably cause spillage).

Compared with lead-acid and other lithium batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries offer critical features of interest, including improved release and charge effectiveness, longer life expectancy, and the capacity to deep cycle while looking after execution. LiFePO4 batteries frequently accompany a more significant expense price tag. Still, a much better cost over the life of the product, minimal maintenance, and rare replacement makes them a valuable investment and an intelligent long-term solution.

Space Efficiency

Also worth mentioning is LiFePO4’s space-efficient features. At one-third, the mass of most lead-acid batteries and almost half the importance of the prevalent manganese oxide, LiFePO4, provide an effective method to make use of space and weight. You are creating your product more efficiently overall.

Performance

Performance is a significant fact in figuring out which kind of battery to use in a given application. Long life, slow self-release rates, and less weight make lithium iron batteries an engaging choice. They are relied upon to have a more extended shelf life of realistic usability than lithium-ion. Administration life typically times in at five to ten years or more, and runtime substantially surpasses lead-acid batteries and other lithium formulation. Battery charging time is likewise extensively diminished, another effective presentation perk. However, If you’re searching for a battery to stand the trial of time and charge rapidly, LiFePO4 is the proper answer.

Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4, LFP) is a rechargeable battery ideal for high power applications. They are the immediate substitution for lead-acid batteries. If you’re interested in buying or custom LiFePO4 batteries, then you have come to the right place. Continue reading to find who makes and where to buy or custom LiFePO4 batteries. Email us: sales@himaxelectronics.com

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Why Are Photovoltaic Off-grid Systems Equipped with Energy Storage Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries?

Solar-battery

Solar-battery

Lithium iron phosphate batteries (LiFePO4) used for energy storage account for a large proportion in photovoltaic off-grid systems. Compared to solar modules, they are similar in cost although LiFePO4 have shorter lives. Lithium iron phosphate batteries store energy to ensure stable system power at night. The load power is guaranteed on rainy days.

Generation and consumption time

The photovoltaic power generation time and the load power consumption time are not necessarily the same. In photovoltaic off-grid systems, the input is a component used for power generation and the output is connected to the battery. Photovoltaic power is generated during the daytime, and sunlight can generate electricity. The power generation is usually the highest at noon, but at noon, the electricity demand is not high.

For instance, many households use off-grid power stations to use electricity at night. These households should store the energy first and wait until peak electricity consumption (generally at seven or eight o’clock in the evening) to release the electricity.

Power generation and load power

The power of photovoltaic power generation and load power are also not necessarily the same. Photovoltaic power generation is not very stable due to the degree of radiation, and the load is not stable. Like air conditioners and refrigerators, the starting power is very large, and the operating power is usually small. The load will cause the system to become unstable, and the voltage will suddenly rise and fall.

The energy storage battery is a power balance device. When the photovoltaic power is greater than the load power, the controller sends the excess energy to the battery pack for storage. When the photovoltaic power cannot meet the load needs, the controller sends the battery power to the load.

Cost

The cost of off-grid systems is high. The off-grid system consists of a photovoltaic square array, solar controller, inverter, battery pack, load, and many other components. Compared with the grid-connected system, the extra battery accounts for 30-40% of the cost of the power generation system, which is almost the same as the component. The service life of the battery is not long either. Lead-acid batteries last generally 3-5 years while the lithium batteries generally last 8-10 years.

New energy-storage LiFePO4 batteries

The new energy-storage lithium iron phosphate battery can increase the energy storage efficiency to 95%, which can greatly reduce the cost of solar power generation. Lithium batteries have an energy efficiency of 95%, while the currently used lead-acid batteries are only about 80%. Lithium batteries are also lighter in weight and have a longer service life than lead-acid batteries. The number of charges and discharge cycles can reach 1600, which means that they do not need to be replaced frequently.

Right now, more and more photovoltaic energy storage have adopted lithium batteries, especially the LiFePO4 batteries,  with technological breakthroughs. The market share of ternary lithium (lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide batteries, or NMC) or lithium iron phosphate batteries have also gradually increased in photovoltaic off-grid systems.

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Can We Over-charge The LiFePO4 Battery?

LiFepo4-Battery-12V

LiFepo4-Battery-12V

Lithium iron phosphate battery is one of the safest batteries we using, and its durability and safety are definitely superior to other lithium ion batteries. So, can we overcharge lithium iron phosphate batteries? What range of voltage can be allowed it be overcharged? Under normal circumstances, the answer is NO!

What are lithium iron phosphate batteries?

The lithium iron phosphate battery is a lithium-ion battery that uses lithium iron phosphate as its positive electrode material. It is also called a LiFePO4 battery for short.

What is overcharging?

Overcharging a battery means that the battery charger is charging the battery too far past its fully-charged voltage. For example, the full-charge voltage of a monolithic lithium iron phosphate cell is 3.65V. When the charge exceeds 3.65V, it is overcharged.

What will happen when a lithium-ion polymer (LiPo)  battery is overcharged?

Overcharging a battery cell will cause permanent damage to the cell. In terms of testing for safety, we internally test the different overcharge levels of the battery cells. The following are our test standards:

LiPo battery cell: No fire when the charging voltage reaches 4.8V (one of the necessary conditions)

LiFePO4 battery cell: Charging voltage reaches 10V and does not catch fire (one of the necessary conditions)

Charging with a damaged or non-corresponding charger may also cause overcharging. When the voltage is too high, a large amount of lithium ions overflow from the positive electrode, and lithium ions that cannot be absorbed by the negative electrodes can form dendrites on the surface of the battery, which can cause a short circuit inside the battery. The short-circuit current will generate a lot of heat, and the rapid temperature increase may cause the electrolyte as an organic solvent to burn (organic solvents are extremely flammable). In severe cases, it will cause a decomposition reaction of the positive electrode or the reaction of the negative electrode and the electrolyte. This can generate a large amount of gas; this can result in an explosion especially since the cells are enclosed.

If a battery doesn’t have the Battery Management System (BMS), continuously charging the battery will raise the voltage. In this situation, the lithium ions remaining in the cathode are removed and more lithium ions are inserted into the anode than under standard charging conditions.

It has been observed through ARC studies that the thermal stability of a cell is highly dependent on its state of charge. An overcharged Li-ion cell was found to have much lower thermal stability with an onset runaway temperature as low as 40ºC

Source: Science Direct

Since LiFePo4 is safer, can we over-charge it?

Our suggestion is to never over-charge/discharge a cell!

The most common causes for premature failure of LiFePO4 cells are overcharging and over-discharging. Even a single occurrence can cause permanent damage to the cell, and such misuse voids warranties. A Battery Management System (BMS) is required to ensure it is not possible for any cell in your pack to go outside its nominal operating voltage range.

What is a BMS?

The Battery Management System is a piece of hardware with an electronic system on board that manages a rechargeable battery (cell or pack) and is the link between the battery and it’s user. It can more intelligently manage and maintain each cell, improve battery utilization, prevent battery overcharge and discharge, prolong battery life, and monitor battery status.

BMS

If you need a customizable BMS to prevent overcharging or other potential issues, please contact us to get more information.

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RC Car Batteries: Introduction, Cycle Life, and Care

Rc-car-battery-

LiPO batteries often abbreviated as Lithium polymer batteries are rechargeable batteries that use polymer electrolytes instead of liquid electrolytes. RC cars are the popular market of LiPo batteries, you will be needing batteries for running them and LiPo batteries are the best option. They are best known for maintaining a steady voltage, surpassing all its other competitors.

 

Rc-car-battery-

What is the Best LiPo Battery for RC Cars?

All batteries are the same and identical, but that’s not true. They may look identical and share the same capabilities and compatibilities but they are different, in terms of quality and performance. Choosing the right one for your battery can be a task but here we are with guidelines that will help you in opting for the best one.

The best tip is that do your research and testing before the purchasing. Different brands will have different price tags and you must be ready to invest some money in buying them. Don’t buy a cheaper one that can later be heavy on your pocket but don’t buy an expensive one either. Some brands with low prices also offer good quality batteries that will last you longer than the expensive ones. So, the cost cannot determine the quality of the battery but its performance does. Make sure to do independent testing, consider battery configuration, and check the connectors as well. Also, make sure to check the reviews.

How Long Does a LiPo Battery for RC Cars Last?

LiPo batteries come with a lot of advantages but it has a shorter lifespan if compared to the nickel batteries. A LiPo battery may last typically fr about 150-300 cycles that totally depends on how it is cared for. Just when you will start using your battery frequently, charging and discharging it, it will ultimately be losing its capacity. You take your battery of 1300 mAH out of the box, but it will drop up to 75%, meaning about 1000 mAH.

A 1000 mAH battery bearing a load of 500 mAH will last for about 2 hours. Similarly, if your load is 2000 mAH then it would only last for 30 minutes. A 5000 mAH battery is quoted to last for about 20-25 minutes depending on the driving speed and your driving habits.

However, there are several methods that you can do for making our battery last longer. It includes the usage of proper charge voltage and balanced charging. Do, all the things that are necessary for maintaining the LiPo batteries for RC cars and you will definitely be treated with good and satisfactory outcomes.

How do you Care for your LiPo Battery for RC Cars?

Generally, good care and maintenance are required for LiPo batteries as they are a little too sensitive demanding some extra attention and care. But you can just ignore them for the fact that they need care because they are giving you a bundle of pros as well, including the lighter weight, higher capacities, higher discharge rates, and much more.

Here are some of the tips that will lead you to a better performance of LiPo batteries of RC cars.

Compatible Charger

Not just for increasing the lifespan, compatible chargers for LiPo batteries are the first thing that should be taken care of. If you are using a non-compatible charger you are not fully charging your battery, increasing the safety risks, and also contributing to shortening the life of the battery.

Effective Charging

It is advised to not over-discharge your battery and store the battery fully charged. do not overcharge your battery past 4.2 V per cell. Using a compatible charger will also help you in keeping the voltage and current same until it reaches the peak. Make sure to charge it as per instructions. Don’t charge them at below freezing point or near the flammable surfaces. Also, ensure that your battery is not damaged, broken, or swollen.

Discharging

Do not discharge your batteries more than amperage rates specified on the labels. Discharging the battery low than 3V can lead you to some consequences. Also, ensure that your battery doesn’t exceed the temperature of 140F during the discharging process.

Storage

Extra Care and attention are needed even in the storage of LiPo batteries. If you are storing your battery fr more than 30 days or planning to leave it as it is for a month or so, do not leave your battery fully charged. Make sure that you are not storing loose batteries together. It’s also recommended that you should not store your battery at extreme temperatures, near the flammable surfaces or in the direct sunlight. Always disconnect the batteries that are not in use and store them in a non-conductive fireproof container as it is really necessary to prevent any unwanted consequences. Improper storage is the most common problem that occurs with LiPo batteries.

Disposal

It’s really important to dispose of the LiPo battery properly as it can be a hazard. If you are having a bad day with LiPo batteries then dispose of them in the bins after completely discharging them, and checking the voltage of them. Place the LiPo in a saltwater bath and it will short out the battery, then check the voltage and then dispose them of.

General Care

Don’t disassemble the cells, never dispose of them in fire or use them near flammable surfaces, avoiding the opening and deforming of the cell, avoiding them to not get hit or bend or striking them with sharp edges are a part of some general care that should be don while handling the LiPo batteries for RC cars. You can also use a fire-resistant container to keep your batteries and yourself safe and sound.

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What’s Deep Cycle LiFePO4 Battery

Deep-Cycle-LiFePO4-Battery

What is the deep cycle battery?

A deep-cycle battery is a battery that is designed to be able to store a large quantity of energy while having the ability to discharge from 100% down to 0% without hurting the battery. A deep-cycle battery also ensures that a steady amount of power is being delivered to applications over a long period of time without interruption or failure. It is constructed with thicker plates and a denser active material ratio. Due to these features, a deep-cycle battery achieves greater cycling capacities.

Deep-Cycle-LiFePO4-Battery

What is DOD (Depth of Discharge)?

The Depth of Discharge (DOD) of a battery represents the percentage of the battery that has been discharged relative to the overall capacity of the battery. For example, if a battery has a nominal capacity of 100kWh and discharges 30kW, the Depth of Discharge comes out to be 30%.

Its DOD is (30x 1) / 100 = 30%.

The more often a battery is charged and discharged, the shorter the battery life will become. It is generally not recommended to completely discharge a battery as it will greatly reduce the battery life. Many battery manufacturers specify the recommended maximum DOD in order to maximize the battery performance.

 

If a manufacturer of a 10 kWh battery recommends a maximum DOD of 80%, the battery should not use more than 8 kWh without charging. The DOD is an important factor to consider because a higher DOD means that more of the energy in a battery can be used. The DOD of many modern lithium-ion batteries is 100%.

 

A battery’s “cycle life,” the number of charge/discharge cycles in its life, depends on how much battery capacity is typically use. Rather than completely draining a battery to its maximum DOD, a user will be able to attain more cycles in their battery regularly discharging it with a lower percentage of charge.

 

For example, a battery may have 15,000 cycles at a DoD of 10%, but only have 3,000 cycles at a DoD of 80%.

What applications need deep-cycle batteries?

  • Floor Machines
  • Electric vehicles
  • Materials handling
  • Renewable energy
  • Aerial work platforms
  • Commercial transit
  • RV and Marine
  • HME Mobility Telecom UPS
  • Security Electronics

All of these applications require high energy retention, deep-cycle discharge, a large number of cycle lives, and a stable discharge performance.

Why choose LiFePO4 deep cycle batteries?

Another way to think of the DOD is the extent to which discharge begins to stop during use. 100% DOD refers to discharge at full capacity. The life of a lead-acid battery is greatly affected by the DOD. A lead-acid battery is likely to fail quickly on a user as it normally only allows 50 to 80% DOD.

In contrast, A LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) battery, which is newer technology, has a deep-cycle discharge, so it can reach 2000 cycles with 100% DOD. Lithium batteries can also be discharged at a specific C-rating. With a working temperature of 25° C and a discharge rate of 0.5C, a LiFePO4 battery can reach 4000 to 6000 cycles.

 

Compared to lead-acid batteries, the advantages of deep-cycle lifepo4 batteries are the following:

  • Eco-friendly
  • Good high-temperature resistance
  • Good safety characteristics
  • No memory effect
  • Higher-capacity compare with same size lead-acid battery
  • Longer cycle life than other lithium-ion batteries
  • Ideal drop-in replacement for lead-acid batteries
  • Lower total cost of average use

 

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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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The Charging Cycles of Lithium-ion Polymer Batteries

LiPO Battery

Lithium batteries, or Lithium-ion Polymer (LiPo) batteries, are batteries that use Lithium as a negative electrode material and use a non-aqueous electrolyte solution. In 1912, Lithium metal batteries were first proposed and studied by Gilbert N. Lewis. In the 1970s, M.S. Whittingham proposed and started researching Lithium-ion batteries. However, due to the complications of using the unstable Lithium metal, the batteries were not popular at the time.

Lithium-ion-polymer-batteries-charging

It is now with further development that Lithium-ion Polymer batteries have fast become a preferred power source for many applications and industries.  It is for this reason that we will explore the charging cycles of lithium-ion polymer batteries in-depth in this article.

 

What is a charging cycle?

Some consumers may have that the charge and discharge life of lithium-ion polymer batteries is “500 times.” But what is “500 times?” It refers to the number of charge and discharge cycles of the battery.

 

Let us look at an example: Let us say there is a lithium battery that uses only half of its charge in one day and is then charged fully.  On the next day, it again only uses half of its power.  Although the battery has been charged twice, this does not count as one charge cycle but two.

 

A charging cycle is when a battery goes from being fully charged to empty and then from empty to fully charged; this is not one single charge. Just based on the previous example, it’s clear that it can usually take several charges to complete a cycle.

 

Every time a charging cycle is completed, the battery capacity decreases a bit. However, the reduced capacity is very small. High-quality batteries will still retain 80% of their original capacity after many cycles of charging. Many lithium battery products will still be used after two or three years. Of course, after the end of the lithium battery life, it still needs to be replaced.

 

Ultimately, a 500-cycle life means that a manufacturer has achieved about 625 recharge times at a constant discharge depth (such as 80%) and reached 500 charging cycles.  In other words, if we ignore other factors that could reduce the Lithium-ion battery capacity and we take 80% of 625, we receive 500.

 

However, due to various factors in life, especially considering how the depth of discharge (DOD) during charging is not constant, “500 charging cycles” can only be used as a reference to battery life.

 

Overall, it is better to think of the life of the lithium battery as related to the number of times the charging cycle is completed and not as directly related to the number of charges.

LiPO Battery

Deep and shallow charging

Here is another way to think of the cycle lives of lithium-ion polymer batteries: the life of a Lithium battery is generally 300 to 500 charging cycles. Assume that the capacity provided by a full discharge is Q. If the capacity reduction after each charging cycle is not considered, lithium batteries can provide or supplement 300Q-500Q power in total during its life. From this we know that if you use 1/2 each time, you can charge 600-1000 times; if you use 1/3 each time, you can charge 900-1500 times. By analogy, if you charge randomly, the number of times is uncertain. In short, no matter how a Lithium battery is charged, it is constant to add a total of 300Q to 500Q of power. Therefore, we can also understand this: the life of a Lithium battery is related to the total charge of the battery and has nothing to do with the number of charges. The effects of deep charging and shallow charging on lithium battery life are similar.

 

In fact, shallow discharge and shallow charges are more beneficial to lithium batteries. It is only necessary to deep charge when the power module of the product is calibrated for lithium batteries. Therefore, lithium-ion-powered products do not have to be constrained by the process: they can be charged at any time without worrying about affecting the battery life.

 

Effects of temperature on battery life

If a Lithium-ion Polymer battery is used in an environment higher than the specified operating temperature (above 35℃), the battery’s power will continue to decrease.  In other words, the battery’s power supply time will not be as long as usual. If a device is charged at such temperatures, the damage to the battery will be greater. Even if the battery is stored in a hot temperature environment, it will inevitably cause damage to the battery. Therefore, it is a good idea to extend the life of lithium-ion polymer batteries by using it under normal operating temperatures as often as possible.

If you use Lithium batteries in a low-temperature environment (below 4℃), the battery life will also be reduced. Some older Lithium batteries of mobile phones cannot even be charged under low temperatures.  However, unlike in high temperatures, once the temperatures rise, the molecules in a battery will heat up and immediately return to the previous charge.

Having explored battery performance under these extreme temperatures, the question now becomes if there are any batteries that can be used in environments with low or high temperatures.

Currently, GREPOW’s batteries can be used at temperature ranges of -50 ℃ to 50 ℃ or 20 ℃ to 80 ℃. Our low-temperature Lithium batteries’ discharging current of 0.2C at -50℃ is over 60% efficiency, over 80% efficiency at -40℃, and around 80% efficiency at -30℃.

We can further custom-make batteries depending on your specifications.

low-tem

low-tem

Charge-discharge cycle

To get the most out of lithium-ion batteries, you need to use it often so that the electrons in the Lithium batteries are always in a flowing state. If you do not use lithium batteries often, please remember to complete a charging cycle every month and do a power calibration, i.e. deep discharge and deep charge, once.

 

After the nominal number of charge and discharge cycles is used up, a battery’s ability to store power will drop to a certain level, but the battery can continue to be used.

 

Lithium batteries have no limit on the number of times they can be recharged. Regular manufacturers can charge and discharge batteries at least 500 times, and the capacity is maintained at more than 80% of the initial capacity. If charged and discharged once a day, batteries can be used for two years. Usually, batteries in mobile phones are charged 1000 times or more, which causes the batteries to be severely non-durable.

 

Below is a proper method of maintaining your mobile device’s battery:

 

When you charge your phone, fully charge it each time.

  • Do not fully discharge the battery. The battery needs to be charged when the power is less than 10%.
  • Charge with the original charger; do not use a third-party charger.
  • Do not use your mobile phone while it is being charged.
  • Don’t overcharge: stop charging after the battery is full.

According to the experimental results, the life of a lithium battery continuously declines with an increase in the number of charges.

Lithium-ion-polymer-batteries-charge

Lithium battery cycle specified by the national standard

In order to measure how long the rechargeable battery can be used, the definition of the number of cycles is specified. Actual users use a wide variety of tests because tests with different conditions are not comparable, and the comparison must define the definition of cycle life.

 

Lithium battery cycle life test conditions and requirements specified by the national standard are as follows:Charge at 1C under the environment temperature of 20 ° C ± 5 ° C. When the battery terminal voltage reaches the charging limit voltage of 4.2V, change to constant voltage charging until the charging current is less than or equal to 1 / 20C, stop charging, leave it for 0.5h to 1h, and then discharge it at 1C to the termination voltage of 2.75V.

 

After the discharge is completed, leave it for 0.5h to 1h, and then perform the next charge and discharge cycle two consecutive times. Less than 36min, the end of life is considered, and the number of cycles must be greater than 300 times.

Having gone over the national standard, we should explain the following:

  1. The standard specifies that the cycle life test is performed in a deep charge and deep release mode.

 

  1. The cycle life of the lithium battery is specified. According to this model, the capacity is still more than 60% after ≥300 cycles.

 

However, the number of cycles obtained by different cycling systems is quite different. For example, the other conditions above are unchanged, and only the constant voltage of 4.2V is changed to a constant voltage of 4.1V for the cycle life of the same type of battery. In this way, the battery is no longer under a deep charge, and the cycle of life can be increased by nearly 60%. Then if the cut-off voltage is increased to 3.9V for testing, the number of cycles should be increased several times.

 

With regard to this statement that the charge and discharge cycle is one less life, we should pay attention to the definition of the charging cycle of a lithium battery: a charging cycle refers to the full charge of the lithium battery from empty to full, and then from empty to full the process of. And this is not the same as charging once.

 

In addition, when we talk about the number of cycles, we cannot ignore the conditions of the cycle. It is meaningless to talk about the number of cycles aside from the rules because the number of cycles is just a way to measure battery life.

 

If you want to learn more about batteries or our custom-made batteries, please contact us at sales@himaxelectronics.com and visit our website: https://himaxelectronics.com/