is it bad to charge a 3.6v litium in a 3.0 charger?

[waddup]

on my new 'tenergy' charger it sais not to charge 3.6v lithium batteries only 3.0v?


can i try it or is an explosion guarenteed?

any 'cheaper' reliable cr123 chargers out there that charge 3v and 3.6v lithiums?

 

[Kestrel]

Trying the SEARCHfunction,
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=201375

With due respects to mdocod from his fantastic guide:

LiCo02 [Lithium Cobalt Oxide]:
3.7V cells
Charging:
The proper charging technique for LiCo02 must be followed to tight specification for maximum safety. The cell should be charged at a 1C or slower rate at a constant current until the cell reaches 4.20V, at which point the charger should hold 4.20V (constant voltage) until the charge current drops to some fraction of the original charge current (usually around 0.05C give or take) (varies from charger to charger, but there is probably an ideal termination current based on cell capacity that would be impossible to have perfect on a charger designed for multiple cell sizes). Charging in series packs can only be done properly with balance taps on the pack and a balance charger. Li-Ion cells in a similar state of charge can be charged in parallel as if they were a single cell. Charging above 4.20V will cause increased rate of internal oxidation, reducing effective cycle life and capacity, while simultaneously increasing the risk of explosion/fire. 4.30V will not usually cause an immediate danger, this is where most protection circuits will kick in. Use a high quality charger to perform charging if possible. Most cheap chargers do not follow the proper charging requirements. The Pila ICB is most often recommended and is worth the $40 or so.
LiFeP04 [Lithium Iron Phosphate]:
3.0V
Charging:
Charging rate is fairly flexible on these, most small RCR123s in this chemistry are sold with matching charger that charges in an hour or a few hours. Charge is usually just constant current until voltage reaches about 3.6-3.8V (varies by manufacture) followed by some constant voltage until the current drops to around 0.05C give or take. (when charged CC to 3.8V it's probably pretty close to full, when terminating at 3.6V, some CV is probably required to finish the charge) overcharging won't cause too much damage provided it isn't done too rapidly or for too long. A LiFeP04 cell can be charged in a "4.2V" LiCo02 charger in a pinch, but you would want to pull the cell manually sometime around 3.8V if possible(use volt-meter to check).
3.0V RCR123s not labeled LiFeP04:
Charging:
Charging must be done on the charger that is sold with the cells or recommended for the cells as these things vary from one manufacture to the next on their recommended charge voltage termination from 4.4-4.5V. The cell itself still needs to be terminated at 4.20V, but the charger has to overcome the voltage regulation device "backwards" through the circuit, so to speak, (if that makes any sense). Do NOT use one of these chargers on any cell other than the cells it is sold with!!!

 

[mdocod]

Thank You Kestrel for pasting that here 🙂

To go slightly deeper. If your 3.0V charger is designed for use with LiFePO4 cell, then trying to charge a 3.7V cell will just result in the cell never reaching higher than ~30-40% total charge. If your 3.0V charger is designed for use with voltage regulated 3.0V LiCo cells, then you will absolutely severely overcharge your 3.7V cells. It would be not safe.

As consumers, many of us have become complacent and lax when it comes to warnings made by manufactures about most products, we ignore almost every warning on every electronic device we buy and nobody ever seems to get hurt. So we naturally assume that li-ion batteries and chargers would follow the same routine of stupid warnings that we have always ignored in the past.

As it turns out, this is one of those areas where we are actually supposed to pay attention, kind of like when you buy a Diesel Truck, and the manual clearly states to use only Diesel fuel in the vehicle, we know that gasoline would not work at all, and would actually cause damage to the fuel system in many diesel vehicles (well... OK... there are some wome... errr.. people who don't understand this concept but lets not go there....)

Eric

 

[waddup]

If your 3.0V charger is designed for use with LiFePO4 cell, then trying to charge a 3.7V cell will just result in the cell never reaching higher than ~30-40% total charge. If your 3.0V charger is designed for use with voltage regulated 3.0V LiCo cells, then you will absolutely severely overcharge your 3.7V cells. It would be not safe.Eric

thank you,

i cant say i understand, but ill accept this information as verbatim.

i figured i could just throw any 123 size rechargeable battery into a 123 charger and things would work


i continue to learn something new every day :thinking:

 

[jerry i h]

Aww, c'mon, pop for a 2nd charger . If you are getting 'em from where I think, it will cost you less than 20 bucks. Better, you can report back as to which RCR123 worked better in your torches.
OTOH, when you have a rechargeable 123 to juice up and both types of chargers, you have to be sure to stick it into the correct charger, or you will have to pop for another batt and/or charger. Suggest you standardize on 3.0v or 3.7v, and chuck the batts and charger on the other one.

 

[Kestrel]

any 'cheaper' reliable cr123 chargers out there that charge 3v and 3.6v lithiums?

Aww, c'mon, pop for a 2nd charger . If you are getting 'em from where I think, it will cost you less than 20 bucks. Better, you can report back as to which RCR123 worked better in your torches.\

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2684973&postcount=34
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=211782
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2685504&postcount=288
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2691562&postcount=1

My two cents, OP please be careful. Don't spend all sorts of $$ on flashlights then run them on the cheapest possible, abused high-energy cells until they turn into bombs...:shrug:

 

[moldyoldy]

Aww, c'mon, pop for a 2nd charger . If you are getting 'em from where I think, it will cost you less than 20 bucks. Better, you can report back as to which RCR123 worked better in your torches.
OTOH, when you have a rechargeable 123 to juice up and both types of chargers, you have to be sure to stick it into the correct charger, or you will have to pop for another batt and/or charger. Suggest you standardize on 3.0v or 3.7v, and chuck the batts and charger on the other one.

Absolutely be careful of the correct charger! I spent far more than a hundred $$ figuring out the hard way that too many batteries are matched only to the charger offered for sale with the battery...and I am not referring to charging a 3.7v RCR123 cell in a 3.0v charger.

Most of the time I found that the generic chargers do not adequately charge the "branded" batteries. Reports are that the Pila charger is better, but the Pila charger was not visible to me when I went thru maybe a half dozen brands of battery chargers and RCR123 cells. Really frustrating! and even when the cells and chargers were matched and then distributed, I was too often told by the recipient (mechanic or maintenance worker) that the batteries went bad within a couple months of issuance - even some of the cells I thought were reasonable. On a positive note, I did eventually settle on RCR123 cells from AW with good results. RCR123 chargers? eh, the jury is still out.

My conclusion? In my biased opinion I would have been better off simply purchasing the CR123 primary cells in some bulk and enjoyed seeing the lights used rather than fussing around with RCR123 cells and chargers! I did exactly that with the school teachers who needed the smallest size with good brightness of the CR123-based LED lights.

I am now switching many of the recipients from CR123 cell lights back to AA cell lights. The current market provides options with really bright AA/AAA-based LED lights, low self discharge AA & AAA Ni-Mh cells, and several quality Ni-Mh chargers, all for a reasonable price. and I do not have to worry about someone mis-handling an RCR123 cell or cells.

'nuff said....soap-box off.