Li-Ion battery capacity and life

[boo]

I have been trying to learn about Li-Ion batteries of late.
Reading a lot and watching videos.
In some videos, it says that when Li-Ion batteries are
charged over and over, they can permanetely loose as much
as 20% of their initial capacity.
If this is true, does this mean that after continued use our
batteries are not putting our full power and therefor should
be replaced ever so often?.

Will this be obvious if using a charger that has a voltage
readout, or a volt meter?.

 

[Chicken Drumstick]

Nothing lasts forever. Batteries are no different. After time they just won't perform as well. But it'll be a gradual decline. And chances are most people won't really notice this for the most part.

If they start performing noticebly worse, then dispose and buy new ones. They aren't expensive. But really don't worry about it.

 

[LED Monkey]

I have some CRC123's that seem to not be performing all too well now but they still charge up to 4.2v . Are the losing capacity but still charging to full voltage?

 

[ven]

I have been using some cells for years and years, fully charged some are 4.18v, not had to re-cycle that many cells over the years.

Look at the advantages! Cost...........for the performance/cost ratio...........hard to beat!!!(dont think they can be beat bang for buck). Loosing a bit of mah over the years is really something not to worry about for me.

Be them 300 or 500 cycles, that is full cycles, so you might get 1000 -1500 part cycles. If for example you top them back up at 3.8v(just a rough example) that is a part cycle..........

Voltage wise it may drop, if it drops bellow say 4.1v from a previous of 4.2v(actual and not a charger issue) then you may decide to recycle for new due to having 90% capacity over 100%. As resistance build up, the cell will not charge up as much. One of say a set of 4 may not charge up the same after a couple of years, the other 3 would go into single cell lights and a new set of 4 would be bought(example).

Ideally store around 3.6-3.8v if not using for long periods,other than that just use and enjoy. Having a good charger,good quality cells and not asking lots of A every use will help over time. Slapping them back on the charger "hot" after heavy use, taking them right down low to 3v(or even less) will take cycles off.............

They are a lot tougher than many think, certainly not to be taken for granted though!! I charged a 25R up a while back on the vp2 3.8v setting(been charging 16650's up at time and forgot to switch it back to 3.6v). So i had an INR cell at 4.35v, still works fine, may have shortened its life(an unnoticeable amount as dont care any for cycle counting!)a bit............

If they do the job required, let them do it once it effects run time........recycle and buy fresh! Being simple, i like to keep it simple! :laughing: Life is complicated enough with out adding to it(charts,numbers,cycle counts etc).

Just IMO

 

[swan]

I have been trying to learn about Li-Ion batteries of late.
Reading a lot and watching videos.
In some videos, it says that when Li-Ion batteries are
charged over and over, they can permanetely loose as much
as 20% of their initial capacity.
If this is true, does this mean that after continued use our
batteries are not putting our full power and therefor should
be replaced ever so often?.

Will this be obvious if using a charger that has a voltage
readout, or a volt meter?.

There are a few ways to maximise capacity and cell life which has helped me -

Buy quality cells such as sanyo- panasonic
Charge at the correct current with a quality charger with proper algorithym to 4.2v
Store at 3.70 volts when not in use
Try not to discharge them past 3.5 volts
If you have 1 cell light buy 2 or more cells
Read up on resistance and cell max discharge rates
If your using a multi cell light make sure they are the same make age capacity and voltage
Store at 20 degrees c
Buy a cheap multimeter to accurately check volts, tailcap draw

The capacity of individual cells can be checked with a analysing [ am i spelling this correctly?] charger such as the Liitokala or Opus types.
There is heaps of helpful info here and i hope in some way this little bit of info helps.