Battery care

[Chippychap]

Hi Guys, have just received the following torch

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271153912026

To get the best out of the torch/battery can anyone advise on duration of first charge, duration of subsequent charges and whether to wait until battery is dead before charging?

I feel that a little care is repaid so many times over.

Thank you.

Ken

[Ouchyfoot]

Read This!!!

Li-ion Battery Safety and Shopping Guide

Gords pointed out this could be useful so here it is. Proper Use of 18650s The proper use of li-ion batteries is a quite complex issue, and one of the most important as misuse of them can lead to an explosion. What is a Li-ion Battery? Lithium Ion batteries are very popular in flashlights for a number of reasons. One reason is that the voltage of the battery is very close to the voltage required by most LEDs. This makes it much easier to have them run an LED. They also hold a large amount o…

[bfksc]

@Chippychap

Hi Guys, have just received the following torch

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271153912026

To get the best out of the torch/battery can anyone advise on duration of first charge, duration of subsequent charges and whether to wait until battery is dead before charging?

I feel that a little care is repaid so many times over.

Thank you.

Ken

As with all Li-Ion batteries, they work best and last longer when topped up regularly rather than run down completely. Ideally you should top up the battery whenever it gets down to around 40. Topping up when the battery is at 90 doesn’t harm it all and is actually preferred. But letting it constantly run down to the point where the battery or light cuts out is very hard on the chemistry and will eventually lead to earlier failure. Never let a Li-Ion battery of any type go dead, that really ruins them. This applies to flashlights, laptops, cell phones, tablets, cameras, etc.

Check the charger and battery combo to ensure it doesn’t over-charge the battery. A simple test is to charge it up fully, remove it from the charger, then put it back in and see if the charger cuts off within a minute. If it doesn’t, then it’s a “dumb charger” and charges based on time rather than voltage level. A “smart charger” is one that senses when the battery is fully charged and cuts off the charging circuit to prevent over-charging the battery. A protected Li-Ion battery has a microchip in it that will monitor voltage and current levels. This type of battery is preferred for flashlights as will help prevent over-discharge and will also help over-charge in a “dumb charger”. Hopefully you have both a smart charger and protected battery, or at least one of each.

[ruffles]

@bfksc

As with all Li-Ion batteries, they work best and last longer when topped up regularly rather than run down completely. Ideally you should top up the battery whenever it gets down to around 40. Topping up when the battery is at 90 doesn’t harm it all and is actually preferred.

I don’t think I disagree, but for the sake of clarity, could you be specific about what you mean by “40%”?

If you simply multiply 4.2v by .4, then you get 1.68v, which is way too low. My understanding was that you need to recharge at 3 volts for the majority of lithium ion batteries. (2.5v for some, but let’s not get bogged down.)

[Chippychap]

@bfksc

@Chippychap

Hi Guys, have just received the following torch

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271153912026

To get the best out of the torch/battery can anyone advise on duration of first charge, duration of subsequent charges and whether to wait until battery is dead before charging?

I feel that a little care is repaid so many times over.

Thank you.

Ken

As with all Li-Ion batteries, they work best and last longer when topped up regularly rather than run down completely. Ideally you should top up the battery whenever it gets down to around 40%. Topping up when the battery is at 90% doesn’t harm it all and is actually preferred. But letting it constantly run down to the point where the battery or light cuts out is very hard on the chemistry and will eventually lead to earlier failure. Never let a Li-Ion battery of any type go dead, that really ruins them. This applies to flashlights, laptops, cell phones, tablets, cameras, etc. Check the charger and battery combo to ensure it doesn’t over-charge the battery. A simple test is to charge it up fully, remove it from the charger, then put it back in and see if the charger cuts off within a minute. If it doesn’t, then it’s a “dumb charger” and charges based on time rather than voltage level. A “smart charger” is one that senses when the battery is fully charged and cuts off the charging circuit to prevent over-charging the battery. A protected Li-Ion battery has a microchip in it that will monitor voltage and current levels. This type of battery is preferred for flashlights as will help prevent over-discharge and will also help over-charge in a “dumb charger”. Hopefully you have both a smart charger and protected battery, or at least one of each.

Thank you bfksc. Unfortunately the charger came with the torch combo and, as you can see by the price, I'm not expecting smart anything.

I will go off the charts and try for 2.5 hours when I am sitting staring at it for the full time.

I have a multimeter so am able to monitor the battery, just got to learn what EXACTLY I need to monitor.

The quality of the torch seems really good so am looking forward to treating it with a little respect and TLC.

Bless you both.

[Chippychap]

Our posts crossed ruffles. Thank you also

[bfksc]

@ruffles

@bfksc

As with all Li-Ion batteries, they work best and last longer when topped up regularly rather than run down completely. Ideally you should top up the battery whenever it gets down to around 40. Topping up when the battery is at 90 doesn’t harm it all and is actually preferred.

I don’t think I disagree, but for the sake of clarity, could you be specific about what you mean by “40%”?

I mean 40% of the charge capacity of the battery.
For instance, if 4.20v is fully charged, and 3.00v is discharged, for a difference of 1.20v, then 60% of 1.20v is 0.72v so a battery at 3.48v (4.20-0.72) would be roughly 40%. In reality, it’s a bit lower percent than that due to the discharge curve for a typical Li-Ion cell. But I think you get the point.

My understanding was that you need to recharge at 3 volts for the majority of lithium ion batteries. (2.5v for some, but let’s not get bogged down.)

Actually, charging at 3.0v is too low. For longevity and capacity, you should recharge EARLIER rather than later, so topping them up when they hit 3.5v is much healthier for the batteries. What I do is top up my Li-Ion batteries before I’m going on a trip, such as camping for the weekend or hiking or whatever. I top them up again when I return home. If I haven’t used them much for a month, I top them up “just because”, otherwise I may forget and when I grab the light it’s too low and doesn’t last long enough. I use my lights fairly regularly, so I keep them in good state of charge.

[Chippychap]

Hit a possible problem guys.

Ran a multimeter over the battery before charging but after leaving torch on for an hour as one of the articles suggested to "stabilize" the battery; got a reading of 3.34v

Put it on charge for 2.5hrs and then got a reading of 2.30v. Now, either charger is a smart one that empties battery prior to charging or I have put charger the wrong way into power-socket adaptor. Have turned adaptor the other way in adaptor and will watch carefully as it is on charge again

[Werner]

Lol, wrong way in the power socket… :bigsmile:
No that’s not the problem is that these ultrafire battery’s are garbage.
Go and spend 15$ on two battery’s and a better charger and you will be happy for years…

Just to make sure the flat negative side of the battery belongs to the moveable part on the charger…

[Chippychap]

Oooooooppppsss

Thank you