KENTLI PH5 1.5v 3000mWh rechargeable Lithium AA PH5 battery

PiercingTheDarkness · 2019-02-20T22:39:35.000Z

Hi,

I had a customer ask about a AAA cell similar to the KENTLI PH5 1.5v 3000mWh rechargeable Lithium AA PH5 battery

Can this battery use a standard 4.2v lithium charger such as LiitoKala Lii-100? I’ve never come across this type of AAA cell before. From reading it seems to output 1.5V, operate at 3.7V and charge to 4.2V.

BlueSwordM · 2019-02-20T23:56:55.000Z

Well, firstly, the Liitokala Lii-100 can charge both Li-Ion and NiMH chemistries, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

Second, I’ve seen these cells before, and they charge at regular li-ion charge voltages.

~~So a 4,2V lithium-ion charger will work well.~~

If it wasn’t for the 3rd contact I did not notice.

On a second thought, don’t let the customer buy these.

PiercingTheDarkness · 2019-02-20T22:53:34.000Z

I just wasn’t sure whether the Liitokala would identify the battery correctly. First time I’ve ever come across these so wasn’t 100%.

Thank you for your reply

Parametrek · 2019-02-20T23:43:05.000Z

These batteries are not rechargeable with any standard NiMH or li-ion charger. They also massively overstate their capacity. There is no reason to use these over regular NiMH except in devices that refuse to operate at 1.2V. You can read a whole lot about them here:

Rip It Apart - Jason's electronics blog-thingy – 7 Dec 14

Teardown of Kentli PH5 1.5 V Li-Ion AA battery

June 17, 2015 – Performance analysis/review HERE! After having an entire month of dormancy on this blog, I’m finally beginning to cross off the blog posts on my “Pending” li…

Unloco · 2019-02-20T23:47:05.000Z

The KENTLI needs an exclusive charger.
They use a third pole for + (around the normal pole of 1.5V +) during charging.
The + pole in the charger is a half moon.

DavidEF · 2019-02-21T01:28:09.000Z

Well, I’ve never heard of them, so I poked around the interwebs a bit. I found an eBay listing for 8 cells plus a charger for almost $60USD on sale! HERE

I also read the tear-down review at that link that Parametrek gave. The cells internally are Li-Po, which is good, but the buck circuit is limited to a couple amps. The use case apparently, is a niche where Alkaline can’t supply a high enough constant current, and NiMH can’t supply a high enough voltage. These cells purport to supply a constant 1.5V until dead, then supposedly quick-charge using the proprietary charger. The reviewer concludes in the comments section that he has no use for the cells himself, but wishes they might become mainstream and lower in price. I think these would be good for AA-only (no Li-Ion support) flashlights and other devices where the higher voltage would be helpful. AA-powered digital cameras are mentioned in the review, as well as the marketing literature.

HKJ · 2019-02-21T07:56:41.000Z

I did also look at Kentli batteries some time ago: Test/Review of Kentli AA 2800mWh (Blue)