How to Charge Lithium-ion Battery- Complete Detail
Lithium-ion batteries are chargeable batteries that are not widely used in all the power sectors, like mobile phones, laptops, vehicles, and many other fields.
The features that make lithium-ion batteries better than other batteries are their life span, charging cycle; they can last for a long time without charging, being lightweight and affordable, and many other factors that distinguish lithium-ion batteries from all the other types of batteries.
However, the question which makes the people confused is how to charge Lithium-Ion batteries? Down in this post we provided a full detail on this.
Many people using lithium-ion batteries don’t know how to charge them, as they don’t have sufficient knowledge about the batteries and the charging procedure, so they don’t need to worry. Here we will describe how to charge lithium-ion batteries that can be used for a long time.
Why to Charge Lithium Ion Batteries?
You are thinking about why you need to charge the lithium-ion batteries, as you are not using these batteries directly, but keep in your mind that laptops, mobile devices, and other gadgets that are powered by lithium-ion batteries are also the things that you need to know how to charge them.
So, properly charging all these gadgets means using your devices for a long time after charging just once a day. The charging process of a lithium-ion battery is straightforward, as it can only deal with the electric device that is powered lithium-ion battery, so we discuss how to charge the device of lithium-ion battery. You Can Also Check How a Lithium-Ion Battery Works OR Why is Lithium Used in Batteries !
Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries Steps:
Here are the following steps that you can adopt to charge the lithium-ion battery or the device that is powered by the lithium battery.
1. Check Remaining Battery
Before charging the device, you need to check that your battery is running low because many people usually always charge their batteries, which can affect the battery quality and decrease the battery's working. People think that even after completely charging, they can charge more to increase the device's efficiency, which is a totally wrong concept. You can quickly check the health of your battery from the setting option, or in many devices, it is always on the screen with a menu bar where you see the battery option. Like in many devices, you can also check how much time you can spend without charging your devices; this feature is primarily available in laptops, which can help you while charging the lithium-ion battery.
Power off the Device
Many people use their devices while charging them, which is not a good practice; the battery manufacturers always recommend that they shut down the devices before charging them, as lithium-ion batteries are made from different cells and PCB. The chemical reactions always occur while charging and discharging lithium-ion batteries, so to prevent any explosion and danger, it is best practice to shut down the devices that are powered by lithium-ion batteries or any other batteries before charging them. The benefit of shutting down the device is that the lithium-ion battery reaches the set voltage without being hindered. On the hand, that are not any significant effects on your lithium-ion battery if you don't shut down the device, but keep in mind that don't use the device while charging.
Connect the Charger with the Power Outlet
Now you have to plug the charger into the power circuit and connect it with your device; make sure that your device starts charging; if in the case the charging procedure is not started, check the charge, power outlet, and your device and perform the same this step one of two times.
Disconnect the Charger After 85%
Most lithium-ion battery manufacturers recommend constantly disconnecting the charger when your device or battery is charged 85% because it is ideal for the batteries and increases the recharging cycle. Many people think they can use their devices for a long time if they charge their devices 100%; that is a wrong concept; there is no reality in practice. There are also many internet devices that show you the battery percentage while charging. Also, you don't need to worry if sometimes your battery gets 100% but avoid it.
Increasing the Lifespan Of The Battery
You can use many techniques and methods to increase the battery lifespan. Still, there are also some famous myths you must avoid because this can damage the battery health, and only follow the methods discussed by the professionals.
Shallow Discharge your battery
Charging the lithium-ion batteries throughout the day on and off can increase the battery's health life; that's why you should charge the lithium-ion batteries approximately from 40% to 80% at a time. Try to charge the lithium-ion batteries once or only two times a day, or decrease the battery to 0%. The shallow discharging is best for increasing the Lifespan of the battery, as it limits the number of charging cycles of a battery so that you can use the lithium-ion battery for a long time.
Remove The Charger Once Charging
Many people think that the more they charge their lithium-ion batteries, the more time they can use them, which is totally wrong and will damage your battery's health instead of providing any benefits. The lithium-ion batteries don't like to charge 100% because it is not a good practice permanently remove the charge before reaching the battery level of 90%, which is suitable for both the battery and the device.
Discharge the Battery To 0% In The Month
The battery manufacturer's experts say that decrease your lithium-ion battery to 0% once a month because this practice is good for increasing the battery health. But many people make a mistake; they usually discharge the battery to 0% every time, as they are swamped, but that is the worst for lithium-ion batteries. You can only discharge the battery to 0% once a week, as this affects your battery's health.
Maintain Battery Temperature
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Tips for Charging the Lithium Ion batteries
No doubt those lithium-ion batteries are becoming more popular; now, most of the big companies are using lithium-ion batteries in their products, as the lithium-ion batteries can be shaped in different sizes.
But it depends on how you use a device that is powered by a lithium-ion battery, but there are many tricks that you can follow to make your lithium-ion batteries more efficient; here are a few tips.
Understand Battery Language
The first thing you must remember is the battery language, which means understanding the battery charging, discharging, and the chemical reaction that is occurring inside the battery.
We know that lithium-ion batteries consist of two electrodes, one has a positive charge, and the other one has a negative charge. The electrons move in the battery when we charge or discharge the battery, changing the ions from one electrode to another.
When using the devices, the electrons move from anode to cathode outside the battery, but when you are charging your battery, the electrons move in the opposite direction. The charging and discharging is a cycle, and the number of cycles your battery can perform depends on its manufacturing, the components, and mainly how you use your lithium-ion battery.
The unit that is used to measure the rechargeable battery capacity Ah, as we usually discuss that this battery is 4000 mAh. On the other hand, A Lithium-Ion Battery charging and discharging rate are called the C rate, which is also called the function of the C rate.
The C rate means how much time you will charge or discharge the battery like 2C charge-discharge takes 30 minutes.
CCCV Charging process
Charging a lithium-ion battery is not an easy process; you have the select the charger according to your battery; otherwise, a wrong charger can damage the health of your battery. Many people use any charger, claiming that the battery can last for more than one hour after some time. So that’s why you have only to use the charge that you will get with the lithium-ion battery or with your device.
The CCCV means that Constant Current is followed by the Constant Voltage, as the capacity of the charging battery is dependent directly on the voltage, so in case of decreasing, the capacity will also decrease.
So you have to check out the ideal voltage for charging your battery and increasing the charging capacity of the lithium-ion battery. Now there are also floating modes in which we charge the batteries, like the floating solar system.
But many people also oppose the floating mode because they think that this can damage the battery health, and somehow this is true.
Design BMS Carefully
The Lithium battery management system plays a vital role in lithium-ion batteries, and the BMS has two main features: thermal management and electrical management. The thermal management prevents the lithium-ion battery from overheating.
We know that the lithium-ion battery is made from various connected cells and the BMS, so the manufacturers connect all these elements by balancing every wire, as a sound balancing system can increase the battery performance and its Lifespan.
Lower Charger Rate
The professionals recommend always charging the batteries at a lower speed because the lithium ions intercalate smoothly without damaging the electrodes. On the other hand, if you increase the charging speed, the ion will not penetrate the electrodes properly, which can cause battery health damage.
The fast charging rate is also available for the batteries used in electric bikes and vehicles, but their battery life span is shorter. Also Check Best Lithium Battery for Bike
This also depends on how much time it takes for your device to recharge, so you have to check the right tradeoff between the charging time and speed of the lithium-ion battery. The ideal charging rate that is considered best for the electrodes is C/50, but not all applications can afford the charging time for more than 50 hours.
Lithium-ion Charge Discharge chemistry
The lithium-ion battery provides current to the device when it is discharging. Still, inside the cell, the chemical reaction occurs in which the anode releases the lithium ions and passes to the cathode. These ions release the electrons, which flow in the opposite direction of the lithium ions.
After that, both the electrons and ions combine at the cathode; in this process, the chemical energy is the release that is stored in the cell in the form of electrical energy.
The above process happens when the battery is discharging. When you are using the device without connecting it to electricity, the same process happens when the battery is charging; the only difference is that it happens in the opposite direction.
The lithium ions move towards the anode from the cathode, and the electrons also move in the opposite direction of the lithium ions. You have to keep in your mind that the charging process is not 100% efficient because of some energy loss as heat, and the battery efficiency level is only 95%.
