Mechanical protection of lithium ion batteries
Mechanical protection consists of two parts:
- valves for removing excess gas generated under heavy loads on the battery;
- a mechanical thermal switch that breaks the power circuit when the temperature inside the battery case rises.
Lithium-manganese cells
Their advantage is stable work. In addition, they are safer than lithium. cobalt. Long service life even with low resistance (higher recoil currents).
Disadvantage. they are afraid of overheating. Their capacity is lower than nickel. cobalt elements by 30% with the same dimensions.
Current output of lithium-ion batteries
This is a parameter that characterizes the ability of the battery to deliver high currents to the load without overheating and destruction. Measured in A (amperes) or mA. When an electric screwdriver is operating, high loads arise in this parameter.
Although this indicator is auxiliary, it is imperative to pay attention to it when choosing a battery for work in screwdrivers.
Aging, storage and operating temperature range
Lithium ion cells are sensitive to storage conditions. Do not store packages in direct sunlight or near heating devices. Even worse, they tolerate temperatures below 0 degrees (with a single drop, the capacity decreases by 50%). Even if you adhere to the rules and store the elements at a temperature of 5 15 ° C, manufacturers lay down a ten percent decrease in capacity per year from the declared.
It is recommended to store batteries partially charged (30. 50% of nominal) and recharge periodically. It’s best to use them right away.
With proper operation, excluding overloads or deep discharge, the cells can withstand up to a thousand recharges.
Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries
The second name is ferrophosphate. Their main advantage is stability. The elements are non-toxic. Not afraid of high temperatures, resistant to short circuits.
Lithium ion battery capacity
Battery capacity is measured in ampere hours (Ah) or milliampere hours (mAh). This characteristic determines the duration of operation at normal load until the capacitance drops to zero. These batteries have a reduced memory effect (capacity drop when restoring a partially discharged battery).
Due to the presence of the controller, Li-ion batteries do not allow a complete discharge, which destroys the cell. The overvoltage during charging is also limited, so there is no drop in capacity. Excessive voltage by 4% reduces the capacity by half. Subsequent charging. twice more.
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Lithium Cobalt
These batteries have the largest charge capacity. Their disadvantages are as follows: cannot be operated in devices with a large load, cannot be used for quick recharging. the elements can overheat and even ignite.
650 battery: dimensions
18650 vape batteries, like all cylindrical lithium-ion batteries, have a simple size (format) marking:
- The first two digits indicate the diameter of the element D, in millimeters.
- Next two digits. the length of the element L, in millimeters, multiplied by 10 so that no fractional numbers are obtained.
Thus, the format of 18650 batteries means dimensions: diameter 18 mm, length 65 mm. Elements with a protection board are 1.5 mm longer.
Types of lithium ion 18650 batteries
Lithium-ion vaping batteries are divided into types, depending on the cathode material:
- Lithium Cobalt LiCoO2.
- Lithium-manganese LiMnO2, LiMn2O4.
- Lithium Nickel Li (NiCoMn) O2, Li (NiCoAl) O2.
- Lithium Iron Phosphate LiFePO4.
- Lithium-cobalt 18650 batteries are most widely used in consumer electronics due to their low price. Usually these elements are labeled as lithium-ion Li-Ion without specifying the chemical composition of the cathode. Until now, they were of limited use for vaping due to the small recoil current. Nowadays, ICR batteries have been developed that are capable of delivering high current, while maintaining the main advantage of lithium-cobalt batteries. high capacity. A striking example is the “chocolate” battery. ICR 18650 LG HG2.
- Lithium-manganese cells already give a noticeably higher recoil current than lithium-cobalt cells, but with a lower capacity. These elements can already be attributed to high-current 18650 batteries for vaping or screwdrivers.
- Lithium-nickel-manganese 18650 batteries are also considered high current. Their capacity is even higher than that of lithium-manganese.
- Lithium iron phosphate LiFePO4 batteries have a smaller capacity, but they have many advantages:
- work at low temperatures,
- high number of charge-discharge cycles (more than 2000)
- sufficiently stable voltage during discharge.
- high safety of use.
All of the above types of 18650 vaping batteries with different types of cathodes are manufactured using lithium-ion technology.
18650 vape battery: which one is better?
Depending on the type of device and operating conditions, vape batteries are conventionally divided into 4 categories, based on the operating current delivered. Each gradation has its own best battery. Below are the top best vape batteries by category.
- Current up to 10 A. For work in a vape with an electronic board in varivatt mode (adjustable power) up to 30 watts.
Battery for electronic board LG INR 18650 MH1 3200mAh 10A.
- Current up to 20 A. For mech mods and electronic cigarette boards in power mode up to 60 watts.
Best vape battery LG HG2 18650 20A (chocolate bar).
- Current up to 30 A. For mech mods and powerful boards up to 120 watts.
Best battery for mechmod 18650 Sony VTC6 30A (green cucumber).
- Current over 30 Amperes. For the most powerful e-cigarette and vaping competition.
Powerful vape battery A123 SYSTEMS 55A (yellow banana) provides 55 Amps of recoil current.
How to choose an 18650 battery for vape: mech mod and boards
When choosing an 18650 battery for vaping, it should be understood that modern technologies do not yet allow the production of batteries with all the maximum characteristics for:
- containers,
- recoil current,
- number of charge-discharge cycles,
- safety of use.
Therefore, we recommend, first of all, to pay attention to the characteristics that are most important for you and your device. For an electronic cigarette, the output current is important, which ensures the operation of a particular vape device at maximum power, as well as safety of use. We recommend choosing 18650 lithium manganese IMR or lithium iron phosphate LiFePO4 batteries for your e-cigarette. They deliver high current and are the safest to use.
When choosing an 18650 battery for an electronic cigarette, first of all, you should decide on the type of device:
- Mechanical mod (mech mod).
- Electronic board.
- Mech mods do not have electronics that control the discharge. Hence, it is easy to exceed the maximum current allowed for a given 18650 battery, which can lead to overheating. Therefore, for a mech mod, it is worth choosing batteries with a current output of 20 or more Amperes, and, preferably, with built-in protection. However, lithium-manganese and lithium-iron phosphate batteries without protection can also be used in mechanics.
- For the electronic board, you can choose all batteries for the mech mod, as well as higher-capacity batteries, but with a lower current, up to 10 Amperes. But 15.18 Amperes is better. The presence of a protective board in the battery is not required, since the charge and discharge processes are controlled by the electronics.
High current 18650 batteries for vape
Devices such as a vape or electric screwdriver require 18650 batteries, which can deliver high current. Such batteries are called high-current. However, it should be borne in mind that the optimal designs of batteries for high current and maximum capacity differ. Therefore, high-current 18650 batteries have a lower capacity than the maximum possible for lithium cells. For the most part, lithium-cobalt 18650 batteries have a high capacity. but they cannot deliver a large current. Therefore, for use in vapes and screwdrivers, it is necessary to choose lithium-cobalt batteries of a special design, allowing a high discharge current.
High Current 18650 Battery for Robiton LGC3000 20A Vape (LG 18650 HG2).
8650 Batteries: Alternative Marking Decoding
Some manufacturers use a different marking for 18650 batteries, which contains three letters directly indicating the chemical composition.
| LCO | Lithium Cobalt Oxyde. Lithium, cobalt oxide. |
| NCM | Nickel Cobalt Manganese. Nickel-cobalt-manganese oxides. |
| NCA | Nickel Cobalt Aluminum. Nickel-cobalt-aluminum oxides. |
| LMO | Lithium Manganese Oxyde. Lithium manganese oxide. |
| LFP | Lithium Ferrum Phosphate. Lithium iron phosphate. |
| NCR | Nickel Cobalt Rechargeable. Nickel-cobalt cathode. |
NCR lithium-cobalt battery 18650. Panasonic NCR18650GA Li-Ion 3500 mAh
It should be borne in mind that both markings can be applied to 18650 vaping batteries.
8650 Li-Ion battery: marking
By marking the 18650 Li-Ion battery, you can determine the chemical type of the cathode. The marking consists of three letters:
- The first letter I stands for lithium-ion technology (Li-Ion).
- Second letter. this is the type of cathode.
- The third letter R indicates that this is a rechargeable battery.
| IMR | manganese oxide LiMnO2, LiMn2O4 |
| ICR | cobalt oxide LiCoO2 |
| INR | Nickel oxide Li (NiCoMn) O2 or Li (NiCoAl) O2 |
| IFR | iron phosphate LiFePO4 |
How to charge lithium-ion batteries yourself
Simple charger for 18650 battery is easy to make yourself.
If you have an old “charger” for Nokia or Samsung mobile phones, you can use the following method:
- free the wires leading to the power supply from the thermoplastic sheath;
- disconnect the red cable (“plus”) and the black (“minus”), align with the corresponding contacts on the battery case (the positive contact of the drive is slightly convex, and the negative one is flat);
- connect the device to a computer or a 220 V network, depending on the type of connection.
To restore the battery’s performance, you need to connect the battery to the wires for 1 hour. During charging, you need to monitor the status of the drive. Recovery on an unsuitable device is recommended for use only in emergencies.
Do you NEED a BMS for DIY Li-ion Batteries?
To create a more complex device, you will need the following elements:
- a plastic box corresponding to the dimensions of the battery and having “plus” and “minus” terminals;
- USB connector;
- charging board;
- soldering iron;
- rosin and solder.
The storage device is assembled in the following sequence:
- Prepare parts, warm up the soldering iron and tin the wires.
- Solder the charging board to the box, observing the polarity. The soldering points of the contacts are marked on the surface of the element. In the process, you need to ensure that the wires with the opposite polarity do not close together.
- Attach the board to the outer surface of the box to avoid tearing the contacts.
- Connect the USB cable to the box.
- Connect a multimeter to the internal terminals of the charger, observing the polarity. Measure current and voltage at terminals.
- Insert a battery discharged to no more than 3 V, check the functionality of the assembled device.
How to charge an 18650 battery
When charging an 18650 battery, the following rules must be observed:
- You need to start recovery at a voltage of 0.05 V, gradually increasing it to 4.2 V.
- The range of permissible charge current is 25-50% of the capacity (for example, for a 2000 mAh battery, it varies from 0.5 to 1 A).
- The optimal indicator is 25-30% of the capacity, the maximum amperage is used only for urgent recharging.
- Allowable charging time with a full discharge of the battery. 3 hours.
- For an accurate selection of the recovery duration, you need to measure its voltage with a multimeter or connect to an intelligent charger (charger).
It is recommended to charge lithium batteries in several stages or with impulse currents.
The optimal regimen consists of two stages:
- CC (constant current). It needs to provide constant amperage, which is within 20-50% of the battery capacity. With boost charging, a higher current can be used, but it is often not recommended to use this mode. The charger must be equipped with a smooth voltage rise function. At the first stage, the charger works as a current stabilizer.
- CV (constant voltage). When the voltage rises to 4.2 V, you can proceed to the second stage of recharging, which maintains a voltage of 4.15-4.25 V. By the end of the first stage, the battery is restored by 70-80%. As the charge accumulates to 90-95%, the amperage will gradually decrease. As soon as its value reaches 1-5% of the capacity, the battery can be disconnected from the charger.
Some models of “charging” are equipped with a deep discharge battery recovery mode (less than 2.5 V). On it, the battery is charged with a low current (no more than 5-10% of the capacity) until its voltage reaches 2.8 V. After that, the charger goes into constant current mode.
A little about lithium-ion batteries
Li-ion rechargeable batteries (accumulators) have a number of advantages over Ni-Cd and Ni-Mh storage.
- high density of the output current and accumulated energy, long-term retention of the charge;
- no effect of decreasing capacity with regular incomplete charging;
- self-discharge no more than 4-8% per month during storage without recharging, aging by no more than 15-20% per year;
- no need for a full discharge to train the energy intensity of the drive;
- low weight, variability of the shape and dimensions of the device;
- operating temperature range. from 20 ° С to 50 ° С (low temperatures prevent recharging);
- long service life (up to 10 years of operation and more than 1000 discharge cycles).
The disadvantages of lithium batteries are:
- the dependence of the service life on the duration of use and storage, and not the number of discharge cycles;
- the risk of failure when overcharging (current flow after charging is complete);
- low resistance to deep discharge;
- high price;
- explosion hazard in case of mechanical damage and excess current, if they lead to heating of the electrolyte and violation of the tightness of the case.
The name of the 18650 battery is due to its shape and dimensions. The battery is 18 mm wide and 65 mm long. The last digit in the marking means the cylindrical shape of the battery. The drive circuit is equipped with a controller that prevents overheating during recharging.
The battery case can also be marked in more detail: for example, INR18650-20R. The first letter distinguishes all lithium-type batteries, the second specifies the type of cathode material (C. cobalt, N. manganese, F. ferrophosphate).
18650 batteries with a protection board can be labeled as 18700 or 18670. The protection board controller prevents the battery from exceeding the nominal battery voltage (4.2 V) and lowering it to more than 2.5 V.
Which device should be used
To recharge the 18650 battery, you need to use devices with a nominal voltage of 4.2 V. If the lithium-ion storage is planned to be connected to a universal charger, then it must be equipped with a parameter controller and indicators of the end of the process.
How to properly charge 18650 batteries
Lithium-ion batteries are lightweight and not prone to self-discharge and memory effect, which degrades the drive’s functionality with use. Lithium-type 18650 batteries are versatile and can be installed in gadgets, power banks, flashlights and other devices.
18650 charging requires strict adherence to the mode parameters and protection of the battery from voltage surges and short-circuit currents.
Useful tips for using 18650 batteries
To preserve the capacity of the battery and extend their life, you need to follow a few tips:
- correctly select the operating mode of the charger, in the absence of a controller, adjust the parameters automatically;
- avoid deep discharge, connect the battery when the charge drops to 70-80%;
- when calculating the recovery time, take into account not only the number of ampere-hours, but also the difference in voltage when charging in the factory and at home, which affects the watt capacity;
- do not try to increase the battery capacity by discharge-charge cycles;
- do not overheat the drive, do not leave it in direct sunlight;
- operate the battery at a temperature of 10 25 ° С, for use at low temperatures, insulate the case;
- do not allow shock to the battery body, exposure to strong friction and vibration, during transportation, lay the batteries on a thick soft substrate;
- store lithium-ion storage devices with a 50-60% charge and at a temperature of about 0 ° C.
When buying a battery, you need to pay attention to the release date. Batteries manufactured more than 3 years ago are considered expired and have little functionality.
What are the best 18650 batteries for a flashlight, electric screwdriver
Review of 18650 batteries for different devices, converting a battery to an electric screwdriver, the best batteries with Aliexpress
- When purchasing 18650 batteries for flashlight with protection, which manufacturer is preferable?
- What indicators should chargers give for 18650?
a) The output is 5 volts and the current is from 0.5 to 1 of the nominal capacity of the battery itself. b) The output is 10 Volts and the current is from 1 to 3 of the nominal capacity of the battery itself.
- In what temperature range is it desirable to store the battery?
a) 10. 25 are ideal indicators. The battery cannot tolerate extremely cold or hot environments. b) At a temperature of 20. 45 degrees.
- How many stages does a lithium battery go through??
How to avoid 4 mistakes when assembling 18650 charging
To properly connect lithium cells to the battery, you will need to follow the instructions exactly:
-
We disassemble the battery case. The 14.4 Volt model contains 12 1.2 Volt nickel cadmium batteries. We immediately get rid of this coupling. we bite off with pliers. As a result, you will get only a connector with “plus” and “minus”.
Housing
plus and 5 cons of alterations for an electric screwdriver
- The energy density of the elements will be better than that of nickel-cadmium. This means that the electric screwdriver will retain its original weight, even be somewhat lighter, while the output voltage remains within the normal range.
- Lithium batteries charge much faster than others. It only takes one hour to charge them safely.
- Lithium-ion batteries have no memory effect. From this we can conclude that there is no need to completely discharge them before installing them on the charger.
- If you install a lithium battery, you will have to carefully monitor it: when charging. above 4.2 Volts, it cannot be charged and discharged by less than 2.7 Volts. Otherwise, the battery will simply fail.
- 18650 cans are used as lithium cells. They differ in size from nickel-cadmium. In addition, you will have to find a place for the charge controller of the discharge of the wires. And all this should somehow fit into the screwdriver body.
- A charger for cadmium batteries may not be suitable for rework. You may have to additionally look for a universal charger.
- You won’t be able to work outdoors in winter, since the lithium battery does not tolerate negative temperatures well.
- A lithium-ion battery costs more than a cadmium battery.
Answers:
- b) It is advisable to take Chinese KEEPPOWER batteries. Samsung does not release models with protection.
- a) The correct output readings are 5 Volts and a current from 0.5 to 1 of the nominal capacity of the battery itself.
- a) 10. 25 are ideal indicators. Do not place the battery in any other environment.
- a) Two stages. first with a voltage of 0.2-1A, and then with a high constant.
- a) Only one. A high voltage is immediately applied to the element. The rest of the stages are missing.
The problem with a nickel-cadmium battery installed in an electric screwdriver is that it needs to be used constantly. If the battery is completely discharged or is not used for a long time, then the crystallization process will begin in it, and the battery will soon fail altogether.
It costs a lot of money to replace the battery as batteries that fit an electric screwdriver are not cheap.
For these reasons, the owners of screwdrivers slightly alter the battery in order to connect lithium cells to it. But before starting to carry out such work, you need to think about whether it is necessary to make such an alteration and whether it is advisable at all.
Definition: An 18650 battery is a 3.7V battery.
Chargers for 18650 batteries
The 18650 battery will have to use the correct charger. At the output, it will give out 5 volts and a current from 0.5 to 1 of the nominal capacity of the battery itself. If the lithium cells support 2600 mAh, then a current of 1.3-2.6 amperes should be used to charge it.
The lithium battery charger charges the battery in several stages:
- First, a voltage of 0.2-1A is applied to the battery.
- Further, charging already takes place at a constant voltage.
If the charger has a pulse mode, it will significantly speed up the charging time.
In the event that the battery contains graphite, then the voltage should not exceed 4.3 Volts per cell. If this figure is exceeded, then the energy density will increase, and the oxidative process will go.
There are lithium batteries that take less than an hour to charge. The second stage is not provided for them. the current is immediately supplied to 80% and after that it is put into operation. It is normal for a lithium type battery.