June 23rd, 2005
The Truth About Lithium Ion Batteries
The comedian Jerry Seinfeld had a joke that the only warning label people took seriously was “dry clean only.” But I think I found another one; the “charge this device completely before you attempt to use it for the first time” warning. People lose their minds at the the thought of trying a new cell phone or MP3 player until it has charged its heart out for hour and hours on end.
According to this very detailed study by wacky but incredible guy who runs “Battery University“, check out some of these facts:
Fact One: Lithium-ion is a very clean system and does not need priming as nickel-based batteries do. The 1st charge is no different to the 5th or the 50th charge. Stickers instructing to charge the battery for 8 hours or more for the first time may be a leftover from the nickel battery days.
Fact Two: Some chargers claim to fast-charge a lithium-ion battery in one hour or less. Such a charger eliminates stage 2 and goes directly to ‘ready’ once the voltage threshold is reached at the end of stage 1. The charge level at this point is about 70%. The topping charge typically takes twice as long as the initial charge.
More on Lithium Ion Batteries - BatteryUniversity.com
Lockergnome's Tech News Watch says:
The Truth About Lithium Ion Batteries
The comedian Jerry Seinfeld had a joke that the only warning label people took seriously was “dry clean only.”” But I think I found another one: the “charge this device completely before you attempt to use it for the first time”” warning. People lo…
June 23rd, 2005 at 3:39 pm
Mikey says:
Lithiums are the newest high density storage that are widely available. Sort of like the extreme Alkaline heavy duty type (the bunny) except you can recharge them. Thats what it’s all about,
high capacity rechargables. NiCads were the first -dry cell- commercially available rechargables, but they’ve gotten a horrible rep because they just do not have a very long “life”. Lithium, on the other hand, does offer an extention of this “life”, and any improvement is good.
One very well intentioned tip: DO NOT GET LITHIUM BATTERIES WET.
LITHIUM IS EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE AND WILL CAUSE COMBUSTION. THERE HAVE BEEN FATALITIES ASSOCIATED WITH FIRES CAUSED BY LITHIUM BATTERIES.
June 24th, 2005 at 8:54 am
Robert A Herde says:
Always good to read interesting factual tid-bits like this one. THANKS, R.Herde
June 24th, 2005 at 9:32 am
herb says:
A good thing to know about L-ion batteries is the 3 year life span. They are a great source of energy, in fact the best for their weight, but they will die in three years no matter how many times you recharge them. So charge away until 2008.
July 14th, 2005 at 10:35 pm