Maintain Lithium Battery
Lithium batteries are presently the most commonly used energy storage devices on mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras and other electric devices. Learning how to maintain lithium batteries can not only prolong battery lifetime but also protect your device from potential damage.
Steps
- Charge new batteries. It's not necessary to charge over 12 hours when first used. When a device powered by batteries is purchased, sellers will usually tell us the batteries must first be charged 12 hours before using. Actually, this is unnecessary. Unlike common Ni-CD or Ni-MH batteries, most lithium ion batteries are activated before leaving the factory. Due to their low self-discharge, it’s unnecessary to charge lithium ion batteries for such a long time when new. Lithium ion batteries are ready for use when the charger indicates so, and they will reach their best capacity after 3 or 5 cycles.
- Use appropriate chargers. Many people take great care with their electronic gadgets, but often neglect the consequences of bad chargers on their lithium ion batteries. When choosing a charger, the original charger is the best choice. If that's unavailable, a high quality charger that has an overcharge protection function, or a brand name charger will do. A low quality battery charger can lead to shorter run times, premature battery failure, or even fire or explosion.
- Avoid frequently over charging. Over charging with a low quality charger may let the battery's interior rise to a high temperature, which is bad for the lithium ion battery and charger. Thus, simply fully charging is good enough - overcharging will make your lithium battery into a little bomb if overcharge protection function is missing.
- Avoid touching metal contacts. All batteries' contacts need to be kept clean for best performance. When carrying batteries around, do not let the contacts touch metal objects such as keys; this could cause a short circuit, damaging the battery or potentially resulting in a fire or an explosion.
- Avoid using often in high or low temperature environments. Lithium ion batteries have optimal working and storage temperatures. If they're continually used in extreme temperature environments, this will negatively affect battery use time and useful cycles.
- Avoid long periods without using or recharging. If batteries will be left unused for 3 months or more, partially recharge them (to around 30-70% of capacity, depending on planned storage time), then store the device to prevent battery damage. You may need to take the device out of storage and charge again after a few months.
- Avoid using lithium ion batteries which are hot after being fully charged. Temperatures can be very high when batteries are freshly recharged. If you use them immediately, the electronic gadget’s internal temperature will rise, which may negatively affect the device's electronic components.
Tips
- Proper charge time and appropriate battery chargers are vital for maintaining lithium batteries.
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