I am starting a project that requires a single 3.2V LiFePO4 18650 cell to be in a housing with exposed contacts, suitable for easy swapping in and out of an unpowered device. The device will only be battery-powered, the battery packs will be charged elsewhere, so this is not a hot-swap scenario. The plan is to use spring contacts to connect the battery to the device.
My concerns/thoughts I'm hoping for feedback on are...
The proximity of the exposed contacts on the battery housing are prone to short-circuit. I am considering adding some additional form of short-circuit protection instead of relying 100% on the manufacturer's protection module in the cell. I'm thinking of adding at least a resettable fuse. Perhaps a protection IC of some kind like the LM66100, but I am not sure what is out there. Is this a good idea? If so, what are some good approaches for this?
How to protect the device against voltage spikes or other power anomalies resulting from insertion/removal involving spring contacts. I am considering an inrush-current limiter for this (image below), the cap C1 should take time to charge and smooth out any sudden changes. Perhaps there are ICs for this like the TPS22908? Or a simpler approach? (Please disregard the fuse and the "14V" in this example graphic from analog.com, the battery pack will be 3.2V as mentioned)
Image source: Analog Devices - Advantages of IC-Based Hot-Swap Circuit ProtectionSince there is no thermistor on the cell itself, and the cell's PCM works with low-side cut-off, I found this reference design for how to safely incorporate a temperature sensor in the pack.
- Other considerations not mentioned above?