I have a LED light powered by a 3.7 V, 350 mAh rechargeable battery. The marking on the battery shows:
- CEL 701736P 350 mAh
+ 3.7 V 1.295 Wh 2307
I found the specs here.
Can I replace this battery with a different 3.7 V part with a higher capacity? For example this one?
I know according to this answer that it's safe to use higher capacity of the same cell type, but is it also safe to use a different part number?
Thanks.
The I-will-get-sued-if-you-burn-your-house-down answer is no, it's not safe.
It's probably safe. The most important consideration is that the new cell has the same charge and discharge limits as the old one -- it should be in the datasheet. These are usually 4.2V on charge, and somewhere around 3.3 to 3.5V on discharge (it varies by battery and device manufacturer).
If the charge management circuit in the light is smart enough it may get confused by the 5 times higher capacity -- the best way to tell that is to get the bigger cell and see if it works. Expect it to take longer to charge.
When replacing cells, particularly those in e-cigarettes, which are high drain applications, you need to pay attention to discharge current limits.
The original Document you found is unfortunately far from a Datasheet. Yet it appears to belong to some little vape pen. Given the fact the original battery only has 350mAh, replacing it with a 1600 one is probably safe, since the C-rate is 4 times lower for this bigger battery.
Yes, it's safe. For low power applications, as long as the two Li-ion cells have the same voltage range (in your case, they both have 3.7 V nominal), they can be interchanged. They can even have different packages (e.g., pouch or small cylindrical). The only time you have to worry is in high-current applications (for example, that discharge the battery in less than 1 hour).
