Skip to main content

Questions tagged [battery-charging]

Please specify the battery type in your question. Include chemistry (e.g. lead-acid, Li-ion), voltage, capacity (in A·h or W·h), number of cells and how they are connected (series or parallel) .

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
109 votes
5 answers
331k views

Why are there 3 pins on some batteries?

Lots of new batteries (for mobile devices, MP3 players, etc) have connectors with 3 pins. I would like to know what is the purpose of this and how should I use these three pins? They are usually ...
adopilot's user avatar
  • 1,193
32 votes
4 answers
157k views

How to measure capacity of a Lithium-ion battery

I bought a Lithium-ion battery for a camera (much cheaper than the brand replacement but non unreasonably cheap compared to AAA Li-Ion batteries with similar charge). I however have doubts that it has ...
user12889's user avatar
  • 423
31 votes
1 answer
55k views

Why charging Li-Ion batteries in cold temperatures would harm them?

Accordingly to what I've found in several sources (user's manual of electronic devices, various forums, e.t.c.) I shouldn't charge my Li-Ion batteries in cold temperatures because this would harm them....
vdudouyt's user avatar
  • 411
30 votes
3 answers
8k views

Why do batteries recover after a load is removed?

I carry a small 2-AA flashlight, and a few times, I have accidentally left it on in my holder. Each time it dies completely, so that no light is emitted, but if I turn it back off and wait for a few ...
Daniel's user avatar
  • 403
28 votes
8 answers
48k views

How do USB charging and "smart" charging ports (e.g. Anker's PowerIQ) work?

Software engineer with a hobbyist understanding of EE here. I've noticed lately lots of claims from producers of USB battery packs that their ports are "smart" and "identify the device" to "deliver ...
Kevin Wood's user avatar
24 votes
6 answers
7k views

Why are Alkaline, NiMH, and Li-ion AA measured differently (mAh, mWh, etc)?

Looking around Amazon, it seems that different types of batteries are measured differently: Does anyone know why? Li-ion are measured in mWh 1200mWh ALTIZURE (Cheap-Os) 3200mWh Deleepow 3000mWh ...
coolaj86's user avatar
  • 417
24 votes
5 answers
112k views

Powering laptop from 12V sources without inverter

This question has two parts: 1) How inefficient is it to boost 12V to 120V and then back to 12V as in using a traditional car power inverter to power a laptop (i.e. the 12V car battery power is ...
Reed G. Law's user avatar
24 votes
3 answers
24k views

Measure Lithium ion battery voltage (thus remaining capacity)

What I am working with: I am running my self-made Arduino board (in the sense that I use the Arduino bootloader and code editor) at 3.3V, and powered from a Lithium ion battery, which is USB-charged ...
boardbite's user avatar
  • 4,952
22 votes
6 answers
10k views

Can I disable a battery powered device by reversing half of its batteries?

When I have a device that is powered by two batteries, can I disable it by turning one battery around? For illustration, the purpose is to leave batteries in the device for storage, but it does not ...
Volker Siegel's user avatar
22 votes
3 answers
16k views

Lithium Battery Protection Circuit - Why are there two MOSFETs in series, reversed?

I was studying a battery protection chip and reference circuit (below) commonly used in cell phone Li-ion batteries, and am confused by the two MOSFETs in series on the negative terminal EB-. ...
Ryan Griggs's user avatar
  • 2,716
22 votes
2 answers
32k views

Some advice on charging circuit used in simple UPS

I have looked around for some way of having a 5 volt power supply that acts like a UPS. Basically want to use a micro usb connector for +5 have a battery and li-ion or other charging circuit that ...
Piotr Kula's user avatar
  • 2,144
20 votes
2 answers
5k views

Can I safely trickle charge a 24v garage actuator battery with a pair of 12v solar panels?

I have a Hormann Promatic Akku Garage door actuator, since my garage doesn't have mains electricity. Generally speaking I'm very impressed with how well it works. Unfortunately while it lasts around ...
Mark Booth's user avatar
  • 1,675
20 votes
6 answers
83k views

How long does it take to recharge a car battery after starting?

Assuming a typical lead-acid, 12 V car battery (typically at 13 V or so fully charged), and that it takes roughly 500 A over 3 seconds to start an engine, how long will it take to recharge the battery ...
Nick's user avatar
  • 413
19 votes
3 answers
4k views

Can this battery be charged?

I have a battery that looks like a lead acid battery, contains lead, and it's from one of those little electric cars that kids can ride on, so it should be chargeable, but it says on the casing not to ...
Rocketmagnet's user avatar
  • 27.6k
19 votes
7 answers
55k views

How do I design a 2A or more power supply for my consumer USB devices?

I understand that many of my consumer devices charged by USB ports can charge at higher rates than 0.5A. However, in testing, I've found they don't consume more than this. Test Setup I have a power ...
joshglen's user avatar
  • 385
19 votes
3 answers
3k views

What does an EV "wall socket charging cable" do?

Known as "Mode 2 charging", this method of charging electric vehicles describes the use of a common household wall socket and common mains voltage (230 v) to charge the vehicle. This is ...
hadrox's user avatar
  • 333
19 votes
3 answers
14k views

Why battery chargers take a pair of batteries and not one?

I have a number of AA- and AAA-sized NiMH rechargeable batteries ('accumulators'). All the chargers I encountered allow to charge 2 (4, 6, 8,..) such batteries at a time, but never a single battery. ...
9000's user avatar
  • 433
19 votes
4 answers
68k views

If Li-Ion battery is deeply discharged, is it harmful for it to remain in this state unused?

It is well known that Li-Ion batteries should not be deep discharged. But sometimes they do discharge deeply. Is it OK for the device to remain in such state for a long time (and recharge again only ...
Vi0's user avatar
  • 527
19 votes
2 answers
8k views

How fast can a Li-Ion battery be charged?

So far I've seen many Li-Ion battery chargers that do the full charge in about 1,5 hours or more. There're also NiMH battery chargers that claim they charge a NiMH battery in 15 minutes and then the ...
sharptooth's user avatar
  • 12.5k
18 votes
4 answers
7k views

How do rechargeable 1.5 V batteries work?

Until the last years, my knowledge was that the rechargeable analogue of the 1.5 V batteries have only 1.2 V. This greatly decreased their usability (many devices did not work well with 1.2 V). The ...
peterh's user avatar
  • 648
18 votes
3 answers
35k views

Understanding Two MOSFET with sources connected

I am having problem understanding how this MOSFET configuration (used in battery charger) works? In this slide, what does it mean "blocking voltages in both directions while allowing ...
zud's user avatar
  • 886
18 votes
2 answers
5k views

LiPo vs. NiMH for kid's toy

I've been researching here and on google regarding potential battery technologies for a toy that I want to make for my kids. I was hoping to get others' perspectives on this, keeping in mind that ...
Dave's user avatar
  • 3,830
17 votes
4 answers
5k views

Is temperature the only battery charging speed limitation?

Charging too quickly can cause the battery to blow up due to heat. But what if I cool the battery down? Can I charge as fast as I want, provided that I cool it down sufficiently? Can I enforce ...
neverMind9's user avatar
17 votes
6 answers
50k views

Combining and Charging multiple Lithium Ion Battery Cells (3.6 V or 3.7 Volts)

1] Voltage: 3.6V or 3.7V Are all 18650 lithium ion battery cells 3.6 or 3.7 voltsor or are there different voltage Lithium Ion cells in the market as well? 2] Possible Voltage Shortage? Do all 3.6/3....
Sam's user avatar
  • 515
17 votes
4 answers
90k views

Voltage input for charging NiMH Batteries

I have 12 AAA NiMH batteries(1000mAH and 1.2V per battery) and I want to know what is the optimum voltage for charging them. I am using a simple Constant Current charger(LM317 and 68 Ohm Resistor(R in ...
Dean's user avatar
  • 8,498
16 votes
6 answers
64k views

Is it possible to revive a dead battery by passing a high voltage through it?

I have an almost dead laptop battery and read in this forum that "The problem with most of the broken batterys is that they are exhaustive discharged. the trick to solve this is to give them ...
sfk's user avatar
  • 273
16 votes
3 answers
97k views

Extending the backup runtime of a UPS with an external car battery

I'm looking for a simple/inexpensive way to have a longer power backup time. My fist thought was putting 2 cheap UPSes in parallel. But I quickly found it's not that simple. You would need another ...
GetFree's user avatar
  • 469
15 votes
5 answers
3k views

How does laptop 'limit battery charge' work?

Charging while using the device reduces battery lifespan*. The charger gets confused in the Constant Current Phase because of the additional current drawn by the device. Windows OS and some laptop ...
Vorac's user avatar
  • 3,163
15 votes
3 answers
20k views

Low current battery monitoring

I want to run a micro-controller from a 1S lipo through a 3V linear regulator. I need to measure the battery voltage however. The problem with using a voltage divider is that it would drain the ...
s3c's user avatar
  • 2,525
15 votes
4 answers
21k views

Is it okay to keep a mobile phone connected to its charger, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

I want to ensure that a mobile phone is always charged, without requiring manual intervention: e.g. disconnecting/reconnecting the charger, switching the charger on/off, et cetera). One idea would be ...
bdutta74's user avatar
  • 3,534
15 votes
4 answers
76k views

how can I try to revive this AGM deep-cycle battery which started to perform dramatically below specifications?

I have a AGM deep-cycle battery, 150 Ah, 12V: Banner "Stand By Bull" SBV12-150. 12V150AhC20. Up until recently it was working quite OK, I was able many times, for many months, to drain about 170 mA ...
ria's user avatar
  • 2,025
14 votes
4 answers
4k views

Battery chargers that can recharge disposable batteries. How do they work and are they safe?

A few years ago a product called SecondWind appeared, which claimed that it could recharge disposable batteries. To a layman like me that sounded like a great idea, but does such a product really work,...
user1049697's user avatar
13 votes
3 answers
7k views

Takes days to charge phone from 10W solar panel

I bought a small 10 W solar panel which is rated to deliver 570 mA at its peak, according to the specifications: Power: 10 Watt Max. Voltage: 18 Volt Max. Current (Imp) : 570 mA So I bought a step-...
Physther's user avatar
  • 573
13 votes
3 answers
2k views

Is there any sense in this technique for charging Li-Ion batteries?

This is a replication of this question on Android SE. I feel that it is in fact an electrical engineering question, since it covers batteries behavior in details. Basically there's a claim that the ...
sharptooth's user avatar
  • 12.5k
13 votes
2 answers
35k views

How can I use two TP4056 with two li-ion batteries, but single load?

I have two TP4056 modules (with protection circuit), which I am using to charge two batteries respectively, off a single power line. The modules are the ones that have charge output (B+/B-), and ...
Mr.M's user avatar
  • 165
13 votes
3 answers
25k views

Why rechargeable batteries use 1.2V

I have noticed that AA (or AAA in that case) rechargeable batteries are always of nominal 1.2V while non-rechargeable have nominal voltage of 1.5V. This works just fine in some cases, e.g. when the ...
Eypros's user avatar
  • 253
13 votes
3 answers
95k views

What is the meaning of a battery's "cycle life?"

I started to read about batteries, I am interested in lithium batteries, I found a description regarding the stability and capacity/weight, but I read some unclear descriptions like "cycle." What ...
Mokus's user avatar
  • 1,229
13 votes
2 answers
24k views

Using TP4056 module to charge battery while load remains connected

I need a circuit that utilizes the tp4056 breakout board to power a NodeMCU ESP like so: tp4056 USB port connected: 18650 battery charging and NodeMCU running of USB tp4056 USB port not connected: ...
WhiteSpin's user avatar
  • 179
13 votes
2 answers
31k views

Understanding LiPo charging / protection circuit

I'm in the process of learning to design PCBs and understanding electronics design. For a project, I need to charge a 3.7V LiPo battery. I also want to protect it from over‑charging / over‑...
ErikL's user avatar
  • 409
12 votes
6 answers
58k views

Charging Li-ion batteries in parallel

I wanted some opinion on my set up here, just to make sure I got the basics right. I have a Li-ion battery charging circuit based on the MCP73113. This is designed to be a single-cell battery charger....
Tauseef Latif's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
10k views

Extra negative battery cable when charging outside car?

If you go to: http://www.battery-chargers.com/charging_instructions.htm ...Under "Operating Instructions" part "B: Charging battery outside of vehicle", it says you have to attach an extra jumper ...
aendra's user avatar
  • 223
12 votes
5 answers
13k views

Parallel charging of lipo batteries, maximum voltage difference?

There are numerous products that enable lipo batteries to be charged in parallel. Most sources are clear on voltage and capacity requirements, which follow pretty directly from basic circuit ...
Mark Harrison's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
21k views

Floating multiple sealed lead acid batteries in parallel

I know with multiple lead-acid batteries you should really charge them separately so that one battery doesn't try and charge another and waste power. But that holds true for the main charging process....
Majenko's user avatar
  • 56.3k
12 votes
4 answers
48k views

Is there way to construct an 18650 battery pack with built-in balance charging? Or is balancing not very necessary?

I am a DIY enthusiast, especially in electronics. I'm currently building a portable Playstation 2 Slim with an IPS display, so that it would look like a Wii U controller. It's my first large ...
Paolo's user avatar
  • 143
12 votes
3 answers
5k views

Does TI's LiFePO4 CV-free fast charge method reduce cell lifetime?

TI claim that you can charge LiFePO4 cells by CC (constant current) charging as usual but to a higher than usual voltage (eg 3.7V rather than the usual 3.6V for LiFePO4) and then step transition to a ...
Russell McMahon's user avatar
  • 151k
11 votes
3 answers
9k views

How deep should we discharge lithium batteries to maximise their lifetime?

Recently I posted an answer mentioning the very classic "lithium batteries like partial discharges, so design your system for limited depth of discharge". But then I wondered: with partial discharges, ...
Mister Mystère's user avatar
11 votes
5 answers
252k views

What is the minimum required voltage for charging a 3.7 V Li-ion battery?

I have a cell phone battery that has the following written on one side: 3.7 V 1000mAh Limited charge voltage: 4.2 volts I understand that the first line means, that the battery will always give 3....
gpuguy's user avatar
  • 1,638
11 votes
2 answers
238k views

Are AA battery and 18650 battery the same? [closed]

I have an Antex SZ004W0 wireless soldering Iron which uses three 1.5V, AA batteries, but I don't know if it supports rechargeable batteries. I know that it supports non-rechargeable battery named "...
IremadzeArchil19910311's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
96k views

What should the voltage of a fully charged lead acid battery be?

I don't have a proper lead acid battery charger... But I own a small Yuasa 7Ah battery. I am using a 13volt 1.5A wall wart to charge it. And I have a volt-meter to check the voltage. At what ...
Sponge Bob's user avatar
  • 5,313
11 votes
5 answers
33k views

Charging lead acid batteries in series

I recently bought 2 12V lead acid batteries (AGM type) for my mobile music needs where I need 24V, so I discharge them in series. At the moment I charge both batteries separately, which is a bit ...
Chris's user avatar
  • 111

1
2 3 4 5
64