Something You Need to Know About Charging a LiFePo4 battery

Change is often intimidating, even once shifting from a lead-acid accumulator to a metallic element iron phosphate battery. Properly charging a LiFePo4 battery is crucial and directly impacts the performance and lifetime of the battery. Discover the way to charge your lithium-ion phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries to maximize your investment.

How Charging a LiFePo4 Battery

The ideal thanks for charging a LiFePO4 battery is with a lithium-ion phosphate charger because it is going to be programmed with suitable voltage limits. Most lead-acid accumulator chargers can do the work simply fine. AGM and GEL charge profiles generally fall within the voltage limits of a lithium-ion phosphate battery. Wet lead-acid accumulator chargers tend to possess a better voltage limit, which can cause the Battery Management System (BMS) to travel into protection mode. It won’t hurt the battery, but it’s going to cause fault codes on the charger to show.

Charging batteries in parallel best practices.

When connecting your metallic element batteries in parallel, it’s best to charge every battery separately before creating the parallel connection(s). If you have got a meter, check the voltage a few hours once the charge is complete and certify they’re inside 50mV (0.05V) of every different before paralleling them. It can minimize the prospect of an imbalance between the batteries and maximize the performance of the system. Over time, if you notice the capability of your battery bank has slashed, disconnect the parallel connections and charge a LiFePo4 battery separately, then reconnect.

Charging batteries in series best practices

Connecting metallic element batteries in series is far like connecting them in parallel, it’s best to charge every battery up separately and check the voltage and guarantee they’re inside 50mV (0.05V) of every different before creating the series connections.

It is extremely suggested to charge metallic element batteries nonparallel with a multi-bank charger. It suggests every battery is charged at an equivalent time however fully freelance of the opposite. In some applications, it can be not sensible, that is why suppliers supply 24V and 48V batteries to cut back the necessity for multiple batteries nonparallel.

Lithium Ion Battery Charging Precautions

In view of the quantity of energy hold on in metallic element particle batteries and also the nature of their chemistry, etc., it’s necessary to confirm that the batteries are charged in an acceptable manner and with a suitable charger and instrumentality. Lithium particle battery chargers or battery packs embody varied mechanisms to stop harm and danger. Usually, these mechanisms are provided inside the battery pack, which can then be used with a straightforward charger.

The mechanism needed by the lithium-ion battery for charge and discharge includes:

Charge current:

The charge current should be restricted for metallic element particle batteries. Generally the most worth is 0.8C, however, lower values are additional typically set to allow some margin. Some quicker charging is also attainable for a few batteries. Even for batteries or cells which will face up to higher current charges, there’s an effect on the life. If it’s attainable to stay the charge rate down and not use quick charging, this can improve the helpful lifetime of the cell.

Charge temperature:

The lithium-ion battery charge temperature ought to be monitored. The cell or battery should not be charged once the temperature is less than 0°C or larger than 45°C. Lithium particle cells and batteries perform best once operational around temperature, thus charging between the temperature limits mentioned offers the simplest charging and additionally extends battery life further.

Discharge current:

Discharge current protection is needed to stop harm or explosion as a result of short circuits. There will be a limit for the actual battery pack and this could not be exceeded. In the sight of the large amounts of power held on, extraordinary boundaries may result in a hearth or maybe a formidable explosion.

Normally battery packs have charge/discharge management electronic equipment to confirm that the present capability isn’t exceeded, however, it’s continuously best to not over-stress them. Differing types of lithium-ion battery technology are able to offer completely different capabilities – as a result, the particular kind of lithium-ion battery technology to pick can rely upon the application and also the current / discharge capability required.

Over-voltage:

Charge over-voltage protection is needed to stop a voltage that’s too high from being applied across the battery terminals. If the charge voltage is allowed to rise too high then harm is often caused.

Over-charge protection:

The over-charge protection electronic equipment is needed to prevent the Li-ion charging method once the voltage per cell rises higher than 4.3 volts. It’s extraordinarily vital to not overcharge the lithium ion battery. The battery management system should offer protection against over-charging.

Reverse polarity protection:

Li-ion battery reverses polarity protection is required to create certain the battery isn’t charged in the wrong direction as this might cause serious harm or maybe an explosion.

Lithium ion battery over-discharge:

Over-discharge protection is needed to stop the battery voltage from falling below 2.3 Volts dependent upon the manufacturer.

Over temperature:

Over-temperature protection is usually incorporated to stop the battery operation if the temperature rises too high. Temperatures higher than 100°C will cause irreparable harm.

When using a lithium ion battery, it’s imperative that the manufacturer charger is employed as a result of completely different components of protection also employed in the charger and battery pack dependent upon the planning.

Conclusion

Consumer and most industrial lithium ion battery chargers charge a LiFePo4 battery totally. They are not supplying adjustable end-of-charge voltages that might prolong the service life of lithium ion batteries by lowering the top charge voltage and accepting a shorter runtime. Device makers are concerned that such an option would complicate the charger. Exceptions are electrical vehicles and satellites that avoid a full charge to realize long service life.