On 10 Jun 2013 at 23:27, David Nelson wrote: > It is much more complicated to properly charge a lead acid battery than > a LiFePO4 or most any other rechargeable lithium based cell.
I'm not very experienced with lithium, but that's not been my experience. A lead battery can be safely charged with a simple power supply regulated at the battery's float voltage, as long as you don't mind it taking a rather long time to reach 100% SOC. Flooded lead especially is quite sturdy, and can take a lot of overcharging abuse without drastic reductions in service life. I've charged a lot of flooded lead with constant current chargers controlled by nothing more than a simple mechanical timer. I don't get the impression you can do any of that with lithium, though. I was under the impression that it was much easier to overcharge lithium, and that the consequences for battery life (if not for survival of the gear itself) were more dire. Perhaps I've missed something here? Consumer electronics makers are notorious for cutting corners as much as they can when it comes to charging batteries. They'll knock 75% off battery life to save 50 cents per unit. However, I haven't yet seen a lithium battery product (save for the very cheapest junk, a crummy crank-charging flashlight) which is as crudely and carelessly charged as, say, a lead battery rechargeable lawn mower. My laptop battery has a BMS; so does the lithium battery in my cordless drill. David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA EVDL Administrator = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
