The 18650 battery has revolutionized our portable devices, including smartphones, cameras, fitness gadgets, monitors, and flashlights.
However, it is difficult to damage from charging before being fully discharged. I would like to share you 5 ways to keep the 18650 batteries last longer.
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1. Optimize Temperature
Between 20 and 25 degrees Celcius, 18650 are rated normally. Users can create a slight loss in efficiency with any deviation from this condition.
If you make a 10-degree deviation, you lose 20, or 30mAh. In addition, the battery will get much faster cell degradation with the extremes, below zero, or above 70 degrees.
Therefore, I can say that consumers will decrease the cycle life of 18650 battery by using a cell at suboptimal temperatures. Thus, you must remain at the appropriate temperature.
Furthermore, remember never charge 18650 below freezing. For example, this type of battery will degrade particularly quick this way if you charge it in a garage in Winter. By contrast, according to rules, the battery should also never exceed 60 degrees. If it is getting hot fast when you touch it, you are over-stressing it. Then, try to cool them down to the standard temperature.
If you leave the li-ion battery at 60 ° C for 1 year, it can lose up to 80% of its operating capacity. Besides, the capacity is just reduced by only 20% respectively if it is at 20 ° C.
2. Don’t Overcharge
You might not even do a full charge if you are totally concerned about cycle life and not capacity. Besides, the users can do a partial charge.
It means that you use 3.8V instead of 4.2V when you charge your battery up. Maybe the capacity decreases, but the cycle life of your battery is increasing because you put less stress on your cell.
On the contrary, you will see the increased capacity if you overcharging, but it’s too dangerous. This will reduce the life of your 18650.
In addition, you can charge your battery multiple times instead of fully charged in order to extend the life of it.
3. Allow partial discharges
This type of battery doesn’t have a charge memory. Then, it’s better if the battery has the partial-discharge cycles.
Battery experts give the advice that you should allow lithium-ion batteries to almost completely discharge after 30 charges. It helps remain the long life for your battery.
4. Be careful when charging
You need to make sure that your charger will turn off automatically right after the charge is complete. Therefore, your batter just receives enough power.
Besides, you should not hold the Li-Ion battery continuously at the trickle charge voltage because that damages it. Thus, remember not to use a trickle charger with batteries.
If the battery is charged at a temperature below 0°C/32°F, this can cause the metal to be plated inside the battery. As a result, that leads to an internal short circuit and possibly bursting of the battery.
So that, never charge your battery at a temperature below 0°C/32°F. People say that most of the rechargeable 18650 battery has a “rapid” charge rate of up to 4A with a “standard” charge rate of 1.0A-1.5A and. Therefore, the experts recommended that the battery should be charged at a slower rate.
One more important thing that users must remember is that allow the battery to cool to common temperature before using when you just charge it.
5. How to use safely to have a durable Li-Ion battery?
You should not let your battery fully emptied if you want to prolong the life cycle of your battery. Letting your batteries get below 30% is the worst thing you can do. In case of absolute necessity, you just can let your batteries get below 30%. Then, try to recharge them right after that. When you discharge your battery below 2.0V, you need to immediately recharge it right after that with the slowest rate your charger supports. Then, it is able to switch to your normal charge rate as the battery rises up over 3.0V.
Because the as Li-Ion batteries do not suffer from “memory” loss, you don’t need to discharge them occasionally all the way down to 0%. It’s not good if you discharge all the way down to where the mode indicates “low battery” and after that, you recharge it.
By contrast, partial discharging and recharging multiple times is considered to be better for long battery life.
To sum up
In order to extend the life of 18650 battery, you need to keep it in the appropriate environmental conditions and remember not to keep a fully charged battery at elevated temperatures. In addition, users should spend as little time as possible to fully charge the battery.
Besides, don’t forget to charge them just before using them. If you are careless, the battery packs don’t die suddenly, but the runtime gradually shortens once the capacity fades. Some of these above tips are easy, some of them quite inconvenient. Many of these tactics have a long-lasting effect while others have a very little effect. However, all of them help you keep the 18650 batteries last longer.