How to Charge a Battery: Need, Instructions and Recharging

Technology develops and new things keep being discovered, but there are some things we still cannot live without despite the advance of technology. One of those things is batteries. Batteries are, without a doubt, important for some things in our household such as remote TV, wall clock, cars, and so on. But of course, they cannot last forever. Thankfully, some batteries can be charged. For this reason, this article will tell you all about how to charge a battery. All the important knowledge you need to recharge a battery can be found here.

Do you need a power supply to charge a battery?

For those who are confused about the power supply, it is an object that can be used to give constant voltage to load. You don’t need a power supply to charge a battery, but there are occasions where you can actually use it. However, it is important for you to attend the charging manually because you need to be careful with it.

Here are some batteries that can be charged with the power supply:

Lead Acid Batteries

You can use a power supply to charge lead acid batteries. However, you need to adjust the voltage of the power supply to the amount of cells of the battery and the voltage limit. For example, you have six cells meaning the battery has 12 volts, and the limit is 2.40V. Because of this, you need to set the voltage of the power supply to 14.40V since the total  of 6 x 2.40v is 14.40.

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When you use a power supply for restoring the energy, make sure you watch out for everything properly. From the temperature, voltage, and current, everything is needed to be watched properly. Once everything has been refilled, make sure you discharge the battery from the power supply as soon as possible. If the battery still hasn’t been refilled even though it’s been 24 hours, you will still need to discharge it as soon as possible.

lithium ion batteries

As usual, you will need to check the voltage for full charge (it’s usually 4.20V per cell). Make sure that the battery is discharged when it has reached 4.20V. However, it can also be 3.65V per cell or 2.85V per cell. Some of them can even be 4.30V per cell! So it’s best for you to check the voltage limit properly.

You will know by the amount of current the power supply has. It would drop to 3%, or it will go so low to the point where it can’t even go further down.

NiCd and NiMH batteries

Charging batteries whose nickel is one of its components can be tricky. After all, the voltage can be varied depending on the applied current charge. One of the tricks to know when your nickel batteries are full is by looking at the temperature. When the temperature rises to 0.3–1C.

Of course, you will still need to do some prediction of the charging time. For example, a 2 aH battery that is charged at 750–1,000mA will be full after at least 3 hours. During the process, the maintenance charge should be reduced to 0.05C.

What are the basic instructions for charging a battery?

Charging a battery can be seen as an easy task. It does for some batteries, but there are some instructions you should consider when you charge a battery. Here are the instructions:

Know Your Type Of Battery

Knowing your battery is important because every battery has a different way of charging. For example, lead acid batteries should be charged with saturated charge, while nickel batteries are best charged in cool temperature. The same about temperature goes for lithium ion batteries, except that they can be charged partially and randomly too.

Know Your Charging Methods

Different batteries have different types of charging methods. Some can be about constant voltage, while some can be charged by constant current. Of course, the number of volts also depends on the cells of the batteries.

Discharging Methods

Although discharging sounds simple, there are actually rules behind them. For some batteries, you must avoid full discharge to optimize the battery. However, there are some batteries that should be fully discharged and be charged for a while despite the full discharge for the purpose of making the protection circuit active.

Tips To Prolong Battery Life

There are some tips related to battery charging that can help you extend the lifespan of the battery. For lead acid batteries, you must avoid deep deep cycling and apply fully saturation charge.

For nickel batteries, you can discharge them to 1V per cell every one to three months so that you can avoid the memory effect on your nickel batteries (especially NiCd batteries).

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As for lithium ion batteries, you need to avoid extremely fast charging and high loads. The rule applies especially for most li-ion batteries, or else you will find their lifespan to be short. You will also need to ensure that the battery should be in cool places, including the time when it’s charging.

Can a dead battery be charged?

A dead battery can be charged depending on your definition of “dead.” if it only loses its energy, you can charge it like how you would charge batteries. Make sure you charge it properly according to the manuals. If you don’t know how to charge the batteries, you can leave it up to the professionals.

However, if you have been charging it, and one day it cannot be charged anymore, it means that the battery has finished its lifespan. When this happens, the battery can no longer be used no matter what. You have no choice but to dispose of the battery. During disposal, make sure you do the process according to the regulations of your neighborhood. If disposing by yourself is too hard, you can give it to the nearest disposal center and let the professionals take care of the process.