charge lipo battery packs with a li-ion charger???

[Oxieee]

hello.

i am wondering if it is possible to charge lipo battery packs with a li-ion charger.

for example what i eventually want to try is to replace the li-ion batteries of my laptop with lipo battery packs.
so if i remove the original cells in my battery individually and solder similar watt lipo batteries to the same terminals exactly the way li-ion cells were originally, will i then be able to use the laptop normally and the lipo will be charged normally.

is it worth a try or too dangerous???

thanxxx.

[viscousflow]

Too dangerous. Li-Po =/= Li-Ion

[AlephZero]

For "advanced" battery systems, you need to use a charger that is specifically designed for the eaxct type of battery.

Otherwise, you might wreck the battery permanently the first time you try to charge it, or even worse, it could explode or catch fire.

[I like Serena]

For "advanced" battery systems, you need to use a charger that is specifically designed for the exact type of battery.

Otherwise, you might wreck the battery permanently the first time you try to charge it, or even worse, it could explode or catch fire.

I kind of thought that if the charger has the right voltage and power it should work.
How is a charger specifically designed for a battery?

[pantaz]

I kind of thought that if the charger has the right voltage and power it should work.
How is a charger specifically designed for a battery?

It depends on the battery pack design. Some (most?) rely on circuitry within the charger to monitor conditions during the charge cycle. I have seen designs for battery packs that include electronic identification that must be acknowledged by the charger before it will work. The latest generation of batteries have very specific recharging voltage/current curves. Some even have electronic regulation of the discharge.

[I like Serena]

It depends on the battery pack design. Some (most?) rely on circuitry within the charger to monitor conditions during the charge cycle. I have seen designs for battery packs that include electronic identification that must be acknowledged by the charger before it will work. The latest generation of batteries have very specific recharging voltage/current curves. Some even have electronic regulation of the discharge.

I've looked up Li-ion battery on wikipedia.
Of course I do not know how reliable this article is.

Either way, I think it says that all modern Li-ion batteries have built-in electronics to prevent explosions and the like.

Furthermore it says: "Generally, cell phone batteries can be charged at 1C and laptop-types at 0.8C, where C is the current that would discharge the battery in one hour. Charging is usually stopped when the current goes below 0.03C but it can be left indefinitely depending on desired charging time. "

This seems to imply any charger with the right voltage and a low enough power can be used.

I believe you of course that chargers (can) have sophisticated electronic circuits which will optimize the charging procedure and battery life.

What I wonder about is whether it is necessary.

Any thoughts?


EDIT: Just looked up Li-Po batteries which shows the contradicting text:
"It is important to note that trickle charging is not acceptable for lithium batteries; Li-ion chemistry cannot accept an overcharge without causing damage to the cell, possibly plating out lithium metal and becoming hazardous.[5] "

and it also says:
"LiPoly batteries must be charged carefully. The basic process is to charge at constant current until each cell reaches 4.2 V; the charger must then gradually reduce the charge current while holding the cell voltage at 4.2 V until the charge current has dropped to a small percentage of the initial charge rate, at which point the battery is considered 100% charged. "

Seems indeed important that a charger fits with the battery! :smile:

[Topher925]

The answer is...it depends. All lithium batteries are charged in the same manner, constant current for most of the charge, then constant voltage until a current of ~100mA or so is reached. What changes between battery chemistries as far as charging is concerned is the cutoff voltage/and or current. Lipoly's are generally charged to 4.15-4.2V while other chemistries such as LiPO4 are charged to maybe around 4.1V. Over charging a lith-ion battery, especially one that contains Co, usually results in a dead battery and possibly fire/explosion/death as well.

As for using LiPoly's in a laptop, thats not a very good idea at all. Your laptop was designed with a specific battery chemistry and design in mind. Changing batteries means changing voltage and characteristics that the laptop wasn't design for. If you were to do this I would think only bad things would happen.