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Registered Member #190
Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
Location:
Posts: 1567
I have some lead and lithium rechargeable batteries. I even made a solar charger for one of my 6v lead batteries. The solar panel puts out a maximum voltage and the charger cuts out when the battery voltage exceeds a set point.
Can I speed up the charging rate *safely* if I start at a higher voltage, forcing more amps into the battery as long as I cut out at the set voltage? Is there a maximum rate one can pump charge into a battery? Is it a heating issue? I'm guessing there is some issue, otherwise there would be rapid chargers.
Registered Member #191
Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 02:01AM
Location: Esbjerg Denmark
Posts: 720
Basic charger use the CCCV approach. First, a constant current stage to put in the bulk of the energy, and the a constant voltage stage(soak phase) to top it off, as well allowing the individual cells to self balance(for some chemistry). Depending on the design of the batteries, there is a maximum rate that it can be charge/discharged, which is the C-rate.
As for solar panel, max volt occurs at zero current draw, and vice versa. And maximum power point for silicon solar cells is at around 80%OCV.
Registered Member #42796
Joined: Mon Jan 13 2014, 06:34PM
Location:
Posts: 195
the output of a solar panel varies alot depending on how much light falls on it rechargeable batteries don't like overvoltage. For lead-acid overvoltage means gas production - damaging the battery and overcgarge also damage the battery
to overcome the above issues you'll need a solar charge controller between panel and battery (e-bay is full of them) best option (maximum efficiency) is to use a buck converter and a simplified charge controller aka MPPT solar charge controller (e-bay is full of fakes )
Registered Member #190
Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
Location:
Posts: 1567
I think my me ntioning the solar confused the issue. I am not concerned with the solar project. That is long done.
I am talking about building a 120vac powered charger for a LiPo battery. Is there a way to build a fast charger that is safe? Right now I have a LiPo pack for a phantom and the charger takes a few hours. Is there a way to speed this up by increasing the initial current?
Registered Member #27
Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 02:20AM
Location: Hyperborea
Posts: 2058
Lifetime will suffer at higher currents so at some point it might be more economic to buy a spare battery instead. Quadcopters tend to get wrecked or lost long before the battery is worn out so maybe not relevant in this case.
Registered Member #11591
Joined: Wed Mar 20 2013, 08:20PM
Location: UK
Posts: 556
Yhea, lipos are tricky things, they have a reputation for exploding and burning down your house if you don't treat them right. I've never had a problem, and have over 1kwh of lipos, but I've always been careful and never charged anything more than 1C (the battery capacity in Ah, in amps, so that a full charge at 1C should take an hour to complete). NEVER exceed the manufactures specification.
Registered Member #72
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:29AM
Location: UK St. Albans
Posts: 1659
LiPos have a two-stage charge process. The first, where the terminal voltage stays below 4.2v, can be done very fast, and delivers 75% to 80% of rated capacity. The second, where the current must drop to lower values to maintain 4.2v, can take an hour, topping the capacity off to 100%. Obviously the second stage cannot be rushed. Some commercial fast chargers simply omit the second top-off stage.
You can increase the recharge cycle life at the expense of capacity by using a lower threshold voltage than 4.2v. You can kill them real fast by exceeding 4.2v. If you deliver a constant current of 1C for one hour, the chances are you will shag them, as the terminal voltage is likely to rise above 4.2v towards the end of the charge, even on an initially fully discharged battery.
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