Which battery is safe after a few years ? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: Moseven
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 01, 2015, 07:35:02 pm
content: Hi,I was cleaning my cupboard where I keep my batteries, and button cells were leaking, Li-ion cells were bulged, and so on.The batteries that are regularly used are no problem, but I have batteries that I use very little.Which battery can I store for a long time (and let discharge) without leak, burst, or fire hazard ?For a (barebone) Arduino that should run for years I use three AA batteries. The Eneloop BK-3MCCE are good and affordable. They can run flat without problem, and I have a charger which charges each battery individually. No problem there.For some devices I need 12V 2A for a few hours as a fall back (for light, personal heating, and other uses). Maybe I use it only twice a year, but it must be reliable (and rechargeable). I don't trust my Li-ion cells anymore and AA batteries don't have the capacity.Which battery is the best battery ?

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2015, 08:18:07 pm
content: SLA is the mainstay for emergency use still, then LSD NiMH.

author: Moriniman
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2015, 08:53:12 pm
content: In rechargables, NiFe - Nickle Iron. Very long lived, but they produce hydrogen on both their charge and discharge cycles. Energy efficiency isn't that good either.I have a Casio FX-100 to hand that's still running on its original Casio branded AA cells. You can just make out the manuacturing code as 1983!

author: Moseven
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 02, 2015, 05:50:26 am
content: I have seen too many bursted sealed lead-acid (gel) batteries. And they also slowly lose their capacity.Those Eneloop batteries I mentioned are low self discharge.I replaced my calculator with a Casio solar, and I have replaced my watch with a Casio "touch solar" "wave ceptor" (receives the time, runs on light, but still has a rechargeable battery inside).GP has low self discharge (Recyko+) NiMH D-cell batteries of 5700 mA. Would that be my only option ?

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2015, 05:52:42 am
content: Could you consider a pack with multiple sets of AAs in parallel?

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2015, 06:41:35 am
content: Which brands of li-ion were bulged? Were they abused? This is important. If manufactured correctly, li-ion is safe and keeps very well if stored between 20% and 60% state of charge. It's one of the best for long term storage due to almost negligible self-discharge and very good keeping properties at low charge levels. It just not ok to abuse it, which sadly still happens, even though minimal protection circuitry is trivial to design and implement. Even commercial products have failing protection devices.

author: Moseven
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 02, 2015, 07:10:06 am
content: NiHaoMike, It should be possible to use (rechargeable) AA batteries parallel. I don't know if that is still possible after not using them for a while. Would that be safe ?Siwastaja, They are all kind of batteries of all kind of brands. From very small button cells to 9V lithium for smoke detectors, 12V batteries for RF remotes, Lipo cells for Arduino project, and so on.The bulged Li-ion pack had (of course) just one cell bulged. I use it for light and heating, and let the internal protection circuit cut the current (at 3.0V cell voltage). That's not very nice for the battery, I know.