Battery maintenance is critical to every battery because it will affect the life cycle, performance and function of the battery. It ensures that the battery works at ideal and suitable levels for a long time. This post will outline a guide on how to maintain batteries.
What is battery maintenance
Battery maintenance refers to monitoring and servicing a battery to ensure it operates properly and extends its lifecycle. A well-maintained battery lasts longer and performs perfectly than a not-well-maintained one. Moreover, it also helps in preventing damage to a battery.
Battery maintenance steps
Batteries are critical in powering electronic devices and keeping them running. However, battery maintenance steps may be overlooked, resulting in shorter life spans, reduced performance, and, if we don’t carefully take care of battery, it may totally breaks and stops proving electricity.
Fortunately, there are simple steps for battery maintenance, including;
Avoid overcharging
Overcharging a battery may lead to overheating, which significantly affects a battery’s performance. Although the lithium-ion battery can rely on the built-in battery management system, it can automatically turn off the charging after the charging is completed, and automatically cut off the circuit when it is overcharged and overheated, It is still recommended to disconnect the battery from the charger after fully charged to maintain battery performance
Cool environment
Store the device in a cool environment. This is because extreme temperatures result in low charge and discharge capacity. To avoid all these, keep the battery dry and cool.
Avoid undercharging
While charging your battery, ensure it is fully charged without interruptions. Charging a battery for short periods many times will do harm to the battery. For example, it will reduce the security and lifespan of the battery and it is not good for battery maintenance. This is because some rechargeable batteries have a memory effect, where partially charged or partially discharged will result in a loss of capacity.
If you use a lithium-ion battery, you don’t have to worry about the problem of insufficient charging. The lithium-ion battery can be charged and used without affecting the performance of the battery, which is very convenient.
Keep the battery clean
Dust and dirt can pile up on the battery’s contacts leading to corrosion. This results in problems in charging and working. Cleaning the battery’s contacts is, therefore, essential.
Follow the above tips and ensure that the battery continues operating at proper conditions.
Maintaining acid in a battery
For lead acid battery, a battery’s acidity levels need to be at a certain level for each to work optimally. Maintaining batteries using acid as electrolytes includes the following practices;
Checking the battery’s acid levels during usage and observe if it needs topping up
One should ensure that they add acid to water after vacuuming the inside of the battery.
Only top up the acid after charging at a certain level. For lead-acid batteries, the heat generated during charging and discharging will evaporate the water, and the water will start to decompose when the voltage reaches 2.2V/cell during charging, which will produce gas and lose water, so when the gas is discharged, it will bring out acid mist and a small amount Less acid, dilute sulfuric acid with a density of about 1.05 can be used.
Cool the battery after each charge cycle before monitoring the battery’s acid level.
Therefore, lead-acid batteries need to consume time and manpower to maintain the acidity level. If you want to reduce this expense, you can use a maintenance-free lithium-ion battery.
How does battery maintenance make an influence on battery life cycle
Proper battery maintenance helps in improving the battery life cycle and maintaining the best performance of battery. Battery maintenance involves ensuring that the battery life and safety. Different kinds of battery need different battery maintenance ways. In the following, the maintenance methods of lithium battery will be given.
Lithium battery maintenance does the following:
Short circuit maintenance
A short circuit of the battery will cause the battery to generate a large current and generate a lot of heat, which will seriously damage the service life of the battery, and even cause the battery to burn and explode. The battery protection makes when a large current occurs, the protection board will be closed instantly, so that the battery will no longer be energized and will not generate heat.
Overcharge maintenance
When the battery voltage exceeds the threshold value of the overcharge voltage of the battery maintenance board, the battery maintenance board will cut off the battery and stop charging.
Over-discharge maintenance
When the battery voltage drops to the threshold value of the over-discharge voltage of the protection board, the protection board will close the battery and stop discharging.
Do different kinds of batteries need the same maintenance
There are various battery maintenance practices for different battery types. We should know the battery maintenance practices of the batteries they use. There are different types of batteries based on how they are maintained, including:
Conventional battery
Maintenance free battery
What is the difference between conventional batteries and maintenance-free batteries
A conventional battery is a type of battery that uses acid as an electrolyte, and the acid requires periodic battery maintenance for it to function optimally. An example of this battery is lead-acid.
On the other hand, maintenance-free batteries are sealed and do not need regular battery maintenance apart from cleaning, keeping the battery in a cool environment, and proper charging. An example of a maintenance-free battery is the lithium battery.
Is a maintenance-free battery a good choice
A maintenance-free battery is a good choice since it reduces the time and cost of battery maintenance. Moreover, maintenance-free batteries have a better life since they are more durable and will not be affected by the level of battery maintenance. It is also economical due to its low maintenance cost since little time and money is invested in battery maintenance.
Lithium batteries are sealed and are an example of maintenance-free batteries. And there is a experienced manufacturer which can provide high quality lithium battery with free battery maintenance. The manufacturer is TYCORUN Energy. It is an odm best lithium battery manufacturer.
What makes a battery low maintenance
Low maintenance battery is a type of battery that needs less maintenance attention to keep the battery in excellent working condition than conventional batteries. This battery’s electrolyte level needs maintenance after using the battery in great conditions, such as normal temperatures.
Low-maintenance batteries include;
Gel- These batteries are lead-acid but do not monitor water levels and require regular battery maintenance.
AGM
How do we maintain low-maintenance batteries and free-maintenance batteries
Free maintenance battery does not need to maintain except cleaning the battery’s contact to eliminate dust particles, avoid overcharging, and store in a cool place.
Low maintenance battery, however, requires monitoring the battery’s electrolyte level and adding water if necessary. Additionally, this battery requires the following;
Avoid undercharging
Terminal cleaning to prevent corrosion.
Checking voltage levels using load tests frequently
Storing the battery upright
Misunderstandings of battery maintenance
There are several misunderstandings concerning battery maintenance, including;
It is not necessary to first charge a new battery
There are various misunderstandings about the battery’s first charge. Th first charge is essential in impacting a battery’s life.
People may believe this type of battery does not need any battery maintenance practices. However, this is not the case since they require proper charging, avoiding undercharging and overcharging, and storing the battery away from direct sunlight.
Monitoring a battery’s voltage only maintains its health
This is not the case since it only shows one aspect of battery’s health. Monitor its voltage and other battery parameters to keep the battery healthy. Voltage is very vital to battery and it affects the battery performance. Thus, the article lithium ion battery voltage will help a lot.
Maintaining a battery for long-term storage
While storing batteries for an extended period, ensure that;
They are at room temperatures
Keep the relative humidity of storage space within an appropriate range
Rechargeable batteries should be kept away from their chargers
Take lithium battery as an example:
If the lithium battery is not used for a long time, it should be charged with 60% of the electricity, and stored in a dry and cool environment, and the battery should be charged once every 3 months.
The self-discharge of lithium batteries is affected by the ambient temperature and humidity. High temperature and humidity will accelerate the self-discharge of the battery. It is recommended to store the battery in a dry environment between 20°C and 25°C.
Compared with nickel-cadmium batteries and nickel-metal hydride batteries, lithium batteries have many advantages such as high volume-to-energy ratio, small size, light weight, high working voltage, no memory effect, environmental friendly, etc.
Conclusion
In conclusion, battery owners should follow the requirements while maintaining a battery. Different batteries are maintained differently. It is, therefore, essential to know battery maintenance practices. Proper battery maintenance increases the battery’s life cycle.
Therefore, in order to make full use of the energy efficiency of lithium batteries, in the process of daily use and storage, we must pay attention to the battery maintenance and the knowledge of how to store lithium batteries for a long time.
