Batteries and Initial Charge Times...

[carpedebass]

So, the maker of my SP3 states that the initial battery charge should be 4 hours, even though the ready light shows charged in less than an hour. I've heard of this being said from other manufacturers before also.

Does anyone have any idea why this initial charge time is so high? Anyone besides me wonder if it ends up reducing the life of the batteries? Maybe they recommend this so that they can sell more of them? I've also heard that overcharging these batteries is a bad thing...protected or not.

Just curious...

 

[Mindfield]

The initial charge time is really just an estimate. batteries always ship with some charge in them. How much depends on how long they've been sitting on the shelf. So 4 hours is probably factoring in an average charge time. When I ordered my first set of 18650s (TrustFire flamejackets, 2400mAh) they took a good 6 hours to charge. On the other hand, the AWs I got recently (1400mAh) were charged in two. A lot of that is the smaller capacity of the AWs, but they also had more charge in them when I put them on the charger.

 

[BardicDruid]

With Li-Ion leaving them on the charger too long shortens the life span, the 4 or 8 hours is an old standard that was used for NiMH and NiCad. So when the charger light turns steady green their done.

 

[carpedebass]

With Li-Ion leaving them on the charger too long shortens the life span, the 4 or 8 hours is an old standard that was used for NiMH and NiCad. So when the charger light turns steady green their done.

Yea, that's kinda what I was thinking...but they specifically state on the instructions to leave them on the charger for four hours on the first charge. Funny huh?