Battery charging question...
- Thread starter tamarahvt
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what type of battery will explode? Do you have anything to back that up? I would like to check it out before I blow my house up.
Any lithium battery CAN explode, but they type we use are less likely to, especially if they have a circuit for protection from over or undercharging. Most chargers have automatic current cutoff as well, so if the charger circuit fails, the protection circuit in the battery should shut off the current to the battery and keep it from over-charging.
That said, when the charging and protection circuit is all in the same unit, like on the cheap stick batteries like an __go, all bets are off. There is no redundancy. This is the same design that caused the exploding laptop batteries and why I don't like the e-cigs that are nothing but a battery case with the electronics inside. Give me separate batteries anytime.
I charge normal lithium batteries overnight all the time and have for at least 10 years without a problem. The only exploding battery I've had was a Lipo battery for an RC airplane when I set the charger for too much voltage. (11.1 volts into a 6.4 volt battery). It burst into flame in about 3 hours, but it was ALL my fault for not double checking the voltage. That's not something to worry about with the chargers and batteries used in e-cigs. Over discharging an unprotected battery is much more of a hazard. If you use the right charger and a decent, undamaged, protected battery, you have little to worry about.
Correct. Most chargers cut the current when the battery reaches a certain voltage and some have temperature sensors so, in effect, they automatically act as trickle chargers. Just don't use a super cheap charger. That's half the battle. I'm not sure how the __go batteries handle it, but I wouldn't necessarily trust them to have any better electronic circuitry than a junky charger.
As for as fortified charging stations or LIPO sacks, that's overkill. LIPO sacks are sold for LIPO batteries for a reason. LIPOs are a whole 'nother animal than the Lithium-ion or LifePO batteries we use. They're far less stable and susceptible to puncturing because of their soft outer jackets. Comparing the two is like comparing kerosene to nitrogylcerine.
This is my setup:
Plugged into a wall outlet is an AC surge suppressor and a powered USB hub. Both sit on a small table. This is my 'charging station'. Here I plug in things like my KGO charger, a rechargeable flashlight, a rechargeable AA / AAA charger and other stuff that needs charging.
I keep the charged batteries and my e-cig stuff on the second shelf of the table.
Elsewhere in the den is a battery backup unit plugged into the wall. I have a separate surge suppressor plugged into that. And a separate USB hub is plugged into this surge suppressor AND into the PC. This is 'station 2'.
Over here is where I plug in anything that might connect to the PC, or things that need charging and have some kind of ''memory', like my iPod, cellphone, thumbdrives, external hard drives, etc. I plug in my Nook Tablet to the surge suppressor near the PC for charging. (the Nook takes a few days to charge by USB alone)
Nothing plugs into the computer directly by USB aside from the hub and the power shutdown cable to the battery backup.
When we see that something is done charging on the charging station, it gets taken off of charge and put on the second shelf. The charging station is near (but not IN) the bathroom, which means somebody will go past it every so often and notice if something is finished charging.
I know I will forget to unplug something from the charger at some point, so I came up with this setup. Everyone in the house knows how to take something OFF of charge and put then on the second shelf. They also know to leave 'dead' things on top of the table for me to put ON charge. Phones plug into the PC USB and surge, or into a cell phone charger in a bedroom.
The USB hubs cost around 10 to 15 bucks each from Newegg or Amazon, the surge suppressors were around 15 to 25 bucks each. Add 50% if you get stuff from Bestbuy or Staples.
Plugged into a wall outlet is an AC surge suppressor and a powered USB hub. Both sit on a small table. This is my 'charging station'. Here I plug in things like my KGO charger, a rechargeable flashlight, a rechargeable AA / AAA charger and other stuff that needs charging.
I keep the charged batteries and my e-cig stuff on the second shelf of the table.
Elsewhere in the den is a battery backup unit plugged into the wall. I have a separate surge suppressor plugged into that. And a separate USB hub is plugged into this surge suppressor AND into the PC. This is 'station 2'.
Over here is where I plug in anything that might connect to the PC, or things that need charging and have some kind of ''memory', like my iPod, cellphone, thumbdrives, external hard drives, etc. I plug in my Nook Tablet to the surge suppressor near the PC for charging. (the Nook takes a few days to charge by USB alone)
Nothing plugs into the computer directly by USB aside from the hub and the power shutdown cable to the battery backup.
When we see that something is done charging on the charging station, it gets taken off of charge and put on the second shelf. The charging station is near (but not IN) the bathroom, which means somebody will go past it every so often and notice if something is finished charging.
I know I will forget to unplug something from the charger at some point, so I came up with this setup. Everyone in the house knows how to take something OFF of charge and put then on the second shelf. They also know to leave 'dead' things on top of the table for me to put ON charge. Phones plug into the PC USB and surge, or into a cell phone charger in a bedroom.
The USB hubs cost around 10 to 15 bucks each from Newegg or Amazon, the surge suppressors were around 15 to 25 bucks each. Add 50% if you get stuff from Bestbuy or Staples.
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