Hi Drain vs "regular" battery

[horton]

Could some kind soul please explain the difference to me in layman terms as to what a high drain battery is? I keep seeing reference to them, but have not been able to pin down exactly what the difference if between high drain and a run of the mill battery.
I thank you very much for your help..... horton

 

[Drozd]

hi drains are different chemistry... they're LiMN versus Li-Ion...
the cathode inside the battery is different Manganese instead of cobalt so the resistance is lower hence high drain (more energy can be drawn from it quicker)

because of it's ability to be able to draw more power faster from them they don't get overstressed like a normal battery does which ultimately leads to voltage sag and shortened capacity and cycle life on a regular battery..

as an example... an AW IMR high drain 14500 battery is capable of 4.8A.... a regular AW ICR (Li-Ion) capable of 1.5A... a ultrafire 1.3A...
now a 510 atty at 3.7V wants 1.61A... and a 1.5Ω LR atty 2.47A...

so the ultrafire is stressed...so are the regular AW Li-Ions... and the voltage actually sags to drive those atties..
the high drain is capable of delivering more amperage than the atty needs...so no voltage sag and no overstressed battery

 

[horton]

Thank you very much, Drozd. Can I "assume" (I hate that word...lol) that the high drain will deplete faster than the Li-Ion?
I'm so full of questions today..... I appreciate your help......horton

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Drozd how do LiFePO4 batteries compare to LiIon's in terms of discharge rate?

 

[horton]

Thank you, Papa..... that was my next question.....

 

[Drozd]

Thank you very much, Drozd. Can I "assume" (I hate that word...lol) that the high drain will deplete faster than the Li-Ion?
I'm so full of questions today..... I appreciate your help......horton

it really depends on battery size and which atty you're using...

I will say that a 14500 high drain at 600mAh and a 14500 ultrafire Li-Ion 900mAh...actually deplete in about the same amount of time...
the reason being is that because the high drain actually has the ability to power the atty without the voltage sag that the regular Li-Ion gets
I for example take shorter hits with the high drain to get the same satisfaction... like 3 seconds compared to 5 seconds..

Drozd how do LiFePO4 batteries compare to LiIon's in terms of discharge rate?

depends on the LiFePo4 really...
the tenergy LiFePo4 3V for example have a max drain rate of <550mA
where the AW ones have a max drain rate of like 5A

my general rule as far as batteries go is:
any 18650 size
14500 ... the AW 14500 LiMN
16340 ... the 3V AW LiFePo4 stacked for 6V, or the AW 16340 LiMN for single applications or stacked for 7.4V+

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Thanks for that. That's a hell of a wide variance between the AW and Tenergy brands then. I had read somewhere that in general LiFePO4's support very high drain rates and combined with their inherent safety is one reason they are used in power packs for electric vehicles.

 

[Drozd]

Thanks for that. That's a hell of a wide variance between the AW and Tenergy brands then. I had read somewhere that in general LiFePO4's support very high drain rates and combined with their inherent safety is one reason they are used in power packs for electric vehicles.

yes it is a huge variance ...that's why I mentioned it
but you can see from the tenergy specs: Tenergy LiFePO4 RCR123A 3.0V 750mAh Rechargeable Battery

•Maximum discharging rate:< 550 mA

meanwhile the AW guy over on CPF says that their 16340 LiFePo4 are good for up to 10C discharge (which on a 500mAh cell is 5A)

and yeah both LiFePo4 and LiMN are more stable and safer than Li-Ion .....I know the temperature difference in where cells go into runaway is a HUGE difference between Li-Ion and LiMN

 

[horton]

Thanks so much for all the great info, Drozd. Really appreciate the time you took to inform us. horton