What is the lithium battery minimum voltage?

Introduction To Lithium Battery Minimum Voltage

Lithium battery or otherwise known as Li-ion battery is a rechargeable battery that is commonly used for portable electronic devices and electric vehicles. In lithium batteries, lithium-ion moves from the positive electrode to the negative electrode when charging, and when discharging, the ions move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode. Lithium batteries have no memory effect, low self-discharge, and high energy density.

Most lithium batteries nowadays have a voltage of 3.7v/42v. Meaning the voltage of the battery starts at 4.2v, which is the maximum and begin to drop down until it reaches 3.7v for most of the battery life. The minimum voltage for lithium batteries is 3.4v, at this voltage the battery is dead.

It is also possible to come across lithium batteries with a voltage of 4.1V/3.6V; they are the older version of the 4.2V/3.7V. They use slightly different chemistry than the 4.1V/3.6V batteries, and you’ll see the 3.6V rather than 3.7v marking on the cell. They have a minimum voltage of 3.1v

Today, you can also be able to purchase 4.35V lithium batteries! They have the latest chemistry; as you can see from their voltage, they have a little more power than 4.2V.

The nominal voltage of a battery is a function of its anode and cathode materials and its impedance. Voltage calculations are done by measuring the mid-way point from a fully charged 4.20V cell to the cut-off point at 3.0V with a 0.5C load.

What Are the Safe Voltage For Lithium Battery?

Before diving into the safe voltage for lithium battery, lets first explain the concept of safe voltage. Safe voltage refers to the voltage a battery is, or the voltage a battery is being charged with that will not cause any form of damage to the battery.

There must be a balance between a battery and the charger being used to charge it; the max voltage used to charge a 4.2v lithium battery is 4.2v, which is the maximum safe voltage. Any voltage higher than this will definitely result in damage to the battery.

Lithium batteries have very specific charging requirements and should only be charged by specific chargers designed to charge lithium batteries. Lithium battery has a nominal voltage of 3.7v. When fully charged, a lithium battery has a maximum voltage of 4.2v, and when fully discharged, it must never go below 3.0v because that will result in the battery being damaged. This makes the safe voltage of lithium battery to be between 3.0v to 4.2v.

Lithium Battery Voltage Tips

· Do not keep the battery in a hot environment because an increase in temperature might reduce the voltage of the battery

Heat kills batteries, and lithium batteries are no exception. One of the challenges in designing and creating today’s high-performance batteries is how to dissipate or reduce the heat generated when a device is being used heavily and when the battery is charging. 

In terms of electronic devices, heavy continuous usage can cause build up in heat very fast. So as much as possible, give your battery a break if you can.

· Do not drain lithium battery fully

One of the beauties of today’s battery is that they do not need to be reset. So you do not need to wait till it drains fully before charging them, charge them as frequently as you use them

· Quick recharge

If your battery goes flat and you need to use it still, you can charge the battery for like 10 minutes and quickly use. Most batteries charge up to a significant amount of the battery’s capacity in the first few minutes of recharging.

· Have spare batteries

Constant use of a battery drains the battery, so it advisable to switch batteries during use because use two batteries simultaneously will last longer than using those same two batteries concurrently, that is, waiting for the first one to die before using the second.

· Always store your lithium battery at 40 percent charge

If you won’t be using your battery for long period of time charge them up to about 40 percent before keeping them this is simply because leaving a battery idle can also drain it.

· You can leave your battery charging for a long time

Don’t worry about overcharging your battery, especially if they are in a gadget. We give our batteries lesser credit than they deserve; a charger will stop charging a battery as soon as it is full. So thereby, causing no damage to the battery.

· Go replace your battery if you want to

Go for a gadget that the batteries can be replaceable because the fastest way to charge a battery is to remove the drained one and put a fully charged one back and this is even better for the overall battery life of each battery.

Some other tips you need include:

· Lithium batteries should be charged within a temperature range of 0C to 50C

· Lithium batteries should not be left in a car

· Do not let the positive and negative battery lead touch each other

· Do not put lithium battery in pockets or bag where they can be short-circuited

· Getting lithium battery wet is dangerous for its voltage so always store lithium batteries in cool, dry places

· Always use the designed lithium battery charger to charge lithium batteries

· Make sure that the charging leads are connected properly because reversing charging will damage the battery

· If the lithium battery is at 80 % or more, endeavor to avoid charging the battery before using it.

· If the battery is completely drained, it should be charged to 30 % or even better 70 % very quickly, avoid charging it to only 20 % and then using it.

· Charging your lithium battery slowly can actually increase its life expectancy.

Wrapping It Up

Lithium battery today are actually smarter and better than the batteries we use before, so t helps you help it last longer. It is designed to prevent you from completely ruining them. That being said, there are some precautions one need to take to not completely damage the battery.

Reading through this article should give you a better insight on how to maintain your lithium battery voltage.