How to Charge a Lithium Ion Battery

To prolong the life of your battery pack, keep these tips in mind for proper lithium-ion battery care.

New Lithium Ion Batteries

Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to prime a new lithium-ion battery. This means you don't have to fully discharge and charge the first cycle of the battery. Lithium-ion batteries have maximum capacity available from the beginning and the 1st charge is no different to the 10th charge.

What you need to do: Just top up the charge and you're ready to go.

Normal Usage

The lifespan of your lithium-ion battery should last between 300-500 charge and discharge cycles, which usually amounts to 2-3 years. Gradually over this lifespan, lithium-ion batteries will naturally experience reduced capacity due to a number of factors including charge cycling, storeage, fluctuating temperatures, frequency of use and general ageing. 

To prevent the risk of damaging your battery, use only the designated smart charger that is provided. Our smart chargers have built-in circuits that are specifically tailored to provide the correct voltage to our lithium-ion cells, which prevents overcharging.

Follow these steps to maintain the health of your battery pack.

What you need to do: Charge your battery as required. Don't worry about fully discharging as partial and random charges are better for your battery's health and longevity. For your own safety and the health of your battery, use only the designated smart charger. Store in a cool dry place (25°C and below). Charge at room temperature 25°C. Never charge below 0°C or above 40°C.

Hot and Cold Weather Usage

Lithium-ion batteries are similar to humans in that no two behave exactly alike and they function best in temperatures that are neither too hot nor cold.

These batteries perform better at high temperatures than low temperatures as heat lowers the internal resistance and speeds up the chemical reaction within the battery. The side effect of this process is that it puts stress on the battery, which can result in shortened life expectancy in hot conditions for prolonged periods.

Cold temperatures on the other hand increases the internal resistance making the battery work harder and shortening its capacity. Batteries that provide 100% capacity at 27°C will typically decrease by 50% at -18°C and so on.

What you can do: The surrounding temperature affects battery health quite significantly. To maximize your battery's performance and/or longevity, operate and store in cool, dry temperatures. Warming a cold battery in your pocket or backpack might provide additional runtime in the winter.

Long Term Storage

There are times where you might not use your battery for a prolonged period of time. Here are tips to maintain the maximum battery capacity for long term storage.

What you need to do: Maintain 40% charge level before putting into storage. Place the battery into an air-sealed container, in cool temperatures such as your fridge (0°C - 4°C), not the freezer. Allow the battery to warm to ambient room temperature before charging again.

Safety

If these tips and instructions are not followed you may risk damaging your battery to the point where it is unusable. You may also endanger your own safety and that of others if the battery is not used properly. When paired with a mismatched charger, overheating or overcharging can occur and there is an inherent risk of combustion and fire.

What you can do: Observe any signs of physical damage to the battery. Do not use if battery is dented, ruptured or leaking. Observe signs of overcharging and overheating. Do not use or charge if you detect swelling, smoke or high temperatures. If the above signs are detected, stop usage and dispose of safely, away from flammable materials.