Lithium Batteries

We all use transportable equipment whether it is a Cell phone, a Laptop computer or a Power gadget. It seems so perfectly normal to our generation yet no other generation in the history of mankind could imagine what they are doing. Given the speed with which lots of these changes have occurred, and the swiftly increasing requires for power, they have not perhaps had time to fully appreciate the know-how they take for granted. They also fail to understand the dangers present in a substantial number of this new know-how .

Lithium batteries have been of the greatest achievements in transportable power in the last decade; where time a black and white cell phone lasted a day at best - our new GPS enabled, full color, emailing, streaming smart rings last....well a day! But the amount of power consumed in that day is fundamentally amazing compared to0 years ago.

However, these batteries come with risks that they are all guilty of ignoring. The substance used, Lithium, is highly reactive. Obviously this is reason it’s so useful! However, there risks inherent with this and they are:

Water. On contact with water, lithium and H20 will generate Lithium Hydroxide and Hydrogen Gas. For this reason the batteries are tightly sealed to prevent water ingress but you as the owner ought to be aware of the unapparent risks incurred in the event you for some reason decided to wash the battery in soapy water!

Temperature or overcharging. Overheating (caused by both actual temperature or over charging) may cause what is called Thermal Runaway and in serious circumstances may finish up in combustion. Now for this reason, all lithium batteries are actually filled with safety systems which, at the most basic, prevent the cells from exceeding safe limits where feasible in terms of charging and use. What they cannot do is control ambient temperature. They store these batteries in drawers, garages and in the automobile subjecting them to extremes of temperature - on the floor of the automobile overnight in the work of winter in Chicago to the automobile chair in Las Vegas.

Now our expectations as consumers are that these batteries are safe, and in essence they are. The chances of these batteries failing in of the reasons listed above is utterly remote, in point of fact you are more likely to see a failure in terms of powering your equipment than you are a risky situation. That said, there is no logic in testing fate - this is why when you ship a lithium battery you MUST follow the rules - examples of which are fundamentally found on sites like FedEx, UPS and the USPS.

They as consumers and users of these products have a responsibility to other's safety, like driving an automobile, and as such they ought to be aware of the actual operating conditions. The lowest temperature of operation of an average consumer product battery is 14f (-10c) (Ever noticed how terrible your digital camera battery lasts in an actual chilled winter?) and the maximum of 140f (60c) (on a 90 degree day, an automobile interior can reach that in 45 minutes). New research will extend these limits but for the moment, those are the numbers to be aware of.

Now they are absolutely not saying these batteries are risky, compare using them to driving an automobile - in safe smart hands an amazing gadget.