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@wilmhit by long lasting if you mean the number of times you can recharge it then its about the same as NiCd and NiMH in that respect. Lithium metal has, however, about 2.5x or more recharge cycles.
This all assumes you only let your battery discharge to 50% at most. If you discharge to 100% Nickel Cadmium actually has the longest life span.
@freemo I always had opposite experience. I'm not a professional. I only repair my home appliances as a hobby. From my experience liion lasts the longest but this may be due to greater capacity/shallower cycle. I don't do li metal cuz I like 18650.
@wilmhit Its a bit more complicated than that. NiCd has memory the others dont (well NiMH has memory too but its much less noticeable). That means that when it doesnt fully discharge over time it appears as though it is end of life by having a much reduced capacity. In fact this is not a permanent position. The memory of a NiCd is caused by crystallization that is reversible by deep cycling it a few times.
In all liklihood you are seeing the memory effect rather than an end of life scenario.
Li-ion of course has the highest energy density, so that can sometimes make up for the fact that it has fewer cycles since you get more power per cycle.
Lithium metal comes in 18650 just like lithium ion batteries. In fact I'm charging a pack of 18650 lithium metal batteries as we speak
@freemo ty sir very informative. I'll look into modding my roomba from 18650 liion to limetal
@wilmhit the big difference is the charging circuitry. Liion and liFePO4 have similar charging curves but different nominal voltages (3.7 vs 3.2). So they arent always drop in replacable. With that said most smart charging circuitry can detect the two and charge both, even some of the cheap stuff you wouldnt expect to be "smart" seems capable
Just make sure the voltages are ok and you have the right charging circuitry and you should be good.
That said lithium ion and lithium metal are similar enough it might not be worth the hassle to mod it. But if you are building something new I'd personally always lean towards lithium metal out fo the two.
@freemo
Wait lithium metal comes in 18650s? Where would one find these? I have a project that I have been looking for a good way to add a battery. I have an 18650 chamber that I can use but I really have been wanting to test out a lithium metal battery. I just haven't been able to find one that isn't much too large for my project.
@wilmhit
They arent too hard to find, I have several different brands in that chemistry and size. A quick search on amazon gave this result (different brand than my own):
@freemo
About a week ago I searched this on Amazon and just got a bunch of regular Lithium Ion batteries.... grrr... that is so annoying that now they just show up. Thank you for this.
If what I have read is correct, these will last years rather than months on a constant solar charge... which is exactly what I've been looking for.
@wilmhit
If your top concern is how long they last then lithium metal with overcharge and overdischarge protection is the way to go. Of course if you deep discharge one, like lithium ion, you can significantly reduce their life. But as long as they are treated well they will give you the best longevity with all the capacity of a lithium ion. For energy dense applications with low to moderate power draw they are the way to go.
@freemo
That it one thing I'm working on. I have the Pine64 Cube IP Camera. I am working on getting it solar powered with solar battery backup. I got my little solar panel ready, but the Lithium Ion 18650 I was using dropped considerably in it's ability to charge after only 2 months. I think I need to regulate the power coming in a little better, but I really was looking for a battery like this.
I'll be honest, I just did a quick search before and just assumed they didn't exist in that size.
@freemo
But then I woke up this morning to see your poll and comments and says to myself, 'Self? Looky there! There IS mention of that battery you've been looking for!'
@herag You can get pretty much any battery chemistry in any size, though that isnt always useful. I have lithium-metal and lithium-ion in AA size too, but that is nearly useless.
Chances are your battery life was only 2 months because you were overcharging or overdischarging, both can kill a lithium battery almost immediately. Moving to lithium metal wont fix your problem if you dont improve the regulation on your circuit, it probably will still only last you 2 months otherwise since its not an issue with the number of cycles, you physically damaged the battery.
go with lithium metal for sure, its the better choice, but focus on fixing your battery management circuit.
Also if you dont wnat to build out your own circuit there are lithium batteries (metal and regular) that have the battery management built in. That way its nearly impossible to break them. I recently boughtthe following lithium-metal 12V battery with battery management. All the advantages of a lithium metal but with the protection and charging circuit mostly built in. Just apply 14.6V source to charge it, no battery charging circuitry needed. I use this mostly as my portable battery for radios. Comes in three different sizes, I have the 24Ah one.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0824S6LB2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
@freemo
You know? I was actually going to build my own circuit. But I just realized that I have the right regulator in an old ecig mod... it protects against overcharging and overdischarging.
Thank you for your wisdom! How excellent. I can't wait to tear into this. I'm going to test it will my extra lithium ion batteries first, then when my lithium metal batteries come in, I should have it regulated properly... BTW, those are way cheaper than I thought they'd be.
@herag Happy to help. I do love battery chemistry talk. I have every size of every type of battery you can imagine and I dont get to use them nearly as much as I'd like.
As for the price, I just picked the first hit on amazon. Chances are you could find it even cheaper if you do some digging.
I remember reading a article on Financial Sense News Hour about the next generation of batteries being weightless and invisible. :D And they send a amazing catalog which I have nicknamed "the MIT White Pages"
I'm not really a fan of amazon. I prefer the convenience & simplicity of Newwark Electronics, and speaking to a live sales rep. : D)
Amazon. I'm
@djatropine444 Depends what I'm buying. If all I want is a 2 - 4 pack battery ill go with amazon as they are quick and well priced for small orders. If im buying any significant quantity of electronics I usually go with arrow as they do free overnight and are priced well. Digikey, mouser, and newark are always options if i need something hard to find.
As for bucket list I am in a living situation where if I stay, decide to build a DIY Vinyl Record Lathe Cutter for pressing tunes & recording.
There are so many options for pressing dubplates out of a garage :D
@djatropine444 record press is a cool project, especially considering there is a legit need with demand for records high and record presses a bit hard to come by (affordably) and all.
Since I like Mediagoblin's interface I'm looking into that for sharing media since it's interface is simple.
@djatropine444 I always wanted a reel-to-reel.. I jsut cant justify the cost for inferior audio quality. but I love the idea of it.
& half of my tech is from stuff people give or discard on trash day. Flat screen's capacitor blew. I celebrated, neighbor discarded old composite tv (easier on my eyes)
@freemo The ones that won't explode...
@trinsec any battery can explode if you try hard enough :)
@freemo Let's not try hard enough. :P
@freemo liion for standardized size and longlasting