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Says short video, keeps it a little under 14 minutes. Says he's not doing an tutorial channel and manages to be a top resource to go to. Pure gold! You can almost get 20 years worth of EE experience just by listening to Dave going into all the little minutia. You can actually get a "feel" for this stuff and feel confident enough to do build your own charging circuit just by watching this video.

Making use of the ru-vid.comUgkxcJ22tnHH9l1vjdIdEIG27iOG55P7LXI8 reconditioning plan, I just saved 2 auto batteries from being completely junked. The guides were very simple to follow. I wish I would have found this years ago! You may use the guide to recondition any battery type

Sorry for the re-uploads, I wanted to remove most of the the voltage drop stuff to avoid confusion and constant emails and messages and comments for the next 5 years.

I have been charging 18650 cells on my lab supply for years. Set the current to 1A and the voltage to 4.2v per cell. Stop charging once the current is reduced to 100mA. Sometimes I charge overnight with a current limit of 250mA and again stop the charge when the current reaches 100mA. I have started experimenting with TP4056 modules which automatically stop the charge which is quite handy for unattended charging.

I liked how you repeated certain parts of the video Dave. Like when discussing the graph. This is really really helpful for people like me who struggle to learn these ideas.

It's so simple, but I've never thought about it! Thanks)

Thank you! I spent $400 on a drone, and didn't buy a lipo charger because I thought I had one. This will get me buy until Amazon gets one to me!

It's been mentioned, but military tech only charges lithium batteries to 3.9v. Maybe 80% of the capacity, but close to 5 times more charge cycles.

Nice one again Daveo, totally trusted content. The absolute best.

Nice video. I've got a Rigol DP832, no doubt because you've shown/reviewed/talked about it here. A video showing how to use some of the advanced features would be useful to me! Many of these devices are similar....the concepts would transfer to other makes and models...

Rigol actually has an app note, warning you not to hook up batteries, without at least a diode as protection, since the DP832's inputs are apparently very sensitive to being fed with voltage or current.

Awesome video Dave!

Thankyou for this simple to understand tutorial. I now understand, mystery revealed :)

Cool video! Thanks Dave!

You could put your power supply on a cheap outlet shut-off timer if you didn't have a fancy expensive power supply. 3:20 I'm commenting on that 3.5-inch digital multimeter again. Watch out for that first step, it's a doozy.

Nice video! Thanks!! Any chance you could do a follow up or give a base explanation of how to charge a Lithium ion pack with cells in series and parallel?

Thanks for uploading this. This made me finally charge my Canon camera LP-E6 battery with a constant current on 650mA and when reaching the maximum voltage of 8.4v i changed over to constant voltage and see exactly the same where the current starts dropping! Wow, i really need the camera tomorrow and you made me do it! Best youtuber EU! (i know you're not in the EU)

Super Video Dave !

Also do a how to safely discharge video please, cheers !

Nice!!! this is the video i needed!!Nice explain!!😁TKS

I needed this video. It helped me thanks.

beauty! enjoyed thanks for all you do! an have a super weekend

Keep up the good work Dave!

You little ripper! Love it!!

Well done.

Good explanation 👍

Excellent video. All explained very well. Thanks!

Thank you, sir!

Tyvm for good a explanation. I don't know anything about electronics but i recently did this a couple of times with a homebuilt powersupply/lab. I only charged it for short periods tho and monitoring it while doing so but it feels a bit sketchy when not having the knowledge :D My battery was 500mah and i charged it at 0.5a tho but now i know to lower that! My voltage setting was not set by specs, more based on some quick basic values i found online that semt to correlate somewhat to the battery type. I did have in consideration that the battery could go poof while trying this.

Brill. Thanks Dave.

Excellent! Thanks.

thank god for eev. have you see some of the other videos out there....

very informative. thanks.

The safe max charging V for that Panasonic cell = 4.25V The recommended charge cut-off A = 65mA (which is 0.02C, not 10% of the CC). Thanks for sharing. p.s.: If you want to get max cycle life out of the cell, it is recommended to charge it to a max V of 4.1V & not discharge it more than 20% when using it. >= 50% DOD really creates a significantly shortened cell life.

can I suggest a second video where you explain the problem of the original?

I did read that Lipo batteries are more dangerous to charge without a specific "balancing" charger . Then may be some balancing circuitry exists in my battery pack, not only a heat sensor and constant current constant voltage circuitry (?) I did unsold it from the batteries to be sure of what happens) thank you

I was hoping you were going to do a bench supply charging video!!!!

great video

Hey Dave, can you do a video on how to “revive” a flat lipo pack? I see other RU-vid videos from others but it would be good to get your explanation on how or why this works.

I remember when Chris Boden of The Geekgroup kicked me out of their IRC for explaining how you do this. According to him it's insanely dangerous and should never be done. He seriously knows fuck all about a lot.

I was thinking if you calculated the right resistor, you could rig a transistor in there so that once the current goes too low (the cut-off point), the transistor breaks the connection to the battery.

Hey would you do a strip down of any "vaporizer" regulated battery modules? They generally use 18650 batteries to heat a coil which vaporises liquid. I think it's interesting from an EE perspective because these mods measure the resistance of the coil, and use some kind voltage stepper to allow you to select a wattage for powering the coil.

That would be an interesting arduino project : LiPo smart charger.

In before the next reupload :)

great vid thx

Funny thing is I only recently received my DP832 bench power supply and have used it to charge a couple 18650 batteries.

Wanna hear a joke? Batteriser.

If you use a low charging current, you can get away with a very simple circuit. I have a 5v solar cell that puts out 300 ma at 3.5 volts, down to 25mA or so at 4.2 volts. I determined the current values empirically for my setup (expected illumination conditions) before proceeding. Works perfectly on this kind of cell, it just takes a day or so. I can leave the cell connected indefinitely with this setup. Works great if you're not in a hurry for that charge. I use a number of cells that I cycle through.

It's like you read my mind. I would also like to know the differences between charging LiFePO and this one.

You can do the same, with different voltages and currents for NiCd, NiMh batteries. I've been recharging 1.5V _alkaline_ cells as well with my PSU, works great (1.7V, 150mA). Doesn't work on 9V batteries, though. :(

Great video and explanation! I'm really interested in the model of the wrist watch this fine gentleman is wearing. I cannot find it on the internet...

Dave, that cheap PSU you reviewed the other day - the one that caught fire, would such kind suffice for charging Li-Ion or are they not accurate enough (when they're not burning that is)?

thank you for talking about slowly rising voltage when in constant current mode but i saw something when i charge the battery with constant current mode . the voltage drop across battery was 4.2 v or around that. and voltage across the cell before charging was around 3,8 . so why is it behave like this. isnt it should be 3,8 v across the cell while charging it with constant current and slowly rise the voltage naturally like you show in the video ?

The thing today is reviving a dead battery back. Personally to me the method used by many is to zap the pack, with a like good battery by connecting the packs in parallel for seconds, is haphazard. While it is politically not proper for the consumer to rejuvenate a pack, having to scrap a pricey pack within months of purchase is a waste. The pack I rejuvenated is a 18v, 36AH Hoover Links vacuum cleaner. It consists of 5 18650 cells in series and with a large circuit board. Each cell measured 0.14v except one, that one cell was 0.010v. This cell I charged at 15mA with the supply set at CC. The corresponding voltage was 0.5v and CV set to the same. Once the supply switched from CC to CV, I gradually, increments, set the CV higher while keeping the CC the same. Initially the supply took about an hour to switch from CC to CV, this change caused the current of 15mA to go 0.0mA. Eventually ended the charge on each cell at 4.0v with CC at 200mA, once the cell voltage reached 4.0v the charge current will drop to 0mA. The pack appears to work OK now but unknown as to life compared to non rejuvenated pack. The battery packs appear to run at high drain because the vacuum only runs for 15 minutes when the motor goes noticeably slower and the power low battery indicator flashes. I suggested to the users of the vacuum to stop using when the indicator flashes/or sound of motor becomes weak. Do not run until it dies.

Thanks, Nice and beneficial Video, do you have a video about the rate discharge measurement of the Li ion battery?rate

Could you do a video on how to create a float charger?

Thx man

Any recommendations about charging a 7.2 Volt Li-Ion camera battery pack like a Sony NP type?

We can use a timer on the Wall plug for 4h then cuts of the charger

A question. Say that you wanted to charge a battery while it's in use. Similar to how a laptop charges it's battery with the power on. I take it that all you would need is a battery charger in parallel with the battery that is capable of putting out enough current both to power the device as well as top up the battery. Since the charger would limit voltage to 4.2 and reduce amperage as the battery charges, this should work right? I want to convert a remote control vehicle to be able to self charge with a dock and always be on, for a security robot.

Great video bro, but at the beginning of the video you tell that you don't know the cut-off current, albeit it is written clearly on the datasheet and you will reference it later.

My electric drill/flashlight battery charger charges to 4.0V, so that's like 3 times more longevity or even better. Great for the environment for sure. I also charge my phone up to 75% for the same reason (only possible if rooted).

I bought this same power supply because Adafruit suggested it. I'm glad to see someone else using it. I love my power supply, and yes I do remember when Dave bought this with the upgraded software. It's still nice to see someone else using it. Can someone quickly tell me how to set the low current cut off that he didn't want to show in the video?

WARNING: With Channel 1 OFF. I connected a 26V Lithium battery pack to channel 1 of the DP832 and it damaged the PSU. In Daves words "Magic smoke time". With the channel off the PSU can sink current from a connected battery and this blows something in the power supply. Over current protection was on, so probably that. In contrast, just the day before I had been charging 12V Lithium batteries with no problems at all. Afterwards the display gave the error message “Charge overcurrent protection. Disable the output of CH1”. Now Channel 1 doesn't supply any power but luckily the rest are working. After some more research I found this Rigol doc on the Batronix website about not connecting active loads www.batronix.com/files/Rigol/Labornetzteile/DP8_DP1_ActiveLoads.pdf. Apparently with the DP800 and DP1000 the channel output is not turned on with a relay so the over current protection / control circuitry is still active even with the channel off. They recommend using a protection diode in series with the battery to charge. The main manual has this, which I don't fully understand and says it can damage the powered device not the Power supply. Do Not Provide Power for the Active Load. In order to avoid the anti-irrigation current which leads to the power control loop out of control and damages the powered device, this power supply can only provide power for the pure load without the current output function.

you gotta try this with your phone's battery. No danger of cheap wall usb chargers and faster charging.

very good ! david. my name is john. my country brazil.

Thanks for the tweaks and additions Dave. This is now a bit safer :) What about an under-discharged cell? Let's state it simply : in 2016 (Amazon/eBay 1 day delivery), every one could get a proper charger for $10-15, and charge anything perfectly safely :)

The capacity graph in the data sheet says it switches from cc to cv at about 80-90%, not 50%.

Woud like to have seen you put the battery under a discharge tester to prove the success of the charge.

I charged it with my voltage supply, like you said. But now I measure the cell delivers 4.14 volts, instead of 3.8

cant remember where but somewhere I read a while back that if they drop below 2.5v for any real length of time (a few months+) a chemical reaction takes place that can cause sudden internal partial/total shorts and possible fire/severe heat and venting, hence why the protection circuit will not allow you to charge a cell if it drops below about 2.5v. You can usually tell if a cell has a problem as it gets warm as you charge it... and a very good reason not to use unprotected cells...

3.25V is not always a dead battery, that depends on the specific cell. I have cells that won`t die untill around 2.5V resting voltage.. (18650 high drain cells, both my sony`s and samsungs can live at 2.5 and 2.75V respectively, as long as they don`t SIT at that voltage over any period of time. I regularly have them down to 3.4..)

Dave, I can use a cheap manual set plugin mains timer + a mains relay to disconnect the batt + after 4hrs. Now, what's the situation with the diode mentioned somewhere below? What type and how connected or just thought, would it be at all necessary with my relay?

Great video, Is it possible to charge 10 batteries in parallel using the same concept. If so do you increase the current by 10 times? for example if one cell safe charge current is 600amps putting 10 in parallel is safe to charge at 6amps??? Thanks

Nice video! How about batteries with multiple cells in series? Is there a way to guarantee they are balanced using a power supply given the batteries have that additional connector they come with?

LiPo Batteries? Never heard of that abbreviation. So I guess you can call completely discharging a LiPo battery a LiPoSucktion? :) Great video btw. I always thought you needed complex electronics to monitor the temperature and internal resistanance very accurately or otherwise your battery would explode on overcharging or completely brick it when discharged below a certain level. But I have to stand corrected.

Hi Dave, could you please comment on the document from Rigol "Active loads and the RIGOL DP800 and DP1000 Series". It says "an external diode should be used to prevent the flow of current into the supply and prevent damage of the power supply".

There is a warning about charging batteries with a DP832 because it isn't designed to handle voltage sources on its output. The supply can't work in second or fourth quadrant (meaning it will become unstable if an external voltage tries to discharge through the supply). Wasn't this on another one of your videos reviewing this supply? Thanks to Róbert Valdimarsson for posting this warning from Rigol about connecting batteries to the DP832 output: www.batronix.com/pdf/Rigol/DP8_DP1_ActiveLoads.pdf Be very careful not to allow the PSU voltage to be set below the battery voltage.P.S. Why the hell does IE wreck the formatting of a comment whenever you try to edit it?

do you set the voltage equal to 4.2 multiplied by the number of batteries in series so for example, 10s would be 42V

Rigol DP 832 get out of my dreams and onto my work bench...

are there any ic's that let you cut off charging when current reaches a certain minimum? I have been told its bad to keep lithium keep constantly float charging.

Have you played with some MPPT solar charge controllers? I'm wondering if there is one useful solar charge controller that can charge a pack of 18650 equipped with a BMS? The only one that I could find and can be programmed via their software on a PC is ProStar MPPT from MorningStar and it's like $480, Some other manufacturers charge a $150 fees on top for factory programing.

Can you charge your battery at less that half capacity?

I'm about to buy my first power supply. I will be charging the occasional cell with it and powering amplifiers and small circuits. Should I be looking for Linear or Switching?

what if the psu is powered off but left connected to the battery? use a timer box thing, for the psu

I'm a bit confused.. Why does it say 3.7V on the battery but we charge it to 4.2V? ...Even the datasheet says to charge it at 4.2V but the "nominal voltage" of the battery is 3.6/3.7V

Does the same jazz apply to those little lipo nominal 3.7v mini quad copter batteries that were small rectangles?

I have some questions. When at the phase of Constant current. Your lab power supply will force the current deliver to always stay at 1.7 A, right ? While the voltage from your PSU does not matter as long as does not pass 4.2V limit. And when the the voltage is at 4.2, your lab power supply will maintain the voltage at 4.2 from your PSU and let the current sinking?

Thank you for this and what you do. I'm still learning EE for personal projects. Instead of an egg timer, watch, or smartphone alarm. Wouldn't it be ok to just plug the power-supply into an outlet-timer?

Have done this with one battery no problem, but if I do the same with 8 batteries in parallel, I still only get the same current as if I would charge one battery. So it will take 8 times longer to charge them together rather then one at the time. Why is that? It doesn't make sense.

Can you do say 8AA batteries in series at the same time?

Wasn't this already uploaded already?

which are suitable power supplies to charge Li ion batteries , and which power supplies are a ""NO-GO "" ?

@8:10... "PING" --- we have ALL been waiting for that y'know... LOL HAHAHAHA!!!

Think you should have mentioned why the cells cannot be charged in series (@8.4 - 12.6 etc). Also i thought a single was a "Cell" and more than 1 "Cell" is a Battery (which makes this a cell) ? Good work though.

Can you charge a Li ion battery pack(13 serial for example) using this power supply method?

any idea what settings could I use for charging NiZn batteries? they are 1.6V AAA and AA sizes

The bottom and top 20% of li-ion capacity should not be used, as it destroys the batteries prematurely. At the expense of losing Wh/kg (and thereby Wh/$), you can increase the meaningful lifespan of any li-ion battery. This is what is done in electric cars, where longevity is actually expected (unlike a laptop, where people sort of expect the battery to be complete shit in 2 years time)

Thanks nice tutorial. Few questions, 1.In cc mode if voltage supply exceeds 4.2 v does it damage battery before it reaches cv mode? 2.Can u plz explain how ev dc fast charging works? 3. Also how charging efficiency is managed. Thanks a lot Dave.

how the hell do you manage to make everything interesting?