donnad
Contributor
can someone explain the differences/advantages/disadvantages please?
lithium ion or nimh?
- Thread starter donnad
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
The basics are just that LION gives longer burn time in the equivilant sized battery. A large NIMH battery will give you about 4 hours burn time where the same sized pack in LION will give 6. LION is also lighter.
Brent
Brent
*Floater*
Contributor
li-ions give you more burn time, recharge faster, and I think they loose charge slower when not in use, but if not stored properly they may degrade faster than nimh batteries and they cost more.
they are new in diving applications though and don't have a proven track record yet, so that's the main reason I think why some people avoid them. my gf and i both have li-ion cannister lights, no problems with them so far, and i'd buy li-ion again over nimh.
by the way, nimh batteries have their own problems. not sure about the specifics, but i've read many complaints about charging them and about cells going flat, though perhaps those were more charger or manufacturer specific issues than the fault of nimh technology itself.
they are new in diving applications though and don't have a proven track record yet, so that's the main reason I think why some people avoid them. my gf and i both have li-ion cannister lights, no problems with them so far, and i'd buy li-ion again over nimh.
by the way, nimh batteries have their own problems. not sure about the specifics, but i've read many complaints about charging them and about cells going flat, though perhaps those were more charger or manufacturer specific issues than the fault of nimh technology itself.
rockhound13
Contributor
Li-ion batteries do not like being overcharged. They degrade when doing so. Big problem with cell phones, thats how I found out, fried one and when I went to replace it the guy at the store told me to follow the charging reccomendations and they should last a very long time. I buying my first cannister light in a few months and I'm contemplating putting in a small timer connected to the charger, just set it and forget it.
1amphibian
Contributor
I did read one time that the Li-Ion batteries loose capacity at a rate of 10% per year. They do have much longer burn times and it would take a few years for them to get down the burn time of a NiMH battery.
Is probably very worth it getting a can light with it. I currently have 2 Salvo 10W NiMH lights, and just tonight was looking at the 21W with the Li-Ion batteries. Some nice advantages to them if you realize that with extensive use, you will be replacing the batteries every few years no matter what type of battery you are using.
Just my opinion, and I'll admit I know just about nothing about batteries, there are manufactures on this site that can go into detail about the batteries.
Chris
Is probably very worth it getting a can light with it. I currently have 2 Salvo 10W NiMH lights, and just tonight was looking at the 21W with the Li-Ion batteries. Some nice advantages to them if you realize that with extensive use, you will be replacing the batteries every few years no matter what type of battery you are using.
Just my opinion, and I'll admit I know just about nothing about batteries, there are manufactures on this site that can go into detail about the batteries.
Chris
Nimh batteries lose 10 percent on the first day, one percent per day after that, and are useless after a couple of months. If you have a proper charger liion is the way to go.
HOWEVER, the new AA and AAA Sanyo "eneloop" nimh batteries retain about 80 percent after a year, so if they fit your application they are an excellent solution. Great for cameras and lights.
HOWEVER, the new AA and AAA Sanyo "eneloop" nimh batteries retain about 80 percent after a year, so if they fit your application they are an excellent solution. Great for cameras and lights.
Nimh are not useless after a couple of months. This is incorrect.
Brent
Brent
Charlie99
Contributor
- Messages
- 7,966
- Reaction score
- 169
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
I think mthirsc is referring to self-discharge rather than permanent loss of capacity.
The self-discharge of NiMH is a bit more than NiCd and much more than Li Ion.
The numbers I'm more used to seeing don't include the "10% loss the first day", but do show that charge is only about 80% of the initial charge after 30 days at 20C/68F. High temperature storage accelerates the discharge -- 2/3 of the charge will be gone after 30 days if you for some weird reason store you charged batteries at 45C/113F.
Self discharge does NOT cause permanent loss of capacity. Simply recharge the battery to get back up to full charge if desired.
http://www.duracell.com/oem/Pdf/others/nimh_5.pdf
The self-discharge of NiMH is a bit more than NiCd and much more than Li Ion.
The numbers I'm more used to seeing don't include the "10% loss the first day", but do show that charge is only about 80% of the initial charge after 30 days at 20C/68F. High temperature storage accelerates the discharge -- 2/3 of the charge will be gone after 30 days if you for some weird reason store you charged batteries at 45C/113F.
Self discharge does NOT cause permanent loss of capacity. Simply recharge the battery to get back up to full charge if desired.
http://www.duracell.com/oem/Pdf/others/nimh_5.pdf
Li-Ion fundamentally does have the problem with charging too fast or overcharging ruining the battery. However, this is why (just about) every commercial Li-Ion battery is equipped with electronics built into the battery circuit that help control the rate and maximum charge allowed into the cells. This is also another reason why Li-Ion batteries are typically a bit more expensive. Li-Ion batteries don't develop memory like NiMH or NiCd can, but they have a shelf life - usually falling below any useful charging capacity after about ~3 years (sometimes 2, sometimes 4).
This can be mitigated to an extent by storing the Li-Ion battery in the freezer (preferably in a rubbermaid container that can keep reduce some of the condensation) when not in use (this also works for NiMH batteries to help reduce daily self discharge which normally occurs at a few % per day). Just be sure to let it warm back up to room temperature before using the battery again if you do this.
This can be mitigated to an extent by storing the Li-Ion battery in the freezer (preferably in a rubbermaid container that can keep reduce some of the condensation) when not in use (this also works for NiMH batteries to help reduce daily self discharge which normally occurs at a few % per day). Just be sure to let it warm back up to room temperature before using the battery again if you do this.
Similar threads
