Looking for a Greater Battery Longevity

With the rapid development of high-quality batteries, universal batteries for household and industry are by far more advanced in performance and battery lifespan. However, batteries still will lose their capacity as the number of charge cycles increases if they are used in a repeated manner even without mistreatment. Capacity will continue to decrease untill the batteries eventually reach the end of their useful lifespan. As usual, a variety of types of rechargeable batteries are specified to last 400 to 1000 full charge-discharge cycles.

Whereas, battery capacity losses can be avoidable if we want a greater battery longevity. First off, we need to realize the most commonly-seen factors that might lead to harms for batteries’ lifespan. Frequently-seen rechargeable batteries’ lifespan could be endangered and shortened by the following four major factors.

Overcharging: Overcharging occurs particularly when batteries are recharged by a certain battery charger that fails to detect exactly when the batteries are charged in full power. Overcharging will gradually damage batteries and meanwhile their lifespan will be shortened likewise.

Charge/Discharge speed: Batteries are always expected to have the fastest charging. But, usually too fast charging will largely increase component changes which is likely to shorten battery lifespan in a way.

1. Self-discharge: Commonly, disposable batteries lose approximately 8–20 % of their original charge annually when they are stored at room temperature: 20–30 °C. The self-discharge rate of side reactions is reduced for batteries are stored at lower temperatures.
2. Memory Effect: NiCd cells could have a decrease in battery capacity, which is typically called “memory effect” if they are used too repeatedly. However, memory effect can be avoided with simple practices. Unlike NiCd cells, NiMH cells commonly suffer less from memory effect although they have much similarity in chemistry.

As we are looking for a greater battery longevity for our rechargeable batteries, we might as well take the battery quality itself and proper use into account.