How to activate a "dead" lithium battery?

Many people have bad habits. They often leave the electric bike battery on the bike when they are not at home, and they don't turn off the air switch either. They leave the bike unused for several months. When they ride it again after several months, they find that the bike has no power and cannot be charged. Even when the charger is plugged in, the indicator light is always green. Even if it is plugged in for 24 hours, the light is still green. This is because the battery voltage is too low. If the output voltage of the charger is too different from the battery voltage, the charger cannot charge the electricity into the battery.

This situation is what people usually call the battery being "starved". The voltage of this type of battery block is generally around 5.6V, and it will not exceed 6V. For such batteries, most people choose to replace them. But replacing a set of batteries costs several hundred yuan, and just replacing them like this is a bit of a pity, especially for batteries that have just passed the warranty period.

Here are five effective methods that can save most of these "starved" batteries. Note that it's "most" rather than "100%".

1. Series connection method

In addition to the entire set of batteries, connect another 12-volt battery with a normal voltage. For example, if the original vehicle's battery is a 48V-20AH battery, then we will connect another 12V-20AH battery. A fully charged 12V battery has a voltage of about 13V. When connected in series, it can increase the voltage of the entire set of batteries. Then, use the original charger to charge it. In this way, the electricity can be charged in. After plugging in the charger, the charger shows a red light. At this time, you can charge the electricity in. When the charger turns to a green light, remove the battery that was connected in series. Then, normal charging can be carried out.

II. Parallel Method

This method is a little more complicated. For example, if the vehicle originally had a 48V-20AH battery, we would add an additional set of 48V-20AH batteries in parallel. As you know, in a parallel circuit, the voltage at each point is equal. The higher voltage terminal will flow to the lower voltage terminal. This method is also used by many battery dealers when testing batteries that have completely lost power. Then charging can also achieve the charging purpose. The principle is similar to that of connecting one battery in series. The principle is also to raise the voltage of the entire group.

III. Low-Voltage Charging Method

Use the smaller model charger for charging. For example, if you have a set of 60V-20AH batteries, then we would use a 48V-20AH charger for charging. In most cases, this should also be able to be charged. The principle is similar to the first one - making the charging voltage closer to the voltage at both ends of the battery.

IV. Charging Method for Single Battery

Using a 12-volt motorcycle charger to charge a single battery can activate the battery. However, this charging method is rather slow and usually requires more than 7 hours for the battery voltage to slowly rise to around 12V. Charging all the batteries individually would be very time-consuming.

V. Special Charger Method

The Tianeng charger can automatically detect the battery voltage. No matter what the voltage of the battery group is, it can automatically detect the voltage and charge it in. For example, if the original vehicle's battery is a 60V-20AH battery, but now the voltage is less than 30V, it can still charge it. As the voltage increases, it can adapt to higher voltage levels and continue to charge the battery. Taiying, Greenjia electric vehicles, and Jinpeng tricycles are all equipped with chargers from this brand.

Also, let's explain how to activate the "starvation mode" of lithium batteries? For laptop batteries or mobile phone batteries.

Battery activation is referred to as "power scale calibration" in Lenovo's power management software. When using Everest to test the power supply on the PC side, there is a "design capacity", followed immediately by "fully charged capacity". If the values of the two are the same, then the "battery depletion" item below will show 0%. Generally, batteries that have just been manufactured or have been left unused for a long time without timely maintenance will have a "fully charged capacity" that is less than the "design capacity". At this time, you will see that the battery depletion is 1%. This means that the battery is not "fully charged". We need to perform a "full charge and discharge" (fully discharging and then charging continuously for 12 hours or more) to fully "develop" the "potential" of the battery. This full charge and discharge process is called "activating the battery", and the power management software of Lenovo Thinkpad and others has a "power scale calibration" function, which is similar in principle.

Personally, I think some old technologies' batteries, such as NiMH, need to be activated. The theory of lithium batteries is that they need to be activated because a SEI protective layer needs to be formed on the negative electrode. However, this process has actually been completed in the production and testing stages. Personally, I believe that the misunderstandings of consumers about batteries have led to such services.

Your phone's battery has "starved" itself out and won't turn on or receive any charge. At this point, activation is needed! The so-called "starvation" refers to the phenomenon where the battery can no longer be charged when it has been completely drained or has very low power. Then, the so-called activation currently has two methods: One is to use a universal charger to charge for about 20 minutes, which can activate it. The second is to take the phone to a repair shop where they have a more professional power supply with a slightly higher voltage, such as 12 volts. Specifically, place the power's positive and negative terminals on the battery's positive and negative terminals for a few seconds or even minutes to power it up and connect it! Finally, after activation, it can be charged directly using the regular charging method as before. It is unknown whether this will have a significant impact on the battery's lifespan.

Charge with the instrument. (If the above method doesn't work and the battery is not faulty, then use the 'voltage stabilizing power supply' to activate it. Connect the black wire to the negative terminal of the battery and the red wire to the positive terminal. When the charging voltage reaches 3.8V, it's ready.) For devices using lithium batteries, there's no need to charge for 12 hours during the first use. This is unnecessary!