Originally Posted by circuitsmith
Originally Posted by nobb
Although lithium ion batteries have great energy density, they also degrade the fastest when left fully charged. I would suspect that this pack loses a lot of its potency after just a few years unless the user knows to store it at 40-60% charge. Which is kind of inconvenient for this application.
I'd design it with an oversized battery and set charger to fill only to 60% (4.0V per cell).
The battery would likely last >10 years with such a design! But the average consumer wouldn't understand, as they would see a product that''s larger, more expensive, or has less impressive specs as compared to a competitor.
This is one of my pet peeves with modern electronics design. Batteries CAN last so much longer, but manufacturers choose not to because the consumer simply doesn't care. I would love my phone & laptop to have a maximum charge limit feature.