Conditioning an Li-Ion battery

Hi, all

I have a Canon ZR 25MC camcorder and two BP-512 batteries. I got the
batteries with the camera a little over 2 years ago.

Lately it seems that neither battery can hold nearly as much of a charge as
they used to. I don't use the camera a lot - I'd say each battery has been
recharged less than 100 times.

Is it normal that the batteries would be 'getting tired' at this point? Is
it possible to condition them, to restore a higher capacity?

Thanks!

- rick

 

Lithium ion batteries have many advantages.However,they age rapidly. Suggest
you check out www.batteryuniversity.com. Jerry

 

Thanks for the pointer - an excellent site!

The bottom line appears to be that Li-Ion batteries only last for two or
three years, and there's no way to condition them. Unlike Ni-Cd batteries,
they have no memory, and even prefer to be recharged frequently, rather than
fully discharged!

Thanks again

- rick

 

--

I have the same problem with some JVC Li-Ion camcorder batteries. I bought
some spare ones when they became discontinued (cost about £5 each instead of
£60 - how about that for an original mark-up?!) but have hardly used them -
charged less than 20 times.

Despite that, and despite being stored fully charged, they only seem to have
about half the capacity that they used to have - like you say, Li-Ion's seem
to decline with age no matter how you treat them.

When I bought my E20, the fact that it used standard AA cells was a big
factor in the buying decision - it's nice to be able to buy 2300mh batteries
cheaply. Every camera should use AA cells in my opinion.

 

I have a Palm Vx PDA with lithium ion battery and it is still going
strong after three years. Of course I almost always have it sitting in
its rechargeable base and rarely let the battery get very low. Perhaps
the advice to keep them charged at all times is good advice.

Jake

 

Li-ion age faster if they are stored fully charged. 40% charged is ideal.
Storage at lower temps also slows aging.

Tim

--

"The strongest human instinct is to impart information,
and the second strongest is to resist it."

Kenneth Graham

 

Thanks to Mr Navas earlier:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/

rick