Question regarding the new type of batteries.

[MaestroDaVinci]

Hello everyone i don't know if this is the right place or even the right question, but i'm asking it anyway.

So in recent years i have seen a lot of new batteries to come with a battery charging port with either USB - C or micro USB on it. Now i know that this is not something that everyone uses, but i want to ask the question that i can't seem to find any info on.

Can these mentioned batteries be charged in a normal charger without any kind of a problem or safety hazard? I'm asking because i don't know what they have inside them to charge it like this and i don't want to destroy my charger.

Bare in mind i don't have that kind of battery with me right now, but this would be a good info for me in the future.

 

[Toulouse42]

I don't believe they can. I tried one in my charger and there was no response from the charger. I'm sorry to say that I don't know why.

 

[dragosios]

I have not seen ones with type B because it's quite big. Maybe microUSB.
But anyway, they have an internal converter from 3.7v to 1.5v, that one does not work both ways. That is why they charge from USB port.

 

[3_gun]

I have charged this type of battery (Acebeam/Fenix) a couple of times in a charger instead of by USB cable without an issue. Neither of the instruction booklets had a warning against doing so. The extra size of these batteries w/USB charging does limit their use in some lights. I'd check by SKU# on the web site of the manufacture to see if they have any warnings/issues with using a charger.

 

[aznsx]

Hello everyone i don't know if this is the right place or even the right question, but i'm asking it anyway.

So in recent years i have seen a lot of new batteries to come with a battery charging port with either USB - C or micro USB on it. Now i know that this is not something that everyone uses, but i want to ask the question that i can't seem to find any info on.

Can these mentioned batteries be charged in a normal charger without any kind of a problem or safety hazard? I'm asking because i don't know what they have inside them to charge it like this and i don't want to destroy my charger.

Bare in mind i don't have that kind of battery with me right now, but this would be a good info for me in the future.

In the case of lithium ion cells, inclucing 18650, 16340, and 14500, in my experience, the answer is absolutely yes. I've not yet become aware of any exceptions. Many of the cells I use have integral 'micro USB' charging, and while I do use that when convenient, most often I charge them in my standalone chargers. All the cells I buy and use do not have them, but many do, as I like having that option at times - especially when on the road or other situations when not needing to have a standalone charger with me means not having another piece of equipment I need to carry with me. When at home I often use standalone charger(s) to charge them because I'm often charging multiple cells, and it also affords the flexibility of different charging rates. They are often slightly longer than 'unprotected' cells, but I generally use protected cells anyway unless their extra length is an issue (in certain lights), but I find the USB options adds little or no length beyond a protected cell without that feature.

 

[MaestroDaVinci]

Thank you all for the info.

@dragosios Yep seems i completely forgot what is the official name of the type.

One more question, how does these USB Port batteries indication of charge work? It seems to be that they are either at specific times being charged or are being charged on the go and might not get a full charge if you forget when you put them to charge and pulled the cable too soon.

 

[aznsx]

Thank you all for the info.

@dragosios Yep seems i completely forgot what is the official name of the type.

One more question, how does these USB Port batteries indication of charge work? It seems to be that they are either at specific times being charged or are being charged on the go and might not get a full charge if you forget when you put them to charge and pulled the cable too soon.

All the ones I've used provide a 2-state (color) LED indication for 'Charging' and 'Fully Charged'. Three examples are:

Fenix ARB-L16-700UP USB Rechargeable 16340 Battery

The Fenix ARB-L16-700UP features 700mAH current charging capacity and advanced protection circuit for superior safety performance. This 16340 Battery has a heavy load discharge rate of 3.5C and a reliable output of 2.5A. With over 500 recharge cycles, it eliminates the need for non-rechargeable...

www.fenix-store.com

NL1475R (Discontinued)

charger.nitecore.com

SL-B26® Li-ion USB | Rechargeable Battery Pack | Streamlight®

 

[dragosios]

You don't know the state of charge unfortunatelly. Mines just stop working.

 

[aznsx]

Just to clarify a very important detail.

In the case of lithium ion cells, inclucing 18650, 16340, and 14500, in my experience, the answer is absolutely yes.

I was referring to 3.6/3.7V output conventional / standard lithium ion cells in my response. Those with internal USB recharging can generally be charged in 'standard' lithium ion cell chargers, and they typically provide LED indicators for the state of charging while being charged; either 'charging', or 'fully charged'. Those LEDs do not typically indicate SOC (state of charge) when idle or during discharging.

I believe some of the responses here are referring to the new(er) (and much less common) types of 1.5V cells with internal USB recharging feature, and while based on lithium ion cells with internal switching converter to convert their native 3.6/3.7V output to 1.5V, can typically only be charged using the USB charging port, or a special 'bespoke' standalone charger, and cannot typically be charged in a conventional, standard lithium ion charger designed for standard 3.6/3.7V cells. These also do not typically indicate SOC during discharge either, except for the XTAR product of this type, which apparently does indicate 'low SOC' during discharge, and also reduces output to ~1V to signal low SOC to the powered device; both of which are features which I believe are unique to that brand of these 1.5V type cells. Most other brands of these newer 1.5V rechargeable cells do not provide any indication of low SOC, and will simply shut down output at low SOC without other indication or warning.

The 2 different types of USB rechargeable cells are completely different animals, have nothing in common aside from their dimensions and being based on a lithium ion cell internally, and thus should not even be discussed together.

The original post did not specify these very different / unique newer types of 1.5V cells, so I made no assumption that these were being referred to. There are, however several existing threads where these newer cells are under discussion, but always include the reference to their 1.5V output to differentiate them.

 

[MaestroDaVinci]

First thank you all for the info.

Second, i asked the question regarding any and all types that have usb port charging. I'm asking because i was curious and at some point i might actually have them as an option, but i don't know how to handle charging them, because again i don't know how they are being handled regarding safety in standard charger and usb only charging.

 

[dragosios]

Their own charging circuit will take care if you charge them via the USB port.