What is the shelf life of a Lithium Ion battery?

Dr. Tweedbucket

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... even if you keep it charged up, keep it cool, like in a refridge and don't use em? :confused:

Also, is it better to store them charged up to 3.7V or store them with store with more of a medium charge?
 
... even if you keep it charged up, keep it cool, like in a refridge and don't use em? :confused:

Also, is it better to store them charged up to 3.7V or store them with store with more of a medium charge?

store then at 20-40% charge. storing it fully charged kills capacity.

i still have cells from 10 years ago working, however i had some relatively new cells die.
 
I never charge to 4.2 volts anymore. I set my charger to switch from constant current to constant voltage at 4.1 volts. Doesn't sound like much, but it makes a huge difference to cycle life. Also helps to reduce the voltage stress of spending time at or near fully charged.
 
I never charge to 4.2 volts anymore. I set my charger to switch from constant current to constant voltage at 4.1 volts. Doesn't sound like much, but it makes a huge difference to cycle life. Also helps to reduce the voltage stress of spending time at or near fully charged.

How do you know that?
 
Store at 3.7v resting voltage, dry, and in the refrigerator. That will give you the longest shelf life. You should get well over 10 years, if it's a name-brand quality cell. You might lose 5%-10% capacity after 10 years. More important, is the internal resistance will go up. That might turn it from a high-drain cell into a moderate-drain cell. I don't really know what to expect with internal resistance, other than it will go up some.

I have old laptop cells that are over 10 years old, and they've lost less than 20% of their capacity, at a low drain rate (250mA). They were never well cared for, and spent most of their time at full charge, so consider them worst-case. But they're good Samsung cells. I still use them in lights, though try to limit the drain to less than 1A.
 
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