Sanity check for LiFePO4 Charger Design
Sanity check for LiFePO4 Charger Design
So, there are these great 32700 LiFePO4 batteries that showed up in my local industrial market. For like USD 2$!
However, there are no LiFePO4 chargers available. The vendors assure me I can "totally use" a 4.2V Li-ion charger, but I don't believe them (although the cells test as being in good shape).
I whipped up a 5V system with a buck converter managed by an MCU. It turns off the buck converter that charges the battery, measures the battery voltage, and if it's under 3.6V it enables the buck converter. Repeats every few 100s of milliseconds.
Did I overengineer this? Could I have just used a linear voltage regulator that outputs 3.6V (or a Zener), and a current-limited 5v power supply?
Charge speed is not really important in my application. Anything under 4 hours is great. Frankly, I'm just trying to phase out the less safe kinds of lithium cell in my lab.
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Take a look at Battery University, I think it's a great resource.
On the topic of lithium polymer charging, it has this to say:
Charge and discharge characteristics of Li-polymer are identical to other Li-ion systems and do not require a dedicated charger. Safety issues are also similar in that protection circuits are needed. Gas buildup during charge can cause some prismatic and pouch cells to swell, and equipment manufacturers must make allowances for expansion. Li-polymer in a foil package may be less durable than Li-ion in the cylindrical package.
Battery University is indeed a great resource!
However this is not a lithium polymer battery, and as it's a 32700, it is not a prismatic or pouch cell either. It is a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) cylindrical battery in metal housing. Battery University does have them listed in their table of chemistries (in case you're curious), but they don't seem to have much detailed information. Enough to build a charger though :)
https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-216-summary-table-of-lithium-based-batteries
Also some more detailed information here:
https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-205-types-of-lithium-ion
Anyway, thanks for your reference in any case! I'm not responding to criticize you, only to improve the utility of this conversation in case someone else finds it on search :)
Oh my bad. I'm no battery expert by a long shot; just meant to contribute a good source of information. But you're way ahead of me anyway. Carry on! 😊
No worries! I appreciate that you were just trying to assist!