Precautions for charging and discharging lithium iron phosphate batteries:
1. Charge according to the standard time and procedure, even for the first three times;
2. When the battery level is low, you should start charging as soon as possible;
3. Lithium-ion batteries do not require any special activation method; they will activate naturally during normal use. Insisting on using the commonly circulated method of charging for 12 hours three times to activate them will actually be ineffective.
Therefore, all practices that aim for 12-16 hours of extended charging time or use lithium iron phosphate batteries until they automatically shut down are incorrect. If you have been following these incorrect practices, please correct them as soon as possible; it may not be too late.
When batteries in series have the same current, the one with the lowest capacity will fully charge first. However, the overall battery voltage hasn't reached the charging cutoff voltage yet, so continuing to charge will lead to overcharging. The same applies to discharging. After many cycles, the batteries will be damaged. Therefore, in a series battery pack, there will always be a weakest one. The protection board doesn't charge individual batteries but provides protection. Without a balancing function, it will protect the weakest battery when it's fully charged, even if the entire pack isn't actually fully charged. Even with a balancing protection board, it's a false balance. It bypasses the fully charged battery through a bypass resistor, allowing the other batteries to continue charging to achieve the effect of an overall full charge. Because the bypass resistor has limited power (typically 100mAh is considered large), it's insufficient for the entire battery pack. Balancing series batteries is a global challenge. Low-cost, high-current balancing solutions are unavailable, and the larger the number of batteries in series, the more difficult it becomes. This is because overcharging and over-discharging of series batteries are difficult to control, and lithium batteries are damaged very quickly and pose safety issues. This is why lithium iron phosphate batteries were developed. Lithium iron phosphate batteries have low capacity and low energy, and are inferior to lithium batteries in many aspects. However, their resistance to overcharging and over-discharging has made them so popular.
