1.Some Simple Steps to Safety
Batteries are a part of our life. Following these simple steps will help you make the most use out of your battery products.
(1) Use the "+" and "-" poles of the battery to set up use.
(2) Do not mix different batteries together. For example, one should not mix alkaline with carbon batteries.
(3) Do not place batteries next to metallic objects e.g. keys, coins and so on.
(4) When the batteries show the power is low, change all the batteries together.
(5) During long periods when the batteries are not used, take them out.
(6) Do not put dry battery in chargers.
(7) Never throw the batteries on the fire.
(8) If an electrolyte splashes on your skin, immediately rinse with fresh water and see a doctor.
(9) Do not put batteries in places infants can reach. They may swallow or touch harmful chemicals. In such cases please see a doctor immediately.
(10) Do not open up the battery.
(11) Do not make the batteries short circuit.
(12) Do not subject the battery to high temperatures or high humidity.
(13) Store in dry places and avoid direct.
2.What is the difference between Lithium batteries and Lithium Ion batteries?
A:There are several important differences.
The practical difference between Lithium batteries and Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries is that most Lithium batteries are not rechargeable but Li-ion batteries are rechargeable.
From a chemical standpoint Lithium batteries use lithium in its pure metallic form.
Li-ion batteries use lithium compounds which are much more stable than the elemental lithium used in lithium batteries.
A lithium battery should never be recharged while lithium-ion batteries are designed to be recharged hundreds of times.
3.Fast charging vs slow charging, which is better?
Fast charging employs a high charging current which enables you to charge up a NiMH battery in a relatively shorter time, ranging from five hours to even half an hour.
Using a low charging current, slow charging often refers to overnight charging, which normally takes over 12 hours to charge up a NiMH battery.
However, the time it takes to fully charge a battery depends on the charging current of the charger and the capacity of the battery.
Imagine filling up a bucket under a running water tap. The bigger the bucket, the longer it takes to fill it up. You can also increase the rate of filling the bucket by turning up the tap a bit more.
4.What is cycle life? Your advertising and packaging mentions up to 1000 cycles? What does this mean?
A cycle is a complete discharging of a fully charged battery. Regarding the 1000 cycle life claim the IEC standard is about 500 cycles minimum. Our product performance is in excess of the IEC. Note that the number of charging cycles depends on the charging and discharging currents. Under IEC charging currents (as in the attachment) the batteries can certainly be charged up to 1000 times.
However, if you increase the charging and discharging currents the number of cycles will decrease. Note that each charging/discharging cycle takes about a day, so 1000 cycles is actually over 2 years of non-stop use, well within most consumer requirements After many charge and discharge cycles the active material in the cell loses performance.
In particular, the cells negative pole powderizes, and the electrolyte dries up. ( Overcharging and partial charging are not major factors since NiMH has no memory effect ) For these reasons we do not guarantee 1000 cycles.soshine marketing guidelines stipulate the charging cycles are up to 1000 cycles.
5.If my camera (or other electronic device) uses NiMH or NiCd batteries can I use Lithium Ion batteries?
Normally you can not switch between a NiMH or NiCd battery and a lithium ion battery in a digital camera. There are some devices specifically designed to use either type of battery, cell phones are the most common example. If you can use either type of battery, it should say so in the Users Manual.
6.How should I dispose of Lithium Ion batteries?
Lithium ion batteries, like all rechargeable batteries are recyclable and should be recycled. They should never be incinerated since they might explode. Most places that sell rechargeable batteries will also accept them back for recycling.
7.What is the best way to store Lithium Ion batteries?
Lithium-ion batteries can hold a charge for many months. It is best to store a lithium-ion battery with a partial or full charge. Occasionally, a lithium-ion battery with a very low charge is stored for a long period of time (many months) and its voltage slowly drops to below the level at which its built in safety mechanism allows it to be charged again. If the battery is going to be stored for several months its a good idea to take it out and recharge it after a few months. Better yet would be to actually use the battery every few months and then leave it partially or fully charged.
8.The light does not turn on when I insert the batteries in the charger. Is this normal?
If the light does not go on at all it may indicate the battery was not inserted correctly or the unit or battery is defective.
9.My charger manual advises me to remove the batteries when the red light switches off,Is it OK to leave them in for a few more more days?
When the red light goes off, it means the charger has stopped charging, in this case, there will no damage to the battery or charger if the battery remains inside the charger. But if the power to the charger (from the wall socket or computer for example) is removed the charger micro-processor may restart again. This may lead to battery overheating and damage as the battery is already fully charged.
If the charger is disconnected from the power source and the battery left inside there should be no damage.
10.The red light on my new battery charger NEVER went off or changed color, even after 30 hours recharging. Is this correct?
Some Soshine chargers do not have auto-cut off protection. For example, the SC-Z23b charger is a standard economical charger with 6 individual channels. As the charging current is not big (160mA for AA and 80mA for AAA), there is no auto cut-off system designed in it. The LED light will stay on when charging and will not turn to green. For 1-4pcs of AA1600 battery, it will take about 12 hours to be fully charged. However, since it is a slow charger with a low charging current, there will be no issues from over-charging, and your battery will not be damaged.
11.How do we select a charger?
Fast chargers and slow chargers have their respective merits and demerits. You should choose a charger that meets your performance and cost requirements.
A fast charger delivers speed, but its design is more complicated, and therefore is usually more expensive than a slow charger.
Overcharging can shorten a NiMH batterys cycle life. Hence a well-designed fast charger has to incorporate certain protection mechanisms that prevent the batteries from being overcharged.
These protection mechanisms, ranging from sophisticated voltage detection to temperature monitoring and timer control, can be expensive. Normally a fast charger has to incorporate at least one of these mechanisms. The more mechanisms it has, the better the protection and thus the higher the price.
Therefore, when charging speed is not a priority, it would be more cost effective to select a slow charger, which also gives longer battery service life and enables fuller charge of a battery compared with a fast charger.
However, for applications that require fast charging speed, e.g. remote control racing toy car and digital cameras, it would be worthwhile to invest more for a fast charger to ensure continuous supply of energy.
