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Life of internal recharable batteries

AZMDR

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2021
Messages
46
Does anyone have any insight into what the life expectancy of the internal batteries of metal detectors (MineLab, Nokta, Quest) would be after multiple recharges?
 
It depends on so many factors.

Most internal batteries are going to be lithium, so they'll have anywhere from a 300-1000 cycle life. But remember, unless you do something major to the matter to cause catastrophic failure or damage, the performance drop off will be fairly gradual. So what loss in performance would you consider that battery as being dead? 10%, 30% 50%?

To maximize longevity, you will need to:

1. Limit the number of cycles. A lithium cell's life is primarily determined by how many times it goes through a charge/discharge cycle.

2. Avoid fully discharging the cell. Taking it down past a certain voltage (I can't recall what it is off the top of my head, but 2.X volts per lithium ion/poly cell comes to mind). Going past that will either damage the cell or drastically reduce it's lifespan. The damage will vary depending on how far down you take a cell and how often you do it.

3. Avoid storing the cell fully charged or fully discharged. Doing both things will diminish the life of the cell.

4. Avoid overheating the cell. This usually happen in high discharge applications, but sometimes when rapid or over charging takes place. This usually isn't an issue with metal detectors, though.

5. Avoid overcharging the cell.

There are more factors, but I can't think of them right now.

So how a user abides by the above factors, as well as how the charging algorithm built into the charger/machine abides by those factors will contribute to how long a cell should last.

For example, people want faster charging times. Ok, the manufacturer can provide that, but there comes a point where speeding up the charge will reduce the cell's lifespan. So what kind of balance is the manufacturer going to find in terms of faster charge times and longer cell life? We don't know that. We also don't know what the low voltage cut offs are for the cell. Make it lower, get more run time for the detector. But make it too low, reduce the overall lifespan of the battery.

There are also business decisions to factor in, like when the company wants users to replace the battery and if it'll be in or out of warranty. And if there's a charge, will it be enough to make a profit for the company? If so, maybe the company will have algorithms that reduce cell life to force customers to send in machines. So instead of a battery lasting 4 years of full use, it only lasts 3.
 
It depends on so many factors.

Most internal batteries are going to be lithium, so they'll have anywhere from a 300-1000 cycle life. But remember, unless you do something major to the matter to cause catastrophic failure or damage, the performance drop off will be fairly gradual. So what loss in performance would you consider that battery as being dead? 10%, 30% 50%?

To maximize longevity, you will need to:

1. Limit the number of cycles. A lithium cell's life is primarily determined by how many times it goes through a charge/discharge cycle.

2. Avoid fully discharging the cell. Taking it down past a certain voltage (I can't recall what it is off the top of my head, but 2.X volts per lithium ion/poly cell comes to mind). Going past that will either damage the cell or drastically reduce it's lifespan. The damage will vary depending on how far down you take a cell and how often you do it.

3. Avoid storing the cell fully charged or fully discharged. Doing both things will diminish the life of the cell.

4. Avoid overheating the cell. This usually happen in high discharge applications, but sometimes when rapid or over charging takes place. This usually isn't an issue with metal detectors, though.

5. Avoid overcharging the cell.

There are more factors, but I can't think of them right now.

So how a user abides by the above factors, as well as how the charging algorithm built into the charger/machine abides by those factors will contribute to how long a cell should last.

For example, people want faster charging times. Ok, the manufacturer can provide that, but there comes a point where speeding up the charge will reduce the cell's lifespan. So what kind of balance is the manufacturer going to find in terms of faster charge times and longer cell life? We don't know that. We also don't know what the low voltage cut offs are for the cell. Make it lower, get more run time for the detector. But make it too low, reduce the overall lifespan of the battery.

There are also business decisions to factor in, like when the company wants users to replace the battery and if it'll be in or out of warranty. And if there's a charge, will it be enough to make a profit for the company? If so, maybe the company will have algorithms that reduce cell life to force customers to send in machines. So instead of a battery lasting 4 years of full use, it only lasts 3.

Thanks for a very informative reply. Exactly what I was looking for.
 
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