How often can I charge a Li-Ion battery pack, how long is the life span?

The service life of a battery pack depends on various factors: Mainly on the corresponding cell type, the stress and the care. In general, you can assume a lifetime between 500-800 charge/discharge cycles before the capacity of the battery decreases significantly (70% of the nominal value). This corresponds to a minimum usage time of about 3 - 5 years, if the battery is used twice a week. Even then, the battery can still be used for a long time, but the capacity continues to decrease. After 6 to 8 years, the battery is typically so tired that reliable use is not much fun and a replacement becomes desirable. Whether or not 1000 charge and discharge cycles have taken place during this time is relatively irrelevant in this context.

How do we determine the capacity of our batteries?

In order to achieve practical values, we discharge with a high current of 5 A (40W), which is to be expected in reality. This always results in somewhat lower nominal values than with other manufacturers, who discharge with low currents in order to achieve sales-promoting high values.

How large is the self-discharge of Li-Ion batteries?

Li-Ion batteries are unbeatable in this respect: they only lose about max. 10% per year at 20°C storage temperature, at lower temperatures even less. At higher temperatures, however, the loss is significantly higher, so avoid high temperatures above 25°C during storage..

What is the capacity loss at low temperatures, during use?

The capacity loss of completely cooled cells at -20°C can be up to 30%. Normally, a few simple measures will help to prevent the battery's performance from dropping significantly:

Always fully charge the battery pack after use, store it in a warm place and only take it outdoors shortly before use. Insulating the battery pack in the backpack delays cooling for 2-3 hours. Only then are the cells inside cold and become sluggish, the voltage level drops.

How can I maximize the life of my battery?

Avoid high temperatures
Whether in storage or operating condition, high temperatures damage the battery under all circumstances. All temperatures above 25 ° C represent a load for the battery. The damaging effect increases disproportionately with temperature and load. Therefore, high temperatures should always be avoided. In summer temperatures, values of well over 50°C can be reached in the car. If the battery is left in the glove compartment, irreversible damage is unavoidable after only a few days. Direct exposure of the battery to sunlight on the bike should also be avoided. The state of charge is comparatively insignificant.


Avoid too high loads
Very strong lamps and very small batteries reduce the life of the cells due to the high current load of the individual cell. If these combinations are unavoidable, it helps to use the highest power levels for as short a time as possible and, of course, to recharge as soon as possible after use.


Stress-free discharge
High loads already below 40% of the capacity value stress the battery. In order to keep the power of the lamp approximately at a constant level, the current must be increased when the voltage drops, which always means an additional load for the battery. Accordingly, it is very beneficial to the service life to always fully charge the battery before each use. The use of the reserve tank should be limited to emergencies only. Likewise, the use of the maximum power should be reduced as far as possible when the remaining capacity is low. Immediate charging after use is important. Forgetting" the discharged battery usually leads to deep discharges.

How do I store a Li-Ion battery for several months?

2 options:

You can always leave the battery connected to the charger. The current consumption is not measurable, because the batteries are checked with short current pulses every 2-4 minutes. A recharge is automatically activated when the battery voltage drops, this is typically the case after about 60 days. Here a cool place is advantageous.
If you do not want to leave the battery connected, charge the battery fully and store the battery for no longer than 3 months in as cool a place as possible.

A temperature between 10 and 15°C is favorable (Attention! Storage in the apartment can be problematic in summer).
Extreme example: Storing a fully charged Li-Ion battery at 40°C (sunlight) will irreversibly damage the battery - up to complete failure. Especially the storage in the glove compartment of the car should be avoided in summer.

I own a Charger One Model 2007 - How do I store my Li-Ion battery?

Li-ion batteries can basically be stored for a much longer period of time. Optimum storage is achieved at a state of charge of 40-50% of the total capacity. The Charger One from 2009 Charger One provides its own storage program (50%Li) for this purpose. To avoid unintentional discharging, the battery must remain connected to the charger for this purpose. Only if further discharge below 40% can be avoided, this is a perfect way of storage.

If I use the Li-Ion battery only briefly, should I connect it to the charger immediately afterwards? Or continue to use and discharge?

It depends on the duration of the operation. If possible, it is always better to recharge immediately. Contrary to outdated opinions, charging cycles are only registered proportionally by the battery. A 10% recharge also corresponds to only 10% of a charge cycle. This is another reason why immediate recharging is always advantageous. It is also very beneficial to the life of the battery to always fully charge before each use. In addition, this always provides additional lighting time reserves without having to deeply discharge the battery. Since the next use could possibly take place at a later time, immediate recharging also offers optimal protection against self-discharge due to very long storage (battery forgotten).

I have a Ni-MH battery/charger and need a new battery.

Lupine has been using only Li-ion batteries for years. Our new Li-ion batteries of course also work with all older lamp models. It should only be noted that a Li-Ion battery also requires a Li-Ion charger.

My battery is no longer charging. What could be the reason and what can I do?

In many cases the battery and the charger are in perfect condition, often only the protection electronics of the battery has switched off. To solve the problem, only a little patience is necessary: Just leave the battery on the charger and after some time the battery will be charged again. This can sometimes take a few hours.

If the battery is older (over 3-4 years), however, it may be defective, in which case the battery must be replaced (battery exchange campaign).

My SmartCore battery shows wrong values, what can be the cause?

An unforeseen shutdown of the battery-internal electronics has deleted the values.

This can be fixed very easily, the battery must be discharged 1 x and charged 1x, no matter how. After that everything works smoothly again. There are several ways to do this. Discharge the battery via the lamp head: let it shine until the lamp switches off automatically. It is not necessary to activate the reserve tank additionally. Charge the battery fully again, done!

If you have a Charger One, this is particularly convenient to implement, simply switch to discharge / charge and everything else happens automatically.