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How to Make a Lithium Polymer Battery Charger Circuit

Last Updated on February 27, 2019 by Admin 10 Comments

The submit describes an easy lithium polymer battery with more than charge cut off function.
A Lithium polymer battery or perhaps a lipo battery is an innovative breed of the widely used lithium ion battery, and exactly like it's older counterpart is specific with stringent charging and discharging parameters.
In spite of this if look at the these specs in detail we come across it to be rather lenient as much as the prices are involved, to become more accurate a Lipo battery may be imposed at the rate of 5C and produced even at lot more rates, here "C" is the AH rating of the battery.
The above specifications in fact provides us the liberty of utilizing lot more current inputs without stressing about an over current circumstance for the battery, which can be usually the case when lead acid batteries are needed.
It implies the amp rating of the input could possibly be overlooked in many instances considering that the rating may well not surpass the 5 x AH spec of the battery, generally. With that in mind, it's always a much better and a secure idea to charge such important devices with a rate that could be lower than the max stipulated level, a C x 1 may very well be the captured as the optimum and the most secure rate of charging.
Considering that right here we have been excited about the charging strategy of a lithium polymer battery, we are going to focus a lot more with this and observe precisely how a lipo battery might be charged safely yet optimally utilizing elements that could be previously sitting in your electronic junk box.
Talking about the demonstrated diagram, the whole design could possibly be observed set up around the IC LM317 that may be generally a flexible voltage regulator chip and has all the security benefits integrated. It is going to not permit more than 1.5 amps across it's outputs and guarantees a safe amp level for the battery.
The IC here is fundamentally employed for establishing the precise needed charging voltage level for the lipo battery. This might be achieved by modifying the supported 10k pot or a preset.

Lipo2Bbattery2Bcharger2Bcircuit
The section at the significant right which includes an opamp is the over charge cut off stage and ensures that the battery is rarely permitted to overcharge, and cuts off the supply to the battery the moment the over charge threshold is attained.
The 10 k preset placed at pin3 of the opamp is utilized for setting the over charge level, for a 3.7 V li-polymer battery this might be set such that the output of the opamp goes high whenever the battery is charged to 4.2 V (for a single cell). Since a diode is located at the positive of the battery, the LM 317 output needs to be set to about 4.2 + 0.6 = 4.8 V (for a single cell) for compensating the followed diode forward voltage drop. For 3 cells in series, this value will have to be modified to 4.2 x 3 + 0.6 = 13.2 V
When power is very first turned on (this ought to be completed after hooking up the battery across the presented position), the battery being in a discharged state pulls the supply from the LM317 to the current level of its voltage level, let's believe it to be 3.6 V.
The above circumstance retains pin3 of the opamp well below the reference voltage level fixed at pin2 of the IC, producing a low logic at pin6 or the output of the IC.
Right now as the battery starts building up charge its voltage level begins rising until it attains the 4.2 V mark which pulls pin3 potential of the opamp beyond pin2 forcing the IC's output to go immediately high or at the supply level.
The above encourages the indicator LED to light up turn on the BC547 transistor attached across the ADJ pin pf the LM 317.
As soon as this occurs the ADJ pin of the LM 317 receives grounded forcing it to turn off its output supply to the lipo battery.
On the other hand at this moment the complete circuit becomes latched in this cut off position as a result of the feedback voltage to pin3 of the opamp via the 1K resistor. This procedure guarantees that the battery under no situation is able to obtain the charging voltage once the over charge limit is achieved.
The circumstances remains locked until the method is turned OFF and reset for likely beginning a new charging cycle.
In the above recommended 11.1V battery pack, there are 3 cells in series and the battery poles are shut down separately by means of a connector.
It's suggested to charge the individual batteries separately by spotting the poles properly from the connector. The diagram demonstrates the simple wiring information of the cells with the connector:

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About Admin

Hey friends, Thanks a bunch for stopping by this site! I am an engineer with a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunication. One of my passions is gathering information from all sorts of electronics books and tutorials. I then take that information and compile it into a language that is super easy to understand. My goal is to make those complex electronics circuit concepts and technical terms much more accessible for all the new and budding electronics engineers out there. I can also design customized circuit diagrams as required by the users.
If you have any questions related to this field, please do not hesitate to drop a comment! I am always here and ready to help you out with any queries you might have. I cannot wait to hear from you!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Joseph mountain says

    August 26, 2021 at 1:41 am

    Can i use it to charge multi lithium battery in parallel

    Reply
    • admin says

      September 1, 2021 at 11:03 am

      yes you can

      Reply
  2. Sandy says

    September 15, 2017 at 6:06 pm

    Hello,
    I have a 11.1v 4400mah battery in 3s2p configuration .I need to charge a battery with cc and cv mode using LM317 IC with automatically switching from cc to cv mode when it is needed.I have a smps of 12v ,2a. So how can I make circuit after smps?First I need to increase smps voltage from 12v to near around 13 because battery’s peak voltage is 12.6 v when it is fully charged. So how can i make 12v to 13v?And secondly CC and CV circuit with LM317 and auto switching from cc to cv with indication?

    Please help me on this…

    Thanks.

    Reply
    • admin says

      September 17, 2017 at 8:02 am

      If it is an SMPS and if it does not have a preset svoltage etting arrangement then changing the output can be difficult, because it will require opening of the unit and modifying the internal circuitry.

      Reply
  3. raven p. tenepre says

    August 19, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    i have a 11v 3000mah battery and a 12v battery charger what changes do i need to use

    Reply
    • admin says

      August 21, 2017 at 6:22 pm

      sorry i did not understand your question? what kind of battery charger do you have, do you want to integrate the above concept in your battery charger? please elaborate

      Reply
  4. Sy Do says

    March 6, 2017 at 10:12 am

    I have a 11.v 4500mAh li-ion battery pack. This pack is 3S2P . How to improve this circuit to charge this pack using LM741 for auto cut-off?
    Thanks,

    Reply
    • admin says

      March 6, 2017 at 2:28 pm

      If it’s in series then you cannot use a 741 circuit to charge it, you will require a balancing charger for it.

      Reply
      • Sy Do says

        March 7, 2017 at 9:56 am

        Which circuit can be used for my battery pack? Could you please help me design a circuit for this bttery pack?
        Thank you!

        Reply
        • admin says

          March 9, 2017 at 9:13 pm

          if your battery is Lipo with many series internal series cells then the above circuit will not charge it efficiently, however for single cells this circuit can be effectively used….

          Reply

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Lithium Polymer (Lipo) Battery Charger Circuit

Last Updated on November 17, 2024 by Admin Leave a Comment

The post explains a simple lithium polymer (Lipo )battery with over charge cut off feature. The idea was requested by Mr. Arun Prashan.

Charging  a Single Lipo Cell with CC and CV

I came across your work on “​Bicycle Dynamo Battery Charger Circuit” in Homemade circuit design blog. It was really informative.

I would like to ask something regarding that article. I am working on a hexapedal robot with battery switching mechanism. Once the primary battery gets beyond a preset voltage, secondary battery will power up the robot’s system. My concern is not regarding the switching circuit.

Together with this, I am working on energy generation by attaching a generator to each motor. The current generated is intended to be used to recharge 30C 11.1V 2200mAh 3 cell LiPo battery.

I am aware that the circuit mentioned in “Bicycle Dynamo Battery Charger Circuit” will not be useful for my purpose. Can you give me any other option pertaining my issue. I just need to know on how to modify the circuit to make it LiPo compatible with constant voltage and constant current or CC and CV rates. Thanks, looking forward for a reply. 

Regards,

Arun Prashan

Malaysia

The Design

A Lithium polymer battery or simply a lipo battery is an advanced breed of the more popular lithium ion battery, and just like it's older counterpart is specified with stringent charging and discharging parameters.

However if look at the these specifications in detail we find it to be rather lenient as far as the rates are concerned, to be more precise a Lipo battery can be charged at the rate of 5C and discharged even at much higher rates, here "C" is the AH rating of the battery.

The above specs actually gives us the liberty of using much higher current inputs without worrying about an over current situation for the battery, which is normally the case when lead acid batteries are involved.

It means the amp rating of the input could be ignored in most cases since the rating may not exceed the 5 x AH spec of the battery, in most cases. Having said that, it's always a better and a safe idea to charge such critical devices with a rate that may be lower than the max specified level, a C x 1 could be the taken as the optimum and the safest rate of charging.

Since here we are interested in designing a lithium polymer (Lipo) battery charger circuit, we'll concentrate more on this and see how a lipo battery may be charged safely yet optimally using components that might be already sitting in your electronic junk box.

Referring to the shown Lipo battery charger circuit diagram, the entire design could be seen configured around the IC LM317 which is basically a versatile voltage regulator chip and has all the protection features built in. It will not allow more than 1.5 amps across it's outputs and ensures a safe amp level for the battery.

The IC here is basically used for setting up the exact required charging voltage level for the lipo battery. This may be accomplished by adjusting the accompanied 10k pot or a preset.

Circuit Diagram

24v2Bbattery2Bcharger2Bcircuit
2 pcb 1

The section at the extreme right which incorporates an opamp is the over charge cut off stage and makes sure that the battery is never allowed to overcharge, and cuts off the supply to the battery as soon as the over charge threshold is reached.

Circuit Operation

The 10 k preset positioned at pin3 of the opamp is used for setting the over charge level, for a 3.7 V li-polymer battery this may be set such that the output of the opamp goes high as soon as the battery is charged to 4.2 V (for a single cell). Since a diode is positioned at the positive of the battery, the LM 317 output must be set to about 4.2 + 0.6 = 4.8 V (for a single cell) for compensating the accompanied diode forward voltage drop. For 3 cells in series, this value will need to be adjusted to 4.2 x 3 + 0.6 = 13.2 V

When power is first switched ON (this must be done after connecting the battery across the shown position), the battery being in a discharged state pulls the supply from the LM317 to the existing level of its voltage level, let's assume it to be 3.6 V.

The above situation keeps pin3 of the opamp well below the reference voltage level fixed at pin2 of the IC , creating a low logic at pin6 or the output of the IC.

Now as the battery begins accumulating charge its voltage level starts rising until it reaches the 4.2 V mark which pulls pin3 potential of the opamp just above pin2 forcing the IC's output to go instantly high or at the supply level.

The above prompts the indicator LED to light up switch ON the BC547 transistor connected across the ADJ pin pf the LM 317.

Once this happens the ADJ pin of the LM 317 gets grounded forcing it to shut off its output supply to the lipo battery.

However at this point the entire circuit gets latched in this cut off position due to the feedback voltage to pin3 of the opamp via the 1K resistor. This operation makes sure that the battery under no circumstance is allowed to receive the charging voltage once the over charge limit is reached.

The situation stays locked until the system is switched OFF and reset for possibly initiating a new charging cycle.

Adding a Constant Current CC

In the above design we can see a constant voltage control facility using LM338 IC, however a constant current seems to be missing here. In order to enable a CC in this circuit, a small tweak might be enough to get this feature included, as shown in the following figure.

CC circuit

As can be seen, a simple addition of a current limiting resistor and a diode link transforms the design into an effective CC or constant current Lipo cell charger. Now when the output tries to draw current above the specified CC limit, a calculated potential is developed across Rx, which passes through the 1N4148 diode triggering the BC547 base, which in turn conducts and grounds the ADJ pin of the IC LM338, forcing the IC to switch OFF the supply to charger.

Rx may be calculated with the following formula:

Rx = Forward voltage limit of BC547 and 1N41448 / Max battery current limit

Therefore Rx = 0.6 + 0.6 / Max battery current limit

Lipo Battery with 3 Series Cells

In the above proposed 11.1V battery pack, there are 3 cells in series and the battery poles are terminated separately through a connector.
It's recommended to charge the individual batteries separately by locating the poles correctly from the connector. The diagram shows the basic wiring details of the cells with the connector:

index 1

UPDATE: In order to achieve a continuous automatic charging of a multi-cell Lipo battery, you may refer to the following article, which may be used for charging all types of Lipo batteries regardless of the number of cells included in it. The circuit is designed to monitor and automatically transfer the charging voltage to the cells which might be discharged and needs to be charged:

Lipo Battery Balance Charger Circuit

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About Admin

Hey friends, Thanks a bunch for stopping by this site! I am an engineer with a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunication. One of my passions is gathering information from all sorts of electronics books and tutorials. I then take that information and compile it into a language that is super easy to understand. My goal is to make those complex electronics circuit concepts and technical terms much more accessible for all the new and budding electronics engineers out there. I can also design customized circuit diagrams as required by the users.
If you have any questions related to this field, please do not hesitate to drop a comment! I am always here and ready to help you out with any queries you might have. I cannot wait to hear from you!

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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