If you have a Lithium battery, you can charge it with a normal lead acid charger. however, if the Lithium charger has an automatic equalization mode. This is because you can’t manually or permanently turn the charger off. You should only use a normal lead-acid charger than can be set to charge no more than 14.6v.
To understand why some normal chargers are not good for charging your lithium battery while others are safe, you must first understand how battery chargers work.
How Lithium Battery Chargers Work As Compared to the Normal Lead-acid Battery
Lithium battery chargers have a higher voltage than the normal lead-acid battery, even with similar specifications. They also have a narrow voltage operating window when the battery is depleted.
Lithium batteries charge when they have a steady supply of electricity currency. The charger cuts off when the battery is fully charged. That’s why there’s no trickle or float lithium battery charger.
The lithium battery chargers also work very fast as compared to the acid battery of the same specifications.
On the other hand, the normal lead-acid battery charger works differently. They have a three-step process:
- Bulk
- Absorption
- Float
- Bulk Stage
This first phase charges the battery up to about 80%. It’s a fast phase. At this phase, the internal battery resistance stops the battery from accepting a full charge.
- Absorption Stage
After the battery hits the 80% charge level, the internal resistance system forces the charger to pass electric current at a very slow rate.
- Float Stage
This final stage is achieved when the battery reaches a trickle. This happens after about four hours of charging.
Most of the lead battery chargers are modernized to test the level at which the battery is at. And then, it picks a specific phase in which the charging process begins.
Can You Charge Lithium-Ion Batteries with A NiCad Charger?
No. According to the output features of NiCad chargers, you can’t charge a Lithium-Ion battery without destroying it.
But it’s possible to charge a NiCad battery with a Li-ion battery charger.
Parting Shot
If you have a Lithium battery, you can use the normal charger on it. You need to understand the type of normal charger you’re using. A normal charger passes the current slowly. That means you won’t destroy your battery electrolytes in the charging process.
