You might be concerned about the safety of mixing lithium and lead-acid batteries. Find out what’s dangerous by reading this blog.
The lead-acid battery, as we all know, has excellent quality, good performance, and high charge saturation, all of which can lengthen the battery’s useful life. The lithium batteries can charge lithium-ion batteries with constant current and constant voltage and typically have high control precision. Can you mix lead-acid and lithium batteries? You’d better not because they have different load characteristics and capacities.
Keeping to one chemistry is simpler and less dangerous, but there are some workarounds.
Can You Mix Lead-acid and Lithium Batteries?
Because different lithium-ion battery types’ load characteristics and capacities can result in abnormal circumstances, it is not advised to use them together. Safety comes first.
It is not advisable to use parallel batteries with completely different characteristics. It is impossible to achieve a good parallel discharge effect even when a diode is added to stop self-discharge between batteries. Read Can Lead-acid Batteries Be Recycled?
Charger
Because the lead-acid battery charger is typically set to a two-stage or three-stage charging mode and because there are various types of lithium-ion batteries, the battery performance and battery protection board parameters may vary.
Lithium-ion batteries are therefore distinct from lead-acid batteries. There are chargers for all kinds of batteries. Typically, when lithium-ion batteries leave the factory, they come with specialized chargers. Special chargers are necessary for protecting lithium-ion batteries.
Read More: How Do Lead-acid Batteries Work?
if emergency charging. Do not fully charge it when charging it with a lead-acid battery of the same type. Lithium battery chargers for lead-acid batteries will be undercharged, and lead-acid chargers for lithium-ion batteries will be overcharged, so it is better to use each one.
Because the charging voltage and current of each stage required by the two batteries are not equal, the charger cannot be used indifferently when charging lead-acid batteries and lithium-ion batteries because their capacity and voltage are different. So you need to choose the right charger for your lead acid batteries.
The voltage of the charger is high when charging lead-acid batteries, whereas lithium-ion batteries have high technical requirements, so when charging, the charger uses constant current and constant voltage charging, which causes overshoot and poses an explosion risk when charging lead-acid lithium batteries.
Which is Better, Lead-acid Batteries and Lithium Batteries?
- In spite of its high specific energy and lightweight, lithium batteries perform poorly in terms of safety and cost. The identical lead-acid battery weighs a lot, takes up more space, and has a low energy density, but it is safer and less expensive.
- Lithium battery is a rechargeable battery, and a lead-acid battery is an alkaline battery; lithium battery cycle life of more than 2500 times, lead-acid battery cycle life of 800 times; the energy density of a lithium battery is around 150Wh/kg, lead-acid battery is about 40Wh/kg; the charging time of the lithium battery can be full within 4 hours, and the lead-acid battery is generally full around 6 hours;
- Lithium battery charge and discharge electrical energy efficiency is better, lithium-ion battery charge and discharge energy conversion efficiency can be greater than 97%, and lead-acid battery charge and discharge energy conversion efficiency is about 80%, the same lithium battery than lead-acid battery volume Small, the volume of a lithium-ion battery is about 2/3 of the volume of a lead-acid battery;
- In contrast to lead-acid batteries, which are not environmentally friendly, lithium batteries are. Lead-acid batteries contain a lot of lead. If it is disposed of after disposal improperly, the environment will be harmed. Under the same voltage and capacity, lithium batteries and Lead-acid batteries have the same cruising range, but lithium batteries are more than twice as expensive as lead-acid batteries;
- Due to its manufacturing process or discarded batteries, lead-acid batteries significantly harm the environment. Lead-acid battery reinvestment is prohibited or their use is restricted in some areas due to national policy. Lithium batteries are expected to increasingly replace lead-acid batteries in the future, and this trend will continue to advance over time. Lead-acid batteries are gradually leaving the lithium battery stage because lithium batteries will eventually replace many lead-acid batteries.
We also have compared Lithium Vs Alkaline Batteries, and Gel Battery Vs Lead Acid Battery.
Conclusion: Mix Lead-acid and Lithium Batteries
Lead-acid and lithium batteries cannot be used together because their charging and discharging platform voltages are dissimilar. Even if the capacity is equal, the outcome still results in harm to one another and is ultimately abandoned.
FAQs
Can You Use Lithium and AGM Batteries Together?
Yes, you can. However, because the resting voltage for AGM is lower than that of lithium, the lithium battery will leak into the AGM. That would take a few weeks, but the two types of batteries can be used in parallel if they are charged and used once a week. See AGM Battery Vs. Lead-Acid Battery
Can You Mix a Lithium Battery With a Regular Battery?
As chemistries and voltage vary across both battery types and brands, we recommend that you do not mix batteries. The performance of a device can be compromised by cell mixing and battery leakage.
What Happens If You Use a Lead-acid Battery Charger on a Lithium Battery?
Lead acid chargers typically have an equalization mode, if not always. On some chargers, this mode might be automatic and unavoidable. No equalization is necessary for lithium batteries. Applying an equalization charge of 15v+ to a lithium battery will damage the cells beyond repair.
