Lithium Ion Batteries and Chargers

Will a 12 volt NiMh charger charge a 12 volt Li Ion battery if the battery does not have a balance Charge Lead/Connector?

I have not been able to find a non balance charger that will charge a LI ION battery pack of more than one cell that does not have a balance charge connection.

So in short. How the blazes do I charge my 12 volt 6800mah Lithium Ion battery??

Adrian,

Essentially no.

Having said that, I'm fairly sure the Minelab GPX battery pack doesn't have individual cell monitoring/protection. Don't take that as gospel though.

Do you have a link to the battery pack in question? 

From https://sciencing.com/can-used-lithium-ion-batteries-7739193.html

Chargers

Both batteries need sophisticated chargers, but they contain very different electronics. Li-ion chargers monitor the charging rate and cut the power if a problem is detected. Every make of Li-ion battery is different, so chargers offer variable voltages, currents and charging times, and failing to use the correct settings can be catastrophic. NiMH chargers lack the safety features needed for Li-ion batteries. For these reasons, charge Li-ion batteries only in Li-ion chargers. Using another charger may result in overheated batteries, chemical fires and explosions.

So it looks like I have a RECHARGEABLE Lithium ion battery pack that cannot be recharged safely......Well that is really bloody handy aye!!
The two leads are 12.6 volt input and output.


I have been pumping 12.6vdc 100ma into this battery all bloody day with zero result.
Battery voltage was 6.8 volts at the beginning of charge and is 6.97 after 10 hours. The battery is cold.

OK so these batteries on ebay are supplied with an ac adapter charger. Ya gotta wonder how long the battery will last before it burns??
The charger has over charge protection and that is all. So there is no way of knowing if all cells in the pack have fully recharged.

I guess the solution is to buy a high qual balance charge type battery rather than these cheap and nasty types.

Without removing the heatshrink cover, it isn't possible to tell what regulator/protective circuits may be enclosed. 
Similarly, the plug pack may have those same circuits within it but I'm assuming you checked/metered the O/P. 
It is possible that the charger or battery has a timer fitted to prevent overcharging as well as temperature monitoring to disconnect should thermal runaway occur
Most Li-Ion batteries are initially looking for a constant current of 1C (battery Capacity) for less than 1hr. Given battery capacity is 6.8 amps then 100ma at 10h equates to 14.7% of total capacity.

This is what is inside the battery pack.

There is some circuitry in there.

The ebay listings for this battery state that it is 6800 mah in the title page but 2000 mah in the specs description.

Even under short cct I get close to zero current from this battery.....).06ma to be exact and terminal voltage + 7.2 off or on load. The charger I used is 12 VDC 1A but the battery pack would only draw 100ma. from this charger.

Adrian sounds like 1 faulty pack and 2 good ones if their 3.7V each.Could be the faulty one is preventing the charge.

Correct mate. There is one dead cell. 2 cells read 4 volts ea and one is zero. The zero cell drops the two 4 volt cells in series down to 6.8 volts and incapable of delivering current.

How do you dispose of lithium ion batteries......They are known to burn.....Maybe drop em in a bucket of water and see what happens

Australia post have a battery recycle bin usually at the entrance,its for old mobiles so I guess the lithium batteries as well.