Lithium battery suppliers

[ivan747]

Hello there.

I'm looking for a good electronics supplier that carries lithium batteries on ~800mAh. Not those cylindrical batteries but the flat ones. JST connectors and protection circuitry is welcome.

So basically I need something like this size/capacity/style:
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/341
but on a supplier that can sell me 50 of them with price drops and a reasonable price. Sparkfun is a (good) hobbyist / prototype retailer, no a supplier.

I have tried Googling around but all I get are consumer electronics batteries and very influenced results, I mean they obviously paid to be there.

Thanks!

[kaptain_zero]

Do a search for "1s lipo packs". You are looking for a lithium Polymer battery as the one you show is flat and most, if not all, are Lipo, not LiIo packs. You'll find that many of the "hits" will be to hobby suppliers as such batteries are used radio control models and such. All-Battery.com shows 2 or three Tenergy brand packs that would fit your requirement. I'm sure there are other suppliers as well.... 

On a safety note.... if you can deal with the slightly lower voltage, a LifePO4 pack would be safer as it can deal with being mistreated without the "vent with flames" tantrum that most lipo/liIo packs give you if charged too high or discharged too low. 

Good luck.

Regards

Christian

[RCMR]

Look to the RC hobby sector for some much better prices...

For instance:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7573

however, I note that these are on backorder at present -- but the price is *much* better than SF.

[EEVblog]

I use www.PowerStream.com

Dave.

[ivan747]

Look to the RC hobby sector for some much better prices...

For instance:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7573

however, I note that these are on backorder at present -- but the price is *much* better than SF.

Sorry, I need an stable supplier capable of stocking hundreds of units, like Digi-key.

[ivan747]

Do a search for "1s lipo packs". You are looking for a lithium Polymer battery as the one you show is flat and most, if not all, are Lipo, not LiIo packs.  

On a safety note.... if you can deal with the slightly lower voltage, a LifePO4 pack would be safer as it can deal with being mistreated without the "vent with flames" tantrum that most lipo/liIo packs give you if charged too high or discharged too low.  

I know LiPo's are very dangerous. I hope I don't mess up the charging circuitry with a bad calculation of the current adjust resistor. Ah well, what are multimeters for anyway...

I haven't heard a lot about LifePO4 packs. I've never seen one in consumer electronics.

What I want is one of those thin and flat packs with protection circuitry, not raw cells.

[ivan747]

I use www.PowerStream.com

Dave.

I can't find any battery packs. All I find is cells. I don't like the site, it looks messy and doesn't even have a search engine. That won't stop me from looking around though. I will keep looking around. Thanks.

EDIT: I found the search engine. It is highlighted in yellow and looked like the name of the site right above the menu. Not very intuitive.

[kaptain_zero]

LifePO4 aka Lithium Iron Phosphate = safer chemistry than LiPo or LiIon.  You are NOT looking for packs per say, but rather a single cell with leads which will be in the 4.2V max as far as lipo's go and less if going the LifePO4 route.

I really don't know where you are going with your request..... the battery sources are endless, but your requirements/location may seriously limit you.

The more detailed the information you give us, the more accurately we'll be able to answer.


Regards


Kaptain "My crystal ball is so old, I can't even get batteries for it anymore" Zero

[RCMR]

LiFePO4 cells are available in the same form as lithium-polymer -- but it's a case of tracking down the manufacturer/supplier.

As others have said, the LiFePO4 is a much safer chemistry and, if you're running 3.3V logic, you can probably dispense with the regulator because the nominal cell voltage is just 3.3V (although they'll float a little higher than that fresh off the charger.

LiFePO4 cells are very tolerant of overcharging and even if they do vent, the gases aren't flammable like the gases from a lipo venting.

The downside of LiFePO4 (apart from the lower nominal voltage (if that's an issue) are the lower energy density (by weight and volume) when compared to lithium polymer.

[ivan747]

LiFePO4's sound viable for my project. The device will remain in sleep mode most of the time, on an Extre Low Power PIC, so power density is not an issue.

Ivan

[Strube09]

Ivaneduardo,

Send me a PM with your location, pack requirements, eau, connector details, load and charging characteristics. I am the electrical engineer for a battery supplier and can help you out.


Strube

[ivan747]

Ivaneduardo,

Send me a PM with your location, pack requirements, eau, connector details, load and charging characteristics. I am the electrical engineer for a battery supplier and can help you out.


Strube

Alright, I will have it ready within 6 hours.

Update: Dave uploaded a video on lithium batteries! Nice.

[ivan747]

I can only find raw cells. The datasheet recommends a "protection circuit module". They are supposed to protect your battery against overvoltage, undervoltage and short circuits. I was searching around for battery protection IC's and I couldn't find many. Am I missing something?

[Neilm]

I can only find raw cells. The datasheet recommends a "protection circuit module". They are supposed to protect your battery against overvoltage, undervoltage and short circuits. I was searching around for battery protection IC's and I couldn't find many. Am I missing something?

Lithium battery packs are required to be tested to a UN standard. (I can't remember the number). The protection module is a piece of circuit that is designed to prevent the pack being too badly discharged or overcharged which might lead to a fire. The protection module is fitted into each battery pack. They are not that widely available as they are supposed to only be used by companies that assemble the battery pack. The dangers of this are real and so pack assembly should not be undertaken by people who do not apprieciate the dangers of the procedure.

Neil

[Lawsen]

I have bought some Li polymer packs by Sony for my minidisc player from a store on E Bay in mainland China.  The E Bay URL is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130522863636

The Only Batteries store at 1-800-660-7705 sells some gum stick NiMH, H-, hydride batteries:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130522863636

The store was very honest and sold and sent 4 Li ion polymer packs for my Sony minidisc player in one and half week's time.  

Lawsen

[Strube09]

ivaneduardo747,

I forwarded your info to our FAE and he will look at what we have in stock that we can offer... We wouldn't be able to to a custom cell for your volume.

All of our cells are tested to UN38.3 and will have the accompanied PCM (protection control module / Protection circuit module). We also offer full support for chargers and power supplies if you need that too.

Strube

[ivan747]

ivaneduardo747,

I forwarded your info to our FAE and he will look at what we have in stock that we can offer... We wouldn't be able to to a custom cell for your volume.

All of our cells are tested to UN38.3 and will have the accompanied PCM (protection control module / Protection circuit module). We also offer full support for chargers and power supplies if you need that too.

Strube

Great, thanks. I will send you my email via PM for further communication.

[reagle]

Digikey and Mouser actually carry some of those.
Another source is http://www.all-battery.com/li-polyersinglecells.aspx aka Tenergy