Nickel-cadmium batteries

Lithium Batteries manufactures custom nickel-cadmium battery packs and assemblies. Our battery design team uses the latest mechanical and electronic design tools to optimize the reliability, safety and manufacturability of your custom battery packs. This gives you the most cost-effective and reliable solution for nickel-cadmium batteries for your specific requirements.

See the individual product specifications for individual nickel-cadmium batteries.

Customized nickel-cadmium batteries and assemblies

Nickel-Cadmium (NiCd) is an established chemistry for customer-specific batteries and assemblies. Although newer battery chemistries have been in the spotlight in recent years, nickel-cadmium is still a viable chemistry today.

In the past, NiCd offered a wide variety of cells and designs. Recently, however, the choice of sizes has become a little more limited as NiCd batteries have been banned in some regions for environmental reasons. Since around 1990 NiCd cells and batteries have been banned for use in consumer electronics in some regions of the world, particularly in Europe. Because cadmium is a poisonous heavy metal.

Most portable nickel-cadmium cells are either spiral-wound cylindrical cells or button cells. There are nickel-cadmium wet cells with larger plates that are used in aircraft and long-term stationary applications.

Benefits of Nickel-Cadmium Batteries

Nickel-cadmium batteries have several advantages over other battery chemistries in use today.

• Nickel-cadmium batteries can be charged quickly, some in as little as 15 minutes, and can be charged at lower temperatures.
• With proper care, nickel-cadmium batteries are able to go through thousands of cycles.
• Nickel-cadmium can withstand heavy loads.
• Some newer lithium chemicals have fast charge, hi-rate discharge, and cycle life capabilities comparable to those of NiCd.
• From a price point of view, nickel cadmium is a bargain compared to some newer battery chemistries.

Different types of electrodes are used in nickel-cadmium cells: sintered, plastic-bonded and foamed electrodes. By combining different types of electrodes in one cell, battery pack manufacturers can build cells that have unique advantages over other types. For example: Nickel-Cadmium cells can be tailored to provide superior performance at high temperature, high discharge, rapid charge, long term trickle or trickle charge, or can be manufactured to provide additional capacity and be inexpensive.

Maintaining the nickel-cadmium memory effect

The reputation of nickel cadmium has suffered over the years from what is known as the “memory effect”. The term memory effect implies that the battery “remembers” how much energy was required during previous discharges. Put simply, the memory effect is a loss of nickel-cadmium cell performance after a relatively few cycles. This is usually caused by crystal formation on the electrodes of the cell. As the crystals grow, they reduce the surface area of ​​the electrodes, which leads to voltage drops and loss of power.

The greatest cause of the memory effect is overcharging, because the battery is charged indefinitely or is charged before it is necessary. The best remedy is regular exercise or a complete discharge to 1.0 volts / cell. Both cyclic and standby batteries should be fully discharged once a month for optimal performance. If improper maintenance makes the memory effect really bad, there are a variety of excellent battery analysis / reconditioning devices out there that should be able to repair the damage. However, if too much time has passed, even fancy devices won’t bring your nickel-cadmium back.

Best Practices for Charging Nickel-Cadmium Batteries

Under normal conditions, nickel cadmium prefer a constant current charge. It may take several cycles for a nickel-cadmium battery to reach its full rated capacity. Standard nickel-cadmium batteries require a 14-hour charge with an input current of 1/10 of the battery capacity or a rate of C / 10 (capacity ¸ 10). Special nickel-cadmium batteries are charged in less than an hour or less when properly terminated. The best termination for nickel-cadmium is -DV, which means that charging will stop after the battery reaches peak voltage and the voltage will simply drop if overcharged. Nickel-cadmium should be charged at temperatures between 5 ° C and + 45 ° C.

Specifications for Nickel-Cadmium Batteries

• Cell voltage: 1.2 V (nominal)
• Capacity: 11mAh to 20,000 + mAh
• Energy by weight: 40-60 watt-hour / kilogram
• Energy by volume: watt-hour / cubic centimeter
• Discharge characteristics: (recommended drain mA in amps)
• Cycle life: 500 to 5000 cycles.
• Self discharge: 20% / month
• Temperature range: -40 ° C to + 60 ° C
• Preferred charging methods: constant current (-DV fast)
• Sizes: Largest selection of cylinder and button sizes.
• Applications: cameras data terminals, FAX and POS memories, hobby remote controls, notebook PCs, portable telephones, transceivers, portable printers, portable televisions, CD and cassette players, security lights, data terminals, portable printers, power tools, vacuum cleaners, razors, memory backup , Security systems, cameras data terminals, emergency systems, memory backup, office equipment, toys and video camcorders.