The good news about lithium ion batteries? They pack more energy into their rechargeable frames than any other kind of rechargeable batteries.
The bad news about lithium ion batteries? About .000003 percent of the time they spontaneously burst into flames. And if one particular run of lithium ion batteries seems to be bursting into flames more frequently, all the batteries from that run are recalled.
The other drawback to ion batteries is that just like human beings, as soon as they are born, they begin to die. They do so even if you leave them in their packaging on a shelf until you are ready to use them. Many rechargeable batteries, with proper care, will last for a decade. Not so for ion batteries. The brightest stars in the rechargeable battery firmament, they perform brilliantly for a brief two to three years, and are gone.
The Recharging Difference
But during their brief life spans, ion batteries are quite user friendly. They do not require that your recharge them fully before using them; most rechargeable batteries suffer “memory loss.” If you do not let them discharge completely and then recharge them fully, their energy capacity will gradually diminish.
Ion batteries, however, remember how full they are supposed to get, and even if you only have time to recharge them a fraction of their energy capacity, they will be willing and able to be filled to the brim at the next fill up.
Even better, ion batteries do not demand that you let them run down completely before recharging them; you will, in fact, ruin them if you do! Other rechargeable batteries will require you to have a spare ready that you can keep going when the first one gets exhausted and sent to the battery charger; then you have to let the new battery fully discharge before using the older one.
If your schedule allows you to do without your rechargeable non-ion battery during its four hour visit to the battery charger, of course, you don’t need to worry. But because it’s usually impossible to tell when a battery will fully discharge, you may get caught in a very awkward situation if you don’t have a backup battery on hand.
The Crystallization Factor
The “other” rechargeable batteries, with nickel based chemistry, are also prone to developing electrolyte crystals on their plates if they are repeatedly overcharged. Crystallization can increase voltage resistance and lower some of the energy produced by the battery’s separate cells. If you are using a “trickle” battery charger, be very careful to remove your nickel based batteries as soon as they are fully charged, because trickle chargers are notorious for overcharging batteries.
Or simply toss out your nickel based batteries and start using ion batteries which do not develop crystals. Keep your ion batteries in a cool place, even a refrigerator if you like, until you want to use them. Never let them get overheated; excessive heat will accelerate their degradation process. So turn you laptop off when you are not using it, because it’s warm inside!
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