I have a lot of Li-ion 18650 batteries that I want to use for a few projects. I'm sure they are all in different states of health and charge, so I figure that draining them (to whatever safe voltage is best) and then charging them would give the best results.
I'm also going to build a charger where I want to incorporate over-charge protection. Can the same component be used for both applications?
If there is a fairly easy process of draining the batt's w/o killing them that doesn't involve building a circuit, I'm interested in that as well.
On a side note - another project related to this...
I'm also interested in building a charger where I can charge at least 4 individual cells (probably more like 8-12) and also a charger that I can charge many cells in series (cells of all the same make/model/age - so they should charge relatively similarly). I want to build in over-charging protection into this device.
I'm considering using a standard ATX PSU as the power source for this device as I can use the 3.3 or 5v for the single cell charge source and then the 12v rail for charging 3 cells at a time (24v is even possible from this unit, although only at ~1-1.5A which is still decent).
I'm also going to build a charger where I want to incorporate over-charge protection. Can the same component be used for both applications?
If there is a fairly easy process of draining the batt's w/o killing them that doesn't involve building a circuit, I'm interested in that as well.
On a side note - another project related to this...
I'm also interested in building a charger where I can charge at least 4 individual cells (probably more like 8-12) and also a charger that I can charge many cells in series (cells of all the same make/model/age - so they should charge relatively similarly). I want to build in over-charging protection into this device.
I'm considering using a standard ATX PSU as the power source for this device as I can use the 3.3 or 5v for the single cell charge source and then the 12v rail for charging 3 cells at a time (24v is even possible from this unit, although only at ~1-1.5A which is still decent).