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Cell balancing and charging

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: BQ40Z60, BQ76920

I see that none of the products in the TI range feature both cell balancing and charging.

I have a Li-ion battery pack of 3 series cells.

I need to charge and balance this pack can you recommend a product from your range.
Otherwise is it possible to use a battery charger + battery monitor / cell balancer  chip together and achieve this?

  • Hi Alwyn,

    You have a few options here. Usually charging and balancing are done separately this is conventionally how it is does.

    You have a charging circuit inside your system and separately you have electronics inside the battery taking care of balancing, protection, monitoring, and gauging.

    If you still want it all in one (perhaps because your battery and system are one combined end equipment), then you can look at the bq40z60 which is a gauge device that has a charger and monitoring and protection all built in.

    If you want to do it separately as you have more options in configuration then for monitor and protection i would recommend the bq76920 for a 3S battery. For a charger recommendation i would recommend you post on the charger forum for that recommendation.

    Thanks

    M
  • Thank you Miguel for the suggestions, really appreciate it!

    Here is what I had planned to do, both the charging and balancing would be handled in the same circuit with the same chip (if TI has one) or with 2 chips one for the charger and one for the balancer.

    My circuit has 2 modes of operation

    1. Mains mode - where the mains adapter would be powering the whole system.

    2. Battery mode - Battery pack supplies power to the whole system. (device will enter this mode only during mains failure or mains falls below a pre-determined threshold voltage)

    Now in mains mode and only when the battery is fully charged will the balancing cycle start. At this point of time there is no load on the battery.and even the charging current would be zero. If balancing cycle has started it could be terminated if there is a mains failure, and can be resumed at another time when the battery pack is fully charged.

    Is this plan OK or do you see any problems with it?

    I will look into the 2 chips that you recommended, and see if it fits into this plan unless you find that there is something terribly wrong with what I wrote.

    Thanks again!

  • Hi Alwyn,

    I don't see a problem here. Seems pretty straightforward. Any of these chips can help you do what you want you just have to find one that works with your system requirements and that allows you to have the flexibility to program all the functions that you are talking about.

    Thanks

    M