In daily life, we often meet this situation, can the power adapter used as a charger charge the battery?
The answer is probably not. The power adapter can not be used directly as a charger for lithium batteries. A power adapter is to provide power, while a charger is to charge the battery. We can’t mix two of them.
To understand more about the reason, we should separate what difference between a power adapter a charger?
What is a power adapter？
A power adapter is a small portable power supply conversion. It makes up of a housing, transformer, and rectifier circuit. According to output type can be divided into AC output type and DC output type. According to the connection, it can split into wall plug type and desktop type. They are widely used in telephones, game consoles, language repeaters, walkman, notebook computers, cellular phones, and other devices.
Most laptop power adapters can be suitable for 100~240V AC (50/60Hz). Most laptops have the power supply external, with a power cable and the host computer connection.Only a very few models have the power supply built into the host computer.
The function of the power adapter
What is the function of the power adapter? Generally speaking, the role of the power adapter is mainly voltage conversion and rectification. It converts AC 220V into 12V DC. We can learn that it works by converting AC 220V into voltage through a transformer and rectifying the filter into a safe DC voltage.
The general size of the space required for the adapter is not tiny. Generally speaking, the higher the voltage, the more dangerous it is to put inside the machine. So the power adapter and the device are separated mainly to isolate the area of high and low voltage conversion. The device is safer. The cost is also lower.
What is a charger?
A charger is a DC power source dedicated to rechargeable batteries, containing current limiting, voltage limiting, and other control circuits to meet the charging characteristics.
Commonly used in common appliances such as electric cars and flashlights. It usually charges the battery directly without any intermediate equipment.
The Difference Between Them.
The difference between them is that the process of charger is: constant current – constant voltage – a trickle, three-stage intelligent charging. The three-stage charging theory can significantly improve charging efficiency, shorten charging time and extend battery life. Three-level charging uses constant current charging, constant voltage charging, and floating charging for maintenance charging. Three stages of fast charging, supplementary charging, and trickle charging.
Fast charging stage
Charging the battery with a high current can quickly restore the battery power. The charging rate can reach 1C or above, the charging voltage is lower, but the charging current will be limited to a particular range.
Supplementary charging stage
In contrast to the fast charging phase, the supplemental charging phase can also be referred to as the slow charging phase. The battery is not charged fully at the end of the quick charging phase, and additional supplemental charging is required. The supplementary charge rate generally does not exceed 0.3 c. As the battery voltage increases after the fast charge phase, the extra charge voltage increases and remains within a specific range.
Trickle charging stage
Later in the charging phase, it detects that the temperature rise exceeds the limit or the charging current decreases to a particular value. It starts charging at a lower current until the charging ends after certain conditions.
Internal power transformer and rectifier circuit
Its internal power transformer and rectifier circuit can be divided into AC output type and DC output type according to its output type; and wall type and table type according to the connection method. Each power adapter has a nameplate indicating the power supply, input/output voltage, and current, focusing on the range of input voltage.
Difference of application range
They are widely used in routers, telephone mainframes, game consoles, language transponders, walkmans, laptops, cell phones, and other devices. Most power adapters can automatically detect 100 ~ 240VAC (50/60Hz).Ccommonly used in electric cars, flashlights, and other common appliances. It usually charges the battery directly without going through any intermediate devices.
Summary
Because of different functions, we should not mix the power adapter and charger, especially when the power adapter connects to the battery. The adapter cannot complete the charging operation of the battery. If the battery has no protection device, it may directly cause damage to the battery. So please pay attention to whether it matches before using.
