I recently came across two interesting blog posts on The Connecting Edge technology forum, about lithium batteries, the ubiquitous and sometimes misunderstood technology that keeps popping up in the news. The posts, called “The Care & Feeding of Lithium Batteries,” are by Todd Marcucci, VP Research & Development, Good Earth Energy Conservation, Inc.

The first post (Part 1, March 5) offers a helpful primer on the types of existing technologies since, as Todd says, many design engineers aren’t aware of all the lithium battery chemistries that are available. But it was the second post (Part 2, March 6) — which points out differences between rechargeable batteries — that really caught my eye. In it he concludes: “In all, lithium chemistries offer some great advantages over others, but at a cost of greater care and management.” This got me thinking about circuit protection for lithium batteries. Keep reading…