What is a gel battery and is it better than lithium

Gel battery is a very common battery. Gel polymer electrolyte battery means that the electrolyte in the separator, positive and negative electrodes appears in the form of gel polymer electrolyte.

Nevertheless, the benefits of gel batteries such as flexible designs, easy maintenance, resistance to vibration, and a long-life span. However, proper care should be maintained to enhance the life cycle of the gel battery.

Because of the increasing prices of oil and the flux of population, people are shifting to the new form of energy, and this need is met by the provision of gel batteries. Now you must be wondering if gel batteries are the best option? So, let’s dig a little deeper into gel batteries.

What is a gel battery

A gel battery is a rechargeable lead-acid battery that is regulated by a valve and needs zero maintenance. It consists of two plates of lead as electrodes, and the electrolyte is dilute sulphuric acid. The chemical reaction takes place in a viscous substance. Therefore, it is known as a gel battery.
The gel-like mixture gives electrolyte a suitable thickness so that gel batteries can be operated at any place without the emission of fumes.

Applications of a gel battery

Electric equipment

Gel batteries can be used in electrical equipment just like lithium-ion batteries. For example for hoverboard battery, electric vehicles, motorcycle battery, and camcorders.

Maintenance appliances

Gel batteries are equally useful in recreational vehicles, floor scrubbers, electric mops, and golf carts batteries.

Renewable source of energy

As a storage battery, gel battery can store energy for long period, people are looking forward to more use of gel batteries to shift toward an off-grid setup.

Solar systems

Because of its properties, a gel battery can also be used as an energy backup by being incorporated into solar systems. By doing so it can turn into an affordable method of powering cabins and rooms at any time.

Pros and cons of gel battery

Pros of gel battery

No maintenance
As a gel battery consists of gel instead of liquid, so, there is no use for maintenance.
Leak-free
Because of gel battery is valve-regulated that removes excess pressure, it makes the encasement leak-free and easy to keep.
Resistant to vibration
Gel batteries can withstand extreme vibrations and other outer impacts. As they have a gel inside them, they can easily absorb the impact and thus you can use them as great batteries for items such as four-wheelers.
Minimum fume
As they are made of gel so there is minimum to no fume emission during working. So, they can be used anywhere even in places with less ventilation.

Cons of gel battery

Prolonged charging
Charging a gel battery requires extra time because it is the gel inside, not the liquid. Furthermore, you cannot leave it charging for a longer period because it can cause irreversible damage to the electrolyte inside a gel battery.
Heal challenge
A gel battery’s life span can also be shortened when highly heated because of work. It is a major drawback with many batteries and a gel battery has no exception. Overheat reduces the life cycle of the gel battery, greatly affecting its efficiency as well.

Short life
Like other lead-acid batteries, gel batteries have a much shorter cycle life than lithium-ion batteries.
Price
As the benefits of gel batteries are immense so is its worth. You are buying the ease of gel batteries at a high cost.

How do you charge a gel battery

In regular cases, when a gel battery is working in a proper way you can charge it with a regular charger or AGM or gel cell batteries. But in case of extreme discharge or when a gel battery becomes dead, you can charge it without getting into any complex way. You can charge a battery at home or in a garage because as we have discussed earlier that a gel battery discharge fewer fumes. To do so you have to follow the following steps.

1.When you are using it for a car, turn on the flashlights and other components to check when it will discharge to zero.
2.When lights become dim, turn off them and other components.
3.Squeeze the clamp’s handles of the battery charge with your hands and open the jaws.
4.Place the open jaws of black cable and release them on the terminal labeled as (-).
5.Repeat the same step with a red cable but clamp it with the +ve terminal of the gel battery.
6.Set the charge settings according to the capacity of the battery by looking at the charger.
7.At start charge at the lowest charge setting is commonly marked “trickle-charge”. If that sign is not mentioned then it is advised to charge at a lower level of around 20% lower than the voltage of the gel battery’s output.
8.Put the plug of the battery charger into the socket and that’s how your battery will start charging.
9.Leave it for 24 hours at charging and after that your gel battery will be fit for use again.

Is gel battery the same as lithium

No, they are different batteries that differ by their capacity to battery material, cycle life, efficiency, charge rate, and energy density.
● Gel batteries have less life cycle than a lithium-ion battery
● The lithium-ion battery can handle a deeper discharge than a gel battery.
● A gel battery takes longer to charge compared to a lithium-ion battery.
● The energy density of a lithium-ion battery is also higher than a gel battery.

Can you mix lithium and gel batteries

No, because their specifications are quite different, voltage and capacity, etc. may be different.

What is better – Lithium or gel battery

A lithium battery is better than a gel battery because of the following reasons.
● Gel batteries have less life cycle than a lithium-ion battery
● The lithium-ion battery can handle a deeper discharge than a gel battery
● A gel battery takes longer to charge compared to a lithium-ion battery.
● The energy density of a lithium-ion battery is also higher than a gel battery.

Comparison between LiFePO4 battery and a gel battery

Following are the comparison points between these two types of batteries that also represents the advantages of iron phosphate battery.
Lithium iron phosphate batteries have a lot of benefits in comparison with gel batteries. Some of them include safe to use, no maintenance, longer life cycle, lightweight, and better charge and discharge efficiency.
These are the advantages of lithium iron phosphate batteries that we see rare in gel batteries.

1.Longer life cycle
The life span of lithium iron phosphate batteries is way longer than gel batteries. Where a lithium battery can last over 4000 cycles before 80%DOD, gel batteries can last just two years.

2.Lightweight
Due to the high density of lithium iron phosphate battery, it has less weight and little mass than a gel battery.

3.Better safety
When we look for the higher safety from a battery, we mostly go for the highest quality cells as well. As lithium iron phosphate battery has higher quality than gel battery, it can provide better safety as well.

4.High charge and discharge efficiency
Lithium iron phosphate battery has greater efficiency due to the high charge and discharge rates that a gel battery can offer. It is easier to start heavy engines and motor cars with a lithium iron phosphate battery than with a gel battery.

5.Withstand the high temperature
One of the advantages of a lithium iron phosphate battery is that it can work with higher working temperature (-20-60℃). This quality makes it suitable for many appliances. On the other hand, a gel battery can exhaust in extreme heat conditions.

Can you charge a gel battery with a regular charger

You can charge your gel battery with a regular charger. However, it can also be charged on AGM or gel cell batteries. As we have mentioned in the method, gel batteries should be charged at low voltage first. Also, the gel battery chargers have microprocessors that gather information and set the voltage according to that.

Can I replace gel batteries with lithium

As we have seen that lithium-ion battery has more efficiency than a gel battery so, to replace a lithium battery with a gel battery you need 4 gel batteries to match the same life cycle, efficiency, and density.