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There have been many things said about Li-ion batteries that simply are not true or outdated information. Statements made have been mostly by manufacturers of underwater lighting who do not utilize Li-ion in their products. This is primarily due to the fact that they do not know how to build Li-ion batteries. Instead of learning how, they simply denounce them as dangerous and put fear into the consumer while directing them to their non Li-ion product. We cannot turn on a laptop or cell phone today without the use of Li-ion. Each day that goes by sees more and more everyday battery powered devices utilizing Li-ion. Li-ion is not only the future, it is today. It is funny that when NIMH batteries were introduced they suffered the same misinformation as Li-ion does today.
Some of the misinformation is that Li-ion will blow up if flooded in saltwater. This is simply not true in the Li-ion batteries we at Salvo use in our products. Li-ion batteries will suffer the same fate as NIMH batteries if flooded in saltwater, they will fail and you will need a new battery pack. If a Li-ion battery was over discharged, it will suffer the same fate as NIMH, a decrease in its life span. Li-ion packs built by Salvo contain protection to prevent over discharge, NIMH batteries do not have this protection. If a Li-ion battery is over charged the life span will greatly decrease. Li-ion batteries used by Salvo have protection against over charge. NIMH, which has no such protection, will violently off gas smoke and toxic fumes if over charged. Trust us on this one, we know. But that is a story for a different day. Another issue with NIMH batteries is charging. Many NIMH battery packs in underwater lights today use a series of strings of NIMH cells. NIMH battery manufacturers advise against this as charging is a major issue. We are sure people have seen the many threads in every dive forum discussing this issue with NIMH batteries. Li-ion batteries used in Salvo products has over come this with pc boards installed in our battery packs insuring a full charge every time along with all the protection features list above.
From our point of view, Li-ion provides a much safer environment for divers. Li-ion also provides much more power density in a much smaller and lighter package than NIMH batteries. Li-ion provides many more design possibilities than NIMH will ever offer for todays high tech diver.
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