What is mAh? (Battery Capacity) - Electronics Basics 18

In this video, we shine a little light on how battery capacity works, those mah ratings and different voltages can sometimes be confusing.
If you would like to support me to keep Simply Electronics going, you can become a Patron at / simplyelectronics

[@flowstate_link]

Excellent video. The way you explain voltage and mah relationship in regards to parallel and series is absolutely excellent.

[@BURIALGROUND]

Thank you for explaining this in such a way that it cannot be misunderstood. Simple, and to the point without a bunch bs that takes away from the lesson.

[@peshmadscientist1833]

This is an excellent tutorial of often misunderstood concepts regarding batteries , their capacity and products of their series and parallel connections.

[@ashy1423]

Thank you for this explanation, I never took into account depletion in the past and wondered why my appliance wasn’t last as long. Now I know 👍 Stay well Ash from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@truthreigns7]

This was very helpful. Even though there is allot of info to process, you explained it in a way that truly helped.

[@Auto_trends4u]

After searching so many videos about mah,amphere and discharge and battery capacities and effects of series & parllel finally cleared all my doubts thanks a lot sir 💐👌🏻

[@AdrienDelstanche]

Wow that was very well explained! Almost got confusing at some point so I just rewatched the last 10 seconds and got it. Thanks for the lesson!

[@DiffEQ]

Too bad it's incorrect. Sharing incorrect information should not be heralded as something good. Apparently, "knowledge" is now subjective? Look up Peukert's Law, which is over 100 years old. There... now you have some real knowledge.

[@fisfia]

If only my teachers were this good at explaining this 20 years ago. Thanks for sharing your outstanding ability to make these things seem simple and clear!

[@guttagame1804]

I am by no means a person of hyperintelligence, but this guy makes it so easy to understand what I used to believe was in the same realm of Learning or Cantonese(ya kno, fuggin impossible😅)

[@markben145]

A good explanation, just add a little thing, once the voltage is more than 3 volts and no regulator of voltage lamps will use more than 60 mAh and the calculation will change, there are a few other ingredients but the explanation is good for beginners

[@ejkitchen]

Fantastic videos! Keep up the good work. This is a great series. I really like your approach of mixing the circuit emulator with the physical world. This episode on batteries was really good. I especially enjoyed the fact that you spoke about all the different ways to look at the voltage (ie nominal, stated)

[@SimplyElectronicsOfficial]

Thank You Eric :)

[@MrDeaweber]

@@SimplyElectronicsOfficial yes I'll mention in support of all the intelligent commments already made = it really is a confusing subject at first and I think you somehow managed to sort it out without trying to hard which is brilliant in its own way. Yes well done sir.

[@breckenbriggs381]

i know Im asking the wrong place but does anyone know a tool to get back into an instagram account? I somehow lost my password. I love any help you can offer me!

[@kelvinjameson3764]

@Brecken Briggs Instablaster =)

[@breckenbriggs381]

@Kelvin Jameson Thanks for your reply. I found the site through google and I'm trying it out atm. Takes a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@Chevifier]

Wait a second, lemmi start the video over. XD

[@syeadshah6026]

2

[@sunshynff]

Very well explained!! I would like to add/ask something, at least as far as Lithium Polymer (Lipo) high performance batteries go. These type are widely used in racing/freestyle drones that I fly. We call them "packs" because as I'm sure you know, they do not have hard shell, just individual 3.7v (nominal) cells, in series wrapped together in plastic and then then shrink wrapped with logo and manufacturer info. I'm not sure if it's due to nature of high performance or just the way our hobby has always done it, but if any individual cell drops below 3.0v it's taken out of service by most pilots. Now some, myself included, after running a few tests and it still seems to be holding a charge and the cells are relatively balanced within 0.5v of each other, I'll wrap a piece of colored tape, (blue for me) around it and still use for accessory equipment, but not as a flight battery. Have you heard of this practice in other fields that use Lipo batteries, or is our hobby just overly careful?

[@dipakpoddar7753]

Thanking a lot for sharing your knowledge. :)

[@DiffEQ]

Sharing incorrect information should not be heralded as something good. Apparently, "knowledge" is now subjective? Look up Peukert's Law, which is over 100 years old. There... now you have some real knowledge.

[@numberoneappgames]

This video was super helpful. Thank you so much.

[@thandavamurthyg5766]

Very good information. I expected it

[@zuraweb]

Complimenti,hai trattato in modo chiaro l’argomento

[@MieczyslawPawelKolenda]

Btw, im a 2nd year student studying electrical engineering, bachelor of science (BSc) and i couldnt make sence of mAh. So i had to watch this vid :)

[@alisonhj]

Thank you for such good explanation!

[@extras6604]

Sir, can we combine two batteries of different voltage and capacity

[@JeffLewistennis]

Great video! I'm trying to power a 5V sensor with a 3.7v booster/charger pcb. What's the minimum mAh battery you think I should use? I have a 120maH lipo on it now and the board seems to dwindle and looses power 😞. Thanks for your time!

[@skaterawalsien6246]

Good & explained very well... if u multiply 20x 3000 mah = 60,000 mah= 60ah...

[@abudabidibibudi]

big respect from montenegro

[@kurddata5228]

It is a very simple explanation. I thank you so much

[@xxxd6068]

This helped me a lot, Fantastic job, keep it up

[@beastarsgouhin8065]

You’ve helped me a lot, thanks!

[@DiffEQ]

Sharing incorrect information should not be heralded as something good. Apparently, "knowledge" is now subjective? Look up Peukert's Law, which is over 100 years old. There... now you have some real knowledge.

[@craigmikkelsen3206]

Hello, You have a great channel. Thank you. I am a complete newbie and would like you guidance please. I have puchased a hot tub and it draws 2800 watts. What would / could be the best route for me to follow to utilize batteries and inverters to be able to run the the hot tub. I am thinking about having two battery banks, One being charged via electric chargers run off the inverter whilst concurrently running the hot tub. when those batteries are charged, i would switch over the complete setup and charge and run the inverter from the other now charged bank. Please give me the pro's and con's and what sort of setup i should look at. Thankyou, Craig.

[@deepestearth7185]

I was so confused but now I get it

[@ramonroman7739]

Question I have a hair clipper that’s a 3.6 volt motor and was with a 3.7 2200 mah battery 🔋 but I put a 3400 mah battery in it and it increased the speed is there a way I can get it to go more faster with more torque

[@KTHKUHNKK]

Hello I just subscribed and hit the Bell. I have one question please. I just purchased a battery for my Sony camera that is. 8800 mah Is there a way I can test it to see if that's actually what it is when it was purchased ? Thanks. Keith

[@cezartrasfiero6443]

It adds my knowledge. Thank you.

[@TrentSterling]

I knew I'd have to research batteries soon. Can't be using USB power for everything! Thanks for this!

[@nduek11]

Great video!!! Is there any tool that i can use in order to check the battery capacity (in mAh)?

[@gametrue2229]

It should say it on the battery

[@christiannielsen3863]

you mean how battery life is left? no not really. you can measure the voltage of the battery and look up how low the voltage is when battery is fully charged and fully discharged.

[@ctg8563]

So the higher mAh just means it will last longer when item is in use? IE if it normally last 1 hour a higher mAh wil make it last more than 1 hour? Does it affect the other items in the device like a motor or a fuse to blow?

[@YahiyaMulla]

Hi, I have a simple question for which I did not get an answer. I.e If I’m having a 3.7 v lipo battery then what should be the amount of voltage which I should provide to charge it? How do you calculate it? What if I'm having a 12 v battery. Is there any formula for it and if yes then help me out with this.

[@wasiuddinahmad6837]

Very informative video dear Sir

[@anshsingh1559]

thank you Sir!

[@cognetic]

Wow actually learned something. Thanks guy with an accent!

[@SimplyElectronicsOfficial]

You're welcome :)

[@bendude6748]

So if I have two 20V batteries and one is 2.0AH and the other is 4.0AH will the 4.0AH just last longer or will it also be more powerful?

[@numatechprototypes222]

but what if you have batterys in series with different capacities how do you calculate the amp hours of the overall battery pack

[@cyclonudista]

I guess it´s not really good to have batteries in series with different capacity. I am not even sure about the answer to your question, but probably it will have an ´average capacity´...

[@lvtbus3167]

Hey, with a multimeter, can I measure the mAh of 1 or 2 AAA batteries? 3rd grade experiment for my daughter. 2 AAA in Series, parallel and S&P. Trying to show the mAh increase or how it stays the same with the voltage increase. Am also using a bulb for visual confirmation.

[@Nisandpinku2211]

My laptop battery new cell is 4.2V. To test it's mAh, should I start measuring time only when it has touched 3.7V, Or, should I measure time from 4.2V?

[@dyh]

When people said "milliampe hour" in their smartphone reviews I thought they were saying "million power" I've been getting it wrong this whole time😭

[@ramboyt7767]

😂

[@ankitrajsingh0404199]

Hi i made 3s8p battery pack with bms protection and 12vled20 with a12v fan so how long it will last and i charge it with 12v 1amp charger

[@kevinsono]

Would a 180 ohlm resistor in series to the battery also work? When lighting up the LED's?

[@Sleepwalker9]

May I ask what will happen if we parallel the 3.7V battery with the 1.2V battery with the LED light? Can we benefit from the both world?(more mAh and high voltage), I suppose it doesn't work like that but I don't know why.

[@JasonMasters]

Voltage can be thought of as being similar to water pressure. The higher the voltage, the higher the pressure. So if you put a 3.7V battery in parallel with a 1.2V battery, the 1.2V battery will be over-charged by the 3.7V battery and eventually fail, possibly catastrophically. (ie BANG) You can't just put several 1.2V batteries in series (like to create 3.6V) and then put that in parallel with a 3.7V battery because the battery chemistries are so different that one will still end up being charged by the other, which will at best cause the charge to be wasted and at worst will damage one or both batteries. So the short answer is no, because of differences in both voltage and chemistry.

[@Hundert1]

What's a good mR resistance reading for a brand new Samsung Q30 18640 15A button top unprotected battery? What's mR mean actually? I'm using a Zanflare C4 charger tester. Thanks much

[@agustinlawtaro]

Excellent!

[@bestyav5529]

I didn't get you well . Kindly Clear my doubt 1) the mah read on the battery don't exactly tell us how long it will take for the battery to get discharged because the voltage will not always remain constant and it depends on what battery we use .this is true but you added a point saying if we know the Capacity of the battery and divide it by the current then only we'll get the real time it will take. But the mah noted on the battery is of course the Capacity right? If yes it'll also not give us the real time I'll take. 2) If you say in parallel voltage is always constant then there would be no discharge right?

[@GAUTAMKUMAR-vo2ki]

Nice explain

[@oim8254]

Why does the voltage supplied by the 1.2V battery reduces over time instead of constantly supply 1.2v at any instance of time?

[@manishhalder122]

Liked the video but please give a written format for visual learning please please

[@CHRISMCRGTAGS]

6x18650 batteries and im using 12v bms..how long it takes to fully charge.im using 12 v 1a charger.hope you can help me about this.

[@stephn6318]

Thank you

[@akshaybhawari9405]

Hello sir I have Question If In laptop using 2800mAh battery lithium ion cell and suppose we replace One cell with 2800mAh battery then what will the the condition on laptop? It's get trouble? Can you please make video on Lenovo laptop Z50-70 repair battery ?

[@storyteller5569]

Oh I have a doubt.... You are given some batteries of 6V and 100mah each. What can be the best possible combination of batteries, and resisters so that it can run a load of 300mah and 12V. Please tell me the answer... I am confused

[@junaidqasim9227]

I have a shaving trimmer which uses two cells of ni-cd 10000mah and 1.2 v What if i use 20000mah or higher ? It will last long?

[@keithmosaic3703]

so are we saying the batteries last longer when in parallel than in series for drawing the same amount of power????

[@stonedwookie9916]

sorry if this is a dumb question and anyone feel free to answer. i got a new battery pack for my remote control digger. the mah on my original battery was 400mah. the new replacement battery pack i bought is 2400mah. the question is .. will my charger still charge the batteries or do i need to get a new charger that matches the mah.... or is it unrelated and doesn't matter? please help lol

[@bertkooijmans4769]

Thanks very informative and clearly explained now of to create battery packs haha

[@g.avivek]

How to calculate the charging voltage and current for 3 or multiple li ion batteries connected in series & How to calculate the charging voltage and current for 3 or multiple li ion batteries connected in parallel

[@hridaiherbalessentials8640]

What should be the battery capacity for a solar street light of 12 v 15 w to light for one night that is 12 hours?

[@jgc5782]

Thanx for the video brother...correct me if Im wrong......according to the data sheet the Maximum Continuous Discharging Current is 4400Ma or 2C...for each cell....therefore I have 10 cells in parallel and the total Maximum Continuous Discharging Current then it would be 44000Ma or 44A for my lithium ion battery.. my battery is 13S10P 52V 25Ah...

[@johnberry5339]

This is a Great tutorial thanks for sharing, can I ask a question please. I have five 1.2v 900mAh batteries in series for a solar lamp, how do I calculate the charge rate please? Thanks John 😊 not getting enough sun to use the solar panel 😪

[@cyclonudista]

1.2*5= 6v So the panels should be slightly above 6v (7v or 8v) in order to charge the batteries. I hope this is what you were asking...

[@johnberry5339]

@@cyclonudista Hi, and thanks for the reply. I also need to know what to set the current rate to? 100mAh 200, 300, 150? Do you know what I mean mate 🤔 Thanks John 😊

[@PraveenKumar-kb2gf]

How long it will charge the li batteries? That calculation please show.

[@Memry-Man]

So should I use the fully charged voltage or nominal voltage when calculating how big to make a pack?

[@sufyanparkar9790]

Nominal

[@savvasbambos2669]

230 amp battery with 12 volts, how many hours of 99watt tv run on it????? Thank you in advance🙏🙏🙏

[@Hadii127]

Thanks 👍

[@DEGOZMEDIA]

i want to knw which one is more prefareable parrallel or series connection?

[@omelette429]

Very interesting. Thank you.

[@lalu225]

Very useful indeed

[@snicksnicks]

I want to know the complicated calculation to determine how long it would power the circuit without dropping below 3V...

[@KennethRoscales]

My lithium ion battery is 24volts 30,000mah how long does it last?

[@eye1real]

In series current wont changw right? But what if u series different current?like for example., 2v 5amp 3v 3amp How about in parralel?

[@musmustafa7900]

Thank you for this video.. I'm new to 18650 rechargeable batteries so excuse the maybe silly question i'm about to ask. What does or is the difference between 3200mah or a 3600mah or 3700mah? Does it last longer the more mah? and does it take longer to charge the higher the mah? and is there anything else? I thank you in advance for clarification? Peace!

[@stephanc7192]

It is the capacity. The higher it is, the longer it will power your device.

[@sudheerkumarogeti7687]

SIMPLE & Clearly Explained. good job

[@akaoula]

Thank you for this great video, i have question, if i connect 3 Li-On batteries in series but the capacity of each one is different than the other one, how can i calculate the capacity in this case?

[@robertparker4884]

I think it would be the mean capacity but im not totally sure🤔

[@ariangx1929]

how do you get 60mA for the led consumption ? 3 led x 3v= how to get 60?

[@ahmedrumble]

I know its late, but anyway the single led used in this series requires 3v to draw 20mA so when you connect 3 leds in parallel, and there is a power source with the power of 3V then the entire current drawn from the power source is 60mA which comes from 3x20mA

[@ankitrajsingh0404199]

Its output is 11.1 nominal and at full it shows 12.3 last

[@Soniboy84]

What is the maximum current you can draw from an AAA battery?

[@JasonMasters]

The simple answer is that it depends on the battery. It also depends on the state of charge of the battery. A carbon-zinc battery might only be able to supply a couple of amps when new, while an alkaline battery may be able to supply over 5 amps. The maximum amps the battery can supply will also drop as its charge drops, and the amount of change is not the same for all battery chemistries or even for all batteries with the same chemistry. But that's not the full story, since the voltage of a battery tends to go down as you try to pull more amps from it. Carbon-zinc batteries are not as good as alkaline batteries in that respect, and in turn NiMh batteries tend to be even better at holding their voltage under load.

[@rahulsharma-of5lu]

will the voltage required by 3 led of 3 V each is 9 v or 3 v??

[@RickinICT]

3 volts if they are connected in parallel, and 9 volts if connected in series.

[@ajmalrashidvt1851]

What is the resultant potential when 1.5v and 5v batteries are connected in parallel?????????????????

[@Pitusha]

I tried to simulate three parallels batteries like those on Every Circuit, with a LED lamp, and it shortcircuited haha... it seems you need to use diodes to do this, amiright?

[@MrDeaweber]

@Nature sky If you take the time to really look at your comment you can easily see that your lacking something in your personal growth cycle since middle school outbursts usually end in middle school otherwise middle school outbursts with adult themes would be common instead of a red flag calling attention to your incomplete growth resulting in your unhealthy ego. Not the end of the world but the sooner you take on your issue the better = Good luck.

[@ashantimundy7603]

I freaking love you mannn oooo

[@farazsid4270]

what if we put two batteries of different capacities in parallel?? what will be over all current??

[@paramandans]

So basically the more mAH the longer the light will last?

[@adrians.4311]

Yes

[@puspamadak]

Yes, but it will depend on the current drawn from the battery.

[@STartist.]

@Nature sky what the fuck. Creep.

[@bravosix8171]

Also depends on the voltage.

[@rithotyn]

A clearer answer would be, with all other variables being equal, yes.

[@Rush50101]

Hi great video / i bought a hd Camcorder 24MP 1080P Full HD 30FPS Vlogging Camera IR Night Vision Camcorders Camera Recorder 16X Digital Zoom Camera with The Pause Function and Remote (NEW07). It came with NP-40 3.7v 1500mah batteries. Can I use 3.7v 1700mah? Will it damage the camera and is 1700 better? Or should i just stick with the 1500??? Thanks Rush

[@brianmuehlher5330]

Can using the 18650 with a higher MAh hurt my electric RC car?

[@virajytube]

Thanks for the great information, But tell me how does all the battery capacity is forced to be a single battery capacity in series battery connection? To me each battery is a box filled with x amount of electrons eagerly waiting to travel the world from -ve terminal to +ve terminal. Can you please elaborate?

[@mwint1982]

The smallest capacity battery will die first and even cause the voltage to drop. That's why a BMS helps to keep a cell group from over discharging. Cells are typically matched when creating series and parallel connections.

[@michealgrondin2357]

I have a 12 volt 2:00 amp an hour battery it says it runs for 20 hours does that mean it stays at 2 amps for 20 hours?

[@RinksRides]

20hr is a type of discharge rating.. "X" amps * 20hr. Hope this helps.

[@Dileepkumarp]

What about using a zenor diode for constant voltage output instead of using a resistor? Wouldn't it be more practical?

[@MaDaFaKaZ-mx8mv]

Thanks dude👍🙂 thats was helpful idea! Now i understand what is comparison of SERIES and PARALLEL to combine the two batteries "18650 3.7v 👍🔋😅 Maraming SALAMAT!🇵🇭 'Thank you very much! 👍😁

[@raphaelambibonsu8071]

shouldn't the capacity decrease in a series connection? for example, 3 times lesser if all 3 are of the same capacities?

[@dilipkn7339]

i didn't got u

[@settingshadow]

what does 2600mah 40a mean in 18650 batts?

[@nicotorres5167]

thanks for sharing like this video i know new idea

[@manjulaar9203]

Good stuff

[@bobvipassana6706]

This is a great channel. :) I have a question, SE, it goes like this: I've been trying to measure the amps in a variety of batteries using a super-cheapo DT-830B multimeter. It's really not a very satisfying or reassuring experience. The multimeter readings simply don't tally with the indications on the batteries. And i've just watched a video suggesting measuring amps of batteries isn't recommended. Which leaves open the original question: How can i figure how what the remaining capacity (in amps) remains in my batteries. Do i have to use the volts reading as a rough proxy ? (eg relatively low volts == low amps) Is there a correlation coefficient that will allow me to calculate an 'estimated amps' from volts ? Thanks to anyone (and everyone) that volunteers an answer :-)

[@firmabugiii]

You could measure the capacity by measuring the voltage of the battery. This will help you make an idea about how much charge the battery has but it won't give you an exact answer it Ah. By measuring the amps you will see how many amps the battery would deliver in case of a short-circuit but i don't think this could be useful in any way.

[@JasonMasters]

Short answer: There's no way to easily do what you want. Longer answer: The only accurate way to do what you want is to use a circuit which measures how much current has gone into a battery and how much has gone out, plus the voltage. That way it can keep track of the actual battery capacity since the actual capacity will inevitably go down with usage. You can find a reasonably good state of charge for Lithium cell batteries based on their voltage, but the only way to measure actual capacity is to monitor current drain along with voltage during actual use.

[@CyberscoutX]

I read that the perfect temperature for charge/discharge of li-ion batteries is 27 degree celsius, my question is: Is it possible to build a battery cooling system with Paltier elements to keep batteries always at 27 degree celsius, to get max power output ?

[@JasonMasters]

Of course it's possible. The problem is that the power consumed by the heating and cooling will probably be more than the power saved by keeping the battery at a constant temperature.

[@guptaindranil]

If I have a cell at 4.2V and 2500mAh and later it drops to about 3.7V then how to find the capacity left at this voltage?

[@ckimsey77]

Generally the cells are rated as an average capacity from nominal voltage to discharge minimum, as you cannot drain a Li-ion battery to a really low voltage without causing significant damage to the cathode, and they fairly quickly fall from 4.2 down to 3.7-3.9 much faster than the remainder of the discharge cycle. Roughly, depending on discharge rate as overdischarging can cause heat build up and damage the cell, you should only lose maybe 10-12% max of the capacity going from 4.2 down to 3.7 if that much. They charge at 4.2 applied volts when charging, but this is above the operating voltage and the cell will slowly drop on its own after removing charger below 4.2V. Assuming 10% loss is pretty close in most cases to approximate difference lost outside operating range. Below 2.7-2.8V, the voltage will rapidly decrease and eventually damage the battery so capacity below that is usually not factored into battery rating.

[@stephanc7192]

You can look at datasheet

[@sidharths4096]

Does this mean that a 3000mAh battery can supply or a device can draw a max current of 3A ?