Hand crank battery charging circuit build

Edited 2017 - changed recommended long life storage voltage and added comments on fast charging using some recent systems. RM.

What YOU do as regards several of these questions depends largely on what YOU are trying to achieve or test.

Discharge to cutoff is fully discharged (to whatever remaining % that voltage represents). That's the easy one :-)

Percent dropoff of current in tail sets final % of max possible charged reached. There was a superb table given here within last week or so. Can supply later if you don't find it.

Real Men™ plateau at 4.2V and tail down to 10% or even 5% of the constant current rate. This gets the battery full and knocks the stuffing out of it.

Others terminate the current tail at say 25% of cc value.

Optimum lifetime for ongoing usage is at about the end of the constant current phase. That makes it very easy to locate - charge at specified current until desired max voltage is reached, then charge at constant voltage as desired. Here "desired" is to stop immediately. This is the point at which batteries tend to give significantly longer whole of life mAh of storage without grossly reducing mAh capacity per cycle. This is liable to be the point where older "fast chargers" tell you they have finished. Actual % total claimed varies but probably 70% - 80% range.
Newer USB input fast chargers use the term differently. In the case of USB the maximum available charge current at 5V is 5A so that the battery MAY be able to be charged at ~= 6A for the CC part of the cycle using an efficient buck converter to drop voltage and raise current.
[For a buck converter: Vout x Iout = Vin x Iin x efficiency_of_conversion]
Some systems such as QuaqlComms Quick Charge system allow the use of higher charger voltages (9, 12, 20) with specifically designed equipment, so battery charging can be faster for a given voltage provided that the battery specification allows this.
Maximum charge rates for LiIon and LiPo batteries are usually C/1 = 1A per Ah of battery capacity.
At 5V, 5A a USB charger can charge a 6000 mAh 1 cell LiPO battery at max rate - so eg a 10,000 mAh single cell battery used in some larger tablets can not be charged at the allowed 10A ! rate.

For long life storage where actual stored capacity is unimportant, LiIon and LiPo cells should be stored at about 3.7V.

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Using cells without protection adds to the rich tapestry of life. As long as you don't mind the occasional scorch mark on the tapestry that's fine. Note that part of the protection is a one time high capacity fuse under the cap for when things get out of control. Undervoltage discharge destroys. Charging from below a certain voltage at full rate can get fun, I'm told. Charging at reduced rate can bring cell up, I'm told. Below another second level they say don't even think about it. I've had very poor success in trying to get LiIon to misbehave. I have a box of unprotected cells that are very uncooperative about venting with lame etc. Strange. Sony and Apple and even HP seem to be much better at it :-).

A battery's charge current is not determined by the basic battery size (eg: AA). The battery's capacity specification (in AH, mah) needs to be considered. A simple AA battery can have a wide range of capacity values, some are low cost low capacity while other are high cost high capacity. The best way to start with a charger design is to consult the manufacturer's specifications, most quality battery manufacturers provide this. In the specifications the required charge current, voltage, safety, and other charging parameters are often given.

In regard to building up a 20v assembly: Did you consider that battery packs in this range already exist? For example manufacturers such as Black & Decker have battery packs available for many of their portable products. 20v units are quite common. If you were to use one of these packs the charger could also be a standard Black & Decker part. If the large interface connector is a problem for your project you may be able to remove/modify it as needed. If you start with a known matched up pair of battery and charger you can save yourself a lot of time and effort. Not to mention you would know they work well together.

Note that many of the newer B&D battery products use Li battery types, though some other brands still use NiMH battery types. Some commercial battery packs are actually made up from stacks of several AA batteries.

Even if you choose not to use a commercial battery pack and charger for your project, looking at the manufacturer's specifications (and other hacks) of such a systems can give you a lot of good ideas on making your own.