Charge Rate
Charge rate is often denoted as C or C-rate and signifies a charge or discharge rate equal to the capacity of a battery in one hour. For a 1.6Ah battery, C = 1.6A. A charge rate of C/2 = 0.8A would need two hours, and a charge rate of 2C = 3.2A would need 30 minutes to fully charge the battery from an empty state, if supported by the battery. This also assumes that the battery is 100% efficient at absorbing the charge.
A battery charger may be specified in terms of the battery capacity or C rate; a charger rated C/10 would return the battery capacity in 10 hours, a charger rated at 4C would charge the battery in 15 minutes. Very rapid charging rates, 1 hour or less, generally require the charger to carefully monitor battery parameters such as terminal voltage and temperature to prevent overcharging and damage to the cells.
Read more about this topic: Battery Charger
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