Will lithium batteries break if left unused for a long time?

Yesterday, someone inquired on the official website of our lithium battery manufacturer, saying, 'I want to keep my assembled 18650 lithium battery at home for three months without turning it on or off. If I don't use it for more than three months, will the lithium battery break?'. Surprisingly, everyone has asked about this. So today, let's take a look at whether lithium batteries will quickly deteriorate if left unused for a long time?

lithium battery
Will lithium batteries break if not used for a long time? The editor tells you: Yes!!!
New batteries that have never been used: Generally, lithium batteries have a national standard charge capacity of 30% when they leave the factory. For example, the 18650 battery pack has a capacity of 14.8V/2200MAH and a shipment volume of around 600-700MAH. But the cells of lithium battery packs will discharge on their own, which is commonly known as leakage.
There are many electronic components on the protective board of lithium batteries, IC、MOS、 Capacitors, resistors, and so on, they themselves constantly consume electrical energy, coupled with the self discharge of the battery itself (rechargeable batteries include lithium batteries, polymer batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries, nickel hydrogen batteries), although these self discharges are very small, once per hour, just like lithium batteries, polymers, lithium iron phosphate batteries, nickel hydrogen batteries in ordinary use. Although these self discharges are very small, perhaps once per hour, they can reach 1-2 milliamps.
Taking 14.8V/2200MAH as an example, about 30% of the 600-700MAH battery capacity at the factory will completely leak out within a year. If the battery pack is installed in the product, coupled with some electronic components on the product, it may leak faster and take less time. When the lithium battery is fully discharged, the separator paper of the battery cell is completely dry, and the electrolyte is completely "0", which means it cannot be activated or filled at all. Some customers may say that your battery is much better when it is charged at the factory. It is indeed much better to address this issue, but the battery is already fully charged at the factory, which is very unsafe. Therefore, the industry standard is that everyone should charge it by 30%.

Usage: Put the battery into a protected state after use, which means that the battery is basically discharged (in fact, there is only a little remaining power). Compared to normal use, when the lithium battery pack is discharged to the protection voltage, the protection board automatically shuts off. At this point, the battery pack is almost depleted, with only about 5% remaining. Under normal circumstances, it will be used up after charging. Sometimes, when you are too busy, you forget to charge it again in a few days. Basically, after half a month or a month, the charging problem will not be significant. But if this one is used up and left uncharged for three or four months without charging, it is almost useless.

For these issues, as long as you do the following, there will be no problem.
Do not leave the new battery too far apart when it has never been used before. Especially for new batteries that have not been used, don't throw them away for four or five months. If it really can't come out, remember to recharge the battery!
Secondly, if the goods have already been shipped, they need to be explained to the customer in the product manual. If not charged for a long time, the battery of the new product will fail. When the battery is low during normal use, it is important to charge it as soon as possible. Otherwise, the battery will also be damaged.