AW 18650 not charging

[jdz2040]

Hey everyone im not sure if this is the proper place for such a question, but i couldn't find any other forums or sub forums for battery related questions. but any way. I let a buddy of mine borrow one of my AW 18650 batts for his first gen Zmax and i just got it back. put it in the charger and its about the fifth hour on the charger(trustfire TR-001) and the light has yet to turn green.

Now prior to lending the battery it only took about 3-4 hrs to charge, and i typically charge my batts right when i feel they need them of when my Vamo v2 told me the charge was low. So knowing how my friend is i know he didnt charge the battery right away when it was low and let the battery sit in the pv for a week or two.

on another note the two batteries he got with his Zmax, which are the blue unprotected batts i believe are both not charging either. So is this a sign that my AW is now dead too and unable to recharge? i dont know too much about batteries yet but i do know that over discharging them and over charging can be damaging to the battery. Could this be a chase of over charging/discharging? is there any hope for my AW or should i just let it go and buy a new one.

Any input would be greatly appreciated or if some one could point me to where my concerns/questions could be addressed.

 

[Dakota Jim]

hate to say it but it sounds like your buddy is battery killer - did he only have two batteries to start with or did he decide to cut his own losses and asked to use one of your batteries to try?

Has he talked about the awesome subohm coils he has started building?
or he has a short somewhere

- Keep your friends close, but your batteries closer

I would go to the tech forum here

Ecigarette Technical Issues

 

[Topwater Elvis]

Could be your charger isn't working correctly or the batteries have been over discharged.

I'd start by getting a good charger and see if it will resurrect that battery. The trsutfire tr001 is a very untrustworthy charger.

 

[jdz2040]

Dakota- yea his blue batts came with his Zmax and i let him borrow my 18650 cause his own batteries weren't charging. I figured he had a bad charger and not his poor care of batteries. Clearly grave mistake on my part, i really should have done my battery research earlier on. and my buddy has no knowledge at all about atomizers or RBAs let alone basic knowladge of ohms, watts, and volts. Hes as Newbie as it gets. he vapes cause its more convenient then carrying a hookah around.

Topwater- my trust fire has been working fine for me so far so i never thought of the possibility that the issue could be that, but what charger would you recommend? I've looked into getting a nelcore i think it was, you know the 4 bay charger right now i have the TR-001 for my 18350, 14500, and 18650. as well as a TR-005 for my 26650s.

 

[Topwater Elvis]

Nitecore I2 or i4
Xtar vp1
Xtar wp2s or wp2II
xtrar sp2
Pila ibc

Right now Im using an efest luc multifunction, some folks around here don't care for efest products.
Ive had very good service from it so far, it has out lived all of the above Ive owned.
I won't buy or use anything with "fire" in the name, some folks do and have good luck with them.

 

[Baditude]

That Trustfire charger is one of the worst on the market for mod batteries. Might be good for flashlight batteries, for high powered mod batteries not so much.

I also recommend a Pila, Nitecore Intellicharger (i2 or i4) or one of the better XTar chargers. RTD Vapor is a great place to find them.

There's a chance that one of the top end chargers like a Pila or Xtar VP-1 can revive your AW batteries.

Heres some information on mod batteries you should read:

Battery Basics for Mods: IMR or Protected?

Deeper Understanding of Mod Batteries

 

[jdz2040]

Baditude- thx for the links and ill look into replacing both my chargers.

I appriciate the charger suggestions, i had no idea that Trustfire chargers were looked so down upon in the community.
and topwater i too happen to be one who does not care for efest products. Mainly due to how much people talk badly about their batteries.

Now are trustfire batteries as looked down upon as efests are? cause i read on a few flashlight forums that many of them trust their preformace, but of course its in terms for flashlight use. any thought from anyone on other batteries aside from AW?

 

[Traver]

The first thing you should do is get a multimeter to periodically check your batteries. Every vapor should have one of these. It is important to know the condition of your battery for safety reasons. You really don't want a bad battery or a charger that isn't functioning properly burning your house down.

I use the VP 1 charger because it has an led for each bay and tells me the charge when I put a battery in to charge and what the voltage is when I take it off. It can also rejuvenate a battery if it has been discharged to much and is otherwise usable but I have never used this feature.

 

[retired1]

Any battery with "fire" in the name shouldn't be trusted. At all.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Baditude- thx for the links and ill look into replacing both my chargers.

I appriciate the charger suggestions, i had no idea that Trustfire chargers were looked so down upon in the community.
and topwater i too happen to be one who does not care for efest products. Mainly due to how much people talk badly about their batteries.

Now are trustfire batteries as looked down upon as efests are? cause i read on a few flashlight forums that many of them trust their preformace, but of course its in terms for flashlight use. any thought from anyone on other batteries aside from AW?

My first PV was a Mech Mod that included TrustFire Batts and charger. Had an issue where the charger wouldn't shut off leading to the batts becoming overcharged and HOT. Thankfully in my early days I had listened to Vets and never left my batts charging unattended.
I use Panasonic batts and the i2 Nitecore Intellicharger and have been very pleased with them. Panasonic used to be a supplier to AW for batts but idk now.
Also very important is to buy from a reputable Vendor.

 

[emus]

If batt is discharged below critical voltage it is likely ruined.

I have a trustfire TR-001 and it is a good charger.

Has two independent channels and charges at 4.23v.

Charges at a slower but safer current of 500ma.

Charges Li-Ion and IMR, 18350, 18650, etc.

 

[zoiDman]

... I let a buddy of mine borrow one of my AW 18650 batts for his first gen Zmax and i just got it back. put it in the charger and its about the fifth hour on the charger(trustfire TR-001) and the light has yet to turn green.

...

Was your Buddy the same guy that posted how made his 1st RBA Coil and it was .2 Ohms?

---

Seriously though. It doesn't sound like the problems is on your end. It Sounds like the Problem is with what your Buddy is using.

If your Buddy's charger is Wacked, could it have ruined his Batteries and then yours?

 

[Topwater Elvis]

Baditude- thx for the links and ill look into replacing both my chargers.

I appriciate the charger suggestions, i had no idea that Trustfire chargers were looked so down upon in the community.
and topwater i too happen to be one who does not care for efest products. Mainly due to how much people talk badly about their batteries.

Now are trustfire batteries as looked down upon as efests are? cause i read on a few flashlight forums that many of them trust their preformace, but of course its in terms for flashlight use. any thought from anyone on other batteries aside from AW?

I can say with certainty the efest luc charger has been the best one Ive owned so far, but, I hesitate to come right out and recommend anything that can have critical safety issuies on an open forum.

I have 10 flashlights that use rechargeable batteries plus my apv batteries, I have seen many batteries vent, melt, catch fire & mildly explode. I've replaced at least 3 flashlights.
Every charger Ive ever owned has malfunctioned at some point in time, some melt, some catch fire, some under or over charge, very few just stopped working.
I charge batteries on a 100% non flammable surface or in view of someone able to keep an eye on them.

If my only choices were efest or trustfire batteries, I'd choose efest for flashlights, neither for my apv's, no way no how.
You couldn't pay me to use a trustfire charger, never had one last more than 2 weeks before sumthin went wrong.

 

[emus]

Any battery with "fire" in the name shouldn't be trusted. At all.

What is the basis for this common belief?

I had ultrafire and trustfire protected batts and they provided excellent service on my CE2 setup. After roughly a year they lost capacity and were discarded.

The Sony 10amp 18650 is very impressive. I have two more held hostage in HK post.

 

[dice57]

You over discharge a battery and it losses it's ability to hold a charge. One possible way to recover it is to use a high quality charger like the Xtar VP-1. It has the capability to recover over discharged batteries.

The moral of the story, is to know your gear, and don't loan out vape gear or equipment unless you don't expect it back. Don't loan out your lady, and don't loan out your vape gear. 2 rules to live by. Good way to loose precious loves.

 

[AttyPops]

Firstly, get that battery the heck out of the charger!

Anytime a battery takes overly long to charge...and particularly if it gets too warm.....get it out of the charger. I don't care what charger ....get it out of there!

See if it is warm when you take it out.

Secondly, let it sit for a 1/2 hour. Then check its voltage with a multi-meter. A mod may not work for checking it.

If it is below 2.6 volts (I think that's the number...I may have seen 2.5 before too, but 2.6 is low enough) ...chuck the battery. Your buddy killed it...probably over discharged it.

My best guess without charger slams or battery slams.

BTW I use an older model TR-001 and it works fine. Li-Ion charging is pretty standard. I'd be more worried about the battery quality...and the AW's are considered good quality. Some chargers may be able to "shock" an overly discharged battery back to working condition...but I wouldn't trust it anymore anyway.

 

[jdz2040]

Its safe to say that im clearly not ready to move on to mech mods at this time. I obviously need to go deeper into researching batteries. But from everyone's input or at least the majority I def should get a higher end charger. Ill look into the xtar vp1 and getting a multi meter. If this batt is "dead" id like to try and resurrect it if posdible.

Dice-yea I really should have known better then to lend my batt to my buddy. But that's what happens sometimes when you try to look out for your boi. "damnd if you do damnd if u don't" kinda situation.

ZoiDman-na thats not him my friend knows no technical knowlede of advanced vaping. He cant even set up a carto tank if u asked him.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

 

[emus]

Its safe to say that im clearly not ready to move on to mech mods at this time. I obviously need to go deeper into researching batteries. But from everyone's input or at least the majority I def should get a higher end charger. Ill look into the xtar vp1 and getting a multi meter. If this batt is "dead" id like to try and resurrect it if posdible.

Dice-yea I really should have known better then to lend my batt to my buddy. But that's what happens sometimes when you try to look out for your boi. "damnd if you do damnd if u don't" kinda situation.

ZoiDman-na thats not him my friend knows no technical knowlede of advanced vaping. He cant even set up a carto tank if u asked him.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

I would not attempt to resurrect due to safety concerns.

A high end charger is good but I'd still recommend charging in a fire proof container.

 

[jdz2040]

Firstly, get that battery the heck out of the charger!

Anytime a battery takes overly long to charge...and particularly if it gets too warm.....get it out of the charger. I don't care what charger ....get it out of there!

See if it is warm when you take it out.

Secondly, let it sit for a 1/2 hour. Then check its voltage with a multi-meter. A mod may not work for checking it.

If it is below 2.6 volts (I think that's the number...I may have seen 2.5 before too, but 2.6 is low enough) ...chuck the battery. Your buddy killed it...probably over discharged it.

My best guess without charger slams or battery slams.

BTW I use an older model TR-001 and it works fine. Li-Ion charging is pretty standard. I'd be more worried about the battery quality...and the AW's are considered good quality. Some chargers may be able to "shock" an overly discharged battery back to working condition...but I wouldn't trust it anymore anyway.

Yea at around the 5hr mark I pulled it from the charger and it was warm. Which has never happen. And thats what made me create this post. Ill pick up a meter when I can and check the volts. And I bought my TR-001 and 005 in feb of 12' I dont know if that indicates the age of my charger.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

 

[emus]

Yea at around the 5hr mark I pulled it from the charger and it was warm. Which has never happen. And thats what made me create this post. Ill pick up a meter when I can and check the volts. And I bought my TR-001 and 005 in feb of 12' I dont know if that indicates the age of my charger.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

There is a possibility your slower TR-001 saved the day by not quick charging the defective batt to thermal runaway.
I don't know if a high end quick charger would have been smart enough to reduce charging current? If not, the warm batt may have been a hot batt and vented.