Battery questions

[Mden89]

I have two Samsung 18650 3.7v 2500mAh batteries that im going to use in my Kanger Sub box mini setup (once it gets here). Just wondering if 3.7v will be the max i can turn up the pen because the battery is only a 3.7v?

Or... will i be able to turn it up past 3.7v and it will just increase the Amp load on the battery?

 

[hashtag]

The box will be regulated and deliver the amps you need based on the wattage. Someone smarter than me will come in and explain the science but it will push as much as you need to power the subtank it comes with to as much heat as you can take.

 

[nyiddle]

Hmmmm?

Well first, the subox is a VW device. Your battery is powering the chip, which (according to what you set it to) will output the given voltage/wattage. Assuming it wasn't designed by a donkey, the chip should be smart enough to not let you set the wattage to something that would exceed the amp limit of your battery. (And I'd hope that's the case, because I have one in the mail too).

Secondly, when you take an 18650 battery off the charger the voltage should be 4.2V. As the battery is drained, the voltage will decrease. In something like a mech mod, you cannot adjust the voltage. The voltage is simply the amount of volts left remaining in your battery. For a regulated mod (ie: the Subox mini) the chip is converting the voltage from the battery (magic) to your desired voltage/wattage.

Thirdly, the Subox can go up to 50W max. At 50W (max wattage) you'd need a ~.13 ohm coil to actually max out your battery's amperage. So basically, as long as you're not throwing something with CRAZY low ohms (which I wouldn't recommend on any device, really) you'll never even come close to the amp limit of your 18650 batteries.

You can use the Ohm's Law calculator at Steam-Engine to plug in some numbers and figure out what wattages produce what amperages/voltages given what resistances/etc..

Short version:

With the Subtank and a .5 ohm head, you will be able to crank it up to 50W. No worries, no problemos, it'll be 100% kosher.

 

[dc99]

Samsung 25r will work fine. It will go past 3.7v. The wattage goes to 50 so the voltage will adjust for the wattage setting. That's the simplest answer.

 

[hashtag]

Assuming it wasn't designed by a donkey, .

Never assume anything in vaping. I have one ordered too though so I am really hoping they get it right. Kangertech is generally solid in design, the quality assurance team could use some work though.

 

[nyiddle]

Never assume anything in vaping. I have one ordered too though so I am really hoping they get it right. Kangertech is generally solid in design, the quality assurance team could use some work though.

Yeah I haven't had any Kanger products that were utterly awful, so I have pretty decently high hopes for this kit. Among other things, I don't need it so much for the functionality (this isn't my first time at the rodeo/I have other mods that could replace it) I just hope it works because it looks so damn nice.

 

[hashtag]

Yeah I haven't had any Kanger products that were utterly awful, so I have pretty decently high hopes for this kit. Among other things, I don't need it so much for the functionality (this isn't my first time at the rodeo/I have other mods that could replace it) I just hope it works because it looks so damn nice.

Yeah I bought it for the looks but am hoping it will make it into my regular use rotation. The original kbox I bought just because it was cheap but it quickly became my day to day backup. If they didn't change too much it should be great, the original is built like a tank, is the subox all metal still or did they switch to plastics?

 

[nyiddle]

Yeah I bought it for the looks but am hoping it will make it into my regular use rotation. The original kbox I bought just because it was cheap but it quickly became my day to day backup. If they didn't change too much it should be great, the original is built like a tank, is the subox all metal still or did they switch to plastics?

Huge image:

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0156/4592/files/SUBOX_Mini.jpg

 

[Mden89]

Hmmmm?

Well first, the Subox is a VW device. Your battery is powering the chip, which (according to what you set it to) will output the given voltage/wattage. Assuming it wasn't designed by a donkey, the chip should be smart enough to not let you set the wattage to something that would exceed the amp limit of your battery. (And I'd hope that's the case, because I have one in the mail too).

Secondly, when you take an 18650 battery off the charger the voltage should be 4.2V. As the battery is drained, the voltage will decrease. In something like a mech mod, you cannot adjust the voltage. The voltage is simply the amount of volts left remaining in your battery. For a regulated mod (ie: the Subox mini) the chip is converting the voltage from the battery (magic) to your desired voltage/wattage.

Thirdly, the Subox can go up to 50W max. At 50W (max wattage) you'd need a ~.13 ohm coil to actually max out your battery's amperage. So basically, as long as you're not throwing something with CRAZY low ohms (which I wouldn't recommend on any device, really) you'll never even come close to the amp limit of your 18650 batteries.

You can use the Ohm's Law calculator at Steam-Engine to plug in some numbers and figure out what wattages produce what amperages/voltages given what resistances/etc..

Short version:

With the Subtank and a .5 ohm head, you will be able to crank it up to 50W. No worries, no problemos, it'll be 100% kosher.

Nyiddle... you literally just made my day. Finally someone has reassured me that i will be safe. Thats honestly what ive been looking to hear. Its strange the batteries say that they are 3.7 but when they are fully charged they are at 4.2? I appreciate everyone elses feedback as always!

 

[hashtag]

Nyiddle... you literally just made my day. Finally someone has reassured me that i will be safe. Thats honestly what ive been looking to hear. Its strange the batteries say that they are 3.7 but when they are fully charged they are at 4.2? I appreciate everyone elses feedback as always!

Yeah you will be safe. It has safety features that will ensure that if something isn't right the device will shut itself down. You always want to make sure you are charging it safely and watch for overheating but you shouldn't have to worry about anything with it.

 

[nyiddle]

Nyiddle... you literally just made my day. Finally someone has reassured me that i will be safe. Thats honestly what ive been looking to hear. Its strange the batteries say that they are 3.7 but when they are fully charged they are at 4.2? I appreciate everyone elses feedback as always!

Batteries don't output constant voltage, so the 3.7V is actually an average of their voltage over time. The lowest you should ever let an 18650 battery get is about 3.5 or 3.4V.

Lowest I've ever let a battery drop was 2.8V. Not good. Battery never held a charge the same, so I tossed it.

ALSO! With charging in mind, I highly recommend taking the battery out of the mod to charge it, rather than using the onboard USB charger. It might be fine, but to be completely honest, I'll let someone else figure that out.

 

[Mden89]

Batteries don't output constant voltage, so the 3.7V is actually an average of their voltage over time. The lowest you should ever let an 18650 battery get is about 3.5 or 3.4V.

Lowest I've ever let a battery drop was 2.8V. Not good. Battery never held a charge the same, so I tossed it.

ALSO! With charging in mind, I highly recommend taking the battery out of the mod to charge it, rather than using the onboard USB charger. It might be fine, but to be completely honest, I'll let someone else figure that out.

Yeah i purchased one of the Nitecore charging docks with the digital display so i know exactly how much "juice" is left in my batteries. Safety is my #1 priority

 

[Mden89]

Batteries don't output constant voltage, so the 3.7V is actually an average of their voltage over time. The lowest you should ever let an 18650 battery get is about 3.5 or 3.4V.

Lowest I've ever let a battery drop was 2.8V. Not good. Battery never held a charge the same, so I tossed it.

ALSO! With charging in mind, I highly recommend taking the battery out of the mod to charge it, rather than using the onboard USB charger. It might be fine, but to be completely honest, I'll let someone else figure that out.

When you say the lowest a battery should get is ~3.5-3.4V what do you mean? At full charge when i take it off the charger?

 

[hashtag]

When you say the lowest a battery should get is ~3.5-3.4V what do you mean? At full charge when i take it off the charger?

It means you should charge it when it gets about half way rather than running it until the battery dies

 

[Mden89]

It means you should charge it when it gets about half way rather than running it until the battery dies

Ah ok. When do you know the battery is kicked and needs to be completely replaced

 

[hashtag]

When the life begins getting short. If you have a reader you can test it and see where it is when it is fully charged. If it hits 4.2 fully charged today and starts only getting to 3.9 on a full charge you will want to think about grabbing a new battery. There is no set rule for when it is done but I will usually replace as soon as I start seeing a consistent drop.

 

[nyiddle]

Ah ok. When do you know the battery is kicked and needs to be completely replaced

Batteries are rated for 300-500 charge cycles. So if you can figure how many times a day (or every week) you charge your batteries, you can figure out how many times you might in a month or year. It'll be an estimate, but I'd say around 300-400 charges you may start to notice the battery not performing as well as it used to -- maybe it doesn't hold charge as long.

The danger zone is when you're abusing your batteries, bringing them down to lowest possible nominal voltage before charging them. In regulated mods with battery displays, this really shouldn't be an issue, because (hopefully) by the time the mod is reading "0% battery" your battery should be around that 3.4 or 3.5V mark. That said, the Sigelei 150, I believe, will drain your battery all the way down to 3.2V. I dunno if I can recommend repeatedly doing that. In a mech mod, this might be an issue, but you should be able to notice less vapor as the battery is dying. I've even heard people say that right off the charger their vape hits almost too hard, but once the battery settles at around 3.9V it's an ideal vape.

 

[Mden89]

Batteries are rated for 300-500 charge cycles. So if you can figure how many times a day (or every week) you charge your batteries, you can figure out how many times you might in a month or year. It'll be an estimate, but I'd say around 300-400 charges you may start to notice the battery not performing as well as it used to -- maybe it doesn't hold charge as long.

The danger zone is when you're abusing your batteries, bringing them down to lowest possible nominal voltage before charging them. In regulated mods with battery displays, this really shouldn't be an issue, because (hopefully) by the time the mod is reading "0% battery" your battery should be around that 3.4 or 3.5V mark. That said, the Sigelei 150, I believe, will drain your battery all the way down to 3.2V. I dunno if I can recommend repeatedly doing that. In a mech mod, this might be an issue, but you should be able to notice less vapor as the battery is dying. I've even heard people say that right off the charger their vape hits almost too hard, but once the battery settles at around 3.9V it's an ideal vape.

Thank you again nyiddle. I bought two batteries that i plan on rotating every time one of them gets down to about 50%. So i hope i can get closer to the high end of 500 charge cycles. Thanks so much everyone for the info. You guys are fekkin awesome

 

[RandyF]

I have a good charger, but I still have it in a cash box that I picked up from Wal-Mart. $10 investment and 5 minutes drilling a hole for the power cord for peace of mind....just in case. Plus I have a bad habit of forgetting to remove the battery after it is charged. I just close the lid and lock it, if the battery was to vent it would be contained.

 

[Mden89]

I have a good charger, but I still have it in a cash box that I picked up from Wal-Mart. $10 investment and 5 minutes drilling a hole for the power cord for peace of mind....just in case. Plus I have a bad habit of forgetting to remove the battery after it is charged. I just close the lid and lock it, if the battery was to vent it would be contained.

View attachment 459806 View attachment 459807

Doesn't the charger stop charging once it's done?