A123 LiFePO4 cells useable in APV/VV setups?

[DrkSdeOTM]

First time poster, been vaping for about a year now, but looking to make the jump to a VV setup. I work in the r/c industry so I have a LOT of A123 18650 1100mAh cells, given to me directly from someone who used to work there so there is no counterfeit risk. I see most are using LiMn (3.7v nominal, 4.2v fully charged)...A123 cells are 3.3v nominal, 3.6v fully charged, but can handle lower discharge voltage than LiMn cells. Wondering if there are any VV setups out there that will work with these cells...obviously it would cut out battery cost, and I know these cells will handle the wattage. We run them in r/c planes, cars, etc at up to 30C discharge. Having never used a VV setup I'm wondering if #1 the lower voltage is going to cause issues with low voltage protection cutoff in these devices, #2 if there are any ways around this (programmable units, voltage setting on the unit itself that will allow it to work, using different resistance Kenthal wire, etc), and #3 if you can make recommendations on a specific setup that will work. In this for the long haul so fire whatever price setups at me. Appreciate any help you can give.

 

[Dakota Jim]

I am by no means an expert on batteries but it seems they are too low of a charge as most APV's will quit working at 3.3 or 3.2 volts

here are some places to look for answers

Ask The Veterans

or

Modding Forum

and once you get your 5 posts in you can ask this question in those forums (may take a day or 3 for a vet to reply)

Welcome to the ECF

 

[Steam Turbine]

Hi, Welcome to ECF

1: Every vv mod that I know of have a protection cutoff around the nominal voltage of the batteries that you are talking about... So that's no good.

2: I am not familiar about your batteries, but the norm is to use hi drain IMR cells.

3: Don't go cheap on batteries, they are not really expensive anyways. Get yourself some good AW IMR 18XXX batteries and you'll be good for a good long while.

 

[Baditude]

According to the ECF battery guru (rolygate), LiFePo4 batteries can be used in mods, BUT first read what he has to say in this article about them:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ecf-library/129569-rechargeable-batteries.html

 

[DrkSdeOTM]

According to the ECF battery guru (rolygate), LiFePo4 batteries can be used in mods, BUT first read what he has to say in this article about them:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ecf-library/129569-rechargeable-batteries.html

Baditude, Thanks for the reply! I had read that prior to posting, but it left a lot of unanswered questions. These are protected LiFePO4 cells, and I have the required chargers ($300+ dollar ones that will charge NiMH, NiCad, Li-Ion, LiPo, and even Pb). I have been working with lithium based cells for over 12 years now due to my career in r/c so not really worried about the charger issue mentioned. My chargers will automatically detect incorrect settings and error out...definitely not the chargers your average user has access to. Also not worried about them being counterfeit as I acquired the cells directly from the manufacturer and he is a good friend of mine. I have cases of unused cells that I have welded into packs for r/c applications and they have performed flawlessly at up to 30C so no worries there. The main concern I have is the Tenergy 3v cells he mentions, he does not give a battery size, and mentions stacking cells in series which leads me to believe they are not 18650s. As I have 18650s there is no chance of stacking the cells to increase the voltage...therefore I'm not sure if the current VV APV setups will be able to handle a single 18650 cell without going into low voltage protection. And with my limited knowledge on these units, I'd like to have an answer to this question prior to moving forward. Would you suggest posting in the "Ask the Pros" forum as mentioned, or would you be able to direct rolygate to this thread possibly? Again, thanks for the reply!

Dakota Jim...I may just have to do that. Thank you for the reply sir!

 

[Thrasher]

your not going to find a mod that uses these cells unless there is a modder making one off's or you build it yourself.