AA batteries?

[Vapenstein]

Just out of curiousity, why do PVs use obscure batteries as opposed to common AAs? Rechargeable AAs have higher mah ratings than the 14500s my Copper uses. There must be some reason why AAs are a bad idea, what is it?

 

[_TJ_]

Voltage. You need at least 3 volts or so to power an atty. AAs are what, 1.5?

 

[foggy1]

If it's an education on batteries you want...here ya go

Everything there is to know about AW batteries

lots of good info for everyone there

Welcome to ECF and keep the questions coming

 

[BobTheKlown]

'ThePuck' homemade mod uses 3-4aaa NiMh batteries, variants use 3-4aa batts (I use a 4aa variant)... NiMh batts being the key, alkaline batts can be used in a pinch, but won't last long b/c you're over stressing them...

A new chemistry just coming out (my local Fry's carries the batts, but not the chargers), NiZn, is showing promising results with a aa mod as small as 2 aa batts possible...

 

[andygee]

wacky idea -- carbon fiber "mainspring" and a key to wind it up attached to a generator. Wind it once per cigarette equivalent, 20-30 good drags. Never have to worry about charging again. Any tinkerers out there up to a challenge?????
Actually, not a mainspring, more like the rubber band in a model plane, that would fit the size and shape of an e-cig. For Y2K I had some carbon spring radios and flashlights, lasted quite a while and they were pretty good.

 

[AttyPops]

wacky idea -- carbon fiber "mainspring" and a key to wind it up attached to a generator. Wind it once per cigarette equivalent, 20-30 good drags. Never have to worry about charging again. Any tinkerers out there up to a challenge?????
Actually, not a mainspring, more like the rubber band in a model plane, that would fit the size and shape of an e-cig. For Y2K I had some carbon spring radios and flashlights, lasted quite a while and they were pretty good.

LOL. I want to see a link to that..... What size is the "generator"? 10 watts for 3-5 seconds per puff X 30 puffs. wow... that's quite a spring/generator combo.

To the OP:

It's volts, but also amperage output. AKA Volts X Amps = Watts. The Lithium Ion tech is very energy dense and fairly high drain. Also, BobTheKlown is correct about the other battery types.

FYI - I investigated a "quick-chargable" e-cig concept using capacitors. The cap would weigh in at 4 lbs... lol. It's ALL about energy density and output.

On the up side, the mod market looks to have about only 5 years (guess) left before technology gets caught up. See:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-1800-mah-super-mini-size-few-years-away.html

 

[andygee]

the spring in the radio was about 3/4 the size of a hockey puck, the generator maybe the size of a D cell. It ran a radio at decent volume (3 watts?) for 45 minutes. I guess this would be more of a pipe than a cigarette, although I'm sure the works could fit inside an x-power.
I never thought Li-Ion batteries were okay for doing actual work; they were fore transistors, ICs, LEDs, LCDs, etc. Every single brand I have shows really piss-poor performance with the batteries but my Duracell powerpack works perfectly all the time. You just need the equivalent of five of these batteries to do a good job for this work-intensive application and we are just fooling ourselves that the current batteries are okay. We may need to rethink the whole concept of why e-cigs should actually look like cigarettes.
Anyway, if anyone is handy and thinks the carbon spring generator system has merit, I suppose a little investment capital might could get scared up.

 

[BobTheKlown]

2 in 1: crank flashlight vape how-to

 

[ddarklighter]

It is electrically possible to power a PV using standard alkaline or rechargeable batteries. However, it is my understanding that we use specific batteries because they have to be 'Protected' due to the rapid energization and discharge of the elements involved.

"The primary difference between the Protected and Unprotected batteries is that the protected batteries have a small circuit board, typically on the bottom of the battery, that stops the charging or discharge of the battery in certain circumstances. Some of the circumstances in which the circuit include: Over-Charge, Over-Discharge, Short-Circuit, and in some cases, overheating."

- On Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Batteries
Rechargeable Lithium Battery Information - Protected vs. Unprotected Li-Ion Batteries - Lithium Ion Battery

 

[BobTheKlown]

It is electrically possible to power a PV using standard alkaline or rechargeable batteries. However, it is my understanding that we use specific batteries because they have to be 'Protected' due to the rapid energization and discharge of the elements involved.

"The primary difference between the Protected and Unprotected batteries is that the protected batteries have a small circuit board, typically on the bottom of the battery, that stops the charging or discharge of the battery in certain circumstances. Some of the circumstances in which the circuit include: Over-Charge, Over-Discharge, Short-Circuit, and in some cases, overheating."

- On Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Batteries
Rechargeable Lithium Battery Information - Protected vs. Unprotected Li-Ion Batteries - Lithium Ion Battery

hmmm... no, the reason we don't use alkaline battery's has nothing to do with protection circuits. We (modders) only recommend protected Li-Ion batts because unprotected Li-Ion batts are unsafe (think laptop fires). The protection circuit in Li-Ion batts simply prevents the Li-Ion batt from overcharge, over-dischage, etc... to make them safeR, I capitalize the R because Li-Ion batts are not a safe chemistry, they can and will blow up if shorted, or if the protection circuit fails (it does happen), the only 'safe chemistry' batt I've seen work for our purpouses is NiZn, which will not blow up....

We don't use alkaline or NiCad batts b/c they have insufficient current drain rates for our purposes, they can't put out enough juice at a time. NiZn rechargeable can work in double batt configs, NiMH can work in 3-4 batt configs. I can get 3-4 days of heavy vaping on a set of 4 NiMH aa batts and plan on building a 2aa NiZn mod in the near future (next payday)....