Not all batteries are created equal. Which brand are you using?
The capacity of a li-ion cell diminishes the more you charge/use it.
Most of them are rated at a few hundred cycles. In the time of ~ 2mo, charged twice a day you can easily use up 1/4-1/3(or more) of the life cycles available. As this happens, less and less mAh will be available for use.
An efest 18490 @ 1100mAh is not that much to begin with. That's barely one days charge for most users.
arth_d said:
You must have Efests. Get some aws
Ever since I had a cheapo protected battery (Trustfire) vent in thermal runaway over a year ago, I've used only the red Aw IMR batteries in both my regulated and mechanical APVs. I went against my practice of using only the Aw brand about 2 months ago and purchased some Efest IMR batteries in the 18350 800 mAh and 14500 700 mAh size. Both sizes worked as well as the Aw's initially, but I've noticed in just this short amount of use that I'm getting shorter and shorter time of use with the Efests compared to the Aw's.
I'm using the 18350's in a Mini Provari with standard or high resistance < 4.5 volts. And my daughter uses the 14500's in her AltSmoke BB (standard ohm Protanks). She's only getting a couple of hours use of light vaping with the Efests. I gave her a moderately used Aw 14500 IMR 600 mAh of mine to try and she's getting several hours out of it.
I'm using either a Pila or Xtar WP6 (6 bay) to charge my batteries. My daughter is using a Nitecore Intellicharger i2. I attribute the poorer performance of the Efests to them being lesser quality than Aw. Just my opinion based on my experience. I purchase all of my batteries from RTD, a very reputable online battery vendor. I know there are people who love the Efests, but my experience with them left much to be desired.
I won't be buying any more Efests; their consistancy and performance seems to be all over the board. I might try the Panasonic hybrid/IMRs at some point, but until then I'll stick to the tried and proven Aw brand. They've been extremely consistant for me for over a year.
____________
Cleaning the 510 connector and the inner battery contacts with alcohol have been mentioned previously.
No one has mentioned checking the threads of the battery cap.
These threads are bare metal, and oxidation (basically what rust is) buildup can appear as black gritty material. The battery cap acts as part of the electrical circuit, so if the threading becomes dirty, the electrical conduction can suffer also.
Provape recommends using an
anti-oxidant on the threading as part of a routine maintainance. They sell
Noaloxx on the website, and it can also be purchased from any hardware store such as Lowes or Home Depot. I found mine in the electrical section.
Apply a small amount (a little goes a long way) to the threads, work it in by twisting the cap back and forth on the Provari. Take off the cap, remove the Noaloxx with a cloth or paper towel and check the appearance of the threads. They should be bright and shiney. If not, repeat the process.
