Batteries not getting full charge. Need new batteries, or charger?

[BigCloudz]

I couldn't find the mAh of your AW batteries in you posts here, but if they're 2000mAh or more it may take an awful lot of time to top them up with that charger..

Trustfire chargers are slow with 18650 's (they charge at 500mAh, nominal) , and in my experience they come cheap for a reason ;-)

I'd recommend an xtar or a Nitecore charger, either one is a good investment for your batteries.

Yea, they are the 2000mah batteries.

Dude I literally just pulled the 2nd battery off the charger (it's been daarn near 16 hours) after I read the post about the charger prematurely killing my battery if it's not charging correctly. The sad part is, it's not even fully charged.

I am taking this thing back to see if they'll exchange it and let me pay the difference for the Nitecore.

 

[BigCloudz]

Just checked that battery I finally pulled off the charger and it's at 4.0v. Pathetic. That's 17 hours of charging, NOT to mention they were at 3.6v when I put them to charge. Jeez.

 

[Vapeaddikt]

Yup I experienced the same thing when I first started using 18650's from 18350's

 

[BigCloudz]

Yup I experienced the same thing when I first started using 18650's from 18350's

What charger are you using now? Thanks man.

 

[xpen]

Yea, they are the 2000mah batteries.

Dude I literally just pulled the 2nd battery off the charger (it's been daarn near 16 hours) after I read the post about the charger prematurely killing my battery if it's not charging correctly. The sad part is, it's not even fully charged.

I am taking this thing back to see if they'll exchange it and let me pay the difference for the Nitecore.

At a minimum get that Trustfire replaced with another one, It'd seem something is wrong with the one you have now.

They're slow but still useful as a backup charger, especially for 18500 's. When working properly, that is

 

[Vapeaddikt]

What charger are you using now? Thanks man.

i2 I got off of amazon for like 15 plus shipping I think it ended up being around 20 or so...what I do know for sure is it works a hell of alot better than the trustfire P.O.S. i started with. I think I remember seeing a thread about a 40 dollar charger on here somewhere that supposedly fastcharges 18650's in like half an hour! I am damn tempted w/ all the batteries I have for sure but seeing as 99.9% of the time 2 is more than adequate I'll wait.

i2

 

[Jazzi Mike]

Hold onto all your Trustfire TR001s even if you replace them. I was very happy that I still had something to charge my 18*** batteries when my Nitecore i4 got very hot and smelled like burning.

I am super gentle with all of my batteries and chargers. I take the batteries out when they are done charging, I don't leave it unattended while I am charging them. It is not like I left them charging overnight. Despite the Nitecore being a nice charger, there are still things that can happen if yours may be faulty.

 

[mommafish]

I have the same charger and today I put in both my 18650 and 5 hours still on red so I took out one battery and the rest of the charge took 1 hour the other 1 1/2 hours so im assuming mine just cant handle doth at the same time
Good luck

 

[Rickajho]

This is the way the current version of the TR001 doesn't work. It can take over 17 hours to charge a 2900 mAh battery - if it ever completes the charge cycle at all. The most recent reinvention of the TR001 is simply crap. For the people who say they love their TR001 when did you get it? A 3 year old TR001 is not the same design as the recent 3.0v/3.6v switchable version.

The Nitecore stuff isn't much better. "Works" like a champ" - until it overheats, smokes or melts down. Lack of QC problems are showing. Could be clones or it could be they are now producing crap too. "Life is like a box of choco..." buying from FT. You never know.

The only two places making anything I would recommend are Pila and Xtar. Spend the whopping twenty bucks on an Xtar WPII 2 and get something that works, is backed with a two year warranty, and doesn't have incoming reports on ECF of charger meltdowns. But if you just gotta save that three or four bucks on a Nitecore I2 instead ... good luck with that.

 

[durianeliquidflavorplease]

I gave up on anything battery related with the name "Fire" in it after many Vets advised as such. My first failure was when my Trustfire batts on a Tr charger became warm and were overcharging. Fortunately I listened to the Vets and never left my batts charging unattended and was able to unplug the charger before anything happened. In my first 3 months of vaping I had 2 Tr chargers fail on me. NiteCore or the Review of / Measurement on Xtar WP2 II charger are good chargers and are a world of difference IMO.
The only reason I began with the Tr charger was because it was included with my first PV/ Mech Mod.

Yeah, it's now common knowledge that anything with "fire" in the brand should be avoided. I learned that after buying a Trustfire charger and an Ultrafire battery. Needless to say, both are now not part of my vape arsenal.

 

[Racehorse]

Anyone know what's going wrong?

Yes. Not much point in buying good batts unless you also buy a good charger. Read up on it. A good charger will also insure the long term health of your batteries.

Sorry, but the TR001 doesn't meet that requirement.

pila, xtar

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

I don't trust any of the batteries or chargers being sold on FastTech. Most of their other stuff is just fine, but I haven't heard of many problems with AW, Panasonic or Efest rechargeable cells and the Nitecore I2 or I4 if bought from a reputable vendor stateside.

The charger that came with my Vamo from FT works, but I don't trust it, either. It's the wall mount job with the flip down plug. It's in the backup box, as are the two DKI 18350 batteries that came in the kit.

 

[BigCloudz]

Yes. Not much point in buying good batts unless you also buy a good charger. Read up on it. A good charger will also insure the long term health of your batteries.

Sorry, but the TR001 doesn't meet that requirement.

pila, xtar

I have read tons of good reviews on the TR001. Believe me, I do my homework.

I don't trust any of the batteries or chargers being sold on FastTech. Most of their other stuff is just fine, but I haven't heard of many problems with AW, Panasonic or Efest rechargeable cells and the Nitecore I2 or I4 if bought from a reputable vendor stateside.

The charger that came with my Vamo from FT works, but I don't trust it, either. It's the wall mount job with the flip down plug. It's in the backup box, as are the two DKI 18350 batteries that came in the kit.

Actually, I didn't buy it from FT. I got it from my local shop. I also got my AW IMR's from them, which seem to be just fine n' dandy.

I am going by the shop today to see if they will exchange it and let me pay the difference for the i2, this thing just flat out sucks.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

I have read tons of good reviews on the TR001. Believe me, I do my homework.



Actually, I didn't buy it from FT. I got it from my local shop. I also got my AW IMR's from them, which seem to be just fine n' dandy.

I am going by the shop today to see if they will exchange it and let me pay the difference for the i2, this thing just flat out sucks.

See Post # 2 by highly regarded Vendor (makes his own Mods) Switched:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/battery-issues/397523-trustfire-tr-001-18650s.html

The main reason the Flashlight guyz give the Tr-001 the thumbs down is because it takes a long time to charge and, more importantly, can overcharge the battery.

I don't trust any of the batteries or chargers being sold on FastTech. Most of their other stuff is just fine, but I haven't heard of many problems with AW, Panasonic or Efest rechargeable cells and the Nitecore I2 or I4 if bought from a reputable vendor stateside.

One of the main reasons I have bought many Panasonics from FT is because the FlashLight Guyz give FT a strong up.
After I bought my first PV 2 yrs ago, a Mech Mod, I quickly realized many Vendors include subpar gear within those kits.

 

[Rifty]

Well, I have not had the luck (or sounds like I may actually be lucky...) to try out any type of xxxfire brand chargers, but Nitecore and Xtar have worked for me thus far. I believe some chargers will have a set rate of charge based on how many batteries are in it. ie, a 4 bay charger, putting 1-2 batteries in at a time and they will charge at 1A, if you put 3-4 in, 500mA. So be on the lookout for that with your future purchases! Also a good idea to put it on a setting (if it has the option) that has half the charging rate of your full capacity. ie, 2000mAh battery would need to charge on the 1A setting, whereas a 1000mAh battery would do fine with .5A/500mA. That may be part of your problem with your current charger, as the only "option" you mentioned was a 3V or 3.6V charge. Is that possibly a LiFePo4 charger? As those are two options that would pertain to those, and not so much your standard Li batteries... Could be your problem right there .

 

[BigCloudz]

Alllllrighty! They let me exchange my TR001 for the i2. Stoked. Curious to see how much better this thing works for my 18650's

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Alllllrighty! They let me exchange my TR001 for the i2. Stoked. Curious to see how much better this thing works for my 18650's

Cool Vendor
At the very least you'll know you have a much safer charger. IMHO Tr-001 shouldn't be sold because of the known overcharging issue- that's exactly what happened with mine and if I weren't around the battery prolly would have either exploded or burst into flames.
You'll notice a definite decrease in charge time.

 

[BigCloudz]

Cool Vendor
At the very least you'll know you have a much safer charger. IMHO Tr-001 shouldn't be sold because of the known overcharging issue- that's exactly what happened with mine and if I weren't around the battery prolly would have either exploded or burst into flames.
You'll notice a definite decrease in charge time.

Yea, I had to pay the difference, but still, pretty cool that they let me swap it

Cool! At the very least, its very reassuring knowing I have a quality charger that I can count on.

 

[durianeliquidflavorplease]

Yea, I had to pay the difference, but still, pretty cool that they let me swap it

Cool! At the very least, its very reassuring knowing I have a quality charger that I can count on.

Yeah, quality chargers are really important. I posted a thread back in March asking about chargers (as my Trustfire was malfunctioning already less than a month after purchase), and people on ECF recommended either Xtar or Nitecore as the best in their price range. I'm glad I was able to get my hands on an Xtar WPII, the last on stock at my favorite shop, soon after, as the product became hard to find for quite some time after that. Many vapers probably had similar problems to mine and realized the value of a good charger too.

 

[BigCloudz]

MAN! I cannot believe the difference! I put a battery to charge when I got home from work (just to test the i2 out). I believe the batt was ~3.6, it was FULLY, and I mean FULLY charged withing 1.5-2 hours. Slapped it on my SVD and it finally read the full 4.2v, which I wouldn't read after charging on the TF for 17+ hours. I used that battery the rest of the night, put them both to charge overnight and boom woke up both fully charged to 4.2v and I am sure they had been done charging for hours.

For an extra 10 bucks or whatever, that Nitecore v2 is a NO brainer! Thanks for the input and help guys.