Battery Charge Times

[SteveI]

Hi again.
I'm charging a few different batteries, and noticed the charge time varying (approximately):

1- 65mm - 2 hours
2- 78mm - 3 hours
3- x2 650 - 12 hours

From what I have read, it seems the 650 should take between 4 - 6 hours for a full recharge.

On the first 2 batteries, I have recharged many times, and are about the same on USB to PC (0.5A), and a quality brick wall adaptor (motorola 0.8A). This suggests to me that the little batteries only draw 0.5A. Even without reading others' experience, I would assume that at 0.5A, the 650 should take about 6 hours max. Since the brick can supply 0.8A, my best uneducated guess is 4 hours. 12 is ridiculous. 1 charge time is hardly a reliable result, but it will take be a few days to draw down the battery to repeat the test. Also, during the charge, I did not use it as a passthrough at all. It sat quietly on my desk with the blue light charging uninterupted. Seems possible I received a reject.

 

[JoAnnW]

Hi Steve,

You need SI's 1.5A usb wall adapter. (first time trying to paste a link

Smokeless Image | The Best Electronic Cigarette

 

[awsum140]

Without being able to monitor the output voltage and current under load this is kind of an open question. I have a setup that let's me watch both as I charge batteries. I have had 78mm take as long as 4.5 hours and X2-650s take 7 hours and that is using an SI 1.5a wall adapter in every case. 12 hours does seem a little long, but if the voltage of the adapter falls off, dropps below 5 volts, while in use, the charge time can increase. Neither 78mm or X2-650s have drawn more than 250ma during my testing, 12 78mm and 6 X2-650, so a .8a charger "should" do the trick if it is maintaining voltage under load.

Just my opinion, worth what you're paying for it, your results and mileage may vary, no warranty or guaranty is expressed or implied.

 

[Trainguy059]

My 650s usually take between 6-7 hours to charge. The 900s take 8-10 hours depending on how bad I killed them before charging. YMMV

 

[SteveI]

Hi Steve,

You need SI's 1.5A usb wall adapter. (first time trying to paste a link

Smokeless Image | The Best Electronic Cigarette

Thanks,
No disrespect intended, but I have to disagree. SI themselves explicitly state that 1.5a is required to proper passthrough mode. Every indication I have seen is that the higher amp delivery is wasted during charging. In fact, I am starting to think that the 650 is only drawing 0.5a while charging. Even if I am correct, it shouldn't take 12 hours, more like 6 hrs. I suspect I received a battery from the reject pile. It was left on the "on" position, and the shiny parts were scuffed up out of the box.

I'll keep using it for now and see how it behaves over the next few weeks.

 

[awsum140]

Steve, the maximum current draw I've seen on an X2-650 is under 225ma, even when used in pass through while coming back from a normal discharge state. The only exception I have seen was from one that hit 247ma and that battery is defunct and has been replaced by SI. You can think of the time involved as more a function of overall power that the charger is capable of. It is entirelly possible, if the source drops to say 4 volts or so under load, that the charge time will greatly increase until the load current allows the supply to return to full voltage output. Another thing that could be happening is that the "charged" threshold of the charging circuit inside the battery is a little flakey which could easily produce the same result.

Just my opinion, worth what you're paying for it, your results and mileage may vary, no warranty or guaranty is expressed or implied.

 

[SteveI]

@awsum & trainguy, Thanks...
I have a few different quality USB adaptors with different amps at 5v from 0.5 to 1.0. Since I only use the x2 in the evenings, it will take me a few days to draw down the battery all the way to test it again with another adaptor.

In other words, I think everyone agrees that 12 hours is unusual. If this battery continues to take 12 hours, even with other adaptors, we can safely blame the battery itself.

@awsum:
When I say these batteries only use 0.5a to charge, I should have said up to 0.5a, meaning the 1.5a adaptor is overkill for charging purposes.

 

[awsum140]

That's a fair assumption Steve. I got into monitoring the charge cycles of all my batteries, and keeping records, just to be able to determine if they are still good or I'm just the victim of being too subjective at times. As long as the charger maintains five volts under load, 12 hours is just a tad too long.

 

[Dac311]

I would return the battery with scuff marks. Just my opinion.

 

[SteveI]

I would return the battery with scuff marks. Just my opinion.

Thx... My CE3 just died suddenly after only 8-9 fills, so I'm pretty bummed at the moment. As far as the battery is concerned, I want to try at least 1 or 2 more recharge cycles before I give up. I saw a couple of other threads regarding the light never going off... It might be that some are "runts" and just take much longer to charge up. If this is the case, I would test SI's reputation in honoring their warrantee. However, 1 charge cycle is not enough evidence.... It could theoretically be my adaptor, even if my 65/78 batteries charge reasonably. I'll just have to suck it up [no pun intended], and use my 650 exclusively to draw it down faster. I figure if I do, I can drain it in a day so I can test the charge time, rather than wait until the weekend.

OTOH: Maybe it is just me, but the carto seems to be giving me a much better vape on my manual x2 650, than it did on my 65 or 78?

 

[awsum140]

A lot of people report that, Steve. The voltages are supposed to be the same on 65/78/X2 at about 3.6, at least within the tolerances of the electronics. The current capacity is obviously different, though. I'm still working on making an inline device so I can check actual operating voltage and current. Once I get it done I'll let you know what I find.

 

[BiXLL]

It makes me wonder if they got a bad batch of batteries, as I currently have 2 1300s on their way back to SI for replacement. My 2 rainbow ones work perfectly, my 2 black ones have never had the charge lights turn off. I had the one on for 48 hours out of the box, never used and the light would not go off. SI CS was awesome to work with and is even going to test charge the replacement batteries for me before sending them.

 

[Justjames]

Mine 78mm only take 1.5 hour and X2-650 would take 4 hours I charge both with USB from laptop and wall outlet at 800Ma.

 

[elKabongXXI]

My 78mm batts take about 2hrs. The charger is rated at 150mA, so at 320mAh/150mA = 2.13h, that's just about right.

I have an x2 manual due here tomorrow (can't wait!), so we'll see how that goes. From the picture, it seems that the USB cable for it is merely passive; so, the output of whatever power source you use goes directly to the battery. I had planned on using a 2.1mA wall charger for it, but from what I'm reading it won't make any difference if the battery regulates the input.

I also noticed that when I put a USB 3.6v Passthrough Battery (I almost got that one) in my shopping cart, the checkout page recommended that I buy the 1.5A wall charger to go with it, suggesting that it needs more current than a standard USB port supplies (500 mAh). There was no such recommendation with the X2, so presumably the draw is equal to or less than that, as was suggested earlier.

 

[elKabongXXI]

Hmm... I take that back... my 78mm battery is taking longer than 2hrs. Probably closer to three. Time sure does crawl when your only other battery is depleted.

 

[Imagine]

yeah the 65mm take about 2 hours and the 78mm three on average

 

[SteveI]

I forgot about this thread... All things are relative, and all batteries are not identical.

My 650 just takes a long time to change. 7 hrs with SI's 1.5a brick, 8.5-9 hrs w/ 0.75a, and about 10hrs w/ 0.5a.
My 900 takes just a tad longer, at 8, 10, and 12 hrs.

Oddly, my shiny new 650 spinner charges quickly, only 5.5hr @ 0.75a

I guess as far as charging is concerned, I got a little unlucky with the x2's. Otherwise great tho.

 

[MorpheusPA]

Hmm... I take that back... my 78mm battery is taking longer than 2hrs. Probably closer to three. Time sure does crawl when your only other battery is depleted.

Pro Tip From a Fellow Nicotine Addict: You can take the batteries off partially charged, no problem, and use them. Take the drained one and put it on the charger, and use your partially charged one for thirty minutes or so. Then switch back.

The 30 minute charge should give you about 45 minutes on the depleted battery with reasonably heavy usage. The 30 minutes of charge you used should only take about 20 minutes to recharge.

 

[cody0851]

I wish I could tell you the amps/watts/etc, but I'm clueless.
What I can tell you is:
I have an HD/DVR box from my cable company. Model 8300HDC. it has a front facing usb port that I used on a whim to charge my batteries.(At the time, I had run out of front facing computer usb ports.)
Anyway, using that port, my manual 650mah gets plugged in at 10pm, and sometimes is still charging by at least 11am the next day. I have no idea why it takes so long, but I'm in bed at that time anyway. The charge times took the same as my laptop and computer ports. Until I tried the DVR, I *thought* that my computer/laptop ports just weren't powered enough. That's with the SI provided charge cord. The 1300 auto, afaik, took about the same amount of time.

From the same port, my 900mah Spinner takes almost exactly 3 hours.

I don't know if this info helps.. but that's my experience.

 

[awsum140]

Cody, keep in mind that a wall wart is a cheap device. The USB ports on a laptop, desktop or cable box are kind of expensive to fix. There have been horror stories. Just sayin....