Battery Charging Question

[Annieinidaho]

Hi Guys,

I have a question about battery charging...

With my 510 manual batteries I know it is time to charge because the led starts blinking like crazy. But I have some cr18650 batteries that are 3.7 volts, I believe. So, I've been checking the voltage with my volt meter to try and figure when to throw 'em on the charger. Does anyone know around what voltage they need to drop to before they should be charged up? I've always heard that you should drain batts completely before charging so they don't develop bad memory. Is that true?

As always, any help is greatly appreciated!

Annie

 

[ancient puffer]

I generally recharge when the amount of vapor drops off (and its not low on juice).

As far as the "memory" issue, my understanding is that Lithium Ion batteries have no such "memory" and can therefore be recharged at any level of discharge. Note that draining them TOO far will basically kill the battery, however, *supposedly* the atty will cease to function long before the battery reaches that level of discharge.

You should eventually have a good "feel" for how long the batteries will last, but the drop off in vapor is a good indication. If in doubt, you can swap to a fresh battery and if that fixes it, its time to recharge the first battery.

 

[Grimloki]

Hi Guys,

I have a question about battery charging...

With my 510 manual batteries I know it is time to charge because the led starts blinking like crazy. But I have some cr18650 batteries that are 3.7 volts, I believe. So, I've been checking the voltage with my volt meter to try and figure when to throw 'em on the charger. Does anyone know around what voltage they need to drop to before they should be charged up? I've always heard that you should drain batts completely before charging so they don't develop bad memory. Is that true?

As always, any help is greatly appreciated!

Annie

Don't drain a li-ion battery fully. It damages the battery, and shortens its usable life. The curve for voltage as they drain starts at 4.2v, hangs around 3.7 volts for most of the drain, then starts falling off to 0. The protected batteries (its recommended you use protected batteries) usually cut themselves off at 2.5v.

Li-ion has no memory. The less its drained between charges, the longer it lasts. You can expect 500 charge cycles or so under optimal conditions. 50 or less is what many people get because they use batteries that are too small for PVs, and they drain them too far.

 

[DropEmCigs]

Hi Annie,
some manufactorers say that you should not go below 2.5V in order not to damage battery. When charged, the battery should max. be at 4.2V. This will improve battery life.
+1 on (no) memory effect for Li-ion. This also applies for your 510's, btw.

 

[MickeyRat]

If you're buying protected batteries, they should shut themselves off before there's a problem. If you aren't buying protected batteries, you are risking a fire.

 

[modernians]

There have been a lot of problems with the batteries in the past, especially with over charging and allowing the battery to drop completely out with no charge. They have improved but still its a ion so will need replacing every so often!

 

[MickeyRat]

I pretty much treat my 14500s as ancient puffer recommends. I have put one on a voltmeter at that point out of curiousity. It was down to about 3.2 V

 

[Annieinidaho]

Hey Guys,

Sorry it took me so long to respond, my PC has been crashing every time I try to post in this forum, weird.....


Thanks for saving my batteries in advance! I was ready to use those batteries until they were drained so I wouldn't have the memory problem, lol.

Oh well, lesson learned! It is good to ask questions!

Thanks!

Annie