Battery life? As in how long do these things last?

[balance]

I'm currently using an Ego starter kit and recently added a Vision Spinner to the rotation (thanks, Baditude!), but I suddenly realized I have no idea of what the expected life span of a basic e-cig battery is. Most of the threads about batteries talk about how long it lasts on one charge, but I'm wondering now how long before these devices just up and die?

At the beginning (3 weeks ago!), all I cared about was getting through the day without cigarettes, but now, I realize that there are a million places to buy cigarettes at midnight, but not so many places where I can replace my Spinner.

 

[Topwater Elvis]

+/- 300 charge cycles, sometimes a lot less, sometimes more.

 

[Susan~S]

I've had some Spinner batteries last a year.

 

[Baditude]

First of all, never buy another pack of cigarettes once you've quit. If need be, buy a disposable e-cig like NJoy or Blu.

Lithium ion battery life expectancy is measured in charge cycles. Basically about 250 - 300 charge cycles is the life expectancy.

However, how well you treat your battery determines the life expectancy. Try not to completely drain your battery before you recharge it. Full drains are hard for the battery to recover from. It's better to top off the battery than to fully drain it.

Charge the battery with the charger it came with. Use a USB/wall adaptor for the charger, not a USB computer port or USB car port if it has one.

Try not to leave a fully charged battery on the charger, remove it when charged. A charger will stop a full charge, but will continue to give a trickle charge to keep it topped off. Batteries don't like this, and this will decrease the overall life expectancy.

Keep the top 510/ego connector clean from e-liquid. Dried juice corrodes the metal.

 

[Baditude]

Always have a backup...

And backups for your backups.

 

[maine vapah]

mine have lasted for almost a year but i do have 4 in rotation just in case. a local vape shop was selling junk chargers and told me they were fine it was my battery claimed the spinners were only good for 2 months that was 6 months ago still going.

 

[proxion]

First of all, never buy another pack of cigarettes once you've quit. If need be, buy a disposable e-cig like NJoy or Blu.

Lithium ion battery life expectancy is measure in charge cycles. Basically about 250 - 300 charge cycles is the life expectancy.

However, how well you treat your battery determines the life expectancy. Try not to completely drain your battery before you recharge it. Full drains are hard for the battery to recover from. Charge the battery with the charger it came with. Use a USB/wall adaptor for the charger, not a USB computer port or an car's USB port.

Try not to leave a fully charged battery on the charger, remove it when charged. A charger will stop a full charge, but will continue to give a trickle charge to keep it topped off. Batteries don't like this, and this will decrease the overall life expectancy.

Keep the top 510/ego connector clean from e-liquid. Dried juice corrodes the metal.

This. Baditude covered all the necessary points about battery life. Note that a charge cycle is from 0% to 100% (for Li-Ion batteries); as such, if you plug your battery into a charger at 50% and charge it to 100%, you have "used" half a cycle.

So, if you keep your battery from discharging fully, you will likely enjoy a longer battery life - however, occasionally (or even all the time) discharging your battery will not actually hurt it. You are more likely to hurt it by discharging it at a rate that is too high...

Assume V = 4.2 volts, R = 1.8 ohm
P = (4.2V)^2 / 1.8 ohm
P = 9.8 Watts, for a current (I) of 2.33 A.

Not much, considering most batteries out there (especially variable voltage) can certainly output way more than 2.5 amps. However, you must consider the internal resistance whose voltage drop becomes significant at higher currents. (try draining 2 amps out of a AA battery)

Even with sub-ohm internal resistance, you are likely to dissipate significant power inside the battery. Such is the nature of electronics; therefore, turning down that variable voltage battery at the compromise of vapor production will increase your apparent lifetime. So will using a slower charger (less current), at the expense of waiting forever for a charge to complete!

It's a compromise - and frankly, we haven't even looked at the effects of temperature (heat, actually). Should we care? I think not - batteries are definitely cheaper than analog cigarettes! The rule of thumb, though, is about 300 cycles - and it's mostly accurate. At that rate, provided you can squeeze a day's worth out of a single battery - it should last you at least a year (probably more).

EDIT -- as diamondlou below me said - don't over torque components. I realize after posting this that your battery is probably likelier to fail due to mechanical reasons and **not** from deterioration of its electrical characteristics.

 

[diamondlou]

dont torque attys down, keep the contact clean (qtip) n stay in good resistance range (too low will heat up n fry the wires) should last at least 300 cycles (full charge to dead n recharge to full)

 

[balance]

First of all, never buy another pack of cigarettes once you've quit. If need be, buy a disposable e-cig like NJoy or Blu.

Lithium ion battery life expectancy is measured in charge cycles. Basically about 250 - 300 charge cycles is the life expectancy.

However, how well you treat your battery determines the life expectancy. Try not to completely drain your battery before you recharge it. Full drains are hard for the battery to recover from. It's better to top off the battery than to fully drain it.

Charge the battery with the charger it came with. Use a USB/wall adaptor for the charger, not a USB computer port or USB car port if it has one.

Try not to leave a fully charged battery on the charger, remove it when charged. A charger will stop a full charge, but will continue to give a trickle charge to keep it topped off. Batteries don't like this, and this will decrease the overall life expectancy.

Keep the top 510/ego connector clean from e-liquid. Dried juice corrodes the metal.

This is so helpful. Such clear explanations are exactly why you'll be missed so much!

I have been using the original charger, and I do make sure that the connector is clean before charging, but I wasn't sure if it was ok to charge before the battery was fully discharged, as neither of my batteries came with any sort of instruction sheet, and the gal at the store was not the most helpful salesperson on earth. Recently, I stopped by a different store, and when I asked about getting a wall adapter with the USB charger, he said I didn't need it. I ignored him, and always charge with the adapter, since so many knowledgeable folks here recommend it.

My knowledge of electricity is appallingly scant; I never did even one of those basic circuit experiments, and don't remember anything about volts, watts, and ohms. Instead, I got away with studying light, lenses, and prisms and totally bypassed electricity. I was planning on being an optician, but (as teenagers do) changed my mind. Now that I charge about a million devices a day, I kind of wished the school had forced me to stay with the curriculum.

 

[balance]

... You are more likely to hurt it by discharging it at a rate that is too high...

Assume V = 4.2 volts, R = 1.8 ohm
P = (4.2V)^2 / 1.8 ohm
P = 9.8 Watts, for a current (I) of 2.33 A.

Not much, considering most batteries out there (especially variable voltage) can certainly output way more than 2.5 amps. However, you must consider the internal resistance whose voltage drop becomes significant at higher currents. (try draining 2 amps out of a AA battery)

Even with sub-ohm internal resistance, you are likely to dissipate significant power inside the battery. Such is the nature of electronics; therefore, turning down that variable voltage battery at the compromise of vapor production will increase your apparent lifetime. So will using a slower charger (less current), at the expense of waiting forever for a charge to complete!

You lost me at ... Current? I thought I was doing all the reading, studying up, and I swear I haven't seen this in a post yet. (So much to read, so little time!) Does this mean I should dial down my Spinner to something like 3.7 volts? Since I don't have variable watts yet, volts are all I can mess with, although I usually have no idea what voltage I'm on. (I swear, settings change when the Spinner is in my purse.)

Fortunately, my big reason for asking was that I wondered if these would last me till Christmas, when Santa can bring me something nice, like those MVP things or maybe that cute iStick thing.

 

[Baditude]

You lost me at ... Current? I thought I was doing all the reading, studying up, and I swear I haven't seen this in a post yet. (So much to read, so little time!) Does this mean I should dial down my Spinner to something like 3.7 volts? Since I don't have variable watts yet, volts are all I can mess with, although I usually have no idea what voltage I'm on. (I swear, settings change when the Spinner is in my purse.)

Current is the flow of electrons from the battery to the coil. The amount of this current is measured in amps (amperage). Generally speaking, using more volts from the battery demands more amperage from the battery, so this will drain the battery more than using less volts.

Those formulas and letter symbols always confuse me, too, and my mind just shuts down and goes blank. I got a D- in Algebra 1 in high school and cheated my way through Physics in college.

For a laymans explanation of Ohms Law, which is what we are discussing here, see if this helps you understand Ohm's Law as it pertains to vaping:

Ohm's Law for Dummies (Vapers)

 

[dice57]

my ego's lasted only a month or so, before I gave them away that is, and moved onto mods, both regulated and mechs. Replaceable batts will last long if cared for and maintained properly, don't over drain, don't push batt to it's max amp rating, that sort of thing, can get 1-2 years off them, and counting.

 

[Warpigs]

I have 6 batteries 3 high drain 30amp and 3 low drain protected batteries I bought back when I started vaping. It's been hmm 1 year and 4 months? They still like they brand new. And I'm a very heavy vaper. I guess you get what ya pay for. These batteries were not cheap that's for sure.

 

[splinter164]

Baditude - Thanks for the advice "First of all, never buy another pack of cigarettes once you've quit." It was a shocker to read those words and realize you are spot on.

I am still carrying a pack of analogs with me and have one or two a day. Why? I don't really know other than I'm afraid to let go of my crutch that I've used for 35 years. So, instead of buying that next pack (only 5 left) I'll spring for a bottle of fancy priced juice (Castle Long?) and leave those cancer sticks behind.

thanks again.

 

[BBonchi56]

+/- 300 charges is definitely a good range but i treated my Ego Twist like a million bucks and it lasted me around 400 charges before giving up on me. I got my head peeled off and paid $85.00 for a basic starter though so it better have lasted me that long! haha

 

[proxion]

Current is the flow of electrons from the battery to the coil. The amount of this current is measured in amps (amperage). Generally speaking, using more volts from the battery demands more amperage from the battery, so this will drain the battery more than using less volts.

Those formulas and letter symbols always confuse me, too, and my mind just shuts down and goes blank. I got a D- in Algebra 1 in high school and cheated my way through Physics in college.

Im sorry Baditude, my field of expertise is electrical eng, I dont mean to overcomplicate things, I just thought it would be a good idea to elaborate on the points you touched based on. Sorry. Although you may not be a math or physics major - I greatly appreciate the quality of your writing, no misinformation there. So you must be technically inclined in some fashion

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