Battery Question

[SteveI]

When is it time to retire a battery?

Is it simply when the charge it can hold is insufficient/inconvenient? Is there a danger I am not aware of?

I've been using Samsung 25R and 30Q's for the past 5 years. I have a few with a bad sag and short life. For example, on 0.22 ohms in bypass mode, a few sag to 3.20-3.25v. When a battery gets weak is there a danger, or just annoyance?

I use mechs and regulated, single dual and triple. batteries stay mated where applicable.

 

[Baditude]

As a battery ages, it loses capacity (mAh) and amps over time. At some point, a 3000mah battery becomes a 1500mah battrey; a 20 amp battery becomes only a 10 amp battery. So, if you reach a point when you're trying to draw more amps from an older battery than it has to give, yes it could become dangerous.

Your understanding of simply replacing the older batteries when they drop their ability to hold a charge or become annoying because of poor performance is sound.

 

[Rossum]

As a battery ages, it loses capacity (mAh) and amps over time. At some point, a 20 amp battery becomes only a 10 amp battery.

What's interesting is that this is probably less of a hazard in a mech than in a regulated mod. The reason that the 20A battery becomes a 10A battery is due to an increase in internal resistance. In a mech, that means less voltage applied to the coil, and hence less current drawn from the battery, whereas a regulated mod will try to draw however much current it takes to produce the power that the user has set (provided of course the battery's voltage remains above the mod's cut-off point).

 

[stols001]

If you are noticing sag, it is time to retire the batteries. There are various and sundry ways to find out if your battery is degrading, but if you are noticing it, well, that's pretty much all you need to know, in my opinion.

Degraded batteries are more of an issue in a mech, so I would definitely say, recycle, replace, and enjoy better battery life!

Batteries are one of those things you don't skimp on in my opinion. It is the single most likely place for vaping to go very, very wrong.

Best of luck,

Anna

 

[Rossum]

If you are noticing sag, it is time to retire the batteries. There are various and sundry ways to find out if your battery is degrading, but if you are noticing it, well, that's pretty much all you need to know, in my opinion.

All batteries will sag under load; they all have a non-zero internal resistance, and this does increase with cycles (and presumably time). Now one could buy a meter and start measuring cells' internal resistance, trying to get a handle on just how much they change with cycles and time, but only a nutcase would do that, right?

 

[stols001]

Well @Rossum, thanks for confirming your nutcase status. I did wonder, but felt it a bit presumptuous to ask .

LOL, hey, I'm low maintenance. I think my husband may own one of those strange things you were using, but I'm unlikely to ask him to ever dig it out.

Well, you never know.

Anna

 

[Rossum]

Well @Rossum, thanks for confirming your nutcase status. I did wonder, but felt it a bit presumptuous to ask .

Please accept my sincerest apologies; it was never my intention to leave anyone in a state of doubt!

I think my husband may own one of those strange things you were using, but I'm unlikely to ask him to ever dig it out.

I'd be very surprised if he had a meter designed to measure the AC resistance of batteries. That's a pretty specialized device, and not much good for anything else.

 

[stols001]

He says he has two. I just asked.

Of course, he did entirely rewire the house I bought on the East Coast, including replacing and upgrading that "black box" full of switches (and did admit to a certain amount of FEAR as he tapped in to the "dead, only you can't ever be sure) thing that brings electricity to the house.

He also owns a cement mixer. We have TWO huge sheds, and one contains ALL his tools.

I'm fairly certain that if a piece of construction equipment, he has it. He did say, "One is fairly low quality." LOLZ.

You could easily get lost in that shed and never emerge.

He's a handy dude to have around. He's an Engineer, but he's also from Appalachia. So he knows how to do it the 'right' way and the 'other" way. But yes, rather enamored with his set of tools. LOL.

Anna

 

[Rossum]

He says he has two. I just asked.

Of course, he did entirely rewire the house I bought on the East Coast, including replacing and upgrading that "black box" full of switches (and did admit to a certain amount of FEAR as he tapped in to the "dead, only you can't ever be sure) thing that brings electricity to the house.

He also owns a cement mixer. We have TWO huge sheds, and one contains ALL his tools.

I'm fairly certain that if a piece of construction equipment, he has it. He did say, "One is fairly low quality." LOLZ.

You could easily get lost in that shed and never emerge.

He's a handy dude to have around. He's an Engineer, but he's also from Appalachia. So he knows how to do it the 'right' way and the 'other" way. But yes, rather enamored with his set of tools. LOL.

You married well, Anna!

 

[SteveI]

Thank you everyone. I am glad I asked. good news is i have brand new 30Q's I just finished charging for the first time. I'll just rotate these in and the old ones out.

The less hazard in a mech part took me by surprise... but when I gave it some thought it makes sense to me... I was thinking the opposite to get better performance from these old dogs.

Factoid: Brand new 30Q on same 0.22 ohm coils, bypass mode gives 3.55v. Still seems to sag a lot, but I guess this is the benchmark going forward. I guess the device is resposible for some of that sag.