Battery Wrapping 101

[DeloresRose]

If it were up to me, all shops would have those grisly battery accident pictures up on the wall. I hate seeing them myself, but they drive home the point.

Personally, I check my batteries every single time they go in the charger or in a mod. I haven’t rewrapped any, but the slightest nick in the wrapper and they’re out of rotation. They’ve all been a couple years old by the time they show wear, so I’m not worried about just replacing them.

 

[DaveP]

Oh, I know. Some will spend $100 - $200 dollars for a new mod and atomizer, but they freak out when you ask them for $7 for a Sony, Samsung, or Lg battery with the right specs. I always tell them that batteries are the most important piece of gear that they'll own. Don't cheap out with cheap batteries. They're not as safe. will perform poorly, and won't last as long as a quality battery. They'll save money over the long term by investing in a high quality battery.

I asked my son why he bought AWT batteries. He said the vape shop guy said that was the best battery they had because it was 40 amps. I told him not to go back to that shop.

We are all used to buying a strip pack of alkaline batteries for $3.99 on sale to use in our personal electronics. Lithium cells are in a different family and it's hard to make people understand that cheap isn't a good deal at all when it comes to high amp cells.

People sometimes don't understand that max ratings are a different set of specs than continuous ratings. 40 amps may be the max load point just before the cell starts to spew hot electrolyte in your pocket.

 

[sonicbomb]

I've been injured by 18650s a couple of times, one vented and one shorted across my wedding band while I was re-wrapping it. This has imbued me with a healthy appreciation of how dangerous these things can be if not used correctly.
I was a vaper for five years before joining ECF. For years it didn't even occur to me that anyone else was vaping let alone talking online about it.

Tutorial: Re-wrapping a Battery | E-Cigarette Forum

The following pictures are not mine but were found here on ECF.

Check out that bulge

 

[Horselady154]

Tutorial: Re-wrapping a Battery | E-Cigarette Forum

I've not had to rewrap yet. You have to remove the old wrap first? Not too excited to have a completely bare one of those batteries around me.

 

[Baditude]

I've not had to rewrap yet. You have to remove the old wrap first? Not too excited to have a completely bare one of those batteries around me.

Yes, remove the old damaged wrap first. No metal on your hands like sonic warned about.

I've been using these batteries for over 7 years. Probably dozens of 18650, 18350, and 18500 batteries and they've all been keep in "near new" condition. I've never had to rewrap before either. Maybe I'm more gentle with my batteries than others?

 

[Punk In Drublic]

Tutorial: Re-wrapping a Battery | E-Cigarette Forum

I've not had to rewrap yet. You have to remove the old wrap first? Not too excited to have a completely bare one of those batteries around me.

Adding a wrap on top of another changes the dimensions of the battery to the point where it might not fit the tight tolerances of some devices. Thicker battery wraps can also pose the same problem.

 

[stratus.vaping]

When my eyes were better than they are now ( as in up to a decade or so ago) I used to recell handheld radio NiCad battery packs for fellow radio amateurs who didn't have the courage ( or were less daft than me...) Taking the old cells out was a little scary, like defusing a bomb- snip the red wire! Nooo the blue wire!

The first time the result was a bit of a mess, I put it down to the shaking of my hand doing the soldering. Soon it became easier, as I had developed a tight routine, rather like maintaining a sterile area when nursing. Make a mistake and the risks increase, tight routine helps avoid that.

So the same thing applies to rewrapping, have everything ready, do a "dummy run" to check that, then ignore interruptions and keep the cat away!

As for ripped wraps, I already related the story somewhere of the kid I saw taking a very poor condition 18650 out of his pocket ( no case) amongst his keys, phone, chewing gum... I moved away rapidly after he denied it was dangerous. As said above, most think it's like an AA cell

 

[DaveP]

Adding a wrap on top of another changes the dimensions of the battery to the point where it might not fit the tight tolerances of some devices. Thicker battery wraps can also pose the same problem.

I have a few cells that I over-wrapped with clear shrink sleeves to cover a purchase date sticker. Some mods they drop right in and others are tight. After that, I just put the sticker from a Brother printer onto the cell bare. They stay on fine as long as you clean the wrap with alcohol before you put it on.

I like to know the date a cell was purchased. If your charger does internal resistance you can just recycle the cell when it exceeds 100 milliohms. The trouble with that is some chargers don't do IR accurately. Mine read high on first insertion and after a few insertions in a row the reading becomes repeatable. Why that happens is a mystery.

 

[stratus.vaping]

Agree, I number and date mine with a sharpie. Pairs are marked in the same way, but I don't use a twin cell mod anymore, too durn heavy.

 

[Punk In Drublic]

I have a few cells that I over-wrapped with clear shrink sleeves to cover a purchase date sticker. Some mods they drop right in and others are tight. After that, I just put the sticker from a Brother printer onto the cell bare. They stay on fine as long as you clean the wrap with alcohol before you put it on.

I like to know the date a cell was purchased. If your charger does internal resistance you can just recycle the cell when it exceeds 100 milliohms. The trouble with that is some chargers don't do IR accurately. Mine read high on first insertion and after a few insertions in a row the reading becomes repeatable. Why that happens is a mystery.

Not as elegant as your methods – painters tape with date and whether the cell is part of a married pair. Also keep a running excel sheet of where they where purchased and the type of cell should I have re-wrapped them.

All of my single and dual cell mods have enough room to accept the additional tape (it’s only a small strip and not wrapping the cell). But the magnetic battery door on my LV Triade’s will not fully seat with cells that have the tape, or even the shipping sticker. Batteries used with my Triades all have unique wraps and are documented.

Recall a thread here on ECF where someone claiming the Aegis Legend was flawed because it did not have the room for his double wrapped batteries.

 

[markfm]

Black sharpie for me.

 

[TrollDragon]

I use the BB Vapes Brand indestructible wraps on my cells that Albert includes free with each order. They are a little thicker so fitment might be an issue depending on the device. The only mod I have where one cell is a little snug is an iPV8.

 

[mimöschen]

I mark all of my cells with a cd ink pen and double-wrap them with a clear wrap on top. Since I do it like that, I never ever had any problems with damaged wraps anymore.
I sometimes had problems with various cells from the Big 5 with being too tight of a fit for some of my mods though, but since I started using Sony VTC5A, Sanyo 2070C and Samsung 30/40T exclusively, those problems are gone as well.

 

[DaveP]

Not as elegant as your methods – painters tape with date and whether the cell is part of a married pair. Also keep a running excel sheet of where they where purchased and the type of cell should I have re-wrapped them.

All of my single and dual cell mods have enough room to accept the additional tape (it’s only a small strip and not wrapping the cell). But the magnetic battery door on my LV Triade’s will not fully seat with cells that have the tape, or even the shipping sticker. Batteries used with my Triades all have unique wraps and are documented.

Recall a thread here on ECF where someone claiming the Aegis Legend was flawed because it did not have the room for his double wrapped batteries.

The important part is that you know when you purchased the cell. After that, all you need to do is can it or recycle it once the vape time drops considerably. Most of my mods fit well with the label added. Some are OK with a clear heat shrink cover over the label and some aren't. If I"m going out for a day and take a couple of backup cells I want to know that they are some of my newest and are matched closely in age.

 

[AngeNZ]

Tutorial: Re-wrapping a Battery | E-Cigarette Forum

I've not had to rewrap yet. You have to remove the old wrap first? Not too excited to have a completely bare one of those batteries around me.

You have nothing to fear, but fear itself

Sorry, I couldn't resist. When I wrapped my first battery, I did expect it to blow sky high at any moment. But it didn't. @sonicbomb 's tutorial gives you all the help you need.

I use my ceramic tipped tweezers (stolen from my build kit) to create a tear to remove the wrap. And then I use them to hold the battery while blow drying the wrap tight.

Practise with an older crappy battery first. Then remove that wrap and try again. If you have wrinkles when you think you are done, reapply the hair dryer, until they are flat.

Plus, rewraps can be fun