My Coolfire IV charges via usb port charger. Unfortunately I bent the business end of the charger and it is not working. I do have a usb cable that plugs into the computer and has an adaptor that fits the cool fire (I think it might have been from some ecig setup). Anyway, I know they say not to use wall adaptors that are not from innokin as the spec can be wrong for the battery but I am thinking using the computer as a power source should be an okay way to charge it even though it is not the original cable? For the record, I tried plugging it in and it is working just fine, charging as normal. Any thoughts??
Broke my charger, can I use a spare
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Any usb to micro usb cable should work just fine. They are basically universal. If you want to be safe just make sure the output of your charging source is 1 amp or less. Many phone chargers will work fine just read the label on the charger to be sure it is no more than 1 amp output.
Its the cheap dollar store wall worts and cords that can damage your phone so I assume damage the hitter also. I don't know how they wreck the phones but I've read in different places they do so I assume they might surge or crappy electronics...I dunno. I use a apple wort when I'm charging my Istick50's and never use the USB charging port unless its a absolute emergency. I'd rather remove the batts and charge them separately.
It is always best to use a stand alone dedicated battery charger for 18650's. I have used my HTC phone charger on occasion to charge my Lost Vape Theron (DNA 75) and it works just fine. I have a separate battery charger I generally use as I have many mods. I take the batteries out and charge them. It is the safest way.
Actually, the Cool Fire IV charges at 1 amp, so it's best to make sure your charger is 1 A and not 500 mA. If you use a lower-rated charger the device will try to pull the full 1 A from it and it may overheat (the wall wart, not the Cool Fire).
Chodi is right that replaceable batteries are much better off charged with a good external charger, but I think the Cool Fire IV has an internal battery so that's not an issue for you.
Not to overdo this but when I use a new charger I always touch the charger when in use to make sure it is not getting hot. A good charger will get barely warm or like my HTC stay cool while charging. If the charger gets hot don't use it.
For the record...
Power supplies don't PUSH AMPS
What happens is the device they're powering (in this instance the charge port on the cool fire) PULLS the AMPS IT NEEDS.
The power supply has to be able/rated to supply that many amps OR MORE so it doesn't get over taxed, stressed, hot and possibly die in the process.
1000 mah = 1 amp = 1 amp hour (for calculations sake)
Tapatyped
Power supplies don't PUSH AMPS
What happens is the device they're powering (in this instance the charge port on the cool fire) PULLS the AMPS IT NEEDS.
The power supply has to be able/rated to supply that many amps OR MORE so it doesn't get over taxed, stressed, hot and possibly die in the process.
1000 mah = 1 amp = 1 amp hour (for calculations sake)
Tapatyped
Unless you use a dirt cheap piece of crap power adapter (and really old crappy mod), just about any decent device that charges via USB has a power controller that regulates the incoming power.. so for example, a cell phone that charges at 1A, even if you plug in a 2A adapter, the phone will max out it's input power at 1A, modern mods do the very same.
Every one of my mods have been perfectly fine charging them directly via my computer or my lamp (which has USB power ports). The older mods might have been not that great to charge, but most mods in the last couple of years have been just fine.... it's just another thing that some people can't let go from what they hear from a friend of a friend and old notions. Note that batteries in series might have more issues with charging evenly, but a parallel mod, or the new mods with "balanced" charging should be just fine. But I'd see it as if you have batteries that aren't charging together evenly, they might simply not be married correctly (or you ended up with one battery being weaker than the other, something that even the best charger can't fix). One should test their batteries every so often to ensure that they are balanced, regardless of how you charge them.
If you're charging with the mod and worried in any way, just use a USB 2.0 port of a computer as they are 0.5A, and use adapters that state to be similar output.
Note that Lithium batteries prefer a slow charge, so at the very max, you shouldn't ever charge over 1A. I know that there's some new "fast charge!!! 1.5A" chargers out now and some mods that state being the same, and the trouble is, the faster you charge, the more you're wearing out the battery. (and the stupidest thing I've seen on the market lately)
And any micro USB cable will work just fine.
Every one of my mods have been perfectly fine charging them directly via my computer or my lamp (which has USB power ports). The older mods might have been not that great to charge, but most mods in the last couple of years have been just fine.... it's just another thing that some people can't let go from what they hear from a friend of a friend and old notions. Note that batteries in series might have more issues with charging evenly, but a parallel mod, or the new mods with "balanced" charging should be just fine. But I'd see it as if you have batteries that aren't charging together evenly, they might simply not be married correctly (or you ended up with one battery being weaker than the other, something that even the best charger can't fix). One should test their batteries every so often to ensure that they are balanced, regardless of how you charge them.
If you're charging with the mod and worried in any way, just use a USB 2.0 port of a computer as they are 0.5A, and use adapters that state to be similar output.
Note that Lithium batteries prefer a slow charge, so at the very max, you shouldn't ever charge over 1A. I know that there's some new "fast charge!!! 1.5A" chargers out now and some mods that state being the same, and the trouble is, the faster you charge, the more you're wearing out the battery. (and the stupidest thing I've seen on the market lately)
And any micro USB cable will work just fine.
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err.. that's not how things work.. a device cannot try to "suck" more power... it will simply max out the 500mA adapter, and be running it at it's max capacity.
If the adapter overheats at it's own limit, it's because it's a piece of crap, and is NOT overheating because a device is trying to force it to push more power.
If anything, charging with a 0.5A will keep your batteries much cooler while charging.
That's like saying that if you plug in a 2A device in your USB 2.0, (something like a tablet) you'd cause the ports to melt down... and that's not gonna happen unless there's a malfunction somewhere. In the end, the tablet will be charging, but just very slowly and if anything, where the tablet would be getting warm when being charged with a 2A adapter, at 0.5A, it will stay quite cool as the battery (which is what gets warm) won't be submitted to high power.
And cooler charging at lower Amps helps prolong a battery lifespan.
My understanding is that it will try, it just won't succeed. It'll keep the adapter at its extreme limit. You're quite right that the adapter shouldn't fail at its own limit, but nothing's perfect and if there are any flaws that's when they'll show up.
Yes, if the higher amp charging is heating it up. I've never had any of my internal battery devices heat up noticeably while charging at the recommended rate, so it isn't likely that it's doing them any particular harm. The Cool Fire could be different, of course, but I wouldn't expect it.
Just a quick note... I don't want terms to be misleading/confused:
- A charger is a device that you put your removable batteries into.
- An adapter is a power convertor that you plug in the wall, then plug in your device to charge the internal batteries.
So with that said:
Just to provide correct info, depending who might have told you this, simply said, an adapter won't "try" anything.. it's not a bidirectional thing.. the charging circuits of the device take whatever they get from the adapter and make the most of it, while the adapter is just converting the amount of power that it's been built for. A decent adapter will have protection circuits to prevent overloads/overheats (basically to prevent frying should there be a power spike in your wall socket, but nothing towards the device that's pulling from it).
Unless it's got an adaptive capacitor or a very fancy computerized device and not just an adapter, a 0.5A adapter is going to be putting out 0.5A at all times, no more, no less, same with 1A, and 2A adapters. It's the device that manages this power input that has a circuit that cuts out the "excess" incoming power. This is done to prevent overloading the charging circuits that are internal to the device and the battery's recommended max. charging capacity.
You'll notice a much larger difference if your device (a tablet for example) is almost dead and you put it on its adapter that pushes the max it can handle... give it about 15-30 minutes then touch the back, you'll feel the battery being much warmer than usual.
Note that the charging circuit on just about all device will start turning the incoming power down when it senses/registers that the battery is at 90-95% fully charge and then trickle charge the rest, so to 1) allow the battery to cool, 2) topping off any battery to reach 100% of it's capacity can only be done properly with a slow charge rate.
That's why you see some fairly extreme chargers that "can recharge your battery to 80% in just a 1/2 hour (but then takes another 1-2 hours to do that last 20%)". Those chargers are pushing those batteries hard as heck to force it to gobble as much power as possible within the safety limit of the battery's capacity. No question about it, those batteries aren't going to last from being stressed that hard.
Note that if you could have a special adapter that has been built with the device in mind if the batteries are non-removable, while if it's an external charger, that circuitry that controls the power going to the batteries in built-in that charger... these are different from standard power adapters that you can plug anything into.
Personally, I'd never use such charger, I'd rather have 2-3 spare set of batteries that are being slow charged.
And out of my several mods, single or dual batteries, I've charged them all regularly via the USB and never had any trouble... and that's for the last 2+ years (and add to that another several mods that my wife and daughter's have and also only charge via USB). I use my external charger more for the spare batteries, and whenever I've tested the USB charged batteries, they always measure out the same as they would with the charger, so I have absolutely no worries about using the USB ports of my mods.
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Actually, the wall adapter needs to be rated as high or higher than the mod charges at. Amps are pulled, not pushed, and a higher rated wall wart will heat up less. It's important to check that the wart provides the correct voltage though.
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The charging circuit is in the mod, the wall wart is simply a power adapter. The mod doesn't know the rating of the adapter and will try to pull the amps it needs to charge. Using a lower rated wall wart is simply a bad idea.
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No no no and no... I just explained this and don't want to be rude here, but where are you guys getting this really horribly wrong info....
Again: the adapter is putting out the amount the amount that it's been built for, the device, cell phone, mod, etc. has a computerized charging circuit that detects the incoming power and balances things out, using the power to the max that it is capable of using.
It does NOT "pull" power.. argh... electricity doesn't work that way!
Here's some reading material for you guys...
The Basics of USB Battery Charging: A Survival Guide - Tutorial - Maxim
Why would I buy a 1-amp USB charger instead of a 2.1-amp charger? - Quora
The ONLY thing that can and will happen if you use a lower Amp adapter with your device is that it will take longer to charge, absolutely nothing else.
Err, last I checked, I thought it was the voltage from a USB port (any USB port, whether it's on your computer, on a "wall wart" adapter, on the armrest of your airplane seats, or built-in to your electrical outlets) that was supposed to be maintained, at a constant five volts. The amperage, then, would necessarily vary depending on the load of the attached device. Is that wrong?
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In simple terms using plumbing as a base:
A neat analogy to help understand these terms is a system of plumbing pipes. The voltage is equivalent to the water pressure, the current is equivalent to the flow rate, and the resistance is like the pipe size.
Taken from: What are amps, watts, volts and ohms?
So again, whatever the adapter is putting out, is putting it out, it's not selective and doesn't care what's on the end.. it's the device that either takes it all or regulates what it can take... all explained on those links I provided in my previous link...
[Note: Not trying to start a fight. Clearly one of us doesn't understand and it's entirely possible that I am that one. It just makes an awful lot of sense, to me, the way I learned it, so I'm having a hard time grasping this "no it's actually exactly the opposite of that" idea.]
So a USB port doesn't output a constant 5v at all times, then?
If the output of a device (be it your vaping mod or the USB port that powers it) is "regulated", then regulated in what? In amps, watts, volts? Well, the only thing it has any direct control over is the voltage. If it's going to monitor and maintain the amps or the watts, then it can only do this by adjusting to the correct voltage. What that "correct voltage" is depends on the resistance of the attached load. So, the device needs to be able to sense and detect said resistance. You said the only way it would not output constant amps is if it was a fancy, computerized device; my understanding is that that's the only way it could possibly do that.
So a USB port doesn't output a constant 5v at all times, then?
Exactly the same could be said of a battery cell (as in a mechanical mod) though, yeah? Whatever it is putting out, it is putting out, and it's not selective, and it doesn't care what's on the end. Those are exactly the words you used, and they're absolutely true. And we all know that those, in the case of a battery cell in a mechanical mod, they put out a constant fixed voltage ("fixed" in that it can't be altered by external means, although obviously it does still vary over time as a function of the charge state; but at any given instant, what it puts out is simply what it puts out), while the amperage is then variable and dependent on the attached load. A 20A battery doesn't mean it will "force" 20 amps through your device. It means you'd better not try and "take" more than 20A from it, or else bad things might happen. In that sense, the amps are very much "pulled, not pushed."
If the output of a device (be it your vaping mod or the USB port that powers it) is "regulated", then regulated in what? In amps, watts, volts? Well, the only thing it has any direct control over is the voltage. If it's going to monitor and maintain the amps or the watts, then it can only do this by adjusting to the correct voltage. What that "correct voltage" is depends on the resistance of the attached load. So, the device needs to be able to sense and detect said resistance. You said the only way it would not output constant amps is if it was a fancy, computerized device; my understanding is that that's the only way it could possibly do that.
Ok...I'll add some fuel to the fire.
Batteries have to rest after they come off the charger, assume to cool down and/or equalize. So using the built in charger in a hitter, unplugging it then beginning to vape right away without letting the batteries rest can cause damage to the internal batteries? I assume it does but haven't researched it enough to know for sure since I have enough sets to rotate I don't need to use a fresh out of the charger batt.
Batteries have to rest after they come off the charger, assume to cool down and/or equalize. So using the built in charger in a hitter, unplugging it then beginning to vape right away without letting the batteries rest can cause damage to the internal batteries? I assume it does but haven't researched it enough to know for sure since I have enough sets to rotate I don't need to use a fresh out of the charger batt.
The "rest" thing often is greatly overestimated. It is not really needed. Only tiny prolongation of battery life can be achieved, but at a price of great inconvenience.
As I understand this thing, for decently made things amperage of a wall adapter does not matter (in terms of safety, not in terms of a speed of charging). Wall adapter should not "push" extra amount of ampers, charged device should not "pull" more amperes than adapter is ready to supply. If you are sure your device and adapter are "decent" ones, then no need to know their parameter. Otherwise...
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