Charger no longer turns green. Dangerous to use?

[Laktos]

I've been using eGo Twists with a generic rapid eGo charger for about a month, and up until yesterday, everything was working fine. The batteries would charge completely in a little longer than an hour (I think), and the light would turn green after charging. Yesterday, after leaving a battery in for about four hours, I noticed that it had still not turned green. I tried charging the other one and left it in for several hours as well, and it also stayed red. I'm assuming that this is a problem with my charger, and although I have dropped my batteries a couple times, the problem didn't manifest immediately after dropping them. I've cleaned both connection points with rubbing alcohol with seemingly no effect.

I'm wondering if this is common among off-brand chargers, and is it dangerous for me to use it now? Will my battery blow up or something if I leave it in there? I read about one person's battery turning into a rocket and flying across the room, but I assume that that happens only very rarely.

If this is a significant risk, I'll buy another charger, but I'd rather just keep using it and set a timer reminding me to take it out for now (until cash flow is a bit better). What do you guys think? Is there significant risk?

 

[Mike36609]

Never a bad idea to have extra chargers. The problem you have described could possibly be an indication of something dangerous... I'm always wary of Li-on batteries. The problem could also be your batteries are getting older and losing their ability to take a charge. Unlikely that both would experience the same problem at the same time though. If you have a volt meter you can check the voltage of the batteries fresh off the charger... should be around 4.2V. If the voltage is higher most likely the batteries are being over charged... this is where it can get dangerous.

 

[Rocketpunk]

Are you charging it on your computer or other device, or are you charging it with a usb wall adapter?

I was charging my Twist on my computer with the USB cable and it never, ever fully charged it. The light always stayed red no matter how long I left it charging. Then I bought a USB wall adapter, and it charges just fine.

 

[Laktos]

Hm. I'm thinking of leaving one of the batteries in for longer to see if it is simply that they're losing the ability to take the charge. The charger does turn green once I actually remove the battery, and now that I think about it, wouldn't it be the battery controlling whether or not charging continues? I've been alternating consistently between batteries, so they probably have about the same number of completed cycles. I suppose it's conceivable that if they're both of similar build and component quality, they would degrade at an equal rate.

I unfortunately don't have a volt meter, so I have to rely on subjective perceptions of how much they're putting out (which I don't think I can judge with any accuracy).

Is there a chance of it exploding if I leave it plugged in to test, though? I know no one can really say for certain, but as far as people know, what would happen if it overcharged?

 

[Laktos]

I'm using a USB wall adapter. Actually, the only thing I can think of that I did differently is that I left it plugged in a couple days ago after I unscrewed the battery instead of completely unplugging it from the wall once I had finished charging. But it seems odd that this would affect anything.

 

[offashead]

I'm using a USB wall adapter. Actually, the only thing I can think of that I did differently is that I left it plugged in a couple days ago after I unscrewed the battery instead of completely unplugging it from the wall once I had finished charging. But it seems odd that this would affect anything.

Hi. I did the above more than once and it affected nothing, hope that helps. I have also left batteries charging for far to long, sometimes hours after they had fully charged, again nothing to report. I had an Imist battery that would just stay green on the charger even when drained, that went in the bin.

 

[Dansauls]

let me see here....
$5 charger & $25 battery
Is it worth risking a house fire ...... Hmmmm
I probably go to the local hobby shop and ask them to check your set up (battery and charger) with a multi-meter.

 

[Laktos]

It's ok. There's no risk of a fire, since I have my batteries strategically placed near a pile of clothes soaked in grain alcohol to instantly put out any potential fires =D.

Seriously, though, if that's actually a possibility, I guess I'll take them somewhere to get looked at. Thanks.

 

[offashead]

Have you checked to see if the battery/ charger connection is dirty? Also you can use a small screwdriver etc to pull the disk on the connection part of the battery up slightly, that might do it. Sometimes the disk can get pushed down by cartos, clearomisers etc.

 

[DrApex]

Sone lithium ion batteries are more prone to fires than others.

If you want to be safer, do it in the middle of a concrete floor.

The regular brand name eGo batteries or chargers supposedly have overcharging protection. Off brand or generic batteries or chargers may not.

It would be best to find out if the problem is on the battery side or the charger side. That way you replace the right parts

Typed on my mobile. Please excuse typos.

 

[Laktos]

There actually was a bit of gunk on the surface which I cleaned off with no noticeable effect. I think the disk is making proper contact, though, since I can see the light turn red to indicate charging when I still have a few more turns to screw it in. I have a feeling that if I went at it with screwdriver, even for a minor adjustment, I'd probably end up paranoid, constantly wondering if I screwed something else up.

Anyway, I think I'm going to buy an actual Joyetech charger and a multimeter just to be on the safe side. If this is a malfunction, it seems odd that both batteries would have it at the same time, so I'm just going to see if I can create an explosion safe charging area and test with the new charger.

 

[offashead]

There actually was a bit of gunk on the surface which I cleaned off with no noticeable effect. I think the disk is making proper contact, though, since I can see the light turn red to indicate charging when I still have a few more turns to screw it in. I have a feeling that if I went at it with screwdriver, even for a minor adjustment, I'd probably end up paranoid, constantly wondering if I screwed something else up.

Anyway, I think I'm going to buy an actual Joyetech charger and a multimeter just to be on the safe side. If this is a malfunction, it seems odd that both batteries would have it at the same time, so I'm just going to see if I can create an explosion safe charging area and test with the new charger.

Only a tiny amount. I have done it and like magic the battery was fine. But maybe a new charger would solve the mystery, cheaper than two batteries in any case. Let us know how it pans out.

 

[Laktos]

Indeed, I will. Thanks.

 

[Jerms]

I have a Joytech charger I use for my Twists and sometimes it still shows red after 4-6 hours. I'll disconnect it and use the battery and next time it's fine. I don't know why it does that or if it's dangerous or harmful for the battery so I'll keep an eye on this thread. I also keep the wall charger plugged in and just connect the usb section when charging so someone let me know if that can hurt the wall charger.

Sent from my LGL55C using Tapatalk 2

 

[KraKsX]

I have a Joytech charger I use for my Twists and sometimes it still shows red after 4-6 hours. I'll disconnect it and use the battery and next time it's fine. I don't know why it does that or if it's dangerous or harmful for the battery so I'll keep an eye on this thread. I also keep the wall charger plugged in and just connect the usb section when charging so someone let me know if that can hurt the wall charger.

Sent from my LGL55C using Tapatalk 2

That will NOT hurt the wall charger, you could even leave the USB plugged into it 24/7 and it won't hurt either part of the charging system.

 

[Jerms]

That will NOT hurt the wall charger, you could even leave the USB plugged into it 24/7 and it won't hurt either part of the charging system.

Cool, that's great to hear! One less thing to fiddle with.

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[Laktos]

Just a quick update, I'm almost completely certain now that my charger is just junk and has wonked out on me. As of today, it will no longer charge either of my batteries, which are now completely dead, so I will be vape free until I get a new one =(. The behavior of the charger has deteriorated rapidly, and I noticed today that when I disconnected the batteries, it still stayed red, as opposed to before where it would turn green again instantly. There is of course still a possibility that both of the batteries have malfunctioned as well, but that would be very odd, unless there were a common causative factor in their premature demise. Maybe they gave each other some form of PV syphilis via the charger, but for now, I'm assuming the charger is alone unless there are further developments.

Anyway, the moral of the story seems to be not to buy cheap, off-brand chargers. Oh well, I guess it's time to go get drunk and watch Doctor Who alone without vapor.

 

[J.R. Bob Dobbs]

BINGO!
because your computer can only crank like 2-3 volts through the USB, wheras your house charger(in America anyways it flows 110/115 volts through the outlets.

Are you charging it on your computer or other device, or are you charging it with a usb wall adapter?

I was charging my Twist on my computer with the USB cable and it never, ever fully charged it. The light always stayed red no matter how long I left it charging. Then I bought a USB wall adapter, and it charges just fine.

OP: try cleaning the contacts of both batterys and the charger with a q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol. Also make sure that the contact terminals are not pushed in. just take a pocket knife and wiggle the post gently. works like a charm for me when batteries wont charge.

always tighten your batterys just enough to make contact, overtightening causes all sorts of issues.

 

[Jerms]

Maybe they gave each other some form of PV syphilis via the charger, but for now, I'm assuming the charger is alone unless there are further developments. Anyway, the moral of the story seems to be not to buy cheap, off-brand chargers. Oh well, I guess it's time to go get drunk and watch Doctor Who alone without vapor.

Hehe, I laughed. Yeah, with chargers it usually pays to buy quality. Might want to pick up a couple disposables to use until new hardware comes in. Enjoy Doctor Who!

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[LucentShadow]

I recently had a Joyetech charger do this to me. A different Joyetech charger still works just fine with the same batteries.

I'd advise you not to use the charger. It's probably overcharging the batteries. Mine was, and there are several accounts on these forums of eGos spouting off of the chargers rather violently. The eGo chargers are pretty much a cheap and terrible design, IMO, but I've yet to see a decent alternative charger for eGos.

I'd be a bit wary of the batteries involved as well, but I'd imagine that they'd be OK if you caught it fairly quickly.

I'm going to keep an eye out for a short VV or VW device with removable batteries. Seems to me that they are all annoyingly long. I like my 650mah Twists, but I have no idea how to actually test the unregulated battery voltage on them without destroying the battery, so it's difficult to know if they are getting charged over 4.2v.