Charging Issues - Help Sorting Out Please?

[PaulB]

In anticipation of the arrival of my first mod, I bought four of this battery and this charger from Madvapes. I don't think I've gotten a successful charge into any of these batteries. Can you help me figure out how I, the batteries, or the charger have gone wrong?

1. The charger has 3.6V and 4.2V settings. One commenter on the Madvapes page for the product noted that only the 4.2 setting would charge his 3.7 batteries; at 3.6 the LED always showed green. This seems to have been my experience as well.

2. Initially, I was confused about the +- of battery placement in the two-battery 5V mod, so it is likely that all four of the batteries were at some point in the unit wrong with it switched on. Despite this, I did get a good day's vaping each on both pairs' initial charges.

3. I have not gotten a full re-charge out of any of these four batteries as far as I can tell. With the 4.2 setting, I was able on my first recharge attempt to see a red LED on the charger, but after something like 12 hours it stayed red and vaping time was brief before it stopped delivering power.

4. It seems now the charger shows green on all four batteries at either setting, even with discharged batteries and the charger never feels warm. Testing a pair that had been completely discharged and kept in the green LED charger overnight at 4.2V, I got two very nice drags. Then nothing.

Could somebody please come up with a theory from the above clues as to what's going on?

Thanks!

 

[PaulB]

Bump.
(Don't know if seven hours is too short a time to bump--but I miss being able to use my mod.)

 

[Godzilla]

To me it sounds like your charger. It seems too coincidental that all your batteries would go bad at the same time. With my protected batteries, my mod just wont work if they are in there backwards. Not sure what kind of mod you have. I would contact madvapes (I think its scott at madvapes dot [om) they have great customer service.

 

[PaulB]

Thanks, Godzilla. (Always wanted to type that sentence. ;-) ) Sounds reasonable.

The one part I still want to pin down would be which voltage setting should I use to charge a 3.7v, assuming everything's working as it should. And if I have to use the higher voltage setting, do I have to take care about not overcharging? (And if so, what would be a typical charging time?)

 

[Rosco]

Thanks, Godzilla. (Always wanted to type that sentence. ;-) ) Sounds reasonable.

The one part I still want to pin down would be which voltage setting should I use to charge a 3.7v, assuming everything's working as it should. And if I have to use the higher voltage setting, do I have to take care about not overcharging? (And if so, what would be a typical charging time?)

That would be setting your charger to 4.2v. I have charged those same batteries the exact same way(4.2V output charger) for many, many months. Those flame trustfires are 1 of my favorites, and others share this opinion too.

You really should have a simple $5-$10 Multimeter to be able to check resistance of atty/cartos and voltage of your batteries.

To test the DC voltage of those batteries after a charge would answer the question immediately.

Something as simple as this; http://cgi.ebay.com/LCD-Digital-Vol...478?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf47129d6

 

[PaulB]

Madvapes has a replacement charger on the way to me, no sweat. Is there any risk in my attempting to charge the original batteries with the new one?

 

[Rosco]

Madvapes has a replacement charger on the way to me, no sweat. Is there any risk in my attempting to charge the original batteries with the new one?

` Nope.....

 

[atomizer mizer]

I am interested how this turned out for you. I just purchsed the same charger(lime green with a 3.6 or 4.2 volt switch). I bought the batteries at the same time from madvapes and am unsure if the batteries were fully charged when I recieved them but I have the same problem at the 3.6 volt setting. The light is continuously green and doesn't turn red. At the 4.2 volt setting the light is red and the charger gets warm quickly. The 4 batteries are trustfire 3.7 volt that read out at 3.8 volts on my fluke multi-meter meter. I am guessing that the 3.6 volt setting might be to low for the charger to detect a discharged battery but I am a afraid that the 4.2 volt setting may be to much and could damage the batteries and or charger. Does anyone know if this setting is ok for the batteries? The charger manufacurer name is in chinese so included is a pic of the charger.

In anticipation of the arrival of my first mod, I bought four of this battery and this charger from Madvapes. I don't think I've gotten a successful charge into any of these batteries. Can you help me figure out how I, the batteries, or the charger have gone wrong?

1. The charger has 3.6V and 4.2V settings. One commenter on the Madvapes page for the product noted that only the 4.2 setting would charge his 3.7 batteries; at 3.6 the LED always showed green. This seems to have been my experience as well.

2. Initially, I was confused about the +- of battery placement in the two-battery 5V mod, so it is likely that all four of the batteries were at some point in the unit wrong with it switched on. Despite this, I did get a good day's vaping each on both pairs' initial charges.

3. I have not gotten a full re-charge out of any of these four batteries as far as I can tell. With the 4.2 setting, I was able on my first recharge attempt to see a red LED on the charger, but after something like 12 hours it stayed red and vaping time was brief before it stopped delivering power.

4. It seems now the charger shows green on all four batteries at either setting, even with discharged batteries and the charger never feels warm. Testing a pair that had been completely discharged and kept in the green LED charger overnight at 4.2V, I got two very nice drags. Then nothing.

Could somebody please come up with a theory from the above clues as to what's going on?

Thanks!

 

[hoogie76]

On these chargers, 4.2 volts is the correct setting for li-ion batteries.. The 3.6 volt setting appears to be for LiFPO4 batteries but we are still trying to verify this.. It's a pretty new charger and sometimes getting info is like pulling teeth

hoog

 

[atomizer mizer]

Thanks hoog!

 

[PaulB]

My replacement is working fine using the 4.2 setting. I'm not noticing any undue warmth when charging. It does "sing" when plugged in and empty (so I don't leave it plugged in empty).

 

[Rosco]

Those flames Trustfire when fully charged should meter out at around 4.2V if they are charged properly, which would mean using the 4.2V position. I have those batteries and in fact, all the Trustfire Flames perform outstanding. My 16340 Trustfires amaze me at times.

 

[atomizer mizer]

I just pulled two batteries off the charger after sitting overnight and they do indeed read 4.2 volts(4.18). I never knew batteries could hold an overcharge. So far they last a full day of vaping. I have no complaints regarding my trustfire 14500's. great batteries

Those flames Trustfire when fully charged should meter out at around 4.2V if they are charged properly, which would mean using the 4.2V position. I have those batteries and in fact, all the Trustfire Flames perform outstanding. My 16340 Trustfires amaze me at times.

 

[Rosco]

`