Coolfire 4 battery died. Replaceable?

[tckenno]

Perhaps better question would be is it worth time and trouble to even try? Electronics still seem to be ok in that the display and fire button lights still work normally if on usb charge. Won't fire a coil even in pass-through mode, however.

I don't mind tinkering but have never had it apart, Am fairly certain some on the board have looked inside theirs. Second question, I have another CF4 still working so is the dead one worth saving if just for salvage parts?

 

[ericbnc]

I saw a post on fasttech where someone replaced the battery with an aftermarket 18650 in one but I have no idea how to do it .

 

[herb]

Perhaps better question would be is it worth time and trouble to even try? Electronics still seem to be ok in that the display and fire button lights still work normally if on usb charge. Won't fire a coil even in pass-through mode, however.

I don't mind tinkering but have never had it apart, Am fairly certain some on the board have looked inside theirs. Second question, I have another CF4 still working so is the dead one worth saving if just for salvage parts?

How long have you had the thing ? Have you routinely discharged the battery until it was too weak to fire & only then recharged it ?

A Coolfire with a replaceable 18650 battery seems like the ideal mod for you .

 

[tckenno]

I bought the CF4 in February herb, was my first vv,vw mod. Have run it down to no fire multiple times but could usually tell from vape falloff when it needed charging and before it actually died. Bought a second as backup about 8 weeks after the original. The backup is still working fine. Strongly agree on going with replaceable battery mods. In fact got a pico mega in mail yesterday. Is not so much needing the CF4, but kinda hate to toss it for simple thing like battery.

 

[RayofLight62]

Most of mods with built-in batteries use a Li-poly 18650 which can be replaced with a standard (steel cased) Li-Mn 18650.
I have four iSticks 20 W where I replaced the original Li-Po with a Panasonic NCR18650B 3450 mAh, almost doubling runtime. And the Panasonic has an impressive cycle life, it is still ok at full capacity after some years of use.
Other mods like the old faithful MVP2 cannot take a battery transplant, as it use two custom sized prismatic Li-Ions. Same as my new Sigelei J150, it will go the day the internal prismatic custom Li-poly series pack will die from daily subohm (45W) use.
Two weeks ago I bought two blue Coolfire IV TC100 with an internal 18650 battery. I use them for low-power chain vaping, so the battery is going to last very long. I plan to replace the internal battery when and if it dies, but I doubt I can source a 40 Amp battery for the TC100 (LG is working hard on their nickel-rich HG6, but yet no cigar).
Eventually, Innokin sells a 70 W version of the CF IV mod which use a replaceable 18650.

 

[tckenno]

Thanks for input Ray. Is internal charger ok to use with the steel cased battery?

 

[tckenno]

Just got around to looking inside the CF4 yesterday. Making contact with a charged battery did light up display. Felt like some VG had gotten inside case, hard to know if that contributed to device failing earlier than expected. Would like to make battery removable for charging if possible. Open to suggestions...

 

[dc99]

Internal charger on that particular mod should be fine. You did put the fuse strip back in place?.

 

[tckenno]

Internal charger on that particular mod should be fine. You did put the fuse strip back in place?.

Not sure where fuse strip is located dc99. Probably visible in pic 2, feel free to point it out. Initially was looking to make battery removable for charging or swapping, but using internal charger would be simpler way to go. Am still open to ideas and suggestions.

 

[dc99]

In picture two those two white things side by side are fuses. Notice the red wire connects below them

 

[tckenno]

Well, the CF4 is back together and working almost like new. I probably should have taken a few more pics along the way but was into task at hand and kinda forgot about camera at times. So it went like this: got rid of foil and soldered copper wire strands on both ends of the little battery board (first pic here). Carried solder around the bend to stiffen and make it more like a battery holder. One note, the positive end has very little clearance with the power switch on the bottom of the device. I allowed mine to bulge to the point where it interfered with gettiing the end cap on and had to remove the switch and one support post. The bump is circled on the second pic. I used filament tape to secure the end connections. I also made a full tape wrap perpendicular and around the battery to cover solder terminals and reinforce tape holding connection (somewhat visible on pic 3) . Slipped it all back into the case and screwed it down. Aside from power switch on end, device is fully functional including the charger. Last pic shows bottom cover, I have clear scotch tape over the power switch hole.

Next step is to use for a while and see if it is reliable. Will post update in a few weeks.

 

[tckenno]

Just a brief update. New battery was down almost a quarter on display (still green while firing) so plugged in USB charger. After a few hours green light went out and battery was 100% full. Replacement battery seems to be outperforming original but will try to verify that. So far so good...

 

[440BB]

Nice job! I remember seeing a video or pictures of one being disassembled a year or so ago, showing it came with an 18650, so I expect one day I will swap it out too. Solid little mod, great form factor, so it's handy to be able to keep it going!

 

[tckenno]

Thanks 440BB. Posted this info mainly for hobbyists. It’s fairly simple and inexpensive repair to save an otherwise good mod from trash. I have a second, slightly newer CF4 so knowledge gained fixing one may someday help with the other. My first real mods after quitting and use both daily.

 

[tckenno]

Been five weeks now and device working fine. No problems whatsoever. Nice having extra CF4 in mod rotation and IMO already has been worth the effort. Prolly my last update unless thread is bumped.

 

[440BB]

Congrats! I look forward to replacing batteries as long as the rest holds up, which with Innokin should be a long time.

 

[Vinnybagodoughnuts]

Which battery did you use? I am interested in doing this when mine finally dies. Thanks for taking the time to post!

 

[tckenno]

Wish I had taken a better photo of battery Vinny. Pic CF7 shows it to be purple with battery origin date but not much else and I don't have a mate to easily post more info now. Was initially a bit concerned about charging but there is no sign of overheating. In fact device barely warms during the process.

 

[Vinnybagodoughnuts]

It's cool I guess using one with the same amp limit would be a good place to start and I can measure the length of the old battery to find a good match.

 

[tckenno]

Yup, would think any good 18650 battery suitable for use in a 40W mod should be fine Vinny. Folks who like premium batteries for extra safety margin and greater capacity would want that in whatever mod they use. Most of my batteries are average quality and were initially purchased for mechanical mods firing above ohm coils.