Does the eGo have air holes?

[Kay1959]

I've been doing some reading about checking voltages on your batteries. I've read where you can't check the volts on the eGo because their batteries have pulse volts. I've also read where an enclosed battery can build up gases which could cause the battery to explode. Does anyone know if the eGo battery has air vent holes that allow the gases to escape? If they don't, does anyone know of a PV, much like the eGo, that does? I'm not into the extra vaper or 'more power' stuff. Looking for something akin to the eGo, if I need to change. Thanks!

 

[DaveP]

Kay, the eGo doesn't have air vent holes, but the bottom cap on the battery is a press in type that blows out if the battery begins to vent and build up pressure in the tube. The eGo also has a 10 second cutoff that prevents stressing the battery from holding the button down to long. Inside the tube is an ordinary lithium ion cell. The tube is a holder that provides the electronics and the 510 adapter threading.

There's been a few instances where an eGo battery has exploded, but those are generally cases where the charger has failed and continued to push the battery past 4.2v.

You can check the voltage with an ordinary voltmeter. It is pulsed at 3.4v to keep the vapor consistent from full charge to cutoff. Those digital screw in voltmeters you can buy that install between the atomizer and the battery won't show the voltage (they flash 888) because they don't have the more sophisticate averaging circuitry that digital voltmeters have.

If you are looking for a warmer, more cigarette like vaping experience, you can try one of the 3.7v batteries like the Riva or Kgo. You get slightly shorter time between charges due to the increased wattage draw, but most people like 3.7v for low resistance atomizers. The eGo 1100mah batt is also a 3.7v battery.

ETA: The standard disclaimer applies to eGo and other ecig batteries. Never charge them overnight or when you aren't around to monitor the charger. Always take them off as soon as the charger LED turns green. The trickle charge that occurs after the charger "cuts off" can push the battery into thermal runaway.

 

[ckone180]

Very good post DaveP.

 

[r77r7r]

DaveP wrote: " The trickle charge that occurs after the charger "cuts off" can push the battery into thermal runaway. "

Never heard of that! Can you post any proof of this?

TX-Bob

 

[Kay1959]

Thanks Dave! I didn't know that! I feel alot safer now. I used to charge my batteries overnight, but stopped doing that. Now I charge them first thing in the morning, while I'm drinking coffee.
To r7...I'm no expert at electricity, but I saw online where some lady had put her eGo in to charge and left it that way for DAYS and it exploded...which is why I take mine off as soon as it turns green.

 

[Charlz]

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/general-e-smoking-discussion/268963-ego-battery-explosion-video-aftermath.html

Check your battery every now and then. If it feels warm, stop.

 

[DaveP]

DaveP wrote: " The trickle charge that occurs after the charger "cuts off" can push the battery into thermal runaway. "

Never heard of that! Can you post any proof of this?

TX-Bob

It's pretty much common knowledge if you do some Google searches for exploding battery and faulty chargers. Even your cell phone charger does the trickle thing after the LED turns green. You'll see some blogs about leaving the cell phone charging overnight occasionally to saturate the Li-ion battery. It's not a good practice.

Wall wart chargers are cheaply made and aren't as safe as some of the better built Li-ion chargers. You might go for years and never have a problem. That said, a failure in the internal circuitry can take out the battery by continuing to charge after the cell reaches 4.2v. That's where you get into the danger zone. It's best to monitor batteries and not leave the house until you take them off. Li-ion batts have a liquid electrolyte that can actually explode and start a fire if the charger fails or the lithium cell inside the tube is one that has metal particles suspended in the liquid. Manufacturers try to limit the number of particles that contaminate the battery tube during machining and manufacture. If you happen to have one with many particles, they can migrate to the end of the cell and form a bridge that causes an internal short.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ego-type-models/217880-exploding-ego-t-battery-4.html

Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries <-- read this, especially.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...63-ego-battery-explosion-video-aftermath.html

 

[r77r7r]

I've heard about all that stuff- I was just surprised to hear that the charger has a trickle charge mode.

Ok, posted at the same time as Dave. TY for info.

 

[DaveP]

I've heard about all that stuff- I was just surprised to hear that the charger has a trickle charge mode.

Ok, posted at the same time as Dave. TY for info.

Trickle charge is not so much designed in as it is a by-product of cheap chargers. When the charger cuts off, there's no guarantee that the device has completely disconnected unless there is a physical relay in the charger. Most use a MOSFET device to turn it on and off. These can exhibit leakage current flow, similar to a water faucet that continues to drip or trickle after you turn it off. Li-ion batteries can't take this type of excess charging and will get warmer and warmer until the heat causes pressure to build inside the battery. Like a balloon, too much pressure has to go somewhere. Thermal runaway in a battery can be dangerous. It only takes about 2 seconds from spew to bang! There's not much warning.

 

[Kemosabe]

woah. surely you dont mean 2 seconds of overcharge! wouldnt it take hours and hours of overcharge to blow up a batt?

 

[Charlz]

Less than 2 seconds from venting to blow out. Not enough reaction time. Before that.....warm battery is the warning.

Personally, I just did a very hard thing to do. I completely took apart a battery that was loose near the threading. I was going to throw it out but I decided to see what was on the inside. The more I analyze it, the more I see that I have no idea what the heck I'm looking at.