Efest batteries losing charge FAST!

[Sonic Tooth]

Hey guys, hoping someone here could offer up some help.

As the title says, the 4 Efest batteries I have (18350 IMR, both nipple and flat top) are coming out of my Nitecore charger reading 4.19 or so, and within maybe 20-30 minutes drop down to 3.7 or so, which is when I'd normally recharge them. I've had these batteries for about 4 months and they never did this before.

I use them in a few different mechanical mods, and also in my iTaste SVD. I noticed this issue a few days ago when I'd pop a fully charged battery into the SVD and the battery indicator button which would normally glow green (indicating full charge) would change to yellow (indicating half charged) very very fast, like it had never done before.

I'm not chain vaping and I don't do sub-ohm coils on the mechs. I do think I treat my batteries reasonably well, and haven't let them discharge fully or anything like that. I don't use the batteries straight off the charger (okay maybe I've done that a small handful of times, but definitely NOT routinely.)

So what gives? Has anyone else here seen a similar issue with the 18350 IMR Efests? Should I get new batteries ASAP? And is there a way to keep this from happening in the future?

 

[fundoodman]

Sounds like they're just shot to me. But that is just my guess. That does seem like a short life. Could be a short in the connector that's drawing power even when you're not using it. Try charging your battery and just let it sit in your pv for awhile and see if you still get the same voltage drop? Try not to use the batteries as soon as you take them off the charger too, let them rest for a little bit.

 

[tgtsv5]

I have been having the same problem with mine. When I pull them off the charger I have even been checking them with a multimeter to be sure they are charged. Usually the meter will match what my charger says. But I notice that after an hour or less vapor production drops and I recheck them and they are way down to 3.7 or so. These are fairly new too. I usually can get several hours out of one but not anymore. Is there a correct amp setting or something? My charger gives me a choice of 0.25, 0.5, or 1 amp...

 

[Ryedan]

The Efest 18350 are 800 mAh. I would not go higher than 0.5 A to charge these. IMO 1.0 A is going to hurt them. I would actually use the 0.25 A unless I was in a hurry and could not wait the extra time. If the battery is totally discharged, 0.25 A would take 3.2 hours to charge but you are never going to take them down to empty.

I have heard a number of times from people I trust that Efest do not last as long as AW, Panasonic, MNKE, Sony, etc, but I have never tried them myself. And I won't be ...

 

[ZW99GT]

I've had trouble with Efest 18350's. Almost exactly a year ago I purchased 3 with my vamo. I've since purchased 2 more for a total of 5. I now have two that went completely dead (reading 0V) which I recycled and one that does exactly what you've explained above. I would be surprised if it registered at 300-400mah. The other two are going strong, but I only use them when all my 26650's and 18650's are charging.

 

[Switched]

IMHO, Efest belong in the same category as the ***fire series You are experiencing what everyone else has, nothing more. They start to seriously wane at the 4m mark. Sorry

 

[Harlen]

Very good to know
Thank you all

 

[Racehorse]

I've had these batteries for about 4 months and they never did this before.

Good batteries are going to perform better, both in the charger and in the mod. Try AWs next time around and see if you like them better. Who knows, maybe the charger is not keeping them conditioned? Might want to experiment, 4 months does sound like a short life span, but that is based on a lot of factors.