eGo battery/charger unreliable? Tired of dead batteries

[GIMike]

How long are you charging them for? I have a little timer that you may use for lamps while on vacation to turn them off/on every day. I set it for 4 1/2 hours when I sleep at night, that way it shuts off the power to the charger, not allowing it to overcharge. They are supposed to stop charging when the light goes green, but there's a chance that it could still be overcharging. Just an idea. Under $10 for a little peace of mind.

http://www.advancegreenhouses.com/Timers and Controls/Grounded Cordless Timer.jpg - Similar to mine, mine only has 1 on/off selection (1 green, 1 red setting), but it should give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

 

[Silversmyth]

I got the eGo starter kit about 6 months ago that came with two batteries and standard charger. Up until about the last month everything was ok, now I am noticing a few things:

- when the battery is dead and I put it on the charger, sometimes the light will not go from green to red. If I unscrew the batt a little it might go to red, but not always.

- even if it DOES go from green to red I can leave it charging all night and the next day it lasts about five minutes before the light starts flashing and it is dead again.

For obvious reasons this is frustrating, thinking I have a fully charged battery only to have it die right away is completely unacceptable.

Is it common for these components to fail like this? Six months doesn't seem that long to me but maybe my expectations are off.

I dont know if the issue is with the charger or the battery, but either way my confidence is completely shot when it comes to these things.

I have a Ego kit from LF that i bought about middle of Jan.
Both still going strong at the moment.
BUT-- i realize that any longer life i get out of them is just GRAVY
For less than the price of a carton of marlboro reds--these have made it for 5+ monthes.
1 carton=1 week--or 2 batteries = 5+monthes (plus some juice and a few attys of course)
Do the math

 

[r77r7r]

grrr....wonder if there is something else going on here. I got a new ego battery from cignot about a week ago. I am seeing similar behaviour; it dies (the light starts flashing) so i hook it up to the charger. The light on the charger dosnt go from green to red right away but eventually it might. Left it charging all night and today i used it for about 1/2 hour and its dead already.

I have three different chargers for these batts, one plugged into ac and the other two are usb. I am looking at my brand new battery plugged in and the light on the charger is going from red to green back to red, back to green, back to red, etc.

No idea what is going on here; do i have a bad batch of chargers to?!

Are chargers not all created equally?

clean the contacts on the battery and charger. CONTACT cleaner or alcohol. Clean them every time you charge.

 

[SuZamme]

Thanks....how do I know which ports are connected the the motherboard? I dont use hubs or anything if that is what you mean.

I never charge my batts via USB ports on computer.

I always use AC/USB adaptors and plug USB PV batt charger into these. That way I know I am getting the right amps etc. to charge PV's and I don't run the risk of messing up computer ports/motherboard etc. if USB PV charger should go on the fritz.

 

[donnah]

I charge mine on a surge protector and I always use a Q tip to clean mine before I screw it in to charge. actually I clean mine all the time, whenever I unscrew a carto or atty. And when I flood my atty or carto, I unscrew it and wipe with Q tip. (I use a lot of Q tips!)

 

[zoiDman]

I charge mine on a surge protector and I always use a Q tip to clean mine before I screw it in to charge. actually I clean mine all the time, whenever I unscrew a carto or atty. And when I flood my atty or carto, I unscrew it and wipe with Q tip. (I use a lot of Q tips!)

I use a ton of Q-Tips also.

Here's a, no pun intended, hot tip. If you take a hammer and flatten the end of the Q-Tip, they work much better for getting down into the battery connector.

I use this one ...

8 oz. Stubby Ball Pein Hammer

because it works perfect, fits in my e-Cig desk drawer and was only 4 Bucks.

Also works for keeping family members fingers off you favorite e-Liquid

 

[RollTheBones]

Ok, so to summarize:

- Clean battery and charger before plugging in battery

- Make sure charger is not powered on before plugging in battery

- Don't "overcharge" (never heard of such a thing, I usually just left them over night but am taking note)

- Don't use USB ports

Did I miss anything?

Oh yea, still wondering if there is a way to test a battery before I run out of the house with it and find out ten minutes later it is dead.....

 

[Thank You]

E.x.a.c.t.l.y.

use the ports on the back of the pc as the other person mentioned.. its run directly into your motherboard rather then front usb connections running through a hub.

 

[AttyPops]

So the question we all need answered (bouncing it back to the OP) is... did any of this work for you, or do you/did you end up getting new batteries?

 

[RollTheBones]

So the question we all need answered (bouncing it back to the OP) is... did any of this work for you, or do you/did you end up getting new batteries?

I just got another eGo starter kit, so I have two new batts and a charger. Am not using the old charger anymore so time will tell.

Would still like to know if there is any way to test the strength of a battery....there has got to be some electronic doo-dad that can be hooked up to a battery to see if it is full or empty, no?

 

[zoiDman]

...
Would still like to know if there is any way to test the strength of a battery....there has got to be some electronic doo-dad that can be hooked up to a battery to see if it is full or empty, no?

Do you have a "Multi-Meter" ?

 

[RollTheBones]

Do you have a "Multi-Meter" ?

No, is that what I need?

<---- electronically challenged

 

[zoiDman]

No, is that what I need?

<---- electronically challenged

A Multi-Meter can measure all kinds of electrical things like Voltage, how much your battery is charged. And ohms, what the resistence of your carto/attys are.

They are not that hard to use and for someone like yourself, a non-professional, you shouldn't have to spend to much. Perhaps 15 bucks.

I'm at work but when I get home I'll send you a link to something that might help you.

 

[GIMike]

A Multi-Meter can measure all kinds of electrical things like Voltage, how much your battery is charged. And ohms, what the resistence of your carto/attys are.

They are not that hard to use and for someone like yourself, a non-professional, you shouldn't have to spend to much. Perhaps 15 bucks.

I'm at work but when I get home I'll send you a link to something that might help you.

Harbor freight, if you have one, sells them for about $3

 

[RollTheBones]

Harbor freight, if you have one, sells them for about $3

How about this?

Digital Multimeter - Save on this 7 Function Digital Multimeter

 

[zoiDman]

How about this?

Digital Multimeter - Save on this 7 Function Digital Multimeter

I think that is what you need. You just need to make sure that it can read ohms down to x.x.

I have one meter that reads 2.6 ohms as 3 which doesn't help. Maybe another member who knows about DMM's can chime in. The user's manual is in a pdf here.

http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/90000-90999/90899.pdf