Expected lifespan of a Riva battery?

[Rudforce]

So this last weekend I was out of town and took my Rivas with me. Wouldn't ya know it, Saturday morning _both_ of them quit accepting a charge. The button blinks when plugged in, but the charger stays green. There I was, 350 miles from home, with no more e-smoke.

Why did both of my Riva batteries catastrophically fail at the same time, exactly eight weeks after I got them? Is there a two month self-destruct?

 

[Vapenstein]

Don't know where you purchased from, but Liberty Flights warrants Riva batteries for 3 months. Inconvenient though.

 

[foggy1]

could it be the charger ?
I've got a couple of no name 650mha batts that quit together ?
gonna order another charger before I disect for parts..

 

[Scottbee]

So this last weekend I was out of town and took my Rivas with me. Wouldn't ya know it, Saturday morning _both_ of them quit accepting a charge. The button blinks when plugged in, but the charger stays green. There I was, 350 miles from home, with no more e-smoke.

Why did both of my Riva batteries catastrophically fail at the same time, exactly eight weeks after I got them? Is there a two month self-destruct?

Did you perhaps have a bad cartomizer or atomizer that killed them? A "near shorted" cartomizer or atomizer (running below about 1 Ohm) will "kill" eGo, Tornado, and RiVa batteries.

 

[slumgunner]

i think its the charger or the adapter, i had the same problem once and i pluged it back into a usb port on my computer and it works but my usb wall adapter fried

 

[Rudforce]

Purchased directly from Eastmall, arrived 8/14/2010. I don't see a warranty period claimed on eastmall.net.

I tried the A/C-USB wall adapter, 12V-USB car adapter (2A, also from Eastmall), and plugging right into the laptop's USB ports. No different on any of those. Button blinks, led on charger stays green.

Not sure the best way of testing the actual charger itself, so I just stuck a meter on it while plugged in to wall wart, and I see 4.18V. That's with no load, I've no idea if I should test this with a load or not (like I'd do with a battery). Glad to see Scottbee here, from past reading I know you're the guy that'll say how to properly test a charger

I was using LR atties (also from Eastmall). I checked those and they are 2.2 and 2.7 Ohm (which is interesting since they're sold as 1.5 Ohm). The one standard atty was 3.0 Ohm.

 

[foggy1]

I just tried bypassing the wall wart and plugged my 650's into my usb..
charger lite stays green but neither battery buttons blink at all
been using the standard atty's that came with my 510 kit, both still working w/510 batts
Scottbee, glad to see you around..read about everything you've posted
(no I'm NOT a stalker, but waiting to see what new improvments you've come up with)

 

[MusicBox]

I had the same symptoms with my first Riva kit.
Wall wart was OK
Changing the USB to Riva cable fixed the problem.
Do you have anything else you can plug in to the wall wart to check if that works?

 

[foggy1]

past time to get my meter out and check things
kinda hoping they would fix themsevles with rest

 

[dskarpus]

I know this seems simple. Did you check the charger connection to see if there is liquid gunk on it? I cleaned it and the charger worked again. I now clean the Riva with a q-tip before screwing it in. I mean no offense, but I sure felt stupid.

 

[Rudforce]

I mean no offense...

None taken

Yeah everything is clean. And since I'm married, even though I'd proven it to myself 14 times, the wife made absolutely certain of it as well ("didja use a q-tip?" Yes. "didja use rubbing alcohol?" Yes. "Here, let me" *facepalm*)

 

[Di]

Scottbee makes a good point please check this possibility.

Also Musicbox and Dskarpus are valued members with good ideas on these issues.

then if still not resolved,

please contact Selena at CS for resolution of this issue,

Customer Service email :- support@eastmall.net



thanks.

 

[Abe]

Possible centre pin not contacting on the charger/battery.

Hope you do not mind me posting in your forum, Di.

 

[Loghomeguy]

Purchased directly from Eastmall, arrived 8/14/2010. I don't see a warranty period claimed on eastmall.net.

I tried the A/C-USB wall adapter, 12V-USB car adapter (2A, also from Eastmall), and plugging right into the laptop's USB ports. No different on any of those. Button blinks, led on charger stays green.

Not sure the best way of testing the actual charger itself, so I just stuck a meter on it while plugged in to wall wart, and I see 4.18V. That's with no load, I've no idea if I should test this with a load or not (like I'd do with a battery). Glad to see Scottbee here, from past reading I know you're the guy that'll say how to properly test a charger

I was using LR atties (also from Eastmall). I checked those and they are 2.2 and 2.7 Ohm (which is interesting since they're sold as 1.5 Ohm). The one standard atty was 3.0 Ohm.

Foggy, did you subtract the internal resistance of your multimeter? Touch leads together. Subtract this number from resistance on atomizer.

 

[Selena]

Scottbee makes a good point please check this possibility.

Also Musicbox and Dskarpus are valued members with good ideas on these issues.

then if still not resolved,

please contact Selena at CS for resolution of this issue,

Customer Service email :- support@eastmall.net



thanks.

What 8-o8-o8-oTo funny

 

[Rudforce]

Scottbee makes a good point please check this possibility.

Foggy, did you subtract the internal resistance of your multimeter? Touch leads together. Subtract this number from resistance on atomizer.

Loghomeguy: You quoted me, but I'm not Foggy, but I'll answer, and I'll admit that I failed to think about that (can I blame the rum?)



I just re-checked my in-rotation atties with the good, auto-ranging meter and indeed the one with the drip tip (the one I was using) on it reads 1.0-1.1 Ohm. It's an LR-510 from Eastmall that's about 2 weeks old.

So according to Scottbee's research it now seems rather likely that a too-low resistance atty may have eaten my Rivas. Is this still a CS issue? I did buy the LR atties because EM says it's a "best fit" for Riva. I'll email Selena at CS and see what transpires.

Thanks everyone for the input.

 

[foggy1]

Thank you Loghomeguy, foggy1 here, subtracted internal resistance (.5) atty's read about 3 ohms
checked volts, got 5+ v. out from the wall wart,
but only got 2+ v. out from the usb ego screw-in plugged in the wall wart
650 mha batts read 0 v. and buttons don't lite when pushed
I'm thinking now that the usb killed my 2 650's
510 batts read 3.25 v. fully charged
Hoping the new ego kit ordered will charge these dead 650 mha's
Liberty Flights is having a ECF sale ..Joy Ego kits $39.99

 

[Scottbee]

Loghomeguy: You quoted me, but I'm not Foggy, but I'll answer, and I'll admit that I failed to think about that (can I blame the rum?)



I just re-checked my in-rotation atties with the good, auto-ranging meter and indeed the one with the drip tip (the one I was using) on it reads 1.0-1.1 Ohm. It's an LR-510 from Eastmall that's about 2 weeks old.

So according to Scottbee's research it now seems rather likely that a too-low resistance atty may have eaten my Rivas. Is this still a CS issue? I did buy the LR atties because EM says it's a "best fit" for Riva. I'll email Selena at CS and see what transpires.

Thanks everyone for the input.

Damn Rum!

(Wait a minute.. I freaking LOVE rum!)

I'm glad that Loghomeguy chimed in... obviously with low resistances like these, netting-out the parasitic resistance of the test tool is important.... and I "rummed" right through mentioning that!

Be sure to mark that atty with a big red-X (imprinted with a hammer) and don't use it anymore.... a trail of failed batteries will be in its wake.

 

[Katya]

How does one establish that a battery is, indeed, dead? The battery light blinks, but the battery won't take a charge. The light on my USB charger stays green. The charger works fine with my eGo.

I think the carto I used last on my Riva was bad. It wasn't LR, but it died (burned/shorted/whatever) after a few puffs and the battery seems to be dead. Is it?

 

[Scottbee]

How does one establish that a battery is, indeed, dead? The battery light blinks, but the battery won't take a charge. The light on my USB charger stays green. The charger works fine with my eGo.

I think the carto I used last on my Riva was bad. It wasn't LR, but it died (burned/shorted/whatever) after a few puffs and the battery seems to be dead. Is it?

Heya Chicka-dee!

If a battery won't take a charge from a known-good charger, or deliver power to a known good atomizer/cartomizer.... then I hereby christen it "dead".

Sure, there are a bunch of ways that a battery can die.. and a lot of failure mechanisms... (cell, MOSFET, button/switch, wiring, etc..), but at the end of the day, dead is dead.