Hi :) and Battery question

[ganns1980]

Sorta new to vaping (couple of months), been stalking these forums and finally made an account!

I do have a question however; it seems like my batteries are taking forever to charge. No matter what charger/outlet/USB adapter I use, they can take up to 12 hours to charge.

I have a Vision spinner VV 1600mah and a Ballistixx VV 2100mah. Sometimes a full charge of the Ballistixx can take almost 24 hours! What?! I got both of them from a seemingly reputable shop in Plymouth, MA.

Thanks everyone!

 

[joesquid]

They certainly shouldn't take that long. Are you using the charger that came with them?

 

[ganns1980]

Yes, I am. I've also tried another charger with the same result.

 

[chargingcharlie]

How long are you waiting before charging? If you wait until the inicator turns red then that is one of your problems. You should never let Lithium batteries drop below 20% if you want them to last. Also, check and see what the output rating is on your charger. If it says "4.2V 420mA" then it should take about 3 to 4 hours to charge your 1600mAh and 4 to 5 hours to charge your 2100. I would also make sure the voltage dial is set to 4.2V when you are charging.

 

[chargingcharlie]

BTW, how's that shop in Plymouth? I haven't been to it yet and didn't even know about it until the other day.

 

[ganns1980]

Still new, I have no idea how to check the output rating! Thanks for the tip on the battery level and turning it to 4.2, I'll try those.

The shop in Plymouth seems really good! This is the only shop I've been to, but they have a big (to me) selection, and the guy and girl who run the place are always helpful and willing to help out newbs like me. Any issues or problems I've had they've helped me with.

TheVAPEway.com | Electronic Cigarettes | Vaporizers | Plymouth MA | Mashpee MA Cape Cod

 

[*deleon517*]

Have you cleaned the connections lately. Dirty contacts seem to be the culprit for some people. just simply take a qtip or a piece of paper towel and get as much gunk off as possible where the battery and chargers meet. Sometimes when its really piled on you may want to use a tiny bit of rubbing alcohol on the qtip just enough to moisten the swab. You don't want it dripping wet.

Also about the when to charge post. It's very uncommon for the batteries used now a days to have memory capabilities so it doesn't matter exactly when you charge. The important factor is how many times they have been charged. Most batteries are rated for about 300 charge cycles. Somewhere around that number you should start noticing a drop off in time of use between charges. Of course that not exact as I have some batteries that still run well after a year or so and others that barely make it to the 6 month mark.

 

[chargingcharlie]

Still new, I have no idea how to check the output rating! Thanks for the tip on the battery level and turning it to 4.2, I'll try those.

The shop in Plymouth seems really good! This is the only shop I've been to, but they have a big (to me) selection, and the guy and girl who run the place are always helpful and willing to help out newbs like me. Any issues or problems I've had they've helped me with.

TheVAPEway.com | Electronic Cigarettes | Vaporizers | Plymouth MA | Mashpee MA Cape Cod

Thanks for the info, I'll have to check them out! Looks like they are less than 15 minutes from my house so that's a huge plus. The ouput rating should be in the tiny writing on the back of the charger. It should look like this:

Model:XXXXX
Input: DC 5V 500mA
Output: DC 4.2V 420mA

 

[ganns1980]

I keep the connections on my batts clean, I'll check out the chargers, thanks!

 

[*deleon517*]

The largest vv battery I can think of in terms of mah is the vision spinner 2's. They are 1600mah I believe, which should take about 3 1/2 hours to fully charge from dead with most a charger that states 420mah output. Most chargers I have seen are rated for 420mah

 

[ganns1980]

Just checked my home charger, that one's good, I'll have to go to my car to check the other one (not right now with the weather!)

They're about 15-20 minutes from my house too The first time I walked in, I said "Sell me on vaping." He explained everything very thouroughly and answered all questions. In the 2 months I've been going there they've only been out of stock on something twice.

 

[skoony]

How long are you waiting before charging? If you wait until the inicator turns red then that is one of your problems. You should never let Lithium batteries drop below 20% if you want them to last. Also, check and see what the output rating is on your charger. If it says "4.2V 420mA" then it should take about 3 to 4 hours to charge your 1600mAh and 4 to 5 hours to charge your 2100. I would also make sure the voltage dial is set to 4.2V when you are charging.

sounds right.if your chargers are really basic in design
they wont have logic circuitry to shut off in a
appropriate amount of time. they where made for the original
cigalike style batteries which were 360 mah at most.. they are basically trickle charging the battery.
as battery voltage approaches the charge voltage charge current drops
at a logarithmic rate.the battery may be 99,9 % charged but with such a low
current charging them it takes an inordinate amount of time for that 1/10 volt
in the battery to reach the charging voltage.logic circuits account for this
and will shut off the charger as 99% charge is just as good as 100%
in real world applications.
my figures may not be 100% accurate but reflect basically whats happening.
follow the above posters time recommendations and you should be ok.
regards
mike

 

[chargingcharlie]

sounds right.if your chargers are really basic in design
they wont have logic circuitry to shut off in a
appropriate amount of time. they where made for the original
cigalike style batteries which were 360 mah at most.. they are basically trickle charging the battery.
as battery voltage approaches the charge voltage charge current drops
at a logarithmic rate.the battery may be 99,9 % charged but with such a low
current charging them it takes an inordinate amount of time for that 1/10 volt
in the battery to reach the charging voltage.logic circuits account for this
and will shut off the charger as 99% charge is just as good as 100%
in real world applications.
my figures may not be 100% accurate but reflect basically whats happening.
follow the above posters time recommendations and you should be ok.
regards
mike

Mike, do you know if there are any decent 18650 batteries that can handle a charge current higher than 1C? I've seen some of your posts and you seem to know a lot about these batteries. I'd be plenty happy with a 2C charge rate if I can get it. I'm spoiled by my large LiPo batteries that I charge at 4C when I need to.

 

[chargingcharlie]

Dang! That place closes kind of early, huh? My new Cool Fire 1 and 8650 battery came today and I realized I never ordered a charger. I was going to drive down there and saw they close at 7PM...it was 7:05. I wound up jury rigging some leads to the battery and charged it with the high end charger I use for my RC batteries so I'm good for tonight. I'd rather not bust out my case for these batteries so I'll swing by there on my way home tomorrow night.