Hi Guys! Not sure if this is normal for a battery

[SilentSerenade]

I have a 18650 battery, and I have noticed it is started to change color from the negative side towards the positive side. The color is getting darker, and there are a few spots that are very dark. It looks like tons of veins extending towards the positive side of the battery

Thank you guys for your help!

 

[Garton]

Hi,
That definitely doesn't sound good!

 

[Kaezziel]

When in doubt, throw it out!
(Actually recycle it... take it to Radio Shack/Best buy or somewhere similar... they will dispose of it properly for you!)

 

[oldbikeguy]

Never had one do that,is it just one doing that or do you have others from the same order doing the same thing?

 

[daleron]

Eeee! I'd get rid of that one

 

[Kaezziel]

Seriously... any battery that I have ever had for any of my mods... if there is any questionable aspect to the battery at all, I get rid of them and get new ones. It's just not worth the risk to me. They are not the most expensive part of any of my mods, however they are the only part of the mod that poses any true risk of personal bodily harm... it's a simple matter of cost/risk analysis, and at least for me, the risk is not worth the cost of a new battery..

 

[oldbikeguy]

Seriously... any battery that I have ever had for any of my mods... if there is any questionable aspect to the battery at all, I get rid of them and get new ones. It's just not worth the risk to me. They are not the most expensive part of any of my mods, however they are the only part of the mod that poses any true risk of personal bodily harm... it's a simple matter of cost/risk analysis, and at least for me, the risk is not worth the cost of a new battery..

I'll second that !!!

 

[SilentSerenade]

I have 2 batteries. Both are Sony vtc4. I got both batteries from different shops, and both are doing the same thing.

 

[LarryPeru]

Get rid of that battery

 

[Kaezziel]

I have 2 batteries. Both are Sony vtc4. I got both batteries from different shops, and both are doing the same thing.

Is it maybe staining from the mod? Without knowing what you're putting the batteries in, it's kinda hard to say...
It could be that the batteries are getting overheated due to very low resistance in a mech
It could be the charger letting them get too hot
It could be a whole lot of things... I was under the impression that it was just the one battery, now that you say two completely different batteries are doing the same thing, I would have to look for the common denominator... like inside of a copper mod that has some corrosion inside the tube (just an example)

 

[SilentSerenade]

My mod is the CV1 Virtus from DFW Vapor. It is a brass mod. My current build is coming in at .33 ohms. Sometimes the firing button gets hot, but not all the time. I have tried cleaning the contacts of the push button, but it hasn't helped the heat of the button. I am using a cheaper charger (Trustfire), so I don't know if that could be the issue

 

[eratikmind]

How far do you normally run your batteries down prior to charging?

 

[Kaezziel]

Could be the charger...
Firing button shouldn't be getting hot either though...
How low do you run your battery before recharging?
How does the inside of the tube look? If there is discoloration, that could be an indication of a problem...
.33 isn't super low for the VTC4... I run between .3 and .5 myself with no problems to my Sonys....

 

[Kaezziel]

How far do you normally run your batteries down prior to charging?

Great minds thinking alike again? LOL

 

[SilentSerenade]

I normally use one battery until I start noticing a decline in performance. Sometimes I have used them until they won't fire anymore.

 

[eratikmind]

I normally use one battery until I start noticing a decline in performance. Sometimes I have used them until they won't fire anymore.

That's not a good practice. You probably have ruined your batteries. Should always recharge at about 3.6 to 3.7 volts.

 

[eratikmind]

Get yourself a multimeter and get into the habit of checking the state of your battery every so often.

I would toss your current batteries, now. Especially, since you sub ohm.

 

[JimmyDB]

Yeah, I may be new to the forum but not to batteries.

Since you didn't say a particular voltage when asked when you recharge, I say recycle those batteries (or return them)... buy new ones from a reputable source... buy a multimeter... learn to use the meter, but don't trust it to measure your coil resistance unless it's just a part of a 4 wire set up and you know the error tolerances. Speaking of, what were you using to check your resistance?

If you are 0.33 Ohms... you are likely using somewhere between 30-50+ watts(VA) or between 9-13 amps which is where knowing your voltage under load can be useful.

The fact the button was getting warm is something I have seen people talk about when drawing too many amps from a battery (which heats up) and since conductivity relates (not exactly equal to though) both electricity and heat, you can feel it on the nearby button.

Maybe once you bring out the meter, you can check what current you are drawing with that complete set up.

 

[JimmyDB]

Any update on this?

 

[Maurice Pudlo]

If I'd looks more than likely it's

Why with safety for the sake of a $10 battery.

You don't want to be the guy jumping around like a stuck pig screaming

Maurice

P.S.: the battery