How long is too long to let my battery charge?

[palmtreevans]

I was browsing a few threads today and ran across a comment (can't remember what now) that led me to question how long I have been letting my batteries charge.

I have 2 aw imr 18350 batteries that I charge with a Trustfire Multipurpose charger. For the past few months since I got my first vv, an Epic Storm from L-Rider, I put the battery/batteries in the charger overnight once they've gone dead. What are the risks, if any, of doing this? Is this something I should be worried about and stop doing immediately?

 

[realitykid]

There shouldn't be any real issues in letting your batteries charge overnight. Most electronic cigarettes batteries, from what I hear, are lithium ion. So, if the manufacturer actually knew what they were doing, there should be an automatic caught off once the battery has reached its max capable charge. Max capable as in the max amount it can charge before burning out and potentially exploding.

Once the battery is fully charged, the charger should change from red to green. Once that happens, the charger should no longer be providing a charge to the battery. This is just my understanding anyway.

 

[palmtreevans]

That was my understanding as well and I made sure to get AW IMR batteries after discussing it with my uncle, just thought I'd ask and see if there was something I was unaware of.

 

[bdeef]

Yeah, most have that cut off... Some don't tho. Check on the site you bought it from, it should be in the description

 

[Rickajho]

Depends on how paranoid you are? (I hear the can of worms opening...)

My take on this is: If you are not abusing anything - using lower resistance devices than your PV is designed to use, if you are using LR devices and check them to make they aren't going into a super low resistance range or shorting out - then leaving your batteries on the charger overnight won't hurt anything. In a properly working charger, at the end of the cycle the charging current stops and nothing bad should happen.

The way I see it, sure - yeah, you can get an occasional (rare) battery defect. But I see the majority of problems people getting into with batteries are due to not checking the resistance of their devices. The closer a device (carto, etc..) goes to next to no resistance - or plainly goes shorted - the more you are exposing a battery to being shorted, which is never a good thing.

 

[spaceballsrules]

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...9007-warning-rechargeable-batteries-apvs.html

Start by reading that thread, and get a multimeter.

 

[grandmato5]

Never a good idea to let your batteries charge over night unattended. Charges don't always do what they are suppose to and batteries do misbehave on occasion. Will everything be ok if you leave you batteries overnight in the charger ? Probably yes, BUT IF there is a problem you're going to be asleep and not know it until its too late

 

[glasseye]

If you're worried about it, bags for lithium ion batteries are for sale, I've seen them at some of the ecig vendors. I've been thinking about picking one up.

 

[palmtreevans]

Never a good idea to let your batteries charge over night unattended. Charges don't always do what they are suppose to and batteries do misbehave on occasion. Will everything be ok if you leave you batteries overnight in the charger ? Probably yes, BUT IF there is a problem you're going to be asleep and not know it until its too late

does it still count as unattended if they're plugged into the outlet right beside my bed... lol j/k

 

[palmtreevans]

If you're worried about it, bags for lithium ion batteries are for sale, I've seen them at some of the ecig vendors. I've been thinking about picking one up.

Just saw an article about those and may pick one up as well. Will likely never be needed, but better safe than sorry right?

 

[markfm]

I picked up a charging bag, decided i wouldn't use it consistently.

I ended up picking up a small belkin outlet timer, $10, set to cut off after 3 hours, have both my chargers connected to it.

Even good batteries, and good chargers, can go flaky. Power is positively cut off, and the timer protects against any line surges after the 3 hours. It helps that my xtar chargers have very low discharge rate when power is disconnected, so it doesn't bother me leaving them in the turned off chargers.

 

[hotrod3539]

I also have a Trustfire charger and do leave my batteries on overnight if they are not charged by the time i go to bed, have since May with not a single issue. Thats just my experience yours may differ.

 

[Dana A]

I used to never leave my batteries unattended but then I had a failure. It was while the battery was in my purse. It did get hot but not hot enough to damage anything in my purse outside the case I had it in. I just don't worry about it like I used to. I have seen the failure and it eased my mind. You are talking the chance just having the batteries in your home on the charger or not the way I see it.

 

[markfm]

These lithium batteries do pack a lot of energy. While catastrophic failures are rare, they can happen..

Every so often you will read about an ego style battery launching off a charger like a Roman candle, and standalone batteries can definitely vent with a lot of heat.

Essentially, pv batteries take a lot of abuse, we often have pretty cheap chargers, and we just aren't all that into safety concepts.

If you have an event that is limited to something just getting hot, stellar, but be aware that you were lucky.

Any obvious damage to a battery, replace it. While charging, charging bags, timers, or at least being around (not asleep), with the battery on a non burnable surface, are all good options.

I've been vaping awhile, didn't follow any safety precautions early on, but learned from those rare unfortunate experiences of others.

 

[Jmjax13]

I just let em charge overnight.

 

[palmtreevans]

Thanks for all the feedback. Closing this Thread now.