How to make your Lithium's last

[Sir Center Fire]

We all depend on our batteries for more than just vaping. I thought you guys would appreciate this article on how to get the most out of them. For those of you who dont wish to read it, I will summarize it by saying this: The biggest harm to lithium batteries is heat. Either from use or environmental. So dont leave your batteries in a hot car, direct sun light, etc. Also, try to give them a cool off period when you use them.

Secondly, dont fully discharge. The less you use the battery before you recharge it, the better. Just because a single battery will last you a full day, doesnt mean it should. Change them out two or three times a day and recharge them as you go, and you will see an increase in life.

Thirdly, dont buy cheap chargers! They often over charge your battery to a higher voltage than what it needs to be, which significantly decreases the number of cycles that battery will produce.

Happy vaping!

 

[yzer]

Which commercially available Li-ion chargers don't charge over 4.1 V? I have several cheap multi-stage chargers and all terminate charge somewhere between 4.1 and 4.2V.

Another factor may be charge current. Some use higher current to charge Li-ion batteries faster which warm the batteries more than lower current chargers.

 

[Sir Center Fire]

Yes indeed you are correct. Most cheap chargers will leave you at about 4.2 volts, rarely some might go as high as 4.25 to 4.3. The article states (in a graph) that at 4.3 volts you will only get 150 cycles before performance severely drops. At 4.2 volts you will get over 400 cycles and still not be at the low performance that 4.3 gives you after 150 cycles. The graph doesnt chart 4.1 volts, but of course performance will be even better....So .1 or even .05 volts can make a huge difference.

 

[yzer]

I thought that maybe you knew of a charger that terminates at 4.10 V or less. Most of my YL-103A single cell chargers (I have seven) terminate 4.14 V and charge at 300 mA. One goes all the way to 4.20 V.

 

[Ryedan]

We vapers are really not on the cutting edge of battery charger technology. I have a number of multi cell lithium ion polymer (LiPo) battery packs for remote control model airplane use that I charge with one of these chargers. I think I paid about $90 for it (was on sale at the time - might be a bit more than the regular price now). Specs are as follows:

AC input: 110V 60Hz—240V 50Hz, 50W
DC input: 11-15V, 70W
Battery types: 1-10 NiCd or NiMH (1.2-12.0V) 1-4 LiPo, LiIon or LiFe (3.7-14.8V)
Battery capacity range: 50-9900mAh
Fast charge current: 0.1-8.0A linear, adjustable (4C limit for lithiums; 5A limit w/AC input)
Fast charge terminationeak detection (NiCd/MH cells) cc/cv (lithium cells)
Fast charge safety timer: off-300 minutes
NiCd/MH peak sensitivity: 3-20mV, adjustable
NiCd/MH trickle current: 1/20 fast charge setting (auto mode) or 0-250 mA (manual set)
Lithium balancing accuracy: 5mV per cell
Lithium balancing adapters (2): ElectriFly & FlightPower/Thunder Power
Controls: 4 push buttons
Battery memories: 10
Display type: 2x8 reversed, backlit LCD
Data Displayed: input, output and peak voltage (packs), balancing voltages (cells) & charge current, capacity and time.
Setup tones: on / off
Audible melodies: 5
Output connections*: banana jacks; balancing jack; universal jack (for radio packs); USB jack (for cell phones & music players); mini USB jack (for firmware downloads)
Protective Devices: solid-state reverse polarity and current overload
Cooling system: Fan
Case Size: 6.3 x 5.3 x 1.7 in (160 x 134 x 43 mm)
Weight: 19.7 oz (559 g, w/DC cord attached)

It's got loads of options and features, but it does not allow peak voltage setting as the more expensive ones do. I did figure out though that when I set it to lion instead of lipo, it peaks at 4.15v instead of 4.25v, so that's what I use for my lipo's. Is a system like this or better worth it for us? I don't think so. The return on investment is probably negative considering the low prices we pay for our batteries. But the technology is out there

 

[mikewill45]

Yes indeed you are correct. Most cheap chargers will leave you at about 4.2 volts, rarely some might go as high as 4.25 to 4.3. The article states (in a graph) that at 4.3 volts you will only get 150 cycles before performance severely drops. At 4.2 volts you will get over 400 cycles and still not be at the low performance that 4.3 gives you after 150 cycles. The graph doesnt chart 4.1 volts, but of course performance will be even better....So .1 or even .05 volts can make a huge difference.

According to a Lithium-ion scientific article I read it is best not to charge them above about 3.92 to get the maximum life out of them as well as not letting them completely discharge before recharging. The Provari is good for this as it warns you when your battery is getting low before it is discharged.

 

[denali_41]

i have ego batteries that are a year and half old and still going strong !! well after their maximum charge life 350 charges,,

how do i do it ?? alternate between a slow and fast charger

 

[volume control]

Yup! Lithium batteries, charge em any chance you get and keep em cool. I have a few laptop with 5 and 7 year old batteries that still hold over an hour.

 

[The Ocelot]

We all depend on our batteries for more than just vaping. I thought you guys would appreciate this article on how to get the most out of them. For those of you who dont wish to read it, I will summarize it by saying this: The biggest harm to lithium batteries is heat. Either from use or environmental. So dont leave your batteries in a hot car, direct sun light, etc. Also, try to give them a cool off period when you use them.

Secondly, dont fully discharge. The less you use the battery before you recharge it, the better. Just because a single battery will last you a full day, doesnt mean it should. Change them out two or three times a day and recharge them as you go, and you will see an increase in life.

Thirdly, dont buy cheap chargers! They often over charge your battery to a higher voltage than what it needs to be, which significantly decreases the number of cycles that battery will produce.

Happy vaping!

Oh doink! Thank you for the info, I just asked this question on another thread.

 

[tidegirl]

Most of our devices shut off before batteries are fully discharged, so #2 is not as important for us.

 

[Sir Center Fire]

Most of our devices shut off before batteries are fully discharged, so #2 is not as important for us.

Well sort of...While its true that most devices such as the provari and such wont allow a full discharge, they still let the batteries get fairly low. #2 is more in the context of discharging past 50% or so. Your batteries would last the longest if you used only 10 percent of the charge and then changed them out. I know that is quite unreasonable and absurd, what is the point of having long lasting batteries in the first place right? I say the above trying to make a point more than anything else, that point being, the least amount you can use each individual battery before you recharge it, the better.

 

[denali_41]

with the current atty\carto or whatever ,,it is almost impossible to completely drain our batteries anyway