I Love you Mooch!

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Paul Mohr

Senior Member
Oct 28, 2017
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Adrian MI
I will be honest, I never concerned myself much with batteries. I mean batteries are batteries right? How technical could it be? I thought those were the worries of high watt/sub ohm vapers. Certainly not for the guy, who my vape shop calls "stuck in 4 year old technology" lol.

However, I recently got a new Aspire Speeder so could check out temp control and noticed some interesting things. I should have bought new batteries when I got it, but I have like six of them laying around so I didn't bother. The speeder happens to have some very good info on the screen, like being able to see wattage, voltage and amperage in real time. And being able to see what the batteries are doing. I notice the batteries were not discharging at the same rate and I was having horrible voltage sag. And when the batteries got down to about half charge the mod was just doing weird stuff. Wouldn't hit the wattage I wanted and in temp control it just wouldn't come up to temp sometimes. Plus temp control mode was kind of spotty. Sometimes it would be weak, other times over powered. So I figured maybe it was time to buy some new batteries and a decent charger.

I knew of Mooch because of the Taste Your juice web site and videos. I figured I would do a search on youtube and see what he had to say about chargers. After watching about 6 hours or so of interviews with Mooch I discovered I was pretty ignorant about batteries and that batteries are not just batteries. Didn't find out much about chargers though. Sounds like they are hard or at least time consuming to test. And he doesn't really use the low end chargers we would since he has better equipment.

After watching the interviews I started to look into exactly what my batteries were. I bought most of them from local vape shops over the years. A few might have came with kits. I think my crappy Trust Fire charger came with a kit as well. Most of these batteries I assumed were decent 15 amp batteries. I mean one of them I actually bought at the same time I got a mech and RDA. Never got any of my vape gear on the internet because I thought a dedicated vape shop would be more trustworthy and safer.

Turns out 3 of my batteries are actually panasonic PF batteries. According to Mooch's data they are "decent" 10 amp batteries, but nothing to write home about. Another was a also panasonic, but only rated for about 5 amps. The others are cheap Chinese batteries rated at 4 to 5 amps according to the specs I could dig up. Nothing I would consider useful in any modern mod, even at my low wattage vaping style (10 to 20 watts). And I can guarantee you at some point that 4 amp battery was in a mech with a .5 ohm coil. Now wonder I think mechs suck lol. I was probably hitting the button and the voltage was diving right to 2 volts or something. The funny thing is I still thought the vape at .5 ohm was too hot lmao.

So when I get paid at the end of the month I am going to order some VTC5A's and a new charger. Still deciding what charger I want. Gonna grab me a Digiflavor siren MTA and some stainless wire too I think.

So if you see this Mooch, I want to thank you tons for all the hard work and time you put into doing what you do. You really opened my eyes to the battery aspect of vaping. And you may have saved my life as well. I didn't know how important the wraps were on these things. I have a battery that is all torn up around positive end. I had no idea how dangerous this was. I was still using the thing like nothing was wrong with it!

You are also entertaining to watch, please start making some videos if you have the time.
 

Beamslider

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
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May 29, 2017
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I occasionally get a battery from a local vape shop nearby as they have the LG H2 batteries I like. I usually just order them from Liionwholesale though as they are under $6 at Liion and $14 at the vape shop. The vape shop orders them thru Liion too.
 

Paul Mohr

Senior Member
Oct 28, 2017
140
466
57
Adrian MI
I don't want it to sound like I laying all the blame on the shops either. I am sure they tried to sell me a high end battery and I told them I didn't need it show me something cheaper lol. However I know at least one of those low amp batteries I got at a shop and quite honestly I don't think they should even carry anything like that. I can't think of any application in vaping that could even utilize it in the past few years. I mean obviously they will work, I have been doing it. But I doubt the performance in the mods I was using it in was not steller and I had no idea.
The 10 amp panasonics are probably fine for most of the vaping I do though, luckily, because before yesterday I had no idea it made a difference.
 

Wraith504

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Aug 25, 2014
2,464
2,723
New Orleans, LA
Look for a charger that will give you 1 amp across the board for multiple batteries with the Nitecore you will get charging speeds of up to 1.5A for 1 battery, 0.75A for 2 batteries, and 0.375A for 4 batteries.
TRUTH. Trying to keep it cheap for him. Sounded budget conscious.
 

Paul Mohr

Senior Member
Oct 28, 2017
140
466
57
Adrian MI
I am budget minded to a point, but I have quite a few rechargeable batteries so getting a good charger is worth the investment to me. I was looking around that website and the Folomov A4 looks interesting to me. What I would REALLY like a charger that would charge my Airsoft battery packs plus do various round cells. Not holding my breath on that one though lol.
 

stols001

Moved On
ECF Veteran
May 30, 2017
29,338
108,119
Mooch and Brother Bob are two of my favorite people on this site. I think they do more to help new vapers learn about really necessary things than a lot of folks....

So, I heartily agree. For Halloween, BB can be the New Member's forum Guardian Angel (LOL, I have called him this before).

Mooch definitely should be a battery (but which one???) never mind, he'll know. :lol:

Anna
 

Baditude

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Apr 8, 2012
30,394
73,076
71
Ridgeway, Ohio
Efest LUC and Nitecore lines should be considered if on a budget. Of course there are better chargers on the market, but they generally only add some "extra" features that you may not need or desire.

I've had a Pila (faster charging, but only 2 bay, expensive), Nitecore Intellicharger i4 (slower charging, available as two or four bays, affordable), and recently purchased an Xtar VP4 (faster charging, available with two or four bays, somewhat pricey). My final decision came down to the Efest LUC4 and the VP4, and I chose the VP4 mainly because I liked its screen better. When charging just two batteries, it can charge at 1 amp each bay; but when charging 3 or 4 batteries simultaneously, each bay can only charge at 0.5 amps.

Guide to Choosing a Li-ion Battery Charger

  • Guide to help a novice in choosing a charger. Covers recommended brands, suggestions for the number of charging bays you'll need, independent bays, LED or LCD models, and "smart chargers".
 

Mooch

Electron Wrangler
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
  • May 13, 2015
    4,019
    15,896
    I will be honest, I never concerned myself much with batteries. I mean batteries are batteries right? How technical could it be? I thought those were the worries of high watt/sub ohm vapers. Certainly not for the guy, who my vape shop calls "stuck in 4 year old technology" lol.

    However, I recently got a new Aspire Speeder so could check out temp control and noticed some interesting things. I should have bought new batteries when I got it, but I have like six of them laying around so I didn't bother. The speeder happens to have some very good info on the screen, like being able to see wattage, voltage and amperage in real time. And being able to see what the batteries are doing. I notice the batteries were not discharging at the same rate and I was having horrible voltage sag. And when the batteries got down to about half charge the mod was just doing weird stuff. Wouldn't hit the wattage I wanted and in temp control it just wouldn't come up to temp sometimes. Plus temp control mode was kind of spotty. Sometimes it would be weak, other times over powered. So I figured maybe it was time to buy some new batteries and a decent charger.

    I knew of Mooch because of the Taste Your Juice web site and videos. I figured I would do a search on youtube and see what he had to say about chargers. After watching about 6 hours or so of interviews with Mooch I discovered I was pretty ignorant about batteries and that batteries are not just batteries. Didn't find out much about chargers though. Sounds like they are hard or at least time consuming to test. And he doesn't really use the low end chargers we would since he has better equipment.

    After watching the interviews I started to look into exactly what my batteries were. I bought most of them from local vape shops over the years. A few might have came with kits. I think my crappy Trust Fire charger came with a kit as well. Most of these batteries I assumed were decent 15 amp batteries. I mean one of them I actually bought at the same time I got a mech and RDA. Never got any of my vape gear on the internet because I thought a dedicated vape shop would be more trustworthy and safer.

    Turns out 3 of my batteries are actually panasonic PF batteries. According to Mooch's data they are "decent" 10 amp batteries, but nothing to write home about. Another was a also panasonic, but only rated for about 5 amps. The others are cheap Chinese batteries rated at 4 to 5 amps according to the specs I could dig up. Nothing I would consider useful in any modern mod, even at my low wattage vaping style (10 to 20 watts). And I can guarantee you at some point that 4 amp battery was in a mech with a .5 ohm coil. Now wonder I think mechs suck lol. I was probably hitting the button and the voltage was diving right to 2 volts or something. The funny thing is I still thought the vape at .5 ohm was too hot lmao.

    So when I get paid at the end of the month I am going to order some VTC5A's and a new charger. Still deciding what charger I want. Gonna grab me a Digiflavor siren MTA and some stainless wire too I think.

    So if you see this Mooch, I want to thank you tons for all the hard work and time you put into doing what you do. You really opened my eyes to the battery aspect of vaping. And you may have saved my life as well. I didn't know how important the wraps were on these things. I have a battery that is all torn up around positive end. I had no idea how dangerous this was. I was still using the thing like nothing was wrong with it!

    You are also entertaining to watch, please start making some videos if you have the time.

    Glad I was able to help! :)
     

    Paul Mohr

    Senior Member
    Oct 28, 2017
    140
    466
    57
    Adrian MI
    I think the dragon only charges the small packs for vape mods, like the one in the dna 200 or whatever it is.

    My airsoft batteries are 9.6 volt NiMH's with Mini-Tamiya connectors. I did a search and couldn't find any chargers that would charge them and loose round cells. Even with chargers in the 200 dollar price range.

    I watched Phil's review of the dragon charger and the only feature I really saw that looked interesting was being able to discharge and recharge the batteries to test them. He liked it so much he gave it away at the end of the video lol.

    I will probably get the folomov because it will charge 2 amps to all four batteries at the same time. And 3 amps for two batteries at once.
     

    Robfisher

    Ultra Member
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    Feb 21, 2014
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    www.ecigssa.co.za
    After watching @Mooch's YouTube video's yesterday I thought it would be a good time to closely inspect all my batteries... 7 had to be rewrapped! Mooch you rock!
    Batteries 001.JPG
     
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