Is the LED necessary?

[thewomenfolk]

All the little e-cigs have LED's that blink or otherwise alert us to our batteries needing re-charging. But what about the more expensive and powerful 'mods'? None seem to have the LED that is so helpful in determining that we need a fresh battery, and not just more juice.

(1) How can I make that determination easily if there's no LED (other than guessing that I might have used it long enough to require a fresh battery)?

(2) Also, is there a danger of wearing out a battery sooner if it's typically recharged when it doesn't need to be?

 

[AngusATAT]

I don't think it's really necessary, but that's just my opinion. I have some 510 batteries that I use for vaping at work that don't have an LED. When my 510 stops producing vapor, I know it's time to recharge them.

 

[raven9mm]

1. Depending on the battery in the mod, the 18650's normally last about 4 days, then the vapor production starts to dwindle, or, if it is a protected battery, the battery just shuts down when it gets to 2.75 volts. the CR123a's last about a full day or so, and again if it is a protected battery, when it gets to 2.75, it will cut out.

2. The lithium batteries are not effected by the memory effect, like the old NiCad batteries were. Lithium batteries should never be let to drain all the way, otherwise they will either fail, or stop taking a charge.

 

[AngusATAT]

...the 18650's normally last about 4 days...

Or they can last for about 1 3/4 days if you're a vaping maniac like some folks I know.... ok, I mean me.

 

[Deschain]

LED's are handy for us noobs until get a feel for how long our batteries last IMO.


.

 

[thewomenfolk]

I could probably guess correctly with my 510 or Janty Stick, because I've had them long enough to sort of know when the battery should be dying out, but I ordered a Super-T, and without any experience with it, isn't it going to be hard to know?

 

[tribalmasters]

The vape drops off, the throat hit diminishes and that is when I know its time to unscrew my GG and pop a fresh set of batteries in I do miss the LED though, my 510 looks great when illuminated I just wish it was green and not common blue!!!

 

[ramblingrose]

A 510 with no LED is a classy looking PV!

I go out of my way to avoid batts with LEDs. I don't like the look, and find the less a PV looks like an imitation cigarette, the more accepting outsiders are. As far as battery strength goes, by the time an LED warns you, you're only a puff or two away from needing to charge it anyway, so I don't see any real benefit.

 

[DaShiVa]

A little model paint goes a long way for killing the visible/noticable light I'm sure some of the nailpolishes, if in enough layers, would achieve a similar solution.

 

[AngusATAT]

I could probably guess correctly with my 510 or Janty Stick, because I've had them long enough to sort of know when the battery should be dying out, but I ordered a Super-T, and without any experience with it, isn't it going to be hard to know?

If you're using protected batteries (and you really should be) you'll know exactly when it's time to recharge your batteries. Because they won't power the device anymore.

It's not rocket surgery!

 

[thewomenfolk]

I really want to get away from looking like I'm smoking, so I don't mind the LED at all. But it'd be nice just to have one small LED that the vaper can see but isn't so obvious to others, that the battery is in need of replacement.

 

[thewomenfolk]

Speaking of LED's....how do those know when the battery is losing power anyway? Is it programmed somehow to start blinking when the voltage is below a certain level?

 

[AngusATAT]

I really want to get away from looking like I'm smoking, so I don't mind the LED at all. But it'd be nice just to have one small LED that the vaper can see but isn't so obvious to others, that the battery is in need of replacement.

Just as an example...

My Chuck uses an 18650 battery. It has no LED. By the time I even begin to think that maybe the performance is dipping a bit, the PCB in the battery kicks in, and I get no more power out of it. I grab my spare, and stick the spent battery in the charger. I go through this process every two days.

On my 510 batteries without LEDs that I use at work, I will notice a performance drop when the batteries get low on charge. But since they only last me an hour on a charge anyway, I vape until the battery dies completely, then I slip it into my PCC and grab a charged battery out of my carrying case. Rinse and repeat.

With the batteries that have LEDs, I do the exact same thing. I don't even look at the LEDs at all when I'm vaping.

I just don't see the need for them on anything except maybe an auto battery or a Janty Stick, to let you know when it's going to cut you off.

 

[Quitter]

Actually I find the light functional. Not really for the battery so much, but I use a Janty Stick and a 510. On the Janty, the light confirms a positive switch push. As most JS users know, the switch is the weak spot. My switch is a bit flakey (likely dying) and sometimes I've pushed it and it's not engaging the atty. My complaint on the Janty is that the LED isn't strong enough. It's hard for me to see in my peripheral vision and is near impossible in the daylight. It's a real downer when you push the switch and take a nice long vape and get nothing. It's kinda like.......uh never mind.

Anyway, I even like the LED on the 510 batts. I'd rather have all of them oriented to the vapist, more than people viewing the vapist. Or something like that.

 

[thewomenfolk]

Interesting opinions. Maybe the PV's could be designed to have the button vibrate or pulsate or something when the battery is dying, instead of having a LED light up. Of course, if the battery is dying, it probably would feel much like vibrating.