Is the Volt battery charger standard?

[nick779]

A friend of mine decided to dump his kr808 ecigs and give me all of the stuff he had, well he had some standard kr808 USB chargers that look identical to my SI's and I wanted to know if they're compatible with the regulated volt battery.
Anyone try a non SI charger?

 

[awsum140]

Without committing to anything, since I can't see the chargers or batteries in question, any charger that has a 5 volt output with at least an 1000ma (1 amp) or higher capacity it should work.

 

[nick779]

Even with the regulation?

 

[awsum140]

The regulation occurs inside the battery. Keep in mind that so-called 3.7 volt lithium ion batteries come off a charger at 4 to 4.2 volts and get there normally just by charging them. That means the charger is supplying more than 4.2 volts. This is why a 5 volt, USB voltage level, is used to charge them. The charging circuit, by itself, provides a voltage drop and sets it to max out at around 4.2 volts, and, again, that charger is built into the battery, at least with SI/Volt batteries, to my knowledge.

 

[cindycated]

Hi, Nick - welcome, BTW.

Guess you saw this already, but wanted to clarify for the next person that asks:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-batteries-really-regulated.html#post10300699

The output voltage is slightly higher in Volt chargers. The standard 4.2V-output chargers are either too slow or don't charge them all the way.

 

[cindycated]

Without committing to anything, since I can't see the chargers or batteries in question, any charger that has a 5 volt output with at least an 1000ma (1 amp) or higher capacity it should work.

Awesum, I think that's true of the USB adapters (wall/car/etc.), but the actual dongles/chargers (the part that screws onto the battery) seem to be pretty specific with their power ratings. I put on my fancy new magnifying visor and read them for myself!

 

[awsum140]

Cindy, I think the differences seen in the dongles are a result of poor component tolerances. Lithium ion batteries are lithium ion batteries. A quality charger, Nitcore or Pila for example, clamps its output voltage 4.2 maximum for a lithium ion battery and varies the current to achieve a full charge. I have a feeling that the regulation just isn't as accurate in these dongles, or even inside the batteries.

 

[Dac311]

From what I've been told, you need to make sure it is a gen 2 (second generation) battery charger. Using gen 1 chargers can cause problems and will void your warranty if you use anything other than volt chargers.

 

[cindycated]

Cindy, I think the differences seen in the dongles are a result of poor component tolerances. Lithium ion batteries are lithium ion batteries. A quality charger, Nitcore or Pila for example, clamps its output voltage 4.2 maximum for a lithium ion battery and varies the current to achieve a full charge. I have a feeling that the regulation just isn't as accurate in these dongles, or even inside the batteries.

That's what I thought too, but for some reason, the extra 0.4V makes the thing work right. I couldn't get the 4.2V chargers to charge my Volts all the way, even the one that was supposedly gen 2. Maybe there's something about Volt batteries' circuitry that needs it. Dunno.

And I only commented on the 5V/1A output thing above because I've only seen those specs on USB adapters, not chargers. In that case, yes, they all work. But it's a different story with the actual chargers (dongles).

But heck, what do I know?

 

[awsum140]

It is certainly possible that the Volt batteries require an "overhead" higher than 4.2 volts to allow for losses in their own internal circuitry. I may try charging a 78mm using a Nitecore charger to see what happens. The Nitecore monitors the terminal voltage to determine charge state so it will be an interesting test.