I have quite a few batteries and what I have started to do, is rewrap them with different theme wraps or different color wraps so I know the age of the batteries. My question is: Is there a device I can purchase which will show me the drop in battery output? Or would I be able to tell the way it performs in the mod? I have been vaping for 8 years now and when I get leary of a battery I just recycle it. I was just wondering of there was a device I could purchase to test all my batteries?
Is there a device to help you weed out bad batteries?
- Thread starter Lisa Marion
- Start date
- th_trl_thread_readers 0
- Status
Hi Lisa,
I use my calendar.
Batteries are cheap and get replaced after a year or so.
I will also pull them out of service if they are depleting prematurely.
IMO, if your batteries are 15-18 months old, recycle and replace.
Cheers
I
Here's what our battery specialist has to say:
As far as consumer-level test equipment, maybe check out the Xtar VC2. I'm not sure how helpful it might be to you, but it allegedly can tell you the actual mAh capacity of your battery. That info may help you determine when to replace the battery when damaged or old.
As a battery ages the mAh of the battery (capacity) degrades, as the mAh degrades so does the batteries c rating (amp limit). So down the road, your 20A battery may only be a 10A battery.
How to test your batteries mAh capacity with the VC2:
Step 1: Insert your discharged battery (at a discharge cut-off voltage generally below 3.0V)
Step 2: Let the battery charge and notice the 0000mAh displayed on the screen. Do not remove the battery until the charge is complete.
Step 3: When the battery is fully charged, the screen will show "FULL" and the entire screen will flash 3 times every 10 seconds.
Step 4: The mAh on the screen should now give you the batteries actual capacity.
As far as consumer-level test equipment, maybe check out the Xtar VC2. I'm not sure how helpful it might be to you, but it allegedly can tell you the actual mAh capacity of your battery. That info may help you determine when to replace the battery when damaged or old.
As a battery ages the mAh of the battery (capacity) degrades, as the mAh degrades so does the batteries c rating (amp limit). So down the road, your 20A battery may only be a 10A battery.
How to test your batteries mAh capacity with the VC2:
Step 1: Insert your discharged battery (at a discharge cut-off voltage generally below 3.0V)
Step 2: Let the battery charge and notice the 0000mAh displayed on the screen. Do not remove the battery until the charge is complete.
Step 3: When the battery is fully charged, the screen will show "FULL" and the entire screen will flash 3 times every 10 seconds.
Step 4: The mAh on the screen should now give you the batteries actual capacity.
Last edited:
Cell phone batteries lose 10% mah a year on daily charging. I would assume high drain 18650s would lose much more
The Hohmtech charger has the read-outs and Battery Doctor to refresh your batteries. There’s a thread on the other forum with testing done on the charger.
I got mine at IMRBatteries.com Cheaper if you buy with a friend. The more you buy the more discounts you receive.
I got mine at IMRBatteries.com Cheaper if you buy with a friend. The more you buy the more discounts you receive.
It really depends on the battery and how hard you use them. I have some VTC5s that are over 3 years old that still work very well. They've been used regularly the whole time, but never particularly hard -- 0.75 ohms on a mech and rarely discharged below 3.7V.
Being a battery lifespan practices conscious fellow, more or less recently I stumbled upon a very useful piece of software for Android devices. Check Hands-on: Battery Charge Limit for rooted devices keeps your phone's battery healthy @ Android Police. Nifty little application. 
I use my phone quite heavily and I really can't notice much of a difference in its battery life performance versus 2 years and half ago (of course, I was using another method to limit battery SoC before). I'm serious.
As Rossum points out, battery stress also plays an important role.
Cheers
I use my phone quite heavily and I really can't notice much of a difference in its battery life performance versus 2 years and half ago (of course, I was using another method to limit battery SoC before). I'm serious.
As Rossum points out, battery stress also plays an important role.
Cheers
Being a battery lifespan practices conscious fellow, more or less recently I stumbled upon a very useful piece of software for Android devices. Check Hands-on: Battery Charge Limit for rooted devices keeps your phone's battery healthy @ Android Police. Nifty little application.
I use my phone quite heavily and I really can't notice much of a difference in its battery life performance versus 2 years and half ago (of course, I was using another method to limit battery SoC before). I'm serious.
As Rossum points out, battery stress also plays an important role.
Cheers
Dangit, all the cool stuff is for Rooted only!!
If you buy one of the analytical chargers, such as the Opus BT-3100 or the Liitokala Lii-500 to name a few. You will be able to test the battery’s capacity and internal resistance to get a general idea to the health of the battery. These chargers are nice and can be had for a reasonable price but if your batteries are damaged or seriously underperforming just recycle them. Take the results of any capacity or resistance test with these chargers with a grain of salt because from what I understand they aren’t super accurate. Use the results of any test and your eyes and common sense to determine if a battery should stay in rotation or go. And remember.....only you can prevent forest fires.
I have the Xtar VC4, and I record the capacity of my batteries every few months. It's really more of an exercise in curiosity than a sure-fire battery assessment. mAh is only one of the things that degrades with age, and other aging mechanisms can affect a battery without affecting mAh. Also, the cut-off varies slightly (or more) from mod to mod, and as the mod I was using for the first few tests with most of my current batteries has since perished I can no longer do a direct comparison. On the other hand, I always second-guess myself so it's nice to have some (imperfect) numbers to look at if I start wondering whether performance really is deteriorating.
Thank you so much for the intell! I'm going to look now! I do keep track of them by rewrappimg them with a different picture under the new wrap as I stated. However, I want an actual device.
I have used the Xtar charger to check capacity from time to time, but now I just date them and recycle after a year or 18 months.
I usually had a specific set of batteries for each mod, that made it real easy to know if they are dropping off over time, especially my Single 18650/Battery Mods.
Some of my batteries made it around 2-3 years before I noticed a difference in Vape time, some were EDV Setups too.
Some of my batteries made it around 2-3 years before I noticed a difference in Vape time, some were EDV Setups too.
- Status
Similar threads
