Mod Batteries from FastTech and Ebay

[crxess]

Thank you tearose50

A few that are deemed acceptable have been rather heavily targeted.
Even within some of those Acceptable lines there are Quality and very low budget models - buyer beware is in order.

 

[dr g]

I would be interested in finding a resource to that information. I received a PM just today about those Panny's not being as safe as being touted, but I am not at freedom to discuss it. The hybrids have been very confusing for me to understand their makeup, as I've not found sources that describe them, so I have been reluctant to recommend them to others. Do you have a link or resource?

Here is one: https://batteryworkshop.msfc.nasa.g...st_Panasonic_Li-Ion_NCR_18650_Cells_JRead.pdf

But for pete's sake, don't take that document and use it as justification to decry Panasonic hybrids as unsafe and unsuitable for vaping.

 

[tearose50]

"batteryworkshop.msfc.nasa.gov uses an invalid security certificate."

 

[dr g]

"batteryworkshop.msfc.nasa.gov uses an invalid security certificate."

Yeah I get that too, no idea why.

edit: all I can think is the battery workshop is an apparently smaller event and may not get the attention (funding/support) of core nasa programs? In any event, a treasure trove of lithium battery info there.

 

[Thrasher]

There was one that went viral. It was not the only incident.

And, maybe one good reason is that for more than 3 years ECF has been discouraging using unprotected li-ions and for the past 2 been discouraging stacking batteries in a tube mod. I believe the UK forum does as well.

Plus, they aren't available from a good deal of the E-cig Suppliers not located in China.......so accidents were less likely to occur.

Plus, even now I doubt if there are hundreds of thousands of mod users. A cig-alike and an ego are not mods......and they have had incidents, too.....mostly when charging.

Probably more than 1/2 the people vaping have begun within the past year....and the widely popular FT has only been on the scene for months.

umm check around the interwebs a little and you will soon realize we in the US and here at ECF are but a small small percentage of the world wide vaping and modding community.

and to pull fasttech into this as a new or careless vendor is rather rash. months? try years FT has been selling electronics, novelties, even knives and cloths for years. they could not break into the vaping feild selling regular stuff so they went the clone route for price VS profit.

while i do understand they should maybe separate the batteries a little better, they arent fully to blame if you dont know what your looking for or buying. this is about as dumb as walking into autozone and buying the wrong oil filter for your car, then getting mad at autozone for not having YOUR filter on a different shelf. did you ask anyone? did you try to find out what you needed before you walked in the store?

many people fall asleep with the same chemistry batteries in their phones left on the charger. if the house burns down do you blame the maker of your phone because you didnt heed standard battery safety? whether a battery vents or catches fire shouldnt be considered too far from the same thing the fire should be contained by the tube anyways.

your going to want to get rid of the problem either way so so in a perfect world we would all be vaping with a bucket of saltwater at our feet. some batteries are proven to work and be reliable, they have their reputation behind them. as battery technology evolves we cant just ignore a newer product that may in fact be made better, im not saying safer im just saying better.

after scouring the panasonic sight for hours every single one of their batteries are constructed in a way that offers thermal venting in the case of a runaway. if the situation is such that your rig is still shorting enough to run up to the material catching fire then you need to hold the mod maker accountable. and this is where some of these clones are heading. I can already see it coming a cheap clone creates a situation that causes a battery to malfunction and everyone will blame the battery.

Panasonic stated they DO NOT sell or release seconds or b grade batteries, they either pass all the tests or they fail. this is more then i can say for some of those other vendors. panny's are new to us, but they are highly regarded in many industries that use their batts and failure is not an option when your involved with tons of companies that rely on you.

while I advocate safety to every degree possible. people need to start doing some research for themselves and quit trying to have everything handed to them. you spend 5 hours comparing tanks you cant take 5 minutes to find out what battery you need?

mechanicals and the batteries are old hat. but with the recent revival and popularity more people are getting them that arent really experienced with this idea. but any battery operated within its rated capacities will be as safe as the person who setup the rig and knows the limits of the products in his hand, as much as i dont care for ultr sub ohm vaping , too many people have pushed batteries into their upper limits with little to no consequence. running an average coil well within the batteries limits should not cuase to many problems.

we see fasttech as a new vendor, they are not, they are new to vaping thats it. I would think maybe instead of hammering them many start to email them with this concern explaining the risks and asking they designate high drain batteries as vape friendly. or with a secondary title (vaping approved or something)

if you use a mod they you should already know you want high drain batteries in the first place, if you dont then you shouldnt be playing with a set up that can pop one.
the batteries on fasttech are proven to be authentic, they cant control that efest rebrands used and second rate batteries.but it IS an efest.

be safe, know what your doing and what your buying, do your homework. follow common safety rules and VAPE ON!!!

 

[dr g]

It's worth noting that FT itself also has discussion pages from users that often have responses from staff, right on the pages for the items.

 

[Thrasher]

It's worth noting that FT itself also has discussion pages from users that often have responses from staff, right on the pages for the items.

that it is, I have asked them many questions and when they can they are more then happy to help. AND if you find they are presenting the wrong information and help them correct it they dont tell you to shove off, they willingly change the information, this is more then i can say for some of these other vendors who just want the money. FT is huge and the last thing they want is everyone boycotting them.

 

[stevegmu]

After reading all the posts about the dangers of batteries, I just don't see why anyone would want to save a couple dollars by buying cheap batteries from questionable vendors. AM IMR seems to be the best option- at least for my device. They may not have the highest ohm rating in their size- 18490 for now, but I still get all day out of one charge, though I also use other devices.

Risking injury, fire or damaging a valuable mod just doesn't seem worth saving $3 over.

 

[tearose50]

OK -- I left out one word. Fasttech is relatively new on the VAPING scene. I didn't think I would be bashed for leaving out the history of fasttech as a company, which I am aware of, btw.

If you want to say anything further about me, my views or my posts, I suggest you do it via PM. I'll not rebut on an open forum the gross misduplication of me, my posts and my intentions.

Gee, you'd think I said I found fault with a reo or told someone to just buy a prothingy.

 

[dr g]

After reading all the posts about the dangers of batteries, I just don't see why anyone would want to save a couple dollars by buying cheap batteries from questionable vendors. AM IMR seems to be the best option- at least for my device. They may not have the highest ohm rating in their size- 18490 for now, but I still get all day out of one charge, though I also use other devices.

The good news is that you can get good batteries for cheap if you know what you are looking at.

Also the AW 18490 has by far the highest current capacity of any 18490/18500 that I know of.

 

[Baditude]

OK -- I left out one word. Fasttech is relatively new on the VAPING scene. I didn't think I would be bashed for leaving out the history of fasttech as a company, which I am aware of, btw.

If you want to say anything further about me, my views or my posts, I suggest you do it via PM. I'll not rebut on an open forum the gross misduplication of me, my posts and my intentions.

Gee, you'd think I said I found fault with a reo or told someone to just buy a prothingy.

I appreciate everyone's input in this discussion, whether it be from personal experience or from actual personal research done on these batteries. Not everyone has tried and used a particular battery, nor do they know what resources to research to find legitimate and pratical information of batteries. I know that I have attempted to find information on the classes of batteries that we use in mods, and it is difficult to find or understand if you are not familiar with battery terminology. I did find some, but I'm not educated enough to understand the graphs those sites offer, and often the summaries - if they include one - are not always helpful to compare one battery to another.

This post was not intended to bash FastTech when I created it. I merely was bringing attention to the fact that one of our novice vapors had received an "inappropriate for intended use" battery suggested by FastTech to be used in a mechanical mod purchased at the same time. This needed to be brought to the attention of other customers who purchase from websites like FastTech.

A few posters have had issues that the title of the thread is not relevent to the subject matter. They may have a valid point. At the time I thought it was an appropriate title. Perhaps my judgement wasn't correct and something better should have been used. What's done is done. Thread titles can not be edited, I tried and was unsuccessful.

Too many people are not educated to know what battery is applicable for our purposes, and inadvertently rely of the vendor to be making that decision for them. The case that inspired this thread was created to show that you can not rely on the vendor to provide that information. Case in point, an uneducated customer will need to do their own research or come here and ask the advice of the veteran ECF members their opinion. And opinions they often will be, so take those with a grain of salt. Base those opinions on what feedback those veterans have given in the past. Some here are more knowledgeable with useful reliable information than others. No one should feel as though they have been attacked for adding useful information to this topic or thread. We are all here to either learn or educate.

It WOULD be useful for someone to come up with an easy guide to batteries for novices to refer to and have it posted as a sticky for the ECF membership. I tried to make one and it is in my blog. I have not received feedback, pro's or con's, from anyone whether it is useful or a piece of crap.
_____

*Important Edit 9-3-13: Upon further investigation, I must appologise about previous allogations that FastTech had a drop down menu on a mechanical mod's page description giving a suggestion of batteries to use. Further investigation shows only a requirement for a "18650/18500 battery", no drop down menu to be seen on the mod's description page.

Apparently our novice vapor didn't fully explain that she did a search on the site for 18500 batteries, and made a personal choice to choose an unprotected Li Ion battery over a protected Li Ion and an IMR. I have not yet confirmed this with her, but doing some research this appears to have been the only thing that could have happened. Sorry folks.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

If batteries are so dangerous then why with probably hundreds of thousands of mod users worldwide vaping for several years is there only one reported case of injury on the Internet, an American gentleman in Florida a couple of years ago?

There have been numerous incidents of PV batteries going into thermal armageddon.

At least three of the most recent ones involved relatively new vapers either abusing their devices or charging them inappropriately.

That said, the incidents have been thankfully infrequent, given the large and growing number of people switching to PV's from analogs. I'm sure many more house fires were caused by smokers in the same time period (let's say 2007 - present).

The problem we have now is a little different. Now, larger numbers of people are buying large, powerful APV systems and putting their batteries in conditions that can put a lot of strain on them. The better quality batteries handle that strain gracefully. The lower quality batteries won't do so well, and the law of averages says that sooner or later, an APV user without the technical experience to recognize what's happening is going to get him/herself in trouble.

If threads like this can keep just one of those from happening, then it's done its job.

I too feared that this would become a bash [that site which shall not be mentioned outside of the FastTech thread], which is why I pointed out early on that many stateside vendors were also selling cheap, potentially dangerous batteries. Just because it came from your neck of the woods doesn't make it safe.

 

[Ref Minor]

There have been numerous incidents of PV batteries going into thermal armageddon.

At least three of the most recent ones involved relatively new vapers either abusing their devices or charging them inappropriately.

That was really why I asked the question, all the examples I have seen have been just that rather than inappropriate or counterfeit batteries. You abuse a battery or charge it badly then it's not the batteries fault it goes thermal.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

That was really why I asked the question, all the examples I have seen have been just that rather than inappropriate or counterfeit batteries. You abuse a battery or charge it badly then it's not the batteries fault it goes thermal.

Well, what I was trying to get across is that the higher quality batteries handle that abuse better. None of them are perfect--heap enough abuse on an AW IMR and it will get rather angry. The lower quality batteries won't handle it well at all.

My point was also that putting those lower quality batteries in an unregulated tube and putting it under tremendous stress is dangerous, and the law of averages is going to catch up with an inexperienced APV user sooner or later.

I see your point that the user has to accept some responsibility when things go wrong, and I don't think it's contradicting Bad's.

 

[Baditude]

Hi, I'm guessing I was in need of some help. And just got it.

I recently purchased a svd from fasttech and on the battery page, (I think by drop down menu it's meant customer discussions on the product and fasttech answers as well) but, anyway.....
I Wanted to keep the svd in 18350 mode. So in searching for a battery I came across the ultrafire ones that are referenced above. I bought the pair.. I did see suggestions from users as well that said they were ok....
Both the pv and those batts are on their way to me.
Even before this thread, which I'm very very glad I came across, I was doubting the batteries because nowhere could I find for sure what they were ,,
So I did some searching and efest were recommended.
At this point, I'm just going to go to rtd right now and order good batteries. I'm just going to ask them which ones are the best for that....
Ya know, I was gonna order the new batteries anyway, but it didn't seem like a rush .... I was only apprehensive but thought they would be alright for awhile. I most likely would have used them. My main concern of the ultrafire was them dying fast.... not me
Now? I won't use the pv until the correct batteries come. I blame myself for not doing a greater research, (I'm new to separate battery devices) & this is Kind of like an intervention.....
Thanks baditude for the thread

My pleasure. I only want vapers to be safe. The first priority in choosing a battery for a mod should be safety first, with other factors such as mAh capacity, amp capacity, and expected life duration following somewhere behind that. Looking for bargains when choosing batteries for mods is not wise nor prudent if you sacrifice safety.

I'll be surprised if RTD Vapor does not recommend AW over the Efest. It is arguably a better quality battery. I use only AW IMRs exclusively in both my mechanical and regulated mods. The two times that I've used Efests in two sizes I was extremely disappointed in their run time after a couple of weeks of use when compared to my AWs. Those are now in a drawer reserved for a rainy day. Not to bash Efest, they undoubtedly should be a better battery than your Ultrafires. The chief reason I stopped using protected batteries (Trustfires) is I had one violently vent when its protected circuit failed.

One thing you have going for you is the protective circuitry built into the SVD. It might be a different story if they were going into an unprotected mechanical.

 

[crxess]

This post was not intended to bash FastTech when I created it. I merely was bringing attention to the fact that one of our novice vapors had received an "inappropriate for intended use" battery suggested by FastTech to be used in a mechanical mod purchased at the same time. This needed to be brought to the attention of other customers who purchase from websites like FastTech.

Okay, I'm going to try and put a damper on this right now.
With thanks to Baditude for all the work on Safety in Vaping - we should always be vigilant in knowing what it is we should be using and avoiding for our own well being and the safety of others.
Battery discussion should continue on - Not argument, DISCUSSION. Safety First and Foremost. Even if we er it should be done on the side of caution. Personal choice is still available to all.
Ebay purchases - We all have our opinions about that waste of internet space, including most of the members(myself included)
Remember one thing it is a Flea Market(internet style). It is not the market but the Fleas that make it good or bad.
EBAY is 100% Buyer Beware and only serving the investors no matter what they offer/tell anyone. Bottom line is the bottom line$$.
But I digress - most business is self motivated.

Fasttech - A clearing house of all manor of novelty items Wholesale to Public
Not an Ec-cig Vender

Okay, Concerning Fasttech, some corrections are in order.
Disclaimer - I am not a big fasttech fan like some. I like the idea fo getting something I KNOW to be cheap from a cheap source.
When I want quality I shop elsewhere.(Quite often)

FASTTECH
This is the post that started it all:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...r18500-sanyo-batteries-my-mechanical-mod.html
This is the Battery Product Page:
$10.96 Authentic Sanyo UR18500FK 18500 1700mAh 3.7V Rechargeable Li-ion Batteries (2-Pack) 2-pack - min capacity 1620mAh / 18.30*49.4mm at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

THIS IS THE KEY PAGE:
$12.91 Mech Mod / E-Cigarette Battery Compartment - purple at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

Please feel free to Browse the page. I have never seen a Recommendation drop down on fasttech. This page has none I can find. There is an inclusion in the product listing to use of 18650 or 18500 Batteries.
Only by searching FT will you find the Size and Availability
FT carries (3) 18500 batteries as of today - (Trustfire IMR added 9-3-13)

NONE of these Batteries have any Recommended Use attached.
No remember Fasttech sells thousands of Battery powered Devices and Sanyo must have had a purpose for this battery. Nothing in that last sentence says - FOR YOUR E-CIG MOD.

The member made a personal decision, which may have been made on best price, 2 for $10.96, however later had the good sense to ask before using.

Please feel free to verify this information as to what is in print at FT.
If I have missed a link that shows different Please add for informational purpose.

We as consumers MUST start taking responsibility for ourselves. Be informed and pass on information. Never expect someone else to do all the leg work for you. You are simply asking to get the sort end.

Never ignore Battery safety. Batteries are the most volatile part of our hobby. If you don't know, Ask

Vape on
Be Safe
Continue Battery Discussion.

 

[Baditude]

This is the post that started it all:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...r18500-sanyo-batteries-my-mechanical-mod.html
This is the Battery Product Page:
$10.96 Authentic Sanyo UR18500FK 18500 1700mAh 3.7V Rechargeable Li-ion Batteries (2-Pack) 2-pack - min capacity 1620mAh / 18.30*49.4mm at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

THIS IS THE KEY PAGE:
$12.91 Mech Mod / E-Cigarette Battery Compartment - purple at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

Please feel free to Browse the page. I have never seen a Recommendation drop down on fasttech. This page has none I can find. There is an inclusion in the product listing to use of 18650 or 18500 Batteries.
Only by searching FT will you find the Size and Availability
FT carries (3) 18500 batteries as of today - (Trustfire IMR added 9-3-13)

NONE of these Batteries have any Recommended Use attached.
No remember Fasttech sells thousands of Battery powered Devices and Sanyo must have had a purpose for this battery. Nothing in that last sentence says - FOR YOUR E-CIG MOD.

The member made a personal decision, which may have been made on best price, 2 for $10.96, however later had the good sense to ask before using.

Please feel free to verify this information as to what is in print at FT.
If I have missed a link that shows different Please add for informational purpose.

: Excellent detective work, crxs. Although I did follow the link to the batteries the customer provided in her original thread, I didn't do so with the link to the mechanical mod she purchased as it was in a later post in the thread if I recall correctly...my bad for not being as thorough as you were.

Like you, I also did not see any battery recommendation on the page for the mech except for "Can be powered by 1*18650 battery / 1*18500 battery (batteries sold separately)". No drop down menu in sight. If the customer did an onsite search for an 18500, they would have found 3 options. 3 Batteries (Battery Form Factor: 18500) at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

I can't speak for the customer, but perhaps she did choose those Sanyo's because they had a customer recommended "5 star rating", for what that's worth. What she apparantly failed to realize is that the Sanyo's are neither protected or IMR. The other two options were a protected Trustfire Li Ion and a Ultrafire IMR, neither high quality batteries but at least a better option than the inappropriate Sanyo option.

My appologies to not being as thorough as yourself. If someone had picked this up at the very beginning of her initial post it would have changed a lot of things. However, it does cause alert that some of these websites do sell inappropriate mod batteries and customers need to learrn how to recognize those. Despite all the errors made, my own included, the subject of knowing what you need and how to recognize it is still relevent. Education is the key.

 

[zoiDman]

After reading all the posts about the dangers of batteries, I just don't see why anyone would want to save a couple dollars by buying cheap batteries from questionable vendors. ...

It does Kinda Boggle My Mind.

Especially seeing that I went from Spending $175/month of Analogs to Buying 2 Batteries that should last me Well Over a Year.

Let's see, $3 over a year comes to 25 Cents per Month. That's Less that what I lose in the Sofa.

LOL

 

[crxess]

Could not agree more on Battery Purpose!
Should be a requirement of manufacturer and posted in description by seller.
Now, how do we get any of them to accept responsibility?

I'd love to see the e-cig industry as a whole only recommend IMR for safe use of removable Battery products. Unfortunately some entrepreneur will put out a Junk battery that won't last a month in a get rich quick scam. Oh wait, a few already have.

 

[ROM 1]

Which Nitecore model or any battery charger model would you recommend for charging IMR 18350, 18490, and 18690 batteries? I want one with independent charging indicators, at least 2 battery charging slots, and shuts-off or goes into trickle charge when battery reaches full charge. I currently have a cheap single slot, generic charger that I bought from FastTech, which actually works pretty good for the time being. After reading so much horrible scenarios with using cheap chargers, I want to upgrade to something more reliable.