Need alternate batteries or charger for screwdriver
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My spiderfires are on their last legs (ok - bad pun, so shoot me) after probably a month. (I did kill a couple myself, but excluding them 
). This shouldn't be the case, so I've had a look into the chargers.
1. Both the Ultrafire and the Trustfire equivalents use the same regulating chip (at least from the reports on dx).
2. A number of folk have reported that the green light pops on before it is fully charged, and that it starts trickle charging when it's "done" charging. Eg.
3. When it's pulled off the charger, the voltages have been measured at anywhere from 4.25 - 4.45V.
Bad. But presumably Trustfire are using very cheap parts, which would explain the variation - you could well get a good one.
There is also this one: DealExtreme: $22.50 Soshine SC-S1(MIN) Universal Li-Ion Digital Battery Charger - Small (16340/14500/10440+more) which I have ordered. Soshine is a less dodgy company, but who knows.
). This shouldn't be the case, so I've had a look into the chargers.1. Both the Ultrafire and the Trustfire equivalents use the same regulating chip (at least from the reports on dx).
2. A number of folk have reported that the green light pops on before it is fully charged, and that it starts trickle charging when it's "done" charging. Eg.
This also would explain why people are instructed to leave it charging even after the green lights have come on, if e-cig chargers are anything like this one.
3. When it's pulled off the charger, the voltages have been measured at anywhere from 4.25 - 4.45V.
Bad. But presumably Trustfire are using very cheap parts, which would explain the variation - you could well get a good one.
There is also this one: DealExtreme: $22.50 Soshine SC-S1(MIN) Universal Li-Ion Digital Battery Charger - Small (16340/14500/10440+more) which I have ordered. Soshine is a less dodgy company, but who knows.
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i have tested an awfull lot most of them come off whatever charger i have at around 4.2 volts or slightly less.. we often leave the little nanos going all night after they have turned green..
i cant say as i have every found one at 4.45 volts..
we did kill some at 40 C in the truck while in spain during last summer.. total meltdown.. had to take the charger apart and clean all the battery electrolyte from the insides.. they dont like getting hot.. he he
i think the nanos are odd in the sense they only put out 4.2 volts.. which is why they take ages to put the last bit in..
plus there is no absolute fully charged point.. just a general idea the more u stuff in the longer the run time.. with a general belief that around 4.2 is the upper safe point..
lets not forget the things are actually rated at either 3.6 or 3.7 volts.. the bottom line being they do not have to be over 4 volts to work.. even at 4 volts they are over their actual rating.. basically the more thats crammed in the longer the run time but the greater likelihood of damaging them..
for maximum life.. a nice slow charge to say just over 4 volts and a shallow charge/discharge cycle would be best.. but at the price they are who gives sh-t.. i would guess more than month should be had from them thow..
the guesstimate would be 300 charge discharge cycles which at two a day would be six months.. one a day nearly a year.. they are not being flogged like the little normal e cig batteries are..
something isnt quite right.. perhaps the figures we are given are total bollocks.. he he..
trog
i cant say as i have every found one at 4.45 volts..
we did kill some at 40 C in the truck while in spain during last summer.. total meltdown.. had to take the charger apart and clean all the battery electrolyte from the insides.. they dont like getting hot.. he he
i think the nanos are odd in the sense they only put out 4.2 volts.. which is why they take ages to put the last bit in..
plus there is no absolute fully charged point.. just a general idea the more u stuff in the longer the run time.. with a general belief that around 4.2 is the upper safe point..
lets not forget the things are actually rated at either 3.6 or 3.7 volts.. the bottom line being they do not have to be over 4 volts to work.. even at 4 volts they are over their actual rating.. basically the more thats crammed in the longer the run time but the greater likelihood of damaging them..
for maximum life.. a nice slow charge to say just over 4 volts and a shallow charge/discharge cycle would be best.. but at the price they are who gives sh-t.. i would guess more than month should be had from them thow..
the guesstimate would be 300 charge discharge cycles which at two a day would be six months.. one a day nearly a year.. they are not being flogged like the little normal e cig batteries are..
something isnt quite right.. perhaps the figures we are given are total bollocks.. he he..
trog
and that shoshine one u mention bertrand is the first one i bought many months back.. it flashed a couple of times when first plugged in then instantly died.. the one i have now is its replacement..
i might not know but i do have pretty good idea.. he he
would i dare ship out a chinese charger without first making sure it works.. %100 not.. do i like selling them at all.. no but there really isnt any choice..
testing them all is a f-cking pain.. we dont do it for fun... the ones we get now come vacuum wrapped just to make things worse.. he he..
but when u think DX at 5 dollars includes the DX profits and selling overheads plus the cost of air shipping halfway round the planet.. the chinese factory must literally make the things for nothing..
a weird place is china.. if only they charged a little more and made things that worked.. but they dont.. they make things for nothing that kinda work.. this seems to keep china in business and us buying stuff that kinda works.. he he
trog
i might not know but i do have pretty good idea.. he he
would i dare ship out a chinese charger without first making sure it works.. %100 not.. do i like selling them at all.. no but there really isnt any choice..
testing them all is a f-cking pain.. we dont do it for fun... the ones we get now come vacuum wrapped just to make things worse.. he he..
but when u think DX at 5 dollars includes the DX profits and selling overheads plus the cost of air shipping halfway round the planet.. the chinese factory must literally make the things for nothing..
a weird place is china.. if only they charged a little more and made things that worked.. but they dont.. they make things for nothing that kinda work.. this seems to keep china in business and us buying stuff that kinda works.. he he
trog
Yeah. I haven't tested this myself (my ammeter has too much resistance for it to work). Having said that, trickle charging a li-ion battery is the bit that surprised me. And it is good to know that all those people reporting that leaving it in when it turns green weren't imagining things.
Hehe - sounds like the soshine will be another dog. Maybe just a few people got unlucky with the trustfire one, or my spiderfires may have been sitting in a warehouse a few years. Who knows?
Hehe - sounds like the soshine will be another dog. Maybe just a few people got unlucky with the trustfire one, or my spiderfires may have been sitting in a warehouse a few years. Who knows?
My SD never worked for more than 1 cartridge, I tried, and I tried, and I wanted it to work. Trog accused me of being a Janty schill, whatfrikinjoke. I am a HEAVY duty smoker, and wanted the best. Maybe the supplied batteries were screwed up.
Maybe the SD was bad
Maybe you blame others for your own ineptitude.
Funny about your original posts about the cost savings of less batteries, longer lasting, quality of YOUR custom made product, et. et.
Very interesting about all the issues posted here on the thread. Whasup with that?
I still am stuck using the kissbox cause I have not found any better yet.
I do go thru lot's, but, the warrantee, and replacements are lot's batter than having NO backup from YOU troggie. Especially with all your accustations, and poor customer relations.
I loved the first few puffs, but, then it SUCKED big time. All I want is a heavy duty, well made unit.
I believed you, when you wrote all the BS about the ultimate SD.
I would LOVE it if you actually supplied me with what you claimed, and without your accusations.
I have kept quiet, until I read this thread, and see you actually seem to have NO customer service, follow thru, or class with other customers as well. At least your other customers seem to be able to actually enjoy longer term happyness, than just a few puffs.
I just feel I wasted about 40 hours of my life and had the displeasure of spending an additional 100 bucks on the extra carts/land 10 atomizers just to find out mine is not the only f+++d up one, you sold.
Good luck guy's.....wish I did not waste so much of my time, money, breath, on this thing.
I do wish Trog made the transaction much more pleasurable like Janty, Puresmoker, Best e-cig, Pillbox, and NJoy did with the biz, I did with them.
Whenever I had a problem, they sent replacements.
Trog just accused me of being ignorant.
Yeah right.
Thanks for the wonderful service, understanding, and quality product. Keep blaming on the chinese baby, good job.
When ya get your sh*t together, let me know, so I can be a happy camper too, just like your other customers.
Maybe you can apologize, and send me SD that actually works for the perscribed time you advertise, whatafrikin novel idea.
Customer service, with a smile.
That would be real nice
Good luck guys, time for another cocktail, and a puff.
Maybe the SD was bad
Maybe you blame others for your own ineptitude.
Funny about your original posts about the cost savings of less batteries, longer lasting, quality of YOUR custom made product, et. et.
Very interesting about all the issues posted here on the thread. Whasup with that?
I still am stuck using the kissbox cause I have not found any better yet.
I do go thru lot's, but, the warrantee, and replacements are lot's batter than having NO backup from YOU troggie. Especially with all your accustations, and poor customer relations.
I loved the first few puffs, but, then it SUCKED big time. All I want is a heavy duty, well made unit.
I believed you, when you wrote all the BS about the ultimate SD.
I would LOVE it if you actually supplied me with what you claimed, and without your accusations.
I have kept quiet, until I read this thread, and see you actually seem to have NO customer service, follow thru, or class with other customers as well. At least your other customers seem to be able to actually enjoy longer term happyness, than just a few puffs.
I just feel I wasted about 40 hours of my life and had the displeasure of spending an additional 100 bucks on the extra carts/land 10 atomizers just to find out mine is not the only f+++d up one, you sold.
Good luck guy's.....wish I did not waste so much of my time, money, breath, on this thing.
I do wish Trog made the transaction much more pleasurable like Janty, Puresmoker, Best e-cig, Pillbox, and NJoy did with the biz, I did with them.
Whenever I had a problem, they sent replacements.
Trog just accused me of being ignorant.
Yeah right.
Thanks for the wonderful service, understanding, and quality product. Keep blaming on the chinese baby, good job.
When ya get your sh*t together, let me know, so I can be a happy camper too, just like your other customers.
Maybe you can apologize, and send me SD that actually works for the perscribed time you advertise, whatafrikin novel idea.
Customer service, with a smile.
That would be real nice
Good luck guys, time for another cocktail, and a puff.
My Screwdriver has been a splendid device since day one. After more than a month the batteries are still lasting at least 6 hours of constant use before switching, and it's quite simple to keep one charged up all the time so there's never a moment when I'm without power for the Screwdriver. The little one-battery charger that came with the kit works fine. I did have to bend one of the contacts out slightly when I first got it as the battery didn't clip in firmly, but since that tiny little tweak it has done its business without fail. One of the two silver atomizers included with the kit did finally die on me (blew it out, drained it, boiled it, even leaned on the button to try and cook it back to life to no avail. I finally gave the little guy a decent burial in the bin), but atomizers are well known to be a temporary proposition. The replacement 901s I bought from PureSmoker screwed right in and worked just fine.
As an aside, I think I prefer the look of the gloss black atomizer on the Screwdriver over the shiny metal one. It looks quite smart with the balck button on one end and the black atomizer and cart/mouthpiece on the other.
Anyway, after reading SMILIN's multiple threads about his disappointment, I am wondering if it might be a charger problem. If he's using the charger that came with the kit, he might be having the same problem I had that first day. Green seems to be the default indication when it is under power and there is no battery in the charger. When I first placed a battery in my charger it went red for a moment and then back to green, which I knew couldn't be right. A quick examination revealed that though the battery stayed in place in the charger when I plugged it in, it turned out one of the little clips wasn't making good contact with the battery. I gave it a little bend out and since then it has charged the batteries just fine.
I could understand that if one put the battery in the charger and got a green indicator, one would assume the battery was fully charged and stick it back in the device, which would very likely lead to just what SMILIN described... a few decent vapor draws followed by bupkiss.
Either that, or SMILIN got a Screwdriver with a bad switch, or much more unlikely got two dud batteries.
As far as quickly exhausting carts, that's described in the literature Trog sends along with the Screwdriver. There's more power going through the atomizer with a Screwdriver, it gets hotter, and with the manual button we tend to lean on it a little longer and thus apply more power than a vacuum switch allows before cut-off. The increased vapor production that results has to come from somewhere, and that means more eliquid is going to be vaporized at a go... thus faster cart exhaustion and the need to redrip the cart more often... and Trog's literature also cautions that the Screwdriver works best when the cart is kept wet.
At any rate, I am quite happy with my Screwdriver and quite shocked to read of SMILIN's bad experience of Trog's customer service. I've dealt with him a couple of times and he was good natured, amiable and eager to see me satisfied. Through a simple error my Screwdriver originally came without the carts meant to be included, an error Trog rectified quickly and generously. He has answered questions promptly and informatively when I had them.
I hope some of what I've said might be of use to SMILIN and that he will be smilin' again soon.
As an aside, I think I prefer the look of the gloss black atomizer on the Screwdriver over the shiny metal one. It looks quite smart with the balck button on one end and the black atomizer and cart/mouthpiece on the other.
Anyway, after reading SMILIN's multiple threads about his disappointment, I am wondering if it might be a charger problem. If he's using the charger that came with the kit, he might be having the same problem I had that first day. Green seems to be the default indication when it is under power and there is no battery in the charger. When I first placed a battery in my charger it went red for a moment and then back to green, which I knew couldn't be right. A quick examination revealed that though the battery stayed in place in the charger when I plugged it in, it turned out one of the little clips wasn't making good contact with the battery. I gave it a little bend out and since then it has charged the batteries just fine.
I could understand that if one put the battery in the charger and got a green indicator, one would assume the battery was fully charged and stick it back in the device, which would very likely lead to just what SMILIN described... a few decent vapor draws followed by bupkiss.
Either that, or SMILIN got a Screwdriver with a bad switch, or much more unlikely got two dud batteries.
As far as quickly exhausting carts, that's described in the literature Trog sends along with the Screwdriver. There's more power going through the atomizer with a Screwdriver, it gets hotter, and with the manual button we tend to lean on it a little longer and thus apply more power than a vacuum switch allows before cut-off. The increased vapor production that results has to come from somewhere, and that means more eliquid is going to be vaporized at a go... thus faster cart exhaustion and the need to redrip the cart more often... and Trog's literature also cautions that the Screwdriver works best when the cart is kept wet.
At any rate, I am quite happy with my Screwdriver and quite shocked to read of SMILIN's bad experience of Trog's customer service. I've dealt with him a couple of times and he was good natured, amiable and eager to see me satisfied. Through a simple error my Screwdriver originally came without the carts meant to be included, an error Trog rectified quickly and generously. He has answered questions promptly and informatively when I had them.
I hope some of what I've said might be of use to SMILIN and that he will be smilin' again soon.
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If you pull an almost-dead battery out of your TV remote and then put it back it, it'll work fine for a couple minutes and then punk out. I thought this might be the same effect.
At any rate, I agree that SMILIN doesn't seem to be looking for answers as much as seeking to vent, so I'll let it drop.
Sorry for the epic post, but I thought all that vitriol should be countered with some "satisfied customer" chatter, and I thought I might be able to help.
I've been using one of the UltraFire chargers for the past three weeks.......Not had a problem with it and it charges my batteries in about an hour.....I've also been using "AW RCR 123 RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES" in the ScrewDriver....I was in a hurry to get some batteries and wanted to get them from the UK while I was waiting for my order from DX to come through....They seem to be working really well for me....I get through 2ml / 3ml of juice a day and the batteries last me from 8 to 10 hours before I feel the need to swap them out.....Still got the TrustFire charger and 8 SpiderFire batteries sitting in a box unused......Along with 12 Atomizers.....So I've got my backups sorted for a few months at least.....
They are a Protected battery, with the PCB on the bottom but are still only 1mm bigger than the batteries that come with the SD.....So they fit in it fine......They cost a bit more as in 2 for £11.95 but they were handy for me as I wanted them in a rush.....I got the deal with the charger and 4 AW RCR 123 batteries for £34 I think it was.....The place I got them from also test the charger and the batteries you buy with each other to make sure there are no problems......
Got them from The Photon Shop - HOME ......Nice guy and fast next day delivery.......Handy if you're in a fix and in the UK......
And I'd also like to say that even though I haven't needed to have any problems sorted out, all my dealings with Trog have been excellent....He has been nothing but fast, friendly and helpfull.......
They are a Protected battery, with the PCB on the bottom but are still only 1mm bigger than the batteries that come with the SD.....So they fit in it fine......They cost a bit more as in 2 for £11.95 but they were handy for me as I wanted them in a rush.....I got the deal with the charger and 4 AW RCR 123 batteries for £34 I think it was.....The place I got them from also test the charger and the batteries you buy with each other to make sure there are no problems......
Got them from The Photon Shop - HOME ......Nice guy and fast next day delivery.......Handy if you're in a fix and in the UK......
And I'd also like to say that even though I haven't needed to have any problems sorted out, all my dealings with Trog have been excellent....He has been nothing but fast, friendly and helpfull.......
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Trog where are u getting the original 1000mAh batts from? I can only find up to 880mAh at the DX
about this trickle charge thing.. its dosnt happen..
i deliberately left a bunch of batteries in the nano chargers overnight for around twenty hours..
they came off at around 4.22 volts exactly the same as if they had been removed immediately after the led going green..
there is no trickle charge..
zaphod.. ignore the stated rating it dosnt mean much.. its chinese.. no chinese specs mean much..
as for protected batteries fitting.. the odd one might but most wont allow the body halves to close properly.. forcing it might damage the spring end or the battery.. we dont recommend using them..
okay in an emergency but we see no gain to be had from using them.. its just something else to go wrong.. the auto chargers work okay..
we have some double black chargers and spiderfire four battery packs ready to offer for sale for those who dont like buying from china.. we just havnt got around to presenting them yet..
trog
i deliberately left a bunch of batteries in the nano chargers overnight for around twenty hours..
they came off at around 4.22 volts exactly the same as if they had been removed immediately after the led going green..
there is no trickle charge..
zaphod.. ignore the stated rating it dosnt mean much.. its chinese.. no chinese specs mean much..
as for protected batteries fitting.. the odd one might but most wont allow the body halves to close properly.. forcing it might damage the spring end or the battery.. we dont recommend using them..
okay in an emergency but we see no gain to be had from using them.. its just something else to go wrong.. the auto chargers work okay..
we have some double black chargers and spiderfire four battery packs ready to offer for sale for those who dont like buying from china.. we just havnt got around to presenting them yet..
trog
hello smilin.. i aint nice to all customers.. some i dont want... and being as u aint even paid for your f-cking screwdriver i aint gonna be nice to u now..
please send us it back else pay for it..
best to take this one no further.. it aint really fit for public consumption...
i take forgive and forget only so far.. product "activist" if u get yer ... kissed and free goodies.. product troll if u dont..
i dont play your games.. so p-ss off..
trog
please send us it back else pay for it..
best to take this one no further.. it aint really fit for public consumption...
i take forgive and forget only so far.. product "activist" if u get yer ... kissed and free goodies.. product troll if u dont..
i dont play your games.. so p-ss off..
trog
Sorry Trog......Yes I should have added that most protected Batteries wont fit as they are quite a bit bigger than the non-protected 16340 ones........I made sure before I ordered the ones I got that they were OK.......I wasn't bothered about the protected bit but they were the only ones that I could find in the UK with next day delivery.......
we struggle to get the unprotected ones in.. the spring end of the body has to be bored out deeper to get the unprotected ones in and the spring as well.. we are pushed for room in the body.. else we would leave room for both sorts..
off the shelf lithium battery technology hasn t really arrived in the UK yet.. its there but still very pricey in a specialist kinda way.. which is why we point folks at DX china.. but not much good if u want something quick.. he he
we intend to offer a black dual charger plus four batteries for around 15 quid.. cheap by UK prices but not DX prices.. but if folks want them they will be there..
trog
I went into RadioShack the other day they want $13.49 for one battery. I can wait 2 weeks from DX, and get 8 vs 1
I should have asked if it came with a warranty, haha
Eb
I should have asked if it came with a warranty, haha
Eb
I have also been using the ULTRAFIRE WF138 CR123 CHARGER for over 4 weeks with no problems to report .
Same one as #32 mitch909 put up pics for and purchased from the same seller , fast service delivered next day.
I put the batteries in the ULTRAFIRE WF138 until they turn green, approx 2 hrs.
I then pop them in the nano to finish them off, this takes approx another 2 hrs.
I dont know if this is what I should or should not be doing but it seems to work fine.
I have 6 batteries
2 from Trog came with the screwdriver 8th Nov
4 from ebay 15th Nov HK seller 5 days to receive eBay UK Shop - iolanieh: Luxeon, Xenon, Compass for Boat, CREE
They all still seem to work fine, may be I am lucky.
Same one as #32 mitch909 put up pics for and purchased from the same seller , fast service delivered next day.
I put the batteries in the ULTRAFIRE WF138 until they turn green, approx 2 hrs.
I then pop them in the nano to finish them off, this takes approx another 2 hrs.
I dont know if this is what I should or should not be doing but it seems to work fine.
I have 6 batteries
2 from Trog came with the screwdriver 8th Nov
4 from ebay 15th Nov HK seller 5 days to receive eBay UK Shop - iolanieh: Luxeon, Xenon, Compass for Boat, CREE
They all still seem to work fine, may be I am lucky.
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