Need electrial lesson

[SteveI]

[sorry for typo in subject, can't figure out how to fix]
More noob questions.
I'm using a brick USB adapter. I have 2 that are Blackberry branded, 5v-0.8A.

I'm charging my little 65mm & 78mm batteries with it rather than plugging into PC. The little charger takes 0.5A. I assume this means I am safe, not harming the little charger or batteries.

I plan on ordering x2 batteries which can take upto 1.5A. Ignoring the passthrough feature, on the same 0.8A USB adaptor, will the battery charge using all 0.8A or will it scale back to 0.5A? I guess it depends on the HW built into the battery, but I wanted to know.

I've been researching a little. Since the Ipads are designed to take 2.1A, there are quite a few USB adapters that can provide that much power. If I were to use one of those, 2.1A, I assume the x2 battery will just take 1.5A, or is this hardware dependant?

 

[WorksForMe]

I have a .85A wall adapter that I use to charge my X2 and Ego batteries. I'm not sure exactly how long they take to charge but probably 3 or 4 hours. I'm actually an electrician, but I don't know enough about rechargeable batteries to answer your specific questions.

"awsum140" seems to know more about batteries than anyone else here. I'm sure he'll answer your question.

J.R.

 

[Imagine]

any USB adapter is will charge them....the chargers/cables themselves are what should/need to be VOLT as they regulate the output to the batteries... .5A or higher is fine for our batts... higher will mean faster charging.

If you do not use our chargers or cables it can void your warranty but not the USB adapters.

 

[awsum140]

As Imagine says, SI will not warrantee batteries used on chargers other than theirs. That said, 5 volts is 5 volts, well sort of anyway. I've monitored charge current of both 78mm and X2-650 batteries quite extensively and they have never drawn more than 250ma under any conditions, including a dead X2-650 used in pass through. The 78mm seem to peak below 150ma while an X2-650 can peak as high as 220ma from what I've seen. The biggest trick is to have a charger that maintains 5 volts under the load of charging. I can tell you that I've used an SI 1.5a charger for all my testing and it has never dropped below that 5 volt mark.

Lithium batteries should not be left on a charger after they have reached full charge. There is always a risk of fire and lithium batteries can be damaged by trickle charging them. Once an X2-650 reaches full charge, the charger does shut off completely and no current flows at all. The 78mm batteries seem to allow a 10ma trickle rate after reaching full charge. That may be the internal circuit for charging that draws that 10ma current, but since I can't determine that without destroying a battery (and I'm as cheap as they come), I think it's best to get them off the charger as soon as they indicate full charge.

Just my opinion, worth what you're paying for it, your results and mileage may vary, no warrantee or guarantee is expressed or implied.

 

[voodoocharlie]

to add my 2 cents which with the price of inflation is only worth about 1 cent

1. You can use any 120V to USB charger to charge anything. Keep in mind if the amps are lower on the charger than the item you are charging it will take longer to charge. However is the Amp rating is higher the device you are charging will not pull more amps than it requires This is simple battery Theory.

2. The X2 is not a true passthrough when the x2 is plugged in and you use it as a passthrough what you are actually doing is using the battery and the battery is then recharging. This is true of all batteries that are "passthrough" Batteries. the only real true passthroughs are items like Smokeless Image | The Best Electronic Cigarette this is a true passthrough X2's are not (let the arguements begin)

 

[awsum140]

I know that the battery actually runs the atomizer in passthrough on an X2. The one that I was referencing has problems, and was replaced by SI, and when I was recharging it, even though it no longer holds a charge for long, the current did "spike" up to 225ma or so. A normally operating X2 shows no increase in charge current when using it in passthrough, I mentioned that number and battery simply to indicate the relatively low current demands.

 

[kiwivap]

to add my 2 cents which with the price of inflation is only worth about 1 cent

1. You can use any 120V to USB charger to charge anything. Keep in mind if the amps are lower on the charger than the item you are charging it will take longer to charge. However is the Amp rating is higher the device you are charging will not pull more amps than it requires This is simple battery Theory.

2. The X2 is not a true passthrough when the x2 is plugged in and you use it as a passthrough what you are actually doing is using the battery and the battery is then recharging. This is true of all batteries that are "passthrough" Batteries. the only real true passthroughs are items like Smokeless Image | The Best Electronic Cigarette this is a true passthrough X2's are not (let the arguements begin)

No argument here. I had forgotten they sold those volt passthroughs - I might put in for one on my next order.

 

[Mroutlaw]

You can use blackberry or iPhone wall adapter to charge you batteries. It doesn't void the warranty.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Konstantine]

The 78mm batteries seem to allow a 10ma trickle rate after reaching full charge.

The 10mA you see is the adapter itself using this power to light up the led and powering the voltage comparator circuit inside the adapter.

 

[awsum140]

The 10mA you see is the adapter itself using this power to light up the led and powering the voltage comparator circuit inside the adapter.

That's 10ma after the overhead of the adapter, which is about 7ma. Total is about 17ma so I attribute 10ma to the battery which can be seen as it's screwed into the adapter.

 

[Konstantine]

Hmmm The ASIC?

 

[awsum140]

That's my suspicion, but unless I destroy a battery to find out, no way to tell for sure and I'm too darn cheap to wreck a battery. Much simpler to just get them off the charger in case that actually is a trickle current.

 

[Konstantine]

That's easy, desolder the airflow switch and use only the black and red wire with a battery analyzer ONLY or use the yellow wire in series and the red wire in series while charging. That way you will see the current going IN the asic via the yellow wire and you will also see what's going out via the red wire.
The battery won't be destroyed and you can put everything back together.

 

[nightfell]

Omg you smart people

 

[awsum140]

That's easy, desolder the airflow switch and use only the black and red wire with a battery analyzer ONLY or use the yellow wire in series and the red wire in series while charging. That way you will see the current going IN the asic via the yellow wire and you will also see what's going out via the red wire.
The battery won't be destroyed and you can put everything back together.

I looked at a 78mm and the air flow switch appears to be siliconed into the battery case. There is a red, a black and a blue wire in the one I'm looking at and I assume (that wonderful word) that the blue is input to the ASIC. Since this particular battery is no longer operational, the air flow switch tuns it on randomly if moved too quickly, I may give it a try. My eyes ain't what they used to be and my hands aren't quite as steady either, but with a magnifier I may be able to pull the ASIC and positive leads and have a look at what's really going on.

 

[Konstantine]

Do NOT use a high power soldering iron. The Blue was a yellow one on the older batteries.
The blue wire is the cartomizer output but it's also the charging input. When you give 5V to it it will charge, when activated it will send out 3.7V
If you short something out (you will notice it from the sparks) get ready to throw it like a grenade

The switch is inside a silicone cap, used to stop air from getting around the sensor and holding it in place, you can grab a wire or a very fine tweezer to pry it out, better to use plastic tools.

 

[awsum140]

I may reconsider this. I don't have plastic tweezers at the moment but I do have a good temperature contolled soldering station. With my luck I can hear myself yelling "GRENADE!"

 

[Konstantine]

Usefull tip. You can try to deactivate the system by desoldering the black wire FIRST from the sensor. This will ensure a short will not happen when you mess up with the other wires because the body of the sensor is grounded to the black wire. If you remove this it's deactivated.

 

[awsum140]

Since red is actually the positive battery lead if that's pulled first the system is dead as well. I can monitor current through the cartomizer input/output with my regular charging monitor system although I can't get a cartomizer on it that way to watch current draw when in use. Since my original plan for this battery was to use it to make a better monitor system by cannabalizing the threaded end, I'll probably work up the nerve to pop the red lead and tack on a test lead so I can watch what's happening to that mysterious 10ma I keep seeing.

 

[user808a]

OP: The brick or the 120V AC to usb adapters are known as wall warts. ECF search for wall warts.