Need some help with a Trustfire charger for my Vamo....

[chimsweep]

I'm not the smartest knife in the drawer, hence my confusion. I got the Vamo Kit from ExhaleVapor and love it. My confusion is simply the charger that came with it. When I went to charge the batteries, it seemed like it was forever. Got impatient....yup male....and fired the beast up....works great...everything as expected. So I kept charging the other battery and same thing...still red. Then I noticed the switch on the side 3.7--3.0, I switched it to the 3.0 and finally green. Doesn't seem to make sense to me, but that's not far fetched. Is it supposed to be on 3.0...or the 3.7. Got the Efest 18650's. Some knowledgeable guidance will be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
'

 

[Vap3ster]

What charger model # are you using ? Or can you include a link for the charger. My trust fire tr-001 takes about 4 hours to fully charge my 18350's your 18650 would take longer I imagine.

You can also hold down the left button on the vamo and check to see how close to 4.2 Volts your batteries are currently charged to

 

[SirSteve]

Efest 18650 have 3.7v printed on the label. A fully charged 18650 should be right around 4.2 volts, like Vap3ster said, hold the left button down and it will tell how much charge you have. I would guess your charger should be set at 3.7 volts and it may 8 hours to charge a 18650.

 

[hvac999]

My TR-001 used to take 12 hours + to charge an 18650. That is why I bought a Nitecore i2. My 18650s are about 4 hrs and my 18350s 2 hrs.

 

[chimsweep]

My TR-001 used to take 12 hours + to charge an 18650. That is why I bought a Nitecore i2. My 18650s are about 4 hrs and my 18350s 2 hrs.

12 hours???? That maybe the reason...they haven't turned green for me.....My impatience hasn't let me charge them that long. I will give this idea a try and see. thanks

thanks to the other responders, I do realize that my Vamo can tell me resistance and voltage of my battery.....I think we may have found the weak link....me and my impatience.

 

[chimsweep]

My TR-001 used to take 12 hours + to charge an 18650. That is why I bought a Nitecore i2. My 18650s are about 4 hrs and my 18350s 2 hrs.

Hvac, I think you solved the mystery....I got one of the batteries to turn green and now have the other charging. thanks

 

[SteamDaddy]

charge a 3.7v on 3.7v period.
first real charge always takes the longest.
you're not that dumb if you ask for help.
spin the batteries once in a while in the charger with your finger.
to make sure they keep good contact.
it takes time, but.
you can pull a batt off before full charge and use it, doesn't hurt anything.

 

[Spike64]

I'm not the smartest knife in the drawer, hence my confusion. I got the Vamo Kit from ExhaleVapor and love it. My confusion is simply the charger that came with it. When I went to charge the batteries, it seemed like it was forever. Got impatient....yup male....and fired the beast up....works great...everything as expected. So I kept charging the other battery and same thing...still red. Then I noticed the switch on the side 3.7--3.0, I switched it to the 3.0 and finally green. Doesn't seem to make sense to me, but that's not far fetched. Is it supposed to be on 3.0...or the 3.7. Got the Efest 18650's. Some knowledgeable guidance will be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
'

I accidentally had mine on 3.0 when I moved it and accidentally clicked the setting form 3.7 to 3.0....I thought something was wrong with my batteries as they were lasting a couple of minutes and dying....lol

 

[nahoku]

My Trustfire TR-001 took 12 - 14 hrs to charge 18650's and just about the same for 18350's. No charger should take that long. Sometimes the darn thing never turned green! I junked the charger and went to XTAR WP2's. Now all my batteries charge within 3 - 4 hours max!

IMO... Trustfire =

 

[Tommy Aces]

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS have that Trustfire charger set to 3.7 and NOT 3.0. You are using 3.7v batteries that should be charging to a full 4.2v when charging is complete.

Charging these batteries on 3.0v at the very least can will permanently damage the lifespan and charge capacity of your batteries. It will also cause them not to be able to hold a charge as well as they should. The reason SI that charging them @ only 3v, you are never really charging them up beyond a fairly low discharge status (probably only 3.5v, when they should charge to 4.2.). You will also get some pretty crappy battery life out of them because your VAMO will shut down due to low battery at 3.2-3.3v.

The Trustfire takes A LONG time to charge, especially when a battery is new. Do yourself a favor ang get the Nitecore i4 or something similar. For about $20, you can charge 4 batts of pretty much any type and size, and never have to worry about undercharging/overcharging. It charges damn fast too!

 

[Bimini Twist]

I don't trust *fire batts or chargers. Nitecore does have a good rep. as well as Xtar. I'm using an Xtar WP6 to charge batteries for PVs and flashlights. See candlepower forums (flashlight enthusiasts) for some fantastic battery/charger information with charts to back them up.

 

[Tommy Aces]

I don't trust *fire batts or chargers. Nitecore does have a good rep. as well as Xtar. I'm using an Xtar WP6 to charge batteries for PVs and flashlights. See candlepower forums (flashlight enthusiasts) for some fantastic battery/charger information with charts to back them up.

Well, I can't speak to Trustfire batteries as I've not used them, but ........ seems to be a big fan of them. However, I think that the Trustfire chargers are good for what they are; A decent charger for cheap ($7-8) that does what it's supposed to (albeit slowly). The user just needs to be aware that they can't leave the charger unattended and go to sleep or leave the house. If you leave it too long or forget about it, IT WILL SLIGHTLY OVERCHARGE YOUR BATTERIES!

While its still not advisable to leave the house while you have charging batteries, you are at a far lower risk with a Nitecore or XStar. I personally use the Nitecore, mainly because I'd rather not have to use magnetic spacers.. However, I understand both do the job equally well.

 

[hvac999]

I couldn't take the charge times on my Trustfire so my wife treated me to a Nitecore i2.