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Kay, rtdvapor (and others) sell this to read battery voltage under load:
Cheaper than most places...
You screw one end onto your mod and put an atty on the other end and hit the firing button to see what it reads.
Great! I have one of them...didn't know what it was for or how to use it,lol.
Kay, rtdvapor (and others) sell this to read battery voltage under load:
Cheaper than most places...
You screw one end onto your mod and put an atty on the other end and hit the firing button to see what it reads.
Boy,it's a strange looking set up,lol.Anyway, with it on the mod with a reomizer it reads 3.6...is this good and what's not so good a reading?
And I'm glad I had a 510 open-end adaptor,lol.
I checked my other vv with a an ERA on it and it read 3.15..so different from the other one and I'd changed the batts at the same time...
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alright so
1.) i dont think the reo did it to my batteries
2.) no, I don't think I let them fully discharge at all. I was always pulling them out before they were dead to charge?
3.) the first few times i charged them I did just as i was supposed to. never let them fully discharge.
4.) these batteries were BRAND NEW. I had JUST gotten them in the mail a day or 2 before they "broke"
SO idk why this had to happen. The AW was almost $10 and the Efest was $5 so thats $15 down the drain.
I'm going to try to return them.
1.) i dont think the reo did it to my batteries
2.) no, I don't think I let them fully discharge at all. I was always pulling them out before they were dead to charge?
3.) the first few times i charged them I did just as i was supposed to. never let them fully discharge.
4.) these batteries were BRAND NEW. I had JUST gotten them in the mail a day or 2 before they "broke"
SO idk why this had to happen. The AW was almost $10 and the Efest was $5 so thats $15 down the drain.
I'm going to try to return them.
I may have mentioned this in this thread.... I purchased two sets of AW IMR 18350 in June of this year, from two different places; very reputable vendors with high rate of supply turn over. One set just never was quite right. Another, from a different vendor, kept giving me low use time. After a while I isolated the weak battery of set and junked it. I've treated those two sets just as I've been treating all others for a year, but they just weren't right from the start. (I'm suspecting that a particular batch of those batteries arrived at the both vendors at same time.) I'm still using some sets that have been in rotation from March this year. (The ones from 2011 have been "retired" due to old age.) They are getting a little weaker but not like the June sets that were like that from the start.
Some times when batteries are discharged too low and left in that state or stored or lost (DH does that and I find them months later.) in that state they will be ruined. Occasionally I have been able to bring batteries back up after they get really low, like 2v or a little less, but it takes a special kind of charger to do it. Some chargers are capable and some aren't. I have brought a couple of AW IMR 18350 (from the two June sets) back up from 0.0v but they had almost no use time to give.
For those of you who stack batteries. I usually change out the battery position, top and bottom, every 1ml or so to keep from heavier drain on one battery of set. That didn't help with the two bad sets from June 2012.
It really is hard to isolate issues with sets. With some of my sets one battery always takes longer to charge. After watching my chargers for a couple of weeks I don't think it is the chargers rather one battery of set draining more than the other despite being so careful to alternate their positions each 1ml during use cycle. I label sets as soon as I get them in and never mix batteries from other sets or use one of set in a one battery, alone, in a non-stacked PV. My thinking is that not all batteries are the same despite being manufactured at same facility and in same run. In other words not all batteries are created equal. I normally only see the uneven discharge in sets that are getting so used up that they are ready for "retirement." But that's not always the case as demonstrated by the two June 2012 sets.
Feisty Alice
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{edit} I would suspect a non-mechanical PV more likely to discharge batteries, VV or VW, while just sitting, than a mechanical (Grand). Any time you introduce electronics, like voltage/wattage regulators, there is a higher probability of discharge while not using. That is unless, for some reason, a firing button has stuck in on position. If that were the case most probably an atty or carto would also be fried.
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They don't have to fully discharge to damage the battery. If you run them low it could damage the battery. Doesn't have to be fully discharged. One battery might be fine if you discharge to 3.2 volts another might give up the ghost at the same voltage. I have had it happen several times.
Plumes, I have had some chargers go bad and ruin batteries before I realized what was happening. It does happen but, as you can see, I did get two sets of batteries where at least one of set was wonky to begin with.
Question. Are you charging any other types, capacities, like 18490, or 18650 batteries on the same charger? Sometimes the larger batteries are less affected by wonky charger but not always the case. I had one charger that ruined 18650, 14500, and 18490 batteries before I realized what was happening. With two vapers in the house and DH returning from out of town, every week, sometimes with discharged batteries, it is not unusual for us to have several batteries charging on two chargers with others waiting in line to be charged. So it's not always easy to keep track of what is going on.
BTW... what is the charger you are currently using?
How old is it?
When did the issue start?
Did you charge other batteries without issue before your two 14500 batteries started exhibiting the problem?
Feisty Alice
Question. Are you charging any other types, capacities, like 18490, or 18650 batteries on the same charger? Sometimes the larger batteries are less affected by wonky charger but not always the case. I had one charger that ruined 18650, 14500, and 18490 batteries before I realized what was happening. With two vapers in the house and DH returning from out of town, every week, sometimes with discharged batteries, it is not unusual for us to have several batteries charging on two chargers with others waiting in line to be charged. So it's not always easy to keep track of what is going on.
BTW... what is the charger you are currently using?
How old is it?
When did the issue start?
Did you charge other batteries without issue before your two 14500 batteries started exhibiting the problem?
Feisty Alice
Yeah, that's another example of "not all batteries are created equal" even if from same lot and/or same use and/or same charging technique.
And one definition of "ruined" can be..... it may charge up to expected voltage but may peter out minutes after being put to use. Been there; done that. So taking an expected charge is not always an indication that battery is good.
I use a lot, a whole lot, of NiMH rechargeables, AA, A, C, D, 12v, and have been for many years since they were readily available to consumer. The other day I found some AA, high capacity, in discharged state, close to the 10 bay charger, that were "hidden" under something, for several months. They were well used but still giving me plenty of use time in my camera, before I "abused" them. I put them on the charger. This charger will sense when NiMH batteries need to be taken down (but not fully discharged), before charging, to eliminate memory (or I can do it manually.) (Red light blinks when discharging or if there is an issue with battery in its bay.) The ten bays are independent. One of the set of four blinked longer, indicating a possible problem, but then eventually stopped blinking and started charging. After they were finished I checked them all with meter and they were charged up to 1.4v or so (or something like that) but when I put them in camera the camera would not turn on using those four batteries, but another brand, Enolope, batteries designed to hold charge in storage longer, that were abused with the others, were fine and are performing well in camera. Just an example of battery "behavior" and/or differences. I'm not sure of the use age of the two sets but that could be an additional factor.
Feisty Alice
Feisty Alice
Alice, come to think of it, I got my first VVW in June- also my first set of 18350's. I'm wondering if I got the same batch of bad ones that you did?? Anyway, I have asked Santa to bring me 2 more pairs (at least) of some more AW 18350 IMR's. I'm hoping to keep better track of them in sets. I know things got out of sync when I used them one at a time in the kicked 18490 mod.
I have one of the four June batteries left waiting for a partner but I think I'll pull the kick out of Don, that hasn't been touched in months, kick a Mini 2, and put that battery to good use. I recall using mixed up sets a couple of times. Right off the bat I noticed short run time. That's how I caught the mix up. I got the first sets several months before the VVWs came out while we were waiting for them. I used them sparingly in Buz Pro. After that the two of us worked them very hard in our VVWs. I think for the both of us we had five sets with DH carrying one set in VVW and two extra sets when he traveled out of town. That left me two sets and we were both Vaping the VVWs exclusively most of the time. So they were getting worked pretty hard. I think I sent two of those original sets to a friend when I ordered some more in March and April. The remain 2011 sets didn't exhibit drastic differences in each of a set rather they petered out pretty evenly. March April sets are behaving properly. Santa left me a couple set at UPS store. If I can remember to do so I'll look up where I got June sets so we can see if we got them same places. I wish I had discovered the "bad" ones earlier so to contact venders. They more than likely would have replaced them.
Hugs, Fiesty Alice
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My situation is really confusing for me. Who thinks I should just return the batteries (if still possible) The AW that stopped working came from that website that the Reo website recommends. The Efest battery came from another website... But the guy that sold me the Efest batteries DID promise me that I could return them (After I spoke with him, after it stopped working)
I still feel like its the batteries... And I can't believe that they stopped working within a WEEK of using them? I don't get it. I can't wait to get this new 2 bay charger from smoktek so I can try to charge them on THAT charger and see if anything changes.
The charger I have is still working great with my provari batteries and all of my other mod batteries. SHRUG. Idk guys.
I still feel like its the batteries... And I can't believe that they stopped working within a WEEK of using them? I don't get it. I can't wait to get this new 2 bay charger from smoktek so I can try to charge them on THAT charger and see if anything changes.
The charger I have is still working great with my provari batteries and all of my other mod batteries. SHRUG. Idk guys.
Plumes, as stated earlier by someone you don't have to completely discharge an IMR battery to ruin it. I've read not to go below 2.5 volts and other say 3.5 but the case still remains that the IMR batteries do not have to be dead to ruin them. Perhaps your provari batteries are still good because its a regulated mod. On a regulated mod you can vape until the batteries "appear" to be dead because the electronics won't allow ithe batteries to fire the mod anymore. Rest assured though that there is still plenty of charge left in the batteries. Now the difference between a regulated mod such as a Variable Volt Reo or a Provari and a mechanical mod such as the Reo Grand, Mini or Mini 2.o is that the mechanical mod has no such "cut off." A mechanical mod will let you vape away until it just dies. THe voltage will be very low...low enough that the battery is damaged. Even if you pull the battery out before its completely drained it still can be damaged. Most people can tell when the battery needs to be changed in a mechanical mod by the vape they are getting. It feels weak or cool so they know its time to change it out. !4500 batteries can get this way fairly fast as they are only 600 mah batteries. Yes you'll get vapor but may have passed that line that does damage. That won't happen with a regulated mod unless the electronics go bad. Batteries not working in a mechanical mod because of discharge and batteries not working in regulated mods are two very different things. THe regulated mod when not firing still has batteries with plenty of power whereas the mechanical mod it usually means that the batteries have little charge remaining. I hope this helps.
So I suspect that your charger is OK if the batteries for your Provari are working well. I suspect that perhaps you discharged the 14500s too much over time and they are not performing well because of that. JUst a guess and something to chew on.
So I suspect that your charger is OK if the batteries for your Provari are working well. I suspect that perhaps you discharged the 14500s too much over time and they are not performing well because of that. JUst a guess and something to chew on.
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I guess I am going to go with that explaination for now. I am going to try to charge the 14500 batteries that died on me, in the NEW charger that should be here tomorrow, and see what happens. The only thing about your explaination is I DID change out the batteries when they started to feel weak. I don't think I ever used them for too long once they started to die down. I know for a fact that I never allowed them to completely die on me in the mod... and whats really weird about this is I JUST got the mod 3-4 days before the batteries died. So that was FAST for the batteries to die from undercharging, wasn't it? IDK. This is really weird. Hope its not the mod.
Hope I can still send it back and have reosmods check it out too. I haven't really used it since the batteries died. I've been using my provari, waiting for new atomizers (which just got here, from reosmods, in 2 days!! awesome shipping guys!) and the new charger.
idunno!
Hope I can still send it back and have reosmods check it out too. I haven't really used it since the batteries died. I've been using my provari, waiting for new atomizers (which just got here, from reosmods, in 2 days!! awesome shipping guys!) and the new charger.
idunno!
Dave, mine started acting up like that and then got to the point where I was getting readings on the batteries below 2.0 and the PILA was going quite wonky trying to charge them. I chucked them all and got new ones and haven't had any problems since. I'm a heavy vaper and had been using 4 sets of batteries in rotation since I got my VV Woodville. I just don't think they last more than 6 months or so if you're using them heavily.
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still waiting for my new charger from smoktech! I thought they'd be here by now for sure!
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