Overnight Charging

[Trucapri]

For two days I have read, and read, and read about Li-ion battery charging safety and I have just a couple of questions left, I think:

I'm only home and awake for about 4 hours a day. My 18650 battery takes more than that to charge. How much more, I'm not sure. I tried to time it yesterday, but after 10 hours I just took it off the charger because it normally doesn't take that long I know. I don't get to sleep 10 hours at night. So if it should be monitored during charge and removed once the light goes green, exactly when am I supposed to charge it? Any suggestions?

The other question . . . no where in the threads I've read, not once, has a GFI outlet been mentioned. Would using a GFI receptacle for overnight charging suffice for the fact that it seems to have to be an overnight charge?
Thoughts anyone??? Thanks a bunch!!!!!!!!!!!!!


P.S. My charger, that came with the batteries, doesn't have a ground so I assume it's expected to be a snail. Could this be a safety feature of sorts in and of itself?

 

[otrpu]

I've got all kinds of ecig batts. Don't remember having any batt take more than 4 hours to fully charge. Sounds to me like there may be something wrong with either your batts or the charger. JMHO

Cheers,
otrpu

 

[Mylt1]

for piece of mind buy a good smoke detector. LOL. chargers usually dont fail in a ball of fire but it could happen. the charger could short resulting in an overcharged state and continue to charge the batteries past the 4.2v point leading to battery failure. i would place the charger on something non-flamable as a precaution if you are that worried about it. another option is to buy a better charger. another option is to buy one of the car chargers so you can charge while driving or build a custom charger with a good voltage shut off. all depends on how handy you are with electronics.

 

[Mylt1]

I've got all kinds of ecig batts. Don't remember having any batt take more than 4 hours to fully charge. Sounds to me like there may be something wrong with either your batts or the charger. JMHO

Cheers,
otrpu

are you running any of the Li-ion batteries? depending on the mAh output of the charger it can take a while to charge a 18650 2600mAh battery from drained(2.5v) to fully charged(4.2v).

 

[Trucapri]

Thanks! I'm not really all that concerned. Its plugged in against brick and I have a good fire extinguisher around here somewhere LOL - JK - However, there's been so much said about the dangers and getting battery knowledge if you're going to use these things, I figured I should ask my questions not only for myself, but for others that find themselves with the same situation. I'd like to think that anyone fiddling with true mods would take the time to learn more about what they're working with before handling wiring and stacking batteries, etc. And I know the higher end PVs have pretty solid safe-guards of their own built in. But what about the mass produced mini-mods like I purchased and all the "noobs" encouraged to buy big?

Mine is a 300 mA charger working on 2200 mah batteries, so its going to take a while even though its never run all the way down. I'm sure a better charger could be found especially if these were more run-of-the-mill batteries, however, this is the charger that the vendor supplied with the batteries, so it would be considered manufacturer recommended. That's one point I think most people get and would consider being consumer responsible. Another point is that with readily available rechargeables, the charger generally stays plugged in for "hours" for AAA and AAs, so its what non-techy folks would do without another thought.

I think the question that would do the most good is the one about using GFI. For anyone who simply can't be in one place long enough to monitor the charge of their batteries, and who aren't going to second guess what came with their purchase, who don't pay much attention to the simple warnings in all electronics about not leaving batteries in for long periods of non-use, would a GFI outlet provide additional protection? Would something that simple, that "expected", help reduce the possible incident of other safe-guard failure?

Would using GFI, or a surge protector, or anything most households have already make a reasonably safe product safer? Or is it still solely resting on the charger and the battery operating as designed?

 

[Rebel54]

Hi TruCapri

I went to the elec shop and bought a power cut-off switch (similar to the ones fitted in Australian Fuse Boxes) anyhow if anything shorts or plays up in any way this thing shuts off the power in a heart beat (shorter actually)
It was originally bought out because of kids sticking things like forks, knifes or any other sharp small items they could lay there little paws on into the power outlet on the wall (near the floor).

Anyhow all houses in AUS are made to fit these switches by law now but you can still by these cut-off switches just to be safe

just my 2c worth - rebel54

 

[Mylt1]

a GFI wont prevent voltage runaway. not sure how well it would work if the charger fried itself. it all depends on the amp draw with the failure. i have seen electronics fail and cause problems even when plugged into a GFI. you can always buy one of the timer devices and set it for X hours and that way the charger would only be on for a set amount of time. the problem is, if you set it to short, the batteries wont be fully charged. personally, i havent seen that many chargers fail. if you want more info than you can take in in a lifetime check out candle power forums. they have all the info you could ever want about batteries and chargers.

 

[Trucapri]

Thanks for the information!!!!!!

Happy vaping!