P3 and 18350 Batteries

[DougFNJ]

I know not to expect any great battery life out of the 18350 battery, it's not as bad as I thought it would be, but not great either.

When inserting these batteries in my P3, they are typically showing percentage in the 80's off a fresh charge, all 3 of them, they are AW's.

Is this because of the battery capacity?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PamW]

Mine are also AW 18350 in my P3 and they show ?? until I take my first draw, then they show 96% or so depending on whether I take a short or long draw. What you are getting sounds like a really big drop....

 

[DougFNJ]

Mine are also AW 18350 in my P3 and they show ?? until I take my first draw, then they show 96% or so depending on whether I take a short or long draw. What you are getting sounds like a really big drop....

Mine does the ?? As well until the first draw. I'm wondering if I bought really old batteries and capacity diminished.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ENAUD]

It could also be your charger. I have two four bay Intellichargers that seem to cut out early on my 18350's, My Xtar two bay chargers do a better job of topping them off. I use mostly 18350's in my ProVari tubes...Have you checked the IQ? Clean the threads and center pin inside of your P3 with some isopropyl alcohol and a Q-tip. Also wipe the ends of the battery with a Q-tip or paper towel lightly moistened with Isopropyl alcohol prior to testing. Look for good or better on the IQ. 80-86 seems about normal in my experience with my P3 with 18350's. If you see OK or poor, those batteries are getting on in their useful lifespan.

 

[ENAUD]

Also, you may just need to perform some simple maintenance/cleaning of the device, worth a look if you haven't seen it yet:P3 Cleaning Guide

 

[jwbnyc]

I know not to expect any great battery life out of the 18350 battery, it's not as bad as I thought it would be, but not great either.

When inserting these batteries in my P3, they are typically showing percentage in the 80's off a fresh charge, all 3 of them, they are AW's.

Is this because of the battery capacity?

l
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How old are your batteries?

Also, are you looking at battery percentage or IQ?

It sounds like you may have them mixed up.

 

[DougFNJ]

It could also be your charger. I have two four bay Intellichargers that seem to cut out early on my 18350's, My Xtar two bay chargers do a better job of topping them off. I use mostly 18350's in my ProVari tubes...Have you checked the IQ? Clean the threads and center pin inside of your P3 with some isopropyl alcohol and a Q-tip. Also wipe the ends of the battery with a Q-tip or paper towel lightly moistened with Isopropyl alcohol prior to testing. Look for good or better on the IQ. 80-86 seems about normal in my experience with my P3 with 18350's. If you see OK or poor, those batteries are getting on in their useful lifespan.

I had a Pila that stopped working and just got an XTAR 2 bay as well. The P3 is brand new. It's on version 38, how do I check the IQ?

I'm going by Battery Percentage on the main display.

I bought the batteries from a dealer, I'm wondering if they were sitting around for awhile.

Just out of curiosity, what settings do you use on your XTAR? I charge on 3.6 V on .25 Amps.

Thank you all for the responses and help.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ENAUD]

I had a Pila that stopped working and just got an XTAR 2 bay as well. The P3 is brand new. It's on version 38, how do I check the IQ?

I'm going by Battery Percentage on the main display.

I bought the batteries from a dealer, I'm wondering if they were sitting around for awhile.

Just out of curiosity, what settings do you use on your XTAR? I charge on 3.6 V on .25 Amps.

Thank you all for the responses and help.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I charge at .5 Amp, to see the IQ, four quick button presses, wait a second till A^ shows, then one press...watch the screen... it will scroll through volts/watts-battery%-ohms-IQ.

I know a lot of people don't really like the IQ function, but for me, it was the main reason I wanted a P3. I use the device to assess the state of some of my questionable cells. Everything must be in as pristine/clean/lube state as possible, and have some good cells for comparisons sake. If one cell repeatedly shows OK or poor for me, and a known good cell shows good or excellent, then I know to mark the questionable cells with a permanent marker as such. I charge and rest cells in batches, then go through them while watching TV with my wife. Good luck to you sorting out what's going on in your situation. Maybe get some fresh cells from RTD?*NEW* AW IMR 18350 3.7v 800mAh

 

[jwbnyc]

I had a Pila that stopped working and just got an XTAR 2 bay as well. The P3 is brand new. It's on version 38, how do I check the IQ?

I'm going by Battery Percentage on the main display.

I bought the batteries from a dealer, I'm wondering if they were sitting around for awhile.

Just out of curiosity, what settings do you use on your XTAR? I charge on 3.6 V on .25 Amps.

Thank you all for the responses and help.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks like you are doing everything right.

You have to go into the menu system to check the IQ.

Click into the menu system, Watts or Voltage will come up, click on either, then do nothing except read the info that scrolls by.

 

[DougFNJ]

Got it, at first it showed at 59 IQ poor. Messed with the coil a little and got some improvement to 65 ok. Is the IQ rating the battery itself or how the device is connecting with it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jwbnyc]

Got it, at first it showed at 59 IQ poor. Messed with the coil a little and got some improvement to 65 ok. Is the IQ rating the battery itself or how the device is connecting with it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mostly the battery, but you can improve it by stretching the spring and cleaning the mod.

That is a pretty low IQ. My experience with AW 18350 batteries puts them more around 85ish IQ.

 

[Vaper Bob]

Although I use 18490 batteries in my two P3s, quite often when I get a poor IQ rating, I remove the battery, and put it in again and screw in the end cap firmly making sure the spring is set straight and I often get a good or excellent IQ rating. I believe the IQ is affected by your battery connection as well as other (?) issues.

 

[jwbnyc]

Making real sure your bottom cap is screwed all the way in can make a big difference, especially with 18350s because the spring tension is so high with them.

 

[DougFNJ]

The only thing I could think is batteries. I cleaned the battery the inside and outside posts with alcohol, stretched the spring and tightened everything firmly and the best reading I get on IQ is 66 ok. I am going to try ordering a new 18350 and see if it's the battery.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[coldgin96]

I like your quest for knowledge and enhancing your P3 experience.

I was having issues with the battery gauge and sent it in to the spa for review. I was using Noalox on the threads because I bought 4oz of the stuff when it was recommended for the V2's. ANYWAY... before sending it in, I was sure I cleaned all of it off using Q-tips, 99% IPA and a microfiber cloth. Somehow, with their super-duper space station magnifying glass, they were able to say they thought it may have been the thread compound I was using. They cleaned the threads and applied NO-OX. Problem solved. I have since purchased a lifetime supply of NO-OX.

Other notes: I uses 18650 batteries, btw. I have four, three year old AW's I use around the house and they always read in the 80's % right off the bat and POOR to BAD on the IQ. I disposed of one when it kept reading "EMPTY" despite the green light on the Pila and 4.2 reading on the multi-meter. I use two brand new AW's and two brand new Samsung's for going mobile and they usually read 99% upon first insertion and the IQ always reads GOOD to GREAT

When doing the weekly PM, I put a fresh dab, or sliver of NO-OX on the threads. Once a month I completely clean the threads and use fresh NO-OX. I plan on changing the spring every 6 months.

"Truth hurts" and that's why there are those who don't like the IQ.

I hope this helps, Brother, as I can't type...

P.S. I always take at least two draws before checking battery gauge and IQ

 

[DougFNJ]

Thank you VERY much for that extremely helpful post Coldgin. I am really thinking those 18350's I got may had been sitting around unsold for a couple years, the newer 18490 batteries are reading IQ's in the 80's.

I am definitely going to purchase some NoOx to see if this helps to. Ahh it's the never ending search for the perfect Vape experience. Unfortunately the 18350 mode is too tall for me, I have a ton of those batteries hanging around. Alas, they go in my Radius [emoji6]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[schismz]

FWIW I used P3's almost exclusively in 18350 mode w/ Kayfun 4s or Kabuki tanks, dialed in at a pretty low 8-10 watts. I'm using the purple Efests (yes I know various batches are evil and crappy, but I got 100 of 'em a while back and have had 0 problems). Fresh off charger, they read ?? followed by 98% or 99% after 1 button press.

Ever since the firmware update a few months ago, they've worked fine. I never look at my IQ, but when making an exception to "never" it's always somewhere in the 80-90 range. I use No Ox on all my P3s for what it's worth. I do not religiously clean 'em (it's been months), just about the only thing I do is wipe down the top-cap with a Q-tip when changing tanks.

1 18350 batt = roughly 1 Kabuki tank of liquid (which is 3mL).

Cheers

 

[ENAUD]

FWIW I used P3's almost exclusively in 18350 mode w/ Kayfun 4s or Kabuki tanks, dialed in at a pretty low 8-10 watts. I'm using the purple Efests (yes I know various batches are evil and crappy, but I got 100 of 'em a while back and have had 0 problems). Fresh off charger, they read ?? followed by 98% or 99% after 1 button press.

Ever since the firmware update a few months ago, they've worked fine. I never look at my IQ, but when making an exception to "never" it's always somewhere in the 80-90 range. I use No Ox on all my P3s for what it's worth. I do not religiously clean 'em (it's been months), just about the only thing I do is wipe down the top-cap with a Q-tip when changing tanks.

1 18350 batt = roughly 1 Kabuki tank of liquid (which is 3mL).

Cheers

Me too with 18350 mode, I've got a ton of them, and don't mind swapping batteries a couple times a day. No-Ox-Id has been my go to with ProVari's for about a year and a half now, I only clean and lube them when I happen to notice that the threads are getting black LOL, Every couple months maybe. I'd rather carry two 18350's in a 18650 single case, than vape on a heavy walking cane all day long. My messed up right shoulder thanks me for that At 7-8.5 watts, even the OK ( IQ ) batteries work alright for around the house, and I mark them when they degrade to the OK status so as to not take those along when going out.