Rc123a tenergy batts!!

[Nuck]

I just put one on a boost chip circuit I use for testing and it was only able to sustain 1.2amps. This circuit didn't have any caps on it so the actual current drawn was all over the place. The 1.2amps does set an absolute minimum it can discharge continuously though.

 

[Casey C]

Fully charged the LiFePO4 ones read 3.6v (these are Tenergy)

Let me charge a set up to full and confirm since its been a while since Ive used them.

Tenergy Li-Ion RCR123A 3.0V 900mAh (Item Number: 30201)

• Rechargeable CR123A Li-Ion batteries with 3.0V working voltage and 900mAh capacity.
• Tenergy RCR123A can be recharged up to 1000 times. 1 RCR123A Li-ion = 1000 CR123A Primary Cells
• Replaces most of CR123A primary Lithium battery for a digital cameras and flashlight
• Internal voltage regulators.
• Modified Voltage to achieve 3.2v at full voltage; once loaded, cell voltage drops to 3.0v.

Tenergy RCR123A 3.0V 900mAh Rechargeable Li-Ion Battery

Features:

• Rechargeable CR123A Li-Ion batteries with 3.0V working voltage and 900mAh capacity.
• Tenergy RCR123A can be recharged up to 1000 times.
• 1 RCR123A Li-ion = 1000 CR123A Primary Cells
• Replace the most of CR123A primary Lithium battery for a digital cameras and most flashlights.
• Internal voltage regulators. Initial cell voltage of 3.6V switches to 3-3.2V within 12ms.
• Full PCB protection against: Over-Discharge, Over-Charge, Short Circuit & Over-Current along with voltage regulation.

might need to be under load~?

 

[Casey C]

I just put one on a boost chip circuit I use for testing and it was only able to sustain 1.2amps. This circuit didn't have any caps on it so the actual current drawn was all over the place. The 1.2amps does set an absolute minimum it can discharge continuously though.

I just can't see them not knowing their own product, but I suppose after seeing your LiFePO4 'variations' its possible

 

[Nuck]

I just can't see them not knowing their own product, but I suppose after seeing your LiFePO4 'variations' its possible

The prodigy runs on it so unless we have thousands of people being tricked, I'd say you got a uniformed support person.

 

[vapn]

This is happening to me now.... I have had no trouble with the 750 mAh rcr 123s for a few months.. (use them in my Prodigy AND silverbullet) Suddenly I notice a drop in vapor after about 20 minutes >Tube is real hot...< I check both batteries and one is at 2.4 and the other one is at 3.5v.... Atomizer resistance is at 2.9 ohms WTF... they were both fully charged when I put them in... I am trying my other set now to see what happens.. I will report back if I have more troubles.... SO happy that I ordered 8 more as backup a week ago and they are still in the plastic wrap to keep em separated.

This is the first occurrence of this problem for me as of yet... weird.. I am charging those two batteries to see if they do it again...

I was hoping this would not happen but what do you know? I wonder if it has something to do with resistance...???? They are made for flashlights and cameras not PVs...

 

[Nuck]

I just heard back from Battery Junction. They spoke to Tenergy who state that both types are LiFePO4 and the only reason they are marked Li-ion is because LiFePO4 is a type of lithium ion battery.

I would have assumed they would have been sure to mark them properly since over charging a battery can have a very undesirable effect.

Either way, they are definitely both LiFePO4.

 

[quovadis]

It's funny how quovadis is always a precursor to problems..
6 weeks ago i reported this on the prodigy forum and they hammered me...

"User error"

 

[vapn]

I started watching my voltages when you mentioned it and I am reporting back to this thread...
The next set of LifePo4 were discharging at different rates also.. I took readings after I just took them out and one was at 2.95 and the other is at 3.29... Now that is weird... This is just starting to happen for some weird reason... They were always the same until today..

What is different... NOTHING>>> same Prodigy same atties... it has to be the batteries going bad... I will continue to watch these four batteries until I just can't use them anymore.. Good thing I am liking the 18650 these days.. I just use the rcr123s for a HV option every once in a while now... Hey that is something I have been doing different lately... They sit for a while after charging before use.. That is the only difference in how I use them. Maybe they just don't like to sit.

This is weird though. Also a good thing I have backups.. Glad I got extras now..

I will continue to report my readings on this set if it will help your case.

Thanks for reporting this because it helps to know that we are all having the same problems..

 

[quovadis]

I dunno
but as soon as one fails I chuck it out.

Went to the movies last night...after one minute of vaping it happened.
I refuse to take my multimeter to the movies with me...he has not yet earned that luxury !!

 

[Casey C]

I just put one on a boost chip circuit I use for testing and it was only able to sustain 1.2amps. This circuit didn't have any caps on it so the actual current drawn was all over the place. The 1.2amps does set an absolute minimum it can discharge continuously though.

What did the voltage drop to?


If you look at the soshine diode photo I linked to, they use two diodes, which switch over as the voltage drops to keep the battery operating at near 3.0V, I can only imagine the same thing being used in the LiFePO4 batteries from Tenergy, as the battery loses its charge you can't keep using the same diode or you will reduce the voltage below 3.0V

The two diodes shown in the picture forward different amounts of current. The Schottky rectifier forwards 1A and the passivated rectifier forwards 1.5A, the battery is listed at 1A max discharge. Perhaps this is the case with the Tenergy, as the voltage drops, it switches to a different diode, which forwards less Amperage. Could explain why the battery stops working after 20 minutes or less, the voltage would drop very fast drawing high current loads, and continuous high discharge rates and deep discharges will reduce the battery capacity greatly over time.

That's my guess, unless someone wants to rip one apart and show us the voltage regulators (I don't own any)

some info from other forums:
Tenergy LiFePo4 750 mAh 6V battery pack testing - RC Groups
All Battery.com LiFePo4 RCR123A - CandlePowerForums
LiFePO4 123 Cell Usage Experience? - CandlePowerForums

 

[cpcp68]

I started watching my voltages when you mentioned it and I am reporting back to this thread...
The next set of LifePo4 were discharging at different rates also.. I took readings after I just took them out and one was at 2.95 and the other is at 3.29... Now that is weird... This is just starting to happen for some weird reason... They were always the same until today..

What is different... NOTHING>>> same Prodigy same atties... it has to be the batteries going bad... I will continue to watch these four batteries until I just can't use them anymore.. Good thing I am liking the 18650 these days.. I just use the rcr123s for a HV option every once in a while now... Hey that is something I have been doing different lately... They sit for a while after charging before use.. That is the only difference in how I use them. Maybe they just don't like to sit.

This is weird though. Also a good thing I have backups.. Glad I got extras now..

I will continue to report my readings on this set if it will help your case.

Thanks for reporting this because it helps to know that we are all having the same problems..

I may have a decent guess. What you see may have something to do with how balanced the batteries are during charge (google battery balancing). If one battery is charged to a different voltage than the other, it will be forced to draw more current at a different voltage and will be discharge faster. In other words, the battery with the smallest charge voltage will have to "work harder" compared to the other one.
The voltage reading after charge may seem to be the same, but the actual amount of charge stored inside the battery can be different (the charging curve is quite flat!), so seeing the same voltage after charge is NOT a 100% accurate method to verify balance. It would be better to load the battery with ~3ohm 5W resistor (or an atty!) and check then what the voltage is.

My 2 cents...

 

[Nuck]

What did the voltage drop to?


If you look at the soshine diode photo I linked to, they use two diodes, which switch over as the voltage drops to keep the battery operating at near 3.0V, I can only imagine the same thing being used in the LiFePO4 batteries from Tenergy, as the battery loses its charge you can't keep using the same diode or you will reduce the voltage below 3.0V

The two diodes shown in the picture forward different amounts of current. The Schottky rectifier forwards 1A and the passivated rectifier forwards 1.5A, the battery is listed at 1A max discharge. Perhaps this is the case with the Tenergy, as the voltage drops, it switches to a different diode, which forwards less Amperage. Could explain why the battery stops working after 20 minutes or less, the voltage would drop very fast drawing high current loads, and continuous high discharge rates and deep discharges will reduce the battery capacity greatly over time.

That's my guess, unless someone wants to rip one apart and show us the voltage regulators (I don't own any)

some info from other forums:
Tenergy LiFePo4 750 mAh 6V battery pack testing - RC Groups
All Battery.com LiFePo4 RCR123A - CandlePowerForums
LiFePO4 123 Cell Usage Experience? - CandlePowerForums

The voltage being put out by the boost converter was 4.0v but it uses pulsed DC so the current draw goes much higher than that 1.1-1.2 amps in pulses to achieve it. The fact that there were no caps means it was hitting the battery a lot harder than it should have had to.

The best test would be to stick a 510 on a plain circuit and just measure the current draw.

One thing that people seem to be overlooking with stories about the bats, is that they are cheap Chinese bats being used at far heavier loads than is good for them. All ecigs do unless you are packing an 18650.

I have a ton of different types of bats and they all suffer the same issues. The Tenergy LiFePO4 have been the most reliable of the bunch.

 

[Casey C]

The voltage being put out by the boost converter was 4.0v but it uses pulsed DC so the current draw goes much higher than that 1.1-1.2 amps in pulses to achieve it. The fact that there were no caps means it was hitting the battery a lot harder than it should have had to.

The best test would be to stick a 510 on a plain circuit and just measure the current draw.

One thing that people seem to be overlooking with stories about the bats, is that they are cheap Chinese bats being used at far heavier loads than is good for them. All ecigs do unless you are packing an 18650.

I have a ton of different types of bats and they all suffer the same issues. The Tenergy LiFePO4 have been the most reliable of the bunch.

but the current drawn in pulse will be different than continuous, and yes, 5 seconds is continuous - so anyone wanna throw two of these in series and place a multimeter between them and their atomizer - or should I buy some

 

[DaMulta]

I have been using two sets of 17335 3v batteries with no troubles at all on one mod, and on my chuck. They vape all day before they wear down to I can't vape on them no more.

 

[Casey C]

I have been using two sets of 17335 3v batteries with no troubles at all on one mod, and on my chuck. They vape all day before they wear down to I can't vape on them no more.

you'll get more life out of them if you change them before you can't vape on them anymore


anyway I'm sold on the LiMN batteries

LiMN

LiFePO4

 

[vapn]

One thing that people seem to be overlooking with stories about the bats, is that they are cheap Chinese bats being used at far heavier loads than is good for them. All ecigs do unless you are packing an 18650.

I have a ton of different types of bats and they all suffer the same issues. The Tenergy LiFePO4 have been the most reliable of the bunch.

I agree 100%. These batteries were not designed to be used in anything other than a flashlight or camera. We are putting a very heavy demand on them to fire up the coil in the atty.

That's good information about the LiFePO4s Thanks. I am glad I stocked up on those now. But I still really like the 18650 the most. Very consistent and last me all day. Just right.

 

[quovadis]

I have been using two sets of 17335 3v batteries with no troubles at all on one mod, and on my chuck. They vape all day before they wear down to I can't vape on them no more.

MAYBE
Da multa has a point...

maybe these
Rechargeable Battery cr123a Li-ion 17335 1000mah 3.0v

are better ?

Who knows....

By the way i vaped for 3 hours on the 15270 and the Super T, Tonight.
I have never EVER vaped for that long with any other PV.
My maximum with the tenergy batteries has been 20 minutes or so.

Bloody hell....how many 3 volt batteries exist??????? Every day a new guy appears with a different number and color battery !!!!

Purple blue, green ....what next ??? Red anyone ?8-o

 

[Nuck]

MAYBE
Da multa has a point...

maybe these
Rechargeable Battery cr123a Li-ion 17335 1000mah 3.0v

are better ?

Who knows....

By the way i vaped for 3 hours on the 15270 and the Super T, Tonight.
I have never EVER vaped for that long with any other PV.
My maximum with the tenergy batteries has been 20 minutes or so.

Bloody hell....how many 3 volt batteries exist??????? Every day a new guy appears with a different number and color battery !!!!

Purple blue, green ....what next ??? Red anyone ?8-o

On DX I believe the colour is related to the max discharge rate. Someone just mentioned that to me the other day and when I checked my bats it seemed to be correct.

The number is the size of the battery. The first 2 digits is the dia, the second 2 digts is the length and the 0 means cylindrical. It's not a bad way of doing it.

 

[Casey C]

Bloody hell....how many 3 volt batteries exist??????? Every day a new guy appears with a different number and color battery !!!!

Purple blue, green ....what next ??? Red anyone ?8-o

psst, the LiMN ones are red

 

[Nuck]

I checked out that LiMN batteries and they looked pretty good. High safety, fast recharge and excellent discharge. The only downside is they seem to suffer from the same capacity issues that LiFePO4 do in comparison to a standard Li-ion battery.