Some are hot, some are not!

[Harper]

I've just gotten back into vaping and bought the following 510-T items:
2 pink batteries from Company A (starter kit)
2 black batteries from Company B
2 copper batteries from Company C

The 2 pink batteries charged just fine.
Black battery #1 charged fine too.
Copper battery #1 overheated to the point that the plastic on the LED melted.
Copper battery #2 became untouchably hot after just 20 minutes of charging.
Black battery #2 charged without any problems.

Any idea what went wrong with these 2 copper batteries? All 6 batteries were charged in the same way. Could I really have gotten 2 defective batteries from the same company in the same order or is there a compatibility issue?

All batteries were sold as genuine Joyetech.
The charger is a Joyetech USB with AC adapter plugged into surge suppressor power strip plugged into wall socket.

Thanks!

 

[Charlz]

only thing you can do is contact company c; Assuming c's batteries were the same voltage as the rest and could be used on the same charger

 

[Harper]

Thanks, Charlz. Never thought of voltage. According to Company B's and Company C's websites, the black and copper batteries are both 3.3V. No info. available on Company A (pink batteries).

I will contact Company C as you suggested. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong first.

 

[markfm]

1) Any chance you have a polarity issue, Company C polarity different from A and B? (outside of connector positive instead of the inner contact)?

2) mAh rating differences? Are the A and B batteries higher capacity (mAh) than company C? Maybe the charger has too high a mA current output for company C batteries?

3) Just plain two bad batteries from company C?

 

[stephpd]

Batteries charge at different rates. If they're getting hot you're probably charging to fast (to high a mAh) and/or to high a voltage.

 

[Harper]

1) Any chance you have a polarity issue, Company C polarity different from A and B? (outside of connector positive instead of the inner contact)?

Polarity? I had to go searching the forum for what this is and how to check it. If I plug in the toaster, put bread in, and toast comes out instead of charcoal or flames I consider myself lucky.

2) mAh rating differences? Are the A and B batteries higher capacity (mAh) than company C? Maybe the charger has too high a mA current output for company C batteries?

As for mAh, once again black and copper are the same (180) and no info. is available for pink.

3) Just plain two bad batteries from company C?

I was really starting to wonder if it was just bad luck and maybe I did get 2 defective batteries.

Thank you for your suggestions, and I apologise for the delay in replying - I've been away over the holidays.

 

[Harper]

Batteries charge at different rates. If they're getting hot you're probably charging to fast (to high a mAh) and/or to high a voltage.

Thank you! I think you're onto something. I have no idea how this could have happened, but maybe the batteries were fine and Company C simply shipped me the wrong ones by mistake. I was so careful to order 180 mAh, but I have no idea what I actually got. The boxes weren't marked in any way except for "auto" and colour.

I did some research and found out that a 510-T charger will fry a regular 510 battery. I'm using the charger that came with the 510-T starter kit, so maybe the copper batteries are the regular ones.

OK, just took a final look at the batteries before contacting Company C, and I noticed that the centre holes in the copper batteries are slightly larger than the ones in the pink and black batteries. I have no idea what this means, though, or if it's even related to my problem.

Once again, apologies for not being able to respond sooner.

 

[denali_41]

the ego [fat] battery charger will fry the smaller [cig size] battery as posted on some websites

 

[Harper]

Thanks, Denali. I wouldn't have tried that combo, but I was really surprised to learn that the 510-T charger is different to the regular 510 one.

 

[Harper]

I contacted Company C about the batteries. They asked about the charger, and it turns out that the charger included with my 510-T starter kit has an output of 5.0 V and the copper batteries require a charger with an output of 4.2 V. They generously offered to replace the batteries for me, but I declined. I didn't think it was right to ask them to replace a perfectly good item that I inadvertently damaged through my lack of knowledge.

My husband was similarly forgiving a few days ago when I plunged the entire house into darkness by running 2 space heaters in the bathroom to try to warm it up enough to take a bath.

So before I exhaust my lifetime supply of electrical "get out of jail free" cards, I'm going to head on over to the 510 section of the forum and try to learn why a 510 charger doesn't charge all 510 batteries. But first I think I'll take a bath...

 

[Charlz]

Your back to the same voltage issue. It's about the peak voltage off the charger. I think maybe the a & b 510s that can use the original charger come off at 4.2 but company c's are more in the 3.7v range off the charger. The exact voltage may not be accurate but the concept is. Two of the batteries come off the charger at higher volts than the third. Try this. Put a cart on a or b and vape it. Then switch the same cart to c. Do you notice a difference in vapor production quantity/warmth?

It takes people a long time to learn about voltage on their batteries. There's more to the enjoyment of your vaping than battery mah.

(hope you enjoyed your bath)

 

[Harper]

Thanks, Charlz! I tried your experiment. I got a normal amount of vapour with the pink batteries (a) and black batteries (b). Then I tried the non-melted copper battery (c) and got only one tiny puff.

I should mention that the numbers I was quoting for the charger (output 5.0V, 500mA) are actually for the AC adapter. My charger looks like this and is not marked in any way except for the vendor's name:

​

The AC adapter is called a "universal AC-USB" adapter and looks like this:

​

All of this came with my pink starter kit (a).


But rep at Company C (where I bought the copper batteries) said that I would need this (it's 4e2V):

​

I've pretty much given up on the copper batteries. I just wish I knew how to tell which 510 batteries can use the 5.0V charger and which ones require the 4.2V so I can order the right ones next time.

 

[Charlz]

Well the ultimate solution is to ditch company c. The ac adapter is pretty generic. I use any one of them I've got lying around. It's the usb charger that ultimately determines what voltage and at what mah it will charge your batteries to.