Vamo Charger Flashing Red & Green

[Gummy Bare]

I just got a vamo starter kit from vaporbreak. I'm charging the betteries and noticed the charger is flashing red and green for some reason.

Manual says its supposed to be solid red when chargeing and green when fully charged. Doesn't say anything about flashing from red/green.

Just wondering if this is normal or not. The new battries have been charging for like 2-3 hours.

 

[xpen]

hi,

first off, unplug the charger!

just a precaution, but with relatively big-sized batteries like the ones for the Vamo, things might go weird, big time.

As you've guessed, such a behaviour isn't normal; when a charger alternatively flashes/blinks red-green something is wrong either with the charger itself, or more probably with the batteries.

I'd strongly recommend not using the kit, and contacting the vendor for replacement of both the charger AND the batteries.

It can be the one or the others, it's difficult to tell without examining them, but a damaged charger can in turn damage the batteries you try to charge in it.

let us know how it ends up.

 

[Rodderik]

some chargers blink red and green from 90-95% or so and solid green at 95%...do some research on the charger...it may be normal behavior

 

[unloaded]

Yea, sounds like its almost fully charged to me. If they don't go solid green shortly then I'd worry.

 

[Edd Harbin]

Mine does thst to , asked the vendor about it and he said is was just showing almost fully charged .

 

[xpen]

what brand/type of chargers are you all using?

I've had a few 18xxx chargers to date (no-brand, Trustfire and now - thank god - XTAR), but none of them ever flashed red/green at any charging stage, other than with malfunctioning batteries.

just curious...

 

[terry w]

Nothing to worry about there,it is just telling you that your batteries are nearly fully charged.I got my vamo from vaporbreak and the charger does exactly the same.

 

[Rodderik]

i know not all chargers are created the same but usually blinking red is a fault, green and red blinking nearly charged, and green fully charged

 

[Underwhelmed]

If in doubt, check the battery's charge state with a multi-meter.

 

[Gummy Bare]

what brand/type of chargers are you all using?

I've had a few 18xxx chargers to date (no-brand, Trustfire and now - thank god - XTAR), but none of them ever flashed red/green at any charging stage, other than with malfunctioning batteries.

just curious...

The charger has no written name of manufacturer; at least not in English. The back has Chinese writing and no company logo. The front of the charger has a logo with an "N" and circles around it. I have attached some pictures of the charger with batteries installed.

 

[Gummy Bare]

Nothing to worry about there,it is just telling you that your batteries are nearly fully charged.I got my vamo from vaporbreak and the charger does exactly the same.

I hope you and most everyone else is correct. Sounds like you’ve experienced this first had with the same charger that I have from the vapor break Vamo starter kit. I posted a few pictures above in this thread; let me know if your charger and batteries look the same if you don’t mine.
I’ve been checking the charger and batteries every hour or so. Neither of them is hot at all. It’s been charging both 18350 batteries for about 5-6 hours or so. The blinking light is now performing differently than it did before. Before it was a fast blinking back and forward between red & green (with a little more red than green). Now it’s still flashing, but it stays green about 3-6 seconds (differs a little each time it blinks) and then flashes red real quick. Still hasn’t gotten to the point of staying solid green for good.

 

[terry w]

I would just keep your eye on things now,if it doesn`t turn steady green soon take them out and see what the voltage reads on your vamo.Yes it is the same charger i have.

 

[kiwivap]

Hi Gummy,
Another thing to think about here - the batteries don't look like they are IMR. I recommend you get IMR batteries for this mod. They have safer chemistry and can handle high drain. Sometimes the batteries included in these kits are cheap and not the best for the pv.
That's a different issue to the charger - but I thought I'd mention it. Investing in good batteries is well worth it.
AW, EFEST, and Panasonic IMRS are all good. Also Mad vapes are selling EH IMRS.

 

[Gummy Bare]

Thanks for the info guys, I'll keep you posted. Some better batteries would be a good idea. I would hope the ones that come with the unit would at least be safe and usable for a least a short period of time.
I guess the batteries they include in the Vamo kit are the same they put in the LavaTube vv350 kit.

 

[Gummy Bare]

so now the batteries have been charging for about 8-9 hours. Both charger and batteries are still cool to the touch... not warm or hot.

Now the green light will stay on for 9-14 seconds and then flash red. So as time goes on, the green light will stay on for longer and longer until it flashes red. But still the light has not become a solid green color which is supposed to indicate a fully charged battery.

 

[Rodderik]

if you have a meter then check em...should be around 4.2v and if they are then they are charged

 

[Gummy Bare]

I would just keep your eye on things now,if it doesn`t turn steady green soon take them out and see what the voltage reads on your vamo.Yes it is the same charger i have.

How do I check the voltage with the vamo?

 

[chris85e]

Press the left small button for 10sec or more

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2

 

[Pete379]

Press the left small button for 10sec or more

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2

Press for 3-4 secs to check voltage. If you press 10 seconds it will change RMS/VAVG setting.

 

[xpen]

so now the batteries have been charging for about 8-9 hours. Both charger and batteries are still cool to the touch... not warm or hot.

Now the green light will stay on for 9-14 seconds and then flash red. So as time goes on, the green light will stay on for longer and longer until it flashes red. But still the light has not become a solid green color which is supposed to indicate a fully charged battery.

I've never seen that type of charger, so I'm sorry I can't help on it.

In any event, 8-9 hours looks like an awful lot of time for charging a couple of 18350s... I'd expect 2-3hours, tops.

keep in mind that most kit-provided chargers don't actually stop charging batteries until you remove them from it, so if they keep on going you may end up with excessive voltage (>4.25V) in the batteries and damage them.

as someone else said, push the little left button on the vamo for about 3 seconds, until it shows X.x V; a normal charge should achieve 4.1/4.2V

and yes, those batteries look like they're not IMR, and possibly not even protected ones; if you can afford it, buy a couple of IMR batteries like AW of Efest or Panasonic.

I'd also recommend not to stack (put together) those two batteries in the vamo, even though they should fit.