When to say "RIP" to used batts and chargers?

[knightofcups]

I've only used V4L, and began in November. I love the products and I'm thinking it is normal to have some trial and error, some products that don't work as well while some work great. Has anyone had these similar problems and is it time to say goodbye to these?

- an XL battery was working great for a month then out of no where after charging it, it no longer worked with cartos, and though the LED will light up with draw, the blue light no longer fades in an out, it just flashes hard, on and off. I drained the battery and recharged and it acts the same way. I'm ready to toss it. (I have two others that work great)

- I have two original wall chargers that after two months started acting funny. When charging any of my V4L batteries (I have an assortment of auto, manual, various lengths) the light never turns to green anymore, just stays red. They do seem to partially charge batts but not totally (batteries don't last long). I think maybe the insides got gunky, so I cleaned them with rubbing alcohol and a q-tip, but they are still not right. I recently bought a brand new wall charger (slightly different model) that works great.

I'm thinking these things happened around the time I began refilling my own cartos and while I thought I was cleaning the juice off well (blowing it out and wiping), juice may have settled later and gotten into the battery ends. Now I'm being extra careful to not let this happen. Do you think that was it, or is it normal to have to replace things fairly often?

 

[Sallyem]

Knight...go to the "stickie" towards the top of the first page and look for "Fix for Non-Working Carts". There is a video in the first couple pages showing
you how to lift the post of your battery. It sure sounds that that is the problem with your battery. By the way, there is a 45 day warrantly on batteries
and hardware from V4L. In the future, fill in a support ticket and the company is great about solving your problems and making you smile.

I have been using the same chargers since I started in February 2010. I have had no problems.

Any questions you may have with hardware problems....put in a support ticket or call V4L and they will be glad to help you.

 

[Sallyem]

Before this question disappears, is there anyone else who can help knightofcups with his questions?

 

[jamvector]

Hey knight; I've been refilling for over a year, and I have never lost a charger, but several xl manuals in that time. The battery problem I have seen the exact same symptoms, and was not able to restore functionality - I think it is toast. Can't help you with the chargers, never seen that behavior before - I would have tried the exact same things you did. I both cases, try filling out a service ticket - even if the items are out of warranty - V4L CS can be very accommodating in cases like this. Sorry to hear of the problems, good luck.

 

[Morandir835]

Knightofcups sir, I had one manual start acting up like that, it had gunk build up from an overfill. I cleaned it by letting it soak in alcohol for an hour (just the connector end, not the whole batt). I used a tissue with a paper clip to wipe it out afterwards and let it sit overnight. Was back to normal. As for the chargers, are you having issues with over filling? When you fill are you taking the carto off?

 

[knightofcups]

Knightofcups sir, I had one manual start acting up like that, it had gunk build up from an overfill. I cleaned it by letting it soak in alcohol for an hour (just the connector end, not the whole batt). I used a tissue with a paper clip to wipe it out afterwards and let it sit overnight. Was back to normal. As for the chargers, are you having issues with over filling? When you fill are you taking the carto off?

Thanks Morandir, I am taking the carto off and filling them condom method from mouth end, blowing out juice and blotting any overflow around the metal end, so I thought i was good. However I did start to notice some black gunk building on other batts, and cleaned them with alcohol. Now I'm being even more careful, letting the carts drain longer before using again, and blotting any overflow even more carefully. The only thing I can think of with the two wall chargers is that even after cleaning them they were already too burnt up with gunk to the point of no return, or I was screwing my batts in too tight, or maybe I got bad ones -- they are the green and white logo style, my newer charger has an all-white logo and works great.

 

[knightofcups]

Hey knight; I've been refilling for over a year, and I have never lost a charger, but several xl manuals in that time. The battery problem I have seen the exact same symptoms, and was not able to restore functionality - I think it is toast. Can't help you with the chargers, never seen that behavior before - I would have tried the exact same things you did. I both cases, try filling out a service ticket - even if the items are out of warranty - V4L CS can be very accommodating in cases like this. Sorry to hear of the problems, good luck.

I'm tossing the old XL! I didn't like the color of it anyway, LOL! Thanks for the advice, I'll see if V4L CS can help with chargers.

 

[Maxwell_Edison]

Even though a month might sound like a short life span, it's not unheard of. It depends on how often you use it and more importantly how often you charge it (I read somewhere they are designed for 200-300 charges). This happened to me with one of my first batteries, now that I have like 10 batts in rotation they don't get charged as often. But before you toss it see if they are making a connection with the carto. You can see video's and read about lifting the post in the battery and/or the cart to make sure the are connecting (if the post pushed down it won't charge right either sometimes). Ideal way is to test it with a voltage meter (see the thread 'fix for broken cartos' - it talks about batts too). I buried my first black reg size batt in my tool box after a month old too, cried a little and bought more.