When to swap batteries?

[Wickeddeuce]

So I realize this is personal preference, but with the AW IMR 18490s when do you think the best time to swap the battery is? Does it make a difference? When the volts get to X is when it is time to charge and go no lower. (what is x?) First mech... loving it... I just want to get everyones opinions on when all is a good time to change...

thanks ahead of time for the opinion and feed back...

 

[Filthy-Beast]

Battery specs say never let it get below 2.5V, I try not to let mine go below 3.5, you'll probably notice a drop in performance around 3.65 to 3.7 volts, this is when I change my batteries.

 

[Wickeddeuce]

Battery specs say never let it get below 2.5V, I try not to let mine go below 3.5, you'll probably notice a drop in performance around 3.65 to 3.7 volts, this is when I change my batteries.

ok so its not just me... noticed it felt pretty week right after it dropped beneath 3.7... just put a fresh batt in... and yeah... back to freight train...

i am so relieved that it changes so substantially... one of my biggest fears was i wouldnt notice the change and would drain the battery too far...

YAY!!! I am even happier with the Reo now

 

[Filthy-Beast]

One thing to watch for that several us are guilty of is getting distracted and not realizing we just squonked, then thinking the weaker vapor is do to a drying wick we squonking again. This leads to juice leaking from air hole. So if you seem to be squonking more frequently change the battery. Even when this happens you'll get juice fingers before you drain the battery to low.

 

[Wickeddeuce]

One thing to watch for that several us are guilty of is getting distracted and not realizing we just squonked, then thinking the weaker vapor is do to a drying wick we squonking again. This leads to juice leaking from air hole. So if you seem to be squonking more frequently change the battery. Even when this happens you'll get juice fingers before you drain the battery to low.

im guilty of over squonking... trying to get when to squonk and when not to down... i find i over squonk for fear of nasty burnt cotton...

i dont do a huge squonk when i do squonk, and have found that when in doubt ill check to see how the wick looks in there...

idk... even over squonked this blows everything i have used, even working optimally out of the water...

debating on whether im going to twist some 30, and rewrap the rm2, or just let the coil sit in there... really really loving the fact that the 18490s at i think i was around 1.5 ohms, it was definitely safe, somewhere between 1.3 and 1.7 because the svd could fire it... just cant remember where exactly... and vape away and have the battery last so freaking long... the one 18490 just lasted me nearly a day... with more vaping than i do normally... chain vaping... and longer draws...

didnt think theyd last as long as they do... otherwise i would have only gotten 1 extra 18490... not sure im gonna need all 3, but better safe than sorry...

lol...

 

[Filthy-Beast]

When I was learning the squonk, looking with the drip tip off helped a lot. Also the blind squonk helps especially when driving or in the dark watching TV.

I tilt the Reo so the air hole is facing down, without pressing the fire button suck on the drip tip while squonking, when you hear and feel the slight gurgle turn it upright and let it drain back in the bottle. Then turn the airhole up and vap away. If I'm about to over squonk it will gurgle before I get the chance to press the bottle and I know to just keep vaping, sticky fingers avoided.

You can go down to .7ohm coils without any worrying about the battery or the Reo. Your battery in the Reo has plenty of safety margin, the Reo will be the limiting factor until the low ohm kit comes out.

Edit: Batteries can only take so many charge and discharge cycles so having three in rotation instead of two means they will last longer before you need to replace them.

 

[Wickeddeuce]

When I was learning the squonk, looking with the drip tip off helped a lot. Also the blind squonk helps especially when driving or in the dark watching TV.

I tilt the Reo so the air hole is facing down, without pressing the fire button suck on the drip tip while squonking, when you hear and feel the slight gurgle turn it upright and let it drain back in the bottle. Then turn the airhole up and vap away. If I'm about to over squonk it will gurgle before I get the chance to press the bottle and I know to just keep vaping, sticky fingers avoided.

You can go down to .7ohm coils without any worrying about the battery or the Reo. Your battery in the Reo has plenty of safety margin, the Reo will be the limiting factor until the low ohm kit comes out.

Edit: Batteries can only take so many charge and discharge cycles so having three in rotation instead of two means they will last longer before you need to replace them.

when squonking i will either blind squonk while sucking on the drip tip, no firing though... or ill do a look, the problem im running into is just how often... so i check every so often... take a quick peek... trying to avoid doing that... but i dont mind it... lol...

i know i can go lower on the ohms, but what i was referencing with the performance at the 1.5 ohm range and the battery lasting longer is that the amp pull is not as much as it would be on say a .8 ohm coil... which means the volts will last longer because less mah is being used per pull... IIRC a 1 ohm coil at 4v pulls 4 amps, a 1.5 ohm coil at 4v pulls 2.67 amps. 1 amp = 1000 mili amps... so the 1100 mah battery can at a continuous use have a 1.1 amp draw for a full hour... so... the 1 ohm coil firing at 4v (i realize this would change, just saying) would last for approximately 15 minutes of continuous use... where as the 1.5 ohm coil at 4v can would last for approximately 25 minutes of continuous use...

I am not sure that this is exact and correct, this is what I have interpreted from my studying of all of this... now continuing my silly hypothesis that may or may not be correct...

lets say an average vape pull is 10 seconds just to keep it simple... and lets say your average vaper takes 12 pulls an hour... so in one hour 2 minutes of battery life is taken

(this is assuming a perfect every variable remains the same mentality) so with a 1 ohm coil, at 4v 10 sec pull, 12 pulls an hour, an 18490 1100 mah battery will last approximately 7 and a half hours before the 1100 mah is depleted... the 1.5 ohm coil at 4v, 10 sec pull, 12 pulls an hour will last approximately 12 and a half hours...

i realize there is more math and more variables present here than what i have done, but this is my understanding and my take on things...

that was my comment about the battery filthy... not trying to go overboard but... im excited... lol

how do you know when its time to replace a battery? what are some of the signs?

 

[Filthy-Beast]

how do you know when its time to replace a battery? what are some of the signs?

The first hit after squonking has muted flavor and lower vapor production. After a while you learn the squonk. When squonking a full bottle I hold for a count of three, a half full bottle I hold for a count of five and I generally take three hits and then squonk.

So glad you're loving it and sharing your excitement with us, it's fun to read!

 

[Wickeddeuce]

The first hit after squonking has muted flavor and lower vapor production. After a while you learn the squonk. When squonking a full bottle I hold for a count of three, a half full bottle I hold for a count of five and I generally take three hits and then squonk.

So glad you're loving it and sharing your excitement with us, it's fun to read!

lol not sure if i was correct in regards to that long spiel about mah, amps, and everything i believe it is, and would place a bet that that is precise in an environment without external factors... but what i was asking when its time to replace a battery, what i meant was when they are at the end of the charge discharge cycle...

are there signs that a battery is ending its cycle life, or whatever the proper terminology would be for it...

(i am really hoping someone can verify whether spiel is correct or not... and if its correct... i think im going to find more things to read and study, as no one taught or told me this, i just absorbed the knowledge... and how sweet is that?!?)

 

[ancient puffer]

Your "spiel" is absolutely correct (in theory, of course). There are, as you noted, too many variables to expect the "numbers" to be correct, and I didn't check the math, but the difference in vape time, between the two resistances is there, and for exactly the reasons you expected. I generally vape about 1.5-1.8 ohms, and easily get 9 hours from a 1600 mAH battery. (Heavy vapor here)

The consensus is that you will notice shortened battery usage time (time to go from 4.1 down to 3.6 for example) as the batteries near end of life. That said, I'm still using the original 5 batteries I bought for my first grand around Sept 2011 (AW IMR 18650 1600 mAH), but bear in mind, I had the 5 in rotation, which makes them last longer, then I bought 5 AW IMR 18650's in 2000 mAH, and added them to the rotation. THEN, I bought 5 more of the 1600 mAH ones, so I've really got 15 in rotation.

 

[Wickeddeuce]

So it'll become obvious that the battery is done? And yay knowledge lol... now that hypothetical 10 mins difference which equates to a few hours... is not going to stop me from experimenting, but a 1 ohm coil better be like 5 times better than a 1.5 ohm coil if I'm gonna stick to it... this vape has great quality as is...

 

[karmakatie]

Wicked...I think you have the battery Doohickey...right? If you do..get in the habbit of checking your battery when you feel like the vape quality has gone down, you will to start to see a pattern of when you will take them off. For me, my batt charger read the volts on the battery as it is being charged, I routinely pull battieries around 3.64-3.68 to recharge, you get where you can really feel it in the vape.

 

[Wickeddeuce]

I do have the doohickey was just checking and trying to gain more knowledge... i like to know as much as possible

 

[JC Okie]

Wickeddeuce, SOOOOO glad you're enjoying your REO!!! We all knew..... Ha. I have batteries that are over two years old, so don't worry too much about using them up. They're going to last you a long, long time. AND....your theory that vaping at higher ohms is better for them is right. Also, when you take them off and charge them when they're at 3.5, 3.6 volts or so, you're only using a partial cycle, so it's hard to figure out exactly how many cycles you've used up, but they'll last longer than you expect. And rotating three instead of just two is better for all three as far as longevity is concerned. You're set for awhile......a long while. It's all good.....really, really good.

Jan

P.S. If you want to get a routine down so you don't have to worry about checking them all the time, just get into the habit of changing out a battery every time you add juice. Your 18490s should last as long as it takes to vape 3 ml of juice, so when you change juice or refill your bottle, change your battery. That way you'll be safe, and if the battery is not too depleted, all the better.

 

[MichelleOhio]

Ancient puffer, how do you keep the rotation sorted out on so many batteries?!

 

[Filthy-Beast]

Mine have a sharpie number on them but it's even easier. Mine sit in a row and fresh off the charger goes on the right, next in the Reo comes from the left. I also let my batteries settle, they don't go straight from the Reo to charger or from the charger to the Reo without resting first.

 

[dead not sleeping]

Some battery types have a 'memory'. Not sure about these e-batteries. That means if you charge before they are depleted, the useful battery life will be diminished. I know Ni-cad batteries have that issue. I'm not sure of the Lithium-ions, but they have to be charged by a 'smart' type charger specifically designed for the battery, or sometimes the batteries go boom. The exploding battery stories you hear about were caused by mods, and people f'ing around with something they didn't understand 100%. One example of the special charger/bat combo is Halo G6 and Triton battery USB chargers. They are not interchangeable. The Halo batteries will flash when they are ready for charging. Observing this will ensure the longest life from the battery.

dns

 

[ancient puffer]

Lithium Ion batteries do not have a "memory" issue. In fact, if they are discharged too low, you decrease the usable life of the battery. Most 3.6 batteries should not be discharged below about 3 volts for best battery life, but the quality of the vape will decrease significantly much sooner than that.

Mine come off the charger at about 4.1-4.2volts and I change them out around 3.7-3.9volts.

And you're right, the charger must be specifically designed to charge these batteries. To my knowledge, all lithium ion battery chargers are "smart", i.e., they shut off the charge when the battery is fully charged. That said, it's a good idea to use a reputable charger, from a reputable company.

In the case of REOs, the AW IMR's are recommended and there are several good chargers for them. I use a Pila charger, but there are perfectly safe ones for much less money.

 

[dead not sleeping]

I wasn't sure about the Lithiums, thanks for clearing that up. I'm glad my batteries know when to turn the lights off. Thats a great feature.

dns

 

[Big Hitter]

I like to play the guessing game when I take them out and check them ........

After 3 plus years with REOs I can usually hit it within .01 or .02 volts

Most of the time mine are coming out of the mod between 3.68 and 3.73 ....... that is when I am no longer satisfied. I can go down to 3.4 in a pinch.

Sometimes when I'm really bored I just take a guess and pull it out to see how I did ... then put it back in.
Ummm 3.94 ....... pull out ....... grab doohicky ......... 3.95 ...... Yes ....... Still got it!