Why did both my 14650 e-power batteries fail on the same day?

[jb0nez]

I ordered an e-power about a month ago. Love it. vaping so much I was pretty much rotating the two 1050mah 14650 batteries it came with from charger to vaper.

Then a few days ago I noticed the blue plastic wrapper around the base of one of the batteries just sort of peeling off. No big deal I thought. It exposed a little disk which I could see had some transistors or small electrical components. But kept working fine, I was just cautious not to manhandle it too much. Then I went to the beach yesterday. Didn't get anything wet but did vape there.

Get home and suddenly my PV doesn't work and both batteries have brown visible corrosion in the area of the aforementioned disc. A significant amount of brown corrosion (for lack of a better word). The whole PCB disc came flopping off one of the, dangling by one remaining connector. When I try to plug them into the charger it says they're charged but when I put them in the PV nothing happens at all. I've ordered new batteries (4 this time) since I'm now without a PV, but what happened here and how can I prevent it in the future? I'm a bit of a "chain-vaper" and had noticed the batteries losing power much more quickly the last few days in addition to getting hotter.

 

[dDubs]

Maybe they were old batteries to start with? Were you at a beach on the ocean, I've heard just being near salt water speeds up corrosion. When you saw them start to peel, I would've sealed them back up with tape, electrical tape preferably. That's all I got.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Yep he's in Hawaii...hot Sun+ salt water= corrosion.

 

[Rocketman]

By not taking care of those protected Li-ion cells and damaging the plastic wrapper you narrowly avoided a thermal mishap and possible injury.

The charger (if it's the boat tailed looking one) cuts the plastic if you are not super careful. Do a little reading on protected cells, the protection board, and the little metal strip along the side of the cell.

Those cells with the torn wrapper and loose protection board are a hazard to be around now.

The strip of metal running up the side of the cell is connected to the positive cap. If it comes in contact with the shell of the battery or the PV you have a short that could cause the cell to heat up and do bad things.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

When I go to the beach I take a cooler and freezer pack and keep my stuff in it. Out of the Sun and cool.

 

[Rocketman]

jb0nez,
could that brown stuff be burnt stuff?

 

[jb0nez]

So when the blue wrapper started peeling off I should have put some electric tape on to cover it up and hold the protection PCBs on?
Yeah Hawaii, humid salty air, everything rusts rapidly.

And yes looks similar to those pics except there's brown corrosion all over them in the PCB area, and there's no metal strip up the side visible.

 

[Rocketman]

I protect the top and bottom end of protected cells with a wrap of thin heat resistance Kapton tape (the yellow stuff) that can be bought from DealExtreme. Just don't buy batteries from them . Theirs is probably fake, but it works. The thin metal strip that goes up the side in underneath the outer cover. The protection circuit board has a connection to the bottom of the cell, and at least one other connection to someplace else. Once the board becomes loose, it is a liability. Time to toss. Examine the cells very closely for the positive sense strip.
If you have the charger I mentioned, the negative sliding post can nick/cut the wrapper. Watch closely each time you use it. If the cells seem to be a tight fit when being inserted in the PV, also watch for nick when doing that.

You mentioned the cells seems to be getting hotter than normal. Warm may be normal, hot never is.

My oppologies for the wording in my first post, but I needed to get your attention

 

[jb0nez]

Yes, you're right it was the sliding metal clip on the charger and the tight fight into the batter case that nicked the covering. The extra salt/humidity at the beach probably did the final damage. I can look into my e-power batter case and see brown corrosion around the spring at the bottom too so while they're dry and nothing appears to be leaking, at some point they must have been leaking something to have damaged the battery holder.
I've ordered multiple new batteries (True- something with button top, I forget the full name), and 2 new battery cases. They can't come soon enough! I can't stand not having my PV! I've gone back to dip (blech) in the mean time.
Edit: Trustfire! TrustFire Protected 14650 from Madvapes, button top, pretty sure that's what e-power uses. Order placed yesterday and still processing. Was hoping they'g get it shipped today! I needs mah PV!

 

[jb0nez]

Hey I wanted to add something. I'm using 1.7ohm "Resurrector" cartomizers, the same kind that came with the e-power. But I'm reading in some places that when you're using 3.7v (as the e-power is), single coil 1.7ohm cartos can actually damage the battery -- is this the case? Should I be using 2 ohm cartos even though 1.7ohm is what this came with?

 

[Rocketman]

The e-power switch should be able to handle 1.7 ohms. If they aren't actually 1.5 ohms.
The older switch units had a problem with 1.5 ohms and a freshly charged cell. Max voltage/low ohms caused some failures. The newer switches seem to be better.
Having a spare $10 switch wouldn't be a bad idea anyway.

Some of the tubes had a sharp edge at the opening that could catch the cell wrapper and cut it. Easy to blend the edge a little.

The boat shaped charger takes extra care not to cut the tail end of the cell wrapper.

the e-power, if taken care of works well.

 

[glauserjg]

to frequent charging

 

[yzer]

Take a look at your E-Power 14650 batteries. Do they look like the battery on the top of this photo?

The battery on the top of the photo is the generic 14650 protected ICR battery supplied with most E-Power 14650 kits. The battery number is preceded with the word Smok Tech.

The Smok Tech protected ICR batteries feature a thin and weak plastic shrink wrap coating that wears out easily.

By comparison, the Trustfire Blue protected 14650 features a much more robust shrink wrap coating, and lasts a lot longer in use.

If you look around today you can find IMR 14650 batteries that offer higher discharge capacity than the older ICR 14650s. However, the IMRs offer significantly less capacity than the older style protected ICRs.

 

[yzer]

How long do these ICR 14650 batteries last? In my use, the 14650 ICR battery is good for one day of vaping at regulated 3.7V with a 2.0 ohm LR carto. That is, I can vape 2.0 ml of juice from these batteries over 16 hours. 16 hours equals one day because I sleep for eight hours per day.

How many charge cycles are these batteries good for?

Li-ion charge cycles for all types are vastly over-estimated. I estimate 30 charge cycles for these batteries before the charge capacity begins to drop significantly.

 

[jb0nez]

yzer great post with the pics. YES the batteries that failed were indeed identical to the one on top in the first post. I probably put them through about 30-40 charge cycles (meanwhile the cheap blue wrapper coming off) and definitely noticed decreased performance near the end.
I placed an order for some of those Trustfires you pictured from Madvapes. I'm hoping I got the right ones - button top, not flat top.
I also ordered an IMR 14650 from Crystal Clear Vaping. It's only 950mah, as compared to the 1600mah of the trustfire (though Madvapes says even though they say 1600 they're really 1300mah). When they arrive and I can finally vape again I'll do some comparisons of the two.

 

[unclerj]

Sounds like you ordered trustfire batteries. I have a couple of the 1600mAh one's myself to go with the 1050mAh batteries that come with the kit. I have for the most part been rotating the 1600's and saving the 1050's for spares. I vape A LOT and the battery will last me most of the day or more. I am thinking of ordering more from ebay where you can get a pair of the trustfire 1600's for less than $5 and about $2 $&H from Hong Kong. I am considering only because of the small amount that I would be out if the deal go's south and the seller has an excellent rating on eBay.

As far as the 1.7ohm carto's are concerned, the battery will handle them just fine but they will not last as long as they will with a SR carto or whatever. But if you have one of the Epower switches with the blue button it may be an issue. I have made sure that all of my switches are the newest version with the white button that will handle the LR stuff and have the 5 click on/off feature as well. You can get them from

Epower 14650 Electronic Cigarette Replacement Switch by SMOK Tech



I am a big believer in spares and I have an extra complete Epower unit and an additional switch as well since I do not ever want to be without vaping juice or gear and be tempted to switch back to analogs before I get more! And God forbid that you put the battery in upside down as it mean's instant death for the switch!

Also, worse comes to worse, I am lucky enough to have won an Apollo V-Tube from ECA so I have that as well. I use that one at home and in the office just do to the size but the Epower is what I carry when I am out and about.

Hope this help's!

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

I've got a megalodon and a Kgo, both 3.7 volt and have been using the Smok Tech 1.7 XL cartos for 8? months until I began using clearos and they work great. I would also suggest you order an extra switch because of the salt water/ corrosion in your neck of the woods. Batteries... I began with Ultrafires and Trustfires that came with the kit. Next I bought AW Batts and finally am now using Panasonics and they are good to the last drop. I really would NOT advise Pannys though because of your location and corrosion circumstances.

Hey I wanted to add something. I'm using 1.7ohm "Resurrector" cartomizers, the same kind that came with the e-power. But I'm reading in some places that when you're using 3.7v (as the e-power is), single coil 1.7ohm cartos can actually damage the battery -- is this the case? Should I be using 2 ohm cartos even though 1.7ohm is what this came with?

 

[yzer]

yzer great post with the pics. YES the batteries that failed were indeed identical to the one on top in the first post. I probably put them through about 30-40 charge cycles (meanwhile the cheap blue wrapper coming off) and definitely noticed decreased performance near the end.
I placed an order for some of those Trustfires you pictured from Madvapes. I'm hoping I got the right ones - button top, not flat top.
I also ordered an IMR 14650 from Crystal Clear Vaping. It's only 950mah, as compared to the 1600mah of the trustfire (though Madvapes says even though they say 1600 they're really 1300mah). When they arrive and I can finally vape again I'll do some comparisons of the two.

In my experience the actual capacity rating of the Smok Tech 14650 (1050 mA) and the Trustfire Blue 14650 (1600 mA) are identical. The capacity rating of the Smok Tech Blue 14650 is clearly exaggerated. The number of charge cycles per battery is probably similar too provided the Smok Techs don't fall to pieces first.

Superior build quality of the Trustfire Blue makes it a better choice, IMO.

I'm curious to hear how folks are doing with the new batch of generic IMR 14650's that are coming onto the market. I haven't tried these yet.

Incidentally, I get my Trustfire Blue 14650s from here...
TrustFire 2*3.7V 1600mAh 14650 Protected Rechargeable Li-ion Battery (Blue) EB289L - $8.80 - Affordable Batteries

That's $8.80 per pair, less for more. Free shipping and arrives in about 10 days.

 

[jb0nez]

OMG my Trustfires from Madvapes arrived. Thank the lord, I can stop chewing this nasty dip again. And they came fully charged! Thank you Madvapes! My IMR 14650 should be showing up soon from Crystal Clear Vaping -- will be interesting to see the difference.