Why do 18650 batteries stop holding a charge

[Pappy358]

On March 1 2014 I bought a Provari V2.5 with the extended cap for the 18650 battery. I use the Nautilus Aspire tank with it using BDC coils. Normal voltage I run is 4.8. For the first five weeks the batteries would last two days on a charge. Now they last about 7 hours.

Can anyone tell me why? Is there a better battery? (This is a Chinese 3.7v 2000mAh AW battery) If I remember correctly I can't use the Sony 30 flattop battery. Any help for an old fart?

 

[Timeghoul]

Did you buy the battery with the Provari from their website?

 

[stevegmu]

AW IMR are modified Panasonic cells, which are made in Japan.
ProVape says to use AW IMR batteries. I wouldn't use anything else.
No idea why your batteries aren't lasting as long as they once did, unless they just happened to be old stock, but I seriously doubt that would be the case, buying them from ProVape.

 

[Credo]

Seven hours (of pretty hard vaping) at 4.8v on a 2000 mah battery sounds more realistic than two days.
You can crunch a few numbers of your own with this:
Battery drain | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators

Any change in vape habits?

7 Hours sounds about right to me, give or take a bit (depends on your resistance and such).
With 5ish second puffs and a 2 Ohm atty...you'd get around 400ish pulls from a 2000 mah battery at 4.8v given the PV is 90% or better efficent.

How much liquid do you go through in a charge?

 

[Pappy358]

A tank a day. My day being 18 hours minimum due to wounds from Iraq. I use PG 16mg juice. Another problem is finding a juice supplier that can give me 50/50 mix 16mg that is consistent from batch to batch. This Provari has helped save me from the effects of chronic lung damage due to poisonous gas exposure because I am addicted to nicotine. No I don't want to stop nicotine. I'm learning about the nuances of vaping but nowhere near an expert. A tank of juice is half a squeeze bottle.

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[Ryedan]

On March 1 2014 I bought a Provari V2.5 with the extended cap for the 18650 battery. I use the Nautilus Aspire tank with it using BDC coils. Normal voltage I run is 4.8. For the first five weeks the batteries would last two days on a charge. Now they last about 7 hours.

Can anyone tell me why? Is there a better battery? (This is a Chinese 3.7v 2000mAh AW battery) If I remember correctly I can't use the Sony 30 flattop battery. Any help for an old fart?

Lithium ion batteries should last 300 - 500 charge/discharge cycles if they are good and are not abused. I'm going to assume the Provari is not doing doing anything bad to them like running them down too low. If you have a DMM you can check what the battery voltage is when you take them out, but Provari's are pretty reliable so I really doubt it's this.

What charger are you using? Check the voltage of a battery shortly after the charger signals a full charge. It should not be over 4.2V. Over 4.25V and battery life starts to go down.

So when you say 'Chinese 3.7v 2000mAh AW battery' do you mean it's not a real AW, but a clone? If that's the case, it's not AW and battery quality is unknown. Real AW batteries are very reliable.

Hope this helps

 

[edyle]

On March 1 2014 I bought a Provari V2.5 with the extended cap for the 18650 battery. I use the Nautilus Aspire tank with it using BDC coils. Normal voltage I run is 4.8. For the first five weeks the batteries would last two days on a charge. Now they last about 7 hours.

Can anyone tell me why? Is there a better battery? (This is a Chinese 3.7v 2000mAh AW battery) If I remember correctly I can't use the Sony 30 flattop battery. Any help for an old fart?

Were you using BDC coils the first five weeks?
You are probably vaping more; and dual coils do run at higher power than single coils;

 

[Bunnykiller]

there are chemicals in the battery that react to each other (bond) to produce electricty, when charging the battery, the chemicals "unbond" from each other making them able to rebond again to produce electricity again. In some batteries, the chemical mix isnt of good quality and the bonded chemicals become harder to unbond during recharging, thus leaving you with less unbonded chemicals to produce the original amount of electricty when the battery was new. recharging will give you the 4.2 volts in the end but the mAh rating drops significantly as the battery ages. Overdischarging the battery causes the chemicals to permenately bond... best way I can describe it in laymens terms... hope it helped give you an idea as to whats going on inside...

 

[Credo]

Even with the great energy efficiency of a Provari, 7 to 8 hours of hard use on a 2000mah 3.7v battery at 4.8v is excellent. Much more than that, and the folks at Provari should consider sending their designs to NASA for some "Unity Studies"

Of course it all depends on atty resistance, actual burn time...how long your drags are, etc.

Play around with the calculator link and do some puff ticking on a pad to get an idea of how much you're really vaping.
http://www.steam-engine.org/batt.asp

If your batteries are coming in 'way below' what you think they should...grab some quality Authentic AW 2000mah cells and try those. See if you don't get a little better performance and vape-time.

 

[Pappy358]

Coming off of the charger it's reading 4v. Should I completely drain the battery till the Provari shuts down?

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[Credo]

Coming off of the charger it's reading 4v. Should I completely drain the battery till the Provari shuts down?

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It should be 4.2v when fully charged. Sometimes chargers cut out early, and sometimes batteries start to go bad and simply won't take a full charge.

Even so, 0.2 volts could not be the difference in 7 hours and 2 days of vape time.

What brand/type of charger do you have?

I'm guessing you have at least 2 of these batteries? Chances of them both going bad at the exact same time are pretty low, so try charging them both to full charge. If they don't make it to 4.2v it could be the charger is bad.

To discover that, you have a few options.
1. Try the cells on a different charger.
2. Try some brand new, Authentic AW IMR 18650 button top cells on your present charger. These days I think you can find them in 1600mah or 2000mah versions. Either should be great as long as you know they are real AW cells. If in doubt about cell authenticity, order some from ProVape.

 

[Pappy358]

OK I understand what you're saying. What I dont know is how to tell an authentic from a clone from a knockoff. Who has the best AW 18650?

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[Credo]

OK I understand what you're saying. What I dont know is how to tell an authentic from a clone from a knockoff. Who has the best AW 18650?

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The only way I know of is to buy from a trusted source.
If you got them from a well known vape shop or flashlight vendor chances are you get the real thing.
If you get them from eBay or something (Not all eBay sellers are bad...make sure they have a store presence and good ratings)....it's anyone's guess.

ProVape stocks the real deal.

My first guess is that you're OK. Check that you've a good quality charger that's working properly.
Maybe you've just started vaping a lot more and haven't really noticed.

4.8v is quite a boosted signal. If you're running atties 2 Ohms or lower...well, that's over 10 watts of power. 6 - 8 hours of vape time would be about normal.

 

[Rat2chat2]

This might make some things make better sense. Worth a try. E-Cigarette Forum - Baditude - Blogs

Good luck to you and happy vaping....

 

[BobFully]

Anyone have the purple efest 18650 2500mah? whats your take on these compared to others

 

[Credo]

Anyone have the purple efest 18650 2500mah? whats your take on these compared to others

At this time the 2600mah Sony VTC5 is probably a better battery for the money than the Purple Efest, and definitely easier to find in the USA right now.

The problem with either of those batteries (The Purple Efest or the Sony VTC) in a ProVari is that they don't have a button top. To get them working you might have to add some kind of magnet topper (risky) which could void your Provari Warranty. They also might be a little 'too long' or 'too short' by the time you get them working, which means the cap of the mod might not go down all the way (if too long), or spacers might be needed (if too short).

A good battery for fully regulated PVs would be the 10amp Orbtronic/Panasonic 2900mah PF and PD lines of Hybrid cell. I've not seen the PF cell with a button top, but the slightly older, similarly speced PD is available in button top. Note, ProVape recommends sticking with AW batteries for the ProVari, but here's a thread about trying the PD line if you want to see some of what other's have to say about it: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...0pd-cgr18650ch-provari-2-5-good-bad-idea.html

Note: If you go with a 10amp hybrid cell, please don't use them in an unregulated mod without a Kick/Crown or a good 2 cent fuse. (ProVari is fully regulated, so you wouldn't need these for the ProVari).

With a ProVari, It's probably best to stick with the AW IMR 2000mah or 1600 mah. That's what ProVape recommends. Know for sure if you try a flat-top of any sort, (or anything else using magnets/spacers or whatever) that can void your warranty.

 

[BobFully]

At this time the 2600mah Sony VTC5 is probably a better battery for the money than the Purple Efest, and definitely easier to find in the USA right now.

The problem with either of those batteries (The Purple Efest or the Sony VTC) in a ProVari is that they don't have a button top. To get them working you might have to add some kind of magnet topper (risky) which could void your Provari Warranty. They also might be a little 'too long' or 'too short' by the time you get them working, which means the cap of the mod might not go down all the way (if too long), or spacers might be needed (if too short).

A good battery for fully regulated PVs would be the 10amp Orbtronic/Panasonic 2900mah PF and PD lines of Hybrid cell. I've not seen the PF cell with a button top, but the slightly older, similarly speced PD is available in button top. Note, ProVape recommends sticking with AW batteries for the ProVari, but here's a thread about trying the PD line if you want to see some of what other's have to say about it: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...0pd-cgr18650ch-provari-2-5-good-bad-idea.html

Note: If you go with a 10amp hybrid cell, please don't use them in an unregulated mod without a Kick/Crown or a good 2 cent fuse. (ProVari is fully regulated, so you wouldn't need these for the ProVari).

With a ProVari, It's probably best to stick with the AW IMR 2000mah or 1600 mah. That's what ProVape recommends. Know for sure if you try a flat-top of any sort, (or anything else using magnets/spacers or whatever) that can void your warranty.

superb info Credo!

I was considering the vtc5, but if iam running a mech mod would it be safer to run li-mn batteries like the purples vs. the li-ion vtc5's?

 

[Credo]

superb info Credo!

I was considering the vtc5, but if iam running a mech mod would it be safer to run li-mn batteries like the purples vs. the li-ion vtc5's?

From what I can tell the Sony VTC4, VTC5, and AW IMR 1600mah cells are quite popular among ultra low resistance mech users. The MNKE batteries were really popular for a while as well and sometimes you still find them (or newer/better versions) in stock for a good price.

I haven't seen as much on the Purple Efests. They hit the stores, and sold out fast! If they live up to their lables, they should be good batteries.

Try google and see if you can find reviews of vapers using these cells?

I did find this thread here on ECF: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo.../508124-new-efest-18650-2500mah-35-amp-2.html

 

[BobFully]

From what I can tell the Sony VTC4, VTC5, and AW IMR 1600mah cells are quite popular among ultra low resistance mech users. The MNKE batteries were really popular for a while as well and sometimes you still find them (or newer/better versions) in stock for a good price.

I haven't seen as much on the Purple Efests. They hit the stores, and sold out fast! If they live up to their lables, they should be good batteries.

Try google and see if you can find reviews of vapers using these cells?

I did find this thread here on ECF: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo.../508124-new-efest-18650-2500mah-35-amp-2.html

appreciate the link Credo!

 

[bosun]

I use 18490 in my Provari. 1.8 ohm coils, firing around 4.0 volts. At the rate I vape I get about twelve hours per battery. I generally don't wait until the PV starts blinking at me because of low battery too.