Vamo kit - charger warning

[pjim]

I've expressed my opinion on the UKV forum before about lithium batteries and safety. There are risks with lithium batteries, whilst problems are relatively uncommon the results of failures is dramatic and can cause serious injury. Torch owners have had similar and worse incidents with LI ion batts, please take care.

I would never charge unsupervised nor would I ever use unbranded batteries and low quality chargers. I think to do so is unwise.

I believe this to be the best/safest charger on the market, outside of the kind of hobby chargers used by radio controlled vehicle types. www.cloud9vaping.co.uk/epages/yxve46fvrnud.sf/en_GB/?ObjectID=5000125

Although Xtars and Nitecores are fine, I use an Xtar atm, though I'm getting a Pila soon as I need some more bays anyway. I wouldn't use Trustfires, many do and have no problems, but I wouldn't personally.

[azzie]

People buy these knocked off no-named chargers to save a few quid?

These things are potential death traps.

Buy a known and trusted brand from within the EU rather than playing russian roulette

[skipraider]

The report of the exploding battery on UKV:
ukvapers.org/Thread-Exploding-Battery

[Deleted]

Thankyou for the info Skipraider, my charges are going in the bin, im hanging on to the batteries because i brought more from Healthcabin, which have always been a reputable vendor imo, and they are exactly the same batteries from vaporbreak, if there is any problems with the batts, healthcabin can have them back

[skipraider]

Dec 18, 2012 17:23:05 GMT @sadie22 said:

Thankyou for the info Skipraider, my charges are going in the bin, im hanging on to the batteries because i brought more from Healthcabin, which have always been a reputable vendor imo, and they are exactly the same batteries from vaporbreak, if there is any problems with the batts, healthcabin can have them back

No prob, I know that a lot of members bought the kit and wanted to make peeps aware of this potential problem. At this time of year we get distracted by things and it's easy to forget about the battery charger being left on.

[skipraider]

Dec 18, 2012 16:41:34 GMT robby said:

Dec 18, 2012 16:36:41 GMT skipraider said:

I think they are unprotected ICR type batterys so you have to be careful.
Looks like the charger is to blame though.
Which one did you buy robby?

www.nitecore.co.uk/chargers/intellicharge-i4.html

That one, but cheaper slowboat so havent got it yet. Extra useful cause you can put nimh and nicad batts into it

I am curious as to where this slowboat originated

[vapee]

The nitecores look good, has the independent chips n quite a few safety features.
Also They say its good to leave the batteries to sit for a few hours after charging to not stick em in the device straight away. I'm not sure if this applies to ego batteries or any specific type of lithium but it would b a good idea. Also to leave the battery to sit for a few hours after finishing use - before putting in the charger.
Whenn transporting the lithiums its best to keep them in a small battery case or plastic case that wil make sure no metal gets into contact with the battey or no damage happens to the battery. I think someone at ecf found a battery got shorted from keys coming into contact after carrying for a while and it started heating up - it didnt go into crazy mode but it became very hot if I remember correctly, and possible the plastic melted.

[Karma]

Batteries should be charged at less mAh than they are rated.

for instance, I have a couple of cig-a-likes, their USB charger outputs 120mAh. Now I could try charging my Riva/Ego batteries on this, it would be safe but I'd get fed up waiting.

My Riva/Ego USB charger outputs 420mAh, I would not consider charging my cig-a-likes on that charger as it's much too powerful for the batteries!

My X-Tar charger has 2 output modes 500amps or 1000amps. I leave it at the 500mAh setting for everything, so have had no problems charging 800mAh 18350 batteries with it

[skipraider]

Dec 18, 2012 19:36:55 GMT skipraider said:

Dec 18, 2012 16:41:34 GMT robby said:

www.nitecore.co.uk/chargers/intellicharge-i4.html

That one, but cheaper slowboat so havent got it yet. Extra useful cause you can put nimh and nicad batts into it

I am curious as to where this slowboat originated

It would be extra useful if I knew where to get one cheap (big hint)

[Karma]

Seriously Skip, don't go super cheap with batteries and chargers, buy from reputable vendors!

[skipraider]

Dec 18, 2012 21:54:03 GMT Karma said:

Seriously Skip, don't go super cheap with batteries and chargers, buy from reputable vendors!

I'm a sucker for a bargain. I understand that my enthusiasm for a cheap deal might not be the best way to obtain good & safe vaping gear. I'm sorry for asking pubicly.

[Karma]

Not sure what you mean by Skip, but for a decent basic charger this is very affordable

www.vapeescape.co.uk/xtar-mp1s-charger~472

and decent batteries here too

www.vapeescape.co.uk/efest-imr-batteries~454

discount code 'allabout' to save even more money

some things are worth getting cheap from China, others are not really

[skipraider]

Dec 18, 2012 22:02:11 GMT Karma said:

Not sure what you mean by Skip, but for a decent basic charger this is very affordable

www.vapeescape.co.uk/xtar-mp1s-charger~472

and decent batteries here too

www.vapeescape.co.uk/efest-imr-batteries~454

discount code 'allabout' to save even more money

some things are worth getting cheap from China, others are not really

I was in the middle of editing it, sorry for any misunderstanding & thanks for the links

[Karma]

You're welcome Skip

edited to add, I'm pleased you brought this topic up publicly, there's been lots of new vapers recently so I'm sure people have found this thread helpful

[stanton]

i use the i4. it's good. but remember you getting quicker charging for single batteries per channel. channel 1 is slots 1&3 and channel 2 is slots 2&4. i think it's safe because it's not aiming to be a fast charger. very average max charging current, so i reckon your paying for the safety aspect. mine stops at 4.19V every time so far.