Charging 18650's

[womble]

So fed up with the batteries I got with the lavatube, I did some research and ended up getting 2 AW IMR 18650's.

I also got the best charger I could afford, as I'm a great believer in rechargeable batteries needing a decent one.

That was a 4sevens single charger.

Question is. The battery is 3.7 V, so I presume from the options on the charger (3.6 and 4.2) it needs to be charged at 3.6.

But what about amps? The charger gives options of 0.5, or 1 A.

Is there any advantage to charging at either? Apart from the speed presumably. I'm more thinking of battery life.

[leftfield]

For my lavatube batteries I use a 4.2v charger at 0.5A.

I'm in no way an electrician or battery specialist so I can't answer your other questions (sorry), that's just what my charger is rated at that works with the 18650's I use with it.

[Chrissie]

I charge my 18650's with the cheap Trustfire multicharger. It has an output of 4.2v 500ma.

[River]

Jan 10, 2012 13:42:02 GMT Chrissie said:

I charge my 18650's with the cheap Trustfire multicharger. It has an output of 4.2v 500ma.

Same here Trustfire TR-001

[womble]

I've just had a quick look at the 4sevens site and it seems that I should be charging them at 3.6v and 1A.
But I must admit, it's not that clear.

[DiscoDes]

Jan 10, 2012 14:19:36 GMT womble said:

I've just had a quick look at the 4sevens site and it seems that I should be charging them at 3.6v and 1A.
But I must admit, it's not that clear.

Be very careful, incorrect charging can result in EXPLOSION!

Good information here: batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries at the battery university it has loads of good information regarding about rechargeable batteries.

I would have thought that the charge voltage would be 4.2v as it needs to be higher than the voltage of the battery (3.7v). BUT YOU NEED TO CHECK FIRST

[tysoup]

Jan 10, 2012 12:38:00 GMT womble said:

So fed up with the batteries I got with the lavatube, I did some research and ended up getting 2 AW IMR 18650's.

Having the same issue, I bought a 4000 mah and a AW 2900 mah battery and neither is giving spectacular results. I get less than a day out of them.

I now have a theory its not the battery thats the problem but the cartomisers I am using might not be suited to the lavatube. I use Dual Coil low resistance 1.5 Ohm cartomisers at 4.2v. I have been told they draw too many amps from a Lavatube.

I want to see the difference using a single coil 3 ohm cartomiser makes. Only problem is i use the xxxl Smok which holds 3ml liquid and is a doddle to refill. I cant find an equivalent Single coil 3 ohm cartomiser. Any suggestions?

[leftfield]

2.8 - 3.2ohm 510 cartos: www.vapeescape.co.uk/boge-510-standard-resistance-%285%29~145 Not too sure about larger capacity 3ohm cartos though.

The lavatube caps off at I think 2.5amps. Going by memory alone I think it only runs dual coils of 1.5ohm at around 3.7v even if you set it to go higher so you're really limiting your range with dual coils. You're right though, dual coils will drain the battery faster than standard single coil.

You might want to try out a CE2 but you need to modify them to get them to wick optimally. freedomvape.co.uk/shop/article_1049/XL-Ultimate-Clearomizers.html?shop_param=cid%3D7%26aid%3D1049%26

If you get them, you just need to take the seals out and cut the seal that sits over the cup's slots into /\ shapes. Just make the slots a little wider and stick it back on. From that point on you fill it with 2ml of liquid with a syringe at a time so it's pretty fast and almost similar to a carto.

They're not for everyone but I absolutely love them on the lavatube at 5V with a drip tip on 'em.

I get about 3/4 a day out of one lavatube battery (the iffy ones that came with the kit) before they hit about 3.6v and drop off a fair deal. I use about 3ml of liquid a day in my CE2s. 1700mAh on those lavatube batteries but I'm looking to replace them as they're a mystery brand no one really wants to keep using right now.

[scooter]

I've come back round to the XXL CE2's on the Lavatube and the SDK in the past few days, brilliant!!
I had a bunch sitting in the "bits box" that needed looking at as they were vaping just nasty, once the tweaks were done, great!
Word of warning, on one video for tweaking them, Dan at "Gotvapes", he does away with the main seal around the cup, just puts back the intermediate seal on top of the ceramic cup.
Nice vape, but if you lay it on it's side it's flooding the cup, fluid is getting down the centre tube "gurgling", which makes me worry about the SDK or Lavatubes electronics getting flooded/wasted.
I'll be pulling them apart when empty and putting the main seal back in around the cup, pain in the ass, but better than wasting the electronics in the SDK or Lavatube........errr...then again..I could just keep those ones for the rock solid Provari, you see, it still has it's redeeming features ;-)

[womble]

OK. for the AW imr 3.7v 1600mAh

Max charging rate 4.5 amps

Maximum charge voltage is 4.25V, if your charger charges them over this, it will cause reduced life cycle.

There is this review of the 4sevens charger.
lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%204Sevens%20Single%20bay%20UK.html
Which says to charge at 4.2v and 1A

And the 4sevens page says
As a general rule, the charging voltage should be set to the fully charged voltage of your battery (e.g., lithium-ion tend to be 4.2V fully charged), and the charging current should not surpass the total capacity of your battery (e.g., our AW14500 has a capacity of 750mAh, so it should be charged with the 0.5A/500mAh setting, not the 1.0A setting)
Which also means 4.2v and 1A

I know no one else who has posted has the same charger as me. But if I put up this info it may help someone else.

One thing my research did bring up, is that when your charger has finished charging your imr 18650 battery, you must check with a meter, that it hasn't charged them over the 4.25v mark, if it does, use another charger.

[womble]

Jan 10, 2012 15:06:19 GMT DiscoDes said:

Be very careful, incorrect charging can result in EXPLOSION!

Good information here: batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries at the battery university it has loads of good information regarding about rechargeable batteries.

I would have thought that the charge voltage would be 4.2v as it needs to be higher than the voltage of the battery (3.7v). BUT YOU NEED TO CHECK FIRST

One reason I chose the imr, is that they are supposed to be so much safer than the normal ones, I don't think you can explode them, so much so, they they don't need to be protected. (happy to be corrected if I am wrong)

It seems the nominal voltage of lithium ion batteries is 3.6/3.7V.
But they can be fully charged to 4.2V

I hope this helps someone, cos my heads spinning and I'm glad I just know to set it to 4.2V and 1A and forget about it from now on!

[dave]

Well, since I found a cheap reliable source for AW's I've gone with them too. I also got a good deal on a Pila charger as they are supposed to be the best and I am certainly very pleased with mine. It charges at 4.2 volts and a max of 600mA. However it goes through several stages, firstly analysing the battery status, then a quick charge, then a slow charge and finally a trickle charge. This means it does not exceed the max of 4.2 volts that a Li-on battery should be charged to, even if you leave it in for too long. This pattern of charging is supposed to maximise the life of your batteries. I always check my batteries with a multimeter and it is always spot on.

[womble]

I couldn't really afford a pila charger, apparently the 4sevens is the one under it, but better than the rest, which are all similar.

Mind you, seeing the fags I used to buy at £7 a packet in my local supermarket just now. I probably could have afforded it

I did see somewhere, that someone was saying the better chargers don't charge much over 500mA. So I must admit, I did wonder if it would be better for my batteries if I stuck it on that.

[dave]

I got one for the price of 5 packets of fags Womble

$45 + $8 shipping

They are not cheap, but I've gone down the same road I did with engine battery chargers. After faffing about with cheap ones I got a decent one I can plug in and forget if I want to. Worth it I reckon for something you absolutely depend on - especially if you get quality batteries.

[scooter]

I've had Trustfire multichargers at my workplace and one at home for 5 months, no problems other than the naff batteries supplied with E-power, they have a nipple and need "jammed in" still works though.
We have lovely folks on here that will no doubt cost out the longevity of batteries on the Trustfire and post whether thay are cost effective.
The benefits of belonging to a community of pedants, of which I am proudly one :-) :-)