Charging batteries question...

[trubela95]

Hey there Underground Vapers. Just bought myself an early xmas gift - a brand new Black Sigelei Fuchai 200w tc mod, im running dual, 3.7v, 2500mAh, 18650 batteries. I'm currently charging them on the 0.5a setting, just wondering if it would harm my batteries much to charge them on the 1A setting?

Thanks a bunch! Merry christmas all

Trent

 

[backdoc]

generally, the slower/lower the better.........but when time is not on your side ,its fine............

 

[MrScaryZ]

Hey there Underground Vapers. Just bought myself an early xmas gift - a brand new Black Sigelei Fuchai 200w tc mod, im running dual, 3.7v, 2500mAh, 18650 batteries. I'm currently charging them on the 0.5a setting, just wondering if it would harm my batteries much to charge them on the 1A setting?

Thanks a bunch! Merry christmas all

Trent

Charging batteries at .5 vs 1amp gives very little real world difference if you really wanted to get very very technical you may gain some life on the batteries but even at 1amp this is far below spec you can charge Li-ion batteries much faster at the cost of the lifetime of the battery.. I have some 18650's that I have charged at 2amps for over a year with no degradation so far.. For our purposes it makes no difference

 

[f1r3b1rd]

I mean the true answer from a technical perspective is yes you can harm your batteries.
But not in the light of causing them to suddenly vent or combust.
If you have say 350 charge cycle batteries. That rating is based on a "trickle charge"-"slow and low"
So charging them at 2a you're going to eat away at that 350 charge cycle and could kill them im say 6months. By kill I mean have them not hold a charge because of fatigue.
Being a vapor when I see a good deal on batteries I like, I'll scoop them up and put them in a rotation. This way when they stop holding a charge they just get disposed of. I do that because personally, Charge mine at either 1a or 2a. Im inpatient - lol

 

[vuJim]

The big enemy to all electronics is heat. Batteries included. So charging them slowly is good for their lifespan. Sure: You can always buy more, but I'd rather spend my money on gear & juice than batteries. Plus: Lithium is exceedingly toxic to the environment, so I like Li-ion batteries to live as long as possible. Just have as many spares as needed to reload any one of your mods, and you'll never suffer for lack of power. Swap batteries when they get no lower than about 40% remaining, and put the exhausted ones on the charger right away.

 

[Bucky205]

Lithium Ion batteries should never be charged at a rate greater than 1 X capacity. So a 2700 mah battery should never be charged faster than 2.7 amps. Ideal for most 18650s over 2000 mah is .7 X Capacity. Your 1 Amp setting should be fine, 2 Amp if you need them charged fast on occasion, using 2 amp continuously some feel will degrade the life of the battery slightly due to higher stress on the battery. .5 would probably prolong the life of your batteries the longest , but it would be so insignificant, I don't think you would notice. Most 18650s have about a 300 charge cycle life, and 2 half charge cycles count as 1 full cycle. When you've full cycled that battery 300 times, it is getting close to end of life.

Everything you ever wanted to know about batteries.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries

 

[OBDave]

Piling on to a bunch of other good opinions here - 0.5 is best, 1.0 will maybe lose you a few charge cycles in the batteries' overall life but not that big a deal, 2.0 should be avoided except in rare "I really need this shit done NOW" cases...

Welcome to the Underground!

 

[Angrygod50]

Everything you ever wanted to know about batteries.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries

+1

 

[MorpheusPA]

I generally charge at 0.5A just to nudge out those couple extra life cycles from the battery (I can also make a penny scream from how hard I pinch it).

However, on modern 18650 batteries, a 1A charge is well within normal charging spec and won't harm the battery. It won't cost you any lifetime.

Even a 2A charge is generally slower than the "fast charge" spec and the damage is minimal.

More important in terms of cycle life is treating them gently when in use. Draw at near the maximum will reduce lifespan due to the heat generated, so the gentler you can be, the longer the batteries last.

It's also best to use a half cycle and recharge at that point; it roughly quadruples the number of charges (doubling the battery life overall) that you can get out if the thing.

All that having been said? The battery serves you, not the other way around. Last night, I deep dicharged a battery and charged it at 1A when I finally got home. It'll bear up.

 

[judo]

The max charge for the VTC4 is 4A if that tells you anything. The original Samsung 25R I believe
would be 4A is also but im just guessing as they are almost exactly the same less the nickel in
samsungs.

edit:
no idea what max charge rates are on re wrapps, I wouldn't charge them on any
setting but the normal rates.

 

[AmandaD]

During the day I charge all my batteries at 1 amp - it takes too long on 0.5. Overnight, though, I do them all at 0.5 since I'm not in a hurry

 

[Robert B]

Plus: Lithium is exceedingly toxic to the environment, so I like Li-ion batteries to live as long as possible. Just have as many spares as needed to reload any one of your mods, and you'll never suffer for lack of power. Swap batteries when they get no lower than about 40% remaining, and put the exhausted ones on the charger right away.

"According to the U.S. government, lithium ion batteries aren't an environmental hazard. "Lithium Ion batteries are classified by the federal government as non-hazardous waste and are safe for disposal in the normal municipal waste stream," says Kate Krebs at the National Recycling Coalition. While other types of batteries include toxic metals such as cadmium, the metals in lithium ion batteries - cobalt, copper, nickel and iron - are considered safe for landfills or incinerators (Interestingly enough, lithium ion batteries contain an ionic form of lithium but no lithium metal)."

But like the article says "that doesn't mean we should be dumping 2 billion batteries a year into the landfills"

 

[vuJim]

Hmmm... I would've sworn lithium batteries were environmentally unfriendly. Learned something new. Thanks!

 

[MorpheusPA]

Plus lithium is a rare earth element, so wasting it isn't a great idea. We have lots of proven reserves, but they won't last forever.

Recycling them is a very good idea, plus keeps them out of the landfill.

 

[Robert B]

Plus lithium is a rare earth element, so wasting it isn't a great idea. We have lots of proven reserves, but they won't last forever.
Recycling them is a very good idea, plus keeps them out of the landfill.

I don't think recycling these batteries is going to happen since less than 1% of the battery is made up of lithium in the first place, unless we want to pay 100bucks for a recycled battery. The article did say cobalt could be extracted, but it costs more to extract than whats it's worth, so there is no market for it.

enough of hijacking the thread though... sorry

 

[Model_A_Ford]

Seems like 1 Amp is pretty standard. I'm using the half Amp setting because for me the extra time is no inconvenience. I always have some batteries fully charged so I'm not waiting on the batteries in the charger for immediate use.

Also, I'm letting my batteries rest for at least a half hour, so not going straight from vape to charger or straight off the charger to vape. Should be better for the battery chemistry.