Charing isticks

[dubya314]

I am wondering if it is bad for isticks to charge with less than 1a. Couple of my older chargers are .7a. Is this bad or harmful for the battery? Also, is it bad to plug them in and go to bed, where they might stay plugged in after they are fully charged?

 

[Mike H.]

If the charging amps are lower thats fine...it will just take a little longer to charge...charging slower isnt such a bad thing really.

I dont think anyone would recommend charging any device unattended....should the charge board or charger or even battery become defective it can cause safety issues with possible fires.

Its always good to have at least an one ego battery or another device laying around as a back up while charging your main device...This way youre never left with not being able to vape.

 

[chewedatty]

I recharge my 20watt isticks with a 700ma (.7a) charger, never an issue. Oh, +1 for the advice above, not good leaving vape batteries charging overnight or while out shopping.

 

[freemind]

I don't honestly worry much anymore, about charging batteries overnight.

I have smoke alarms, insurance, and life insurance.

I've not had an issue. But if something was acting wonky, I certainly would NOT charge and go to bed.

 

[dubya314]

I recharge my 20watt isticks with a 700ma (7a) charger, never an issue. Oh, +1 for the advice above, not good leaving vape batteries charging overnight or while out shopping.

Bare with me, but I heard not to use anything over 1amp with the isticks or it can cause damage?

 

[efektt]

You want the amp rating on the wall adapter to be HIGHER than what the device will draw. If its lower it can be bad.

 

[dubya314]

You want the amp rating on the wall adapter to be HIGHER than what the device will draw. If its lower it can be bad.

So the above advice about .7 amp being ok is not correct?

 

[chewedatty]

I recharge my 20watt

Bare with me, but I heard not to use anything over 1amp with the isticks or it can cause damage?

Sorry for the confusion (It's late here) 700ma yes, NOT 7a, my bad. You're correct, 1amp i think is the top limit. A good guideline is from 500ma (1/2amp) up to 1000ma (1amp)

 

[efektt]

Does the manuel say what it draws? You want to be above that.

 

[efektt]

I dont own one. It will only take what it needs.... so being over is a good thing. Its like your house plug. It provides way more than most things need, but those things only take what they need.

 

[dubya314]

I dont own one. It will only take what it needs.... so being over is a good thing. Its like your house plug. It provides way more than most things need, but those things only take what they need.

Im such an idiot when it comes to this stuff. I'm trying to learn, but it just doesn't sink in. I'm not an educated man, so that does not help I guess. I threw both the manuals for the 20w and 50w away like an idiot of course, so I dont know what either one of them draws

 

[efektt]

Im such an idiot when it comes to this stuff. I'm trying to learn, but it just doesn't sink in. I'm not an educated man, so that does not help I guess. I threw both the manuals for the 20w and 50w away like an idiot of course, so I dont know what either one of them draws

http://www.eleafworld.com/product/detail.php/eleaf-istick.html

It says you need 1 amp. So any at that or higher will be fine. I would avoid using the 700 mah one. Just fyi... 1000 mah equals 1 amp.

 

[dubya314]

http://www.eleafworld.com/product/detail.php/eleaf-istick.html

It says you need 1 amp. So any at that or higher will be fine. I would avoid using the 700 mah one. Just fyi... 1000 mah equals 1 amp.

Thanx alot

 

[VapeJohn]

Realistically considering the isticks use internal non-user replaceable batteries (unless you know how to solder) it's best to charge them around .5 Amps or 500Mah to prolong the battery life

 

[efektt]

Realistically considering the isticks use internal non-user replaceable batteries (unless you know how to solder) it's best to charge them around .5 Amps or 500Mah to prolong the battery life

If the thing draws 1 amp like it says... and you use a .5 amp wall plug... i bet that fucker (plug) gets hot as fuck. Not a good idea. It may be best to charge bats at .5 amp... but that doesnt mean thats what the istick is doing. Its doing whatever the chip tells it too.

 

[VapeJohn]

You want the amp rating on the wall adapter to be HIGHER than what the device will draw. If its lower it can be bad.

This is NOT true and can lead to disaster such as a overheated battery thus, it vent's and causes a fire.

 

[VapeJohn]

If the thing draws 1 amp like it says... and you use a .5 amp wall plug... i bet that fucker (plug) gets hot as fuck. Not a good idea. It may be best to charge bats at .5 amp... but that doesnt mean thats what the istick is doing. Its doing whatever the chip tells it too.

Why do you think so? If a wall plugs output limitation is .5 Mah that is all it's going to output... I think you are really confused

 

[efektt]

This is NOT true and can lead to disaster such as a overheated battery thus, it vent's and causes a fire.

The istick controls the rate of charge not the wall plug. I would say it is a much higher risk to have it try and pull more than the plug can handle... not the other way around.

 

[rdsok]

The iStick may control up to how many amps it can take... but it can not control how many amps the supply can provide. If the supply is only able to output 0.5a that is the most it will provide.

I'd also point at what the USB spec's say in these matters BUT many of the USB devices now don't follow them... so unless the device manufacturer specifically says they follow the specs... we can't just assume it these days.

 

[VapeJohn]

efektt Try it yourself and get back to me

 

[efektt]

Try what?

 

[VapeJohn]

Try what?

Hooking up a .5 amp wall adaptor to charge an istick

 

[efektt]

I dont own either. I charge every usb chargeable thing i own on the same 2 amp plug.... unless i need to charge more than one at a time.

 

[Mike H.]

The charging limit is a MAXIMUM input charge rate.

Youre fine with using a .7mah charger...I use a .5mah wall charger to charge my mvp 20w with that came with my kanger evod kit for charging 650mah ego batteries...it does not get hot and the charge Is great on it..Do not use something over 1mah to charge with.

 

[efektt]

So your saying if it goes on a 2 amp plug it will draw the full 2 amps and charge at 2 amps?

 

[chewedatty]

To the OP... The Eleaf Istick charger that is supplied with the unit in some kits is 5v/1amp (1000ma)

From the Eleaf website... "Istick supports charging with 1A wall adapter which is more fast" I own 2 of those chargers which came with the units & both are 5v/1amp.
A 5v charger with an output between 0.5amp (500ma) & 1amp (1000ma) is all fine but do not charge it with a charger which is over 1amp. If you do & something gets fried, it's on your own head. Your 0.7amp charger should be fine.

 

[Hermit]

Most of you are WRONG. It's really quite worrying that bad advice is handed out with such confidence!

What is true for charging naked batteries is NOT true for a device like the istick with a USB power input and built-in charge circuit.

OK, one source of confusion is that cell phone 'chargers' are not chargers - they're just power supplies. The charging circuit is built onto the phone (or istick, etc), and simply needs the correct voltage supply with enough current capability. Power supplies output a fixed voltage and have a maximum current rating.

Contrast that to an actual charger, which has to regulate current so as not to overload the battery. During the constant current phase, it tries to output a fixed current. It does that by varying the voltage, setting it a little above the charge in the battery.

So...

A (real) charger that puts out less current than the maximum the battery can take, will usually just take longer to charge it. No problem.

A power supply that can't put out as much current as the device (charger) wants, will be stressed. It will probably get warm/hot, have reduced voltage output, and possibly melt/burn. Or shut down completely (if it's a good one, but few are). The battery being charged may or may not reach full charge (depending on lots of factors), but is unlikely to be damaged.

Since the istick's charger is built into the device, you can't control what current it tries to charge at. You could plug it into a USB supply capable of 10000000 Amps and it would still only draw 1A.

Use a supply with a 1A or higher rating with the istick. Using a .5 or .7 supply is not advisable, see last paragraph of quote.

Charging anything unattended (or worse, while asleep) isn't wise. That said, the istick can be left hooked up to a supply after it's charged without harm; it simply draws no current in that state.

 

[Mike H.]

Meh, Guess i shouldnt be charging my mvp anymore with a .5A charger...i mean innokin supplies a usb 2 charging cord thats intended for 1A of charging through a computers usb port but yet .5A charges the larger mvp 2600mah battery it to its full capacity just at a slower rate....the funny part is it never even gets warm to the touch nor does the .5A AC power supply from kanger....Ive even used it in pass through for a few hours..Surprised it didnt melt down or at least get warm.

Isnt the theory on charging a battery 1A per per 1000mah?...If so everything should be melting down and getting hot as all these manufacturers are only supplying 1A built in chargers for batteries double the capacity.

I dont care how regulated a charging device is...NEVER charge anything unattended...The one day your onboard charger fails will be the day you remember the advice in a bad way.

 

[chewedatty]

I've always generally charged my sony vtc4 batts & purple efests at either 1amp or 0.5amp in an efest luc charger, the 0.5amp makes for a quieter charge & is considered to be better. Honestly though, the batteries have a really good shelf life either way.
With sealed units that are intended to be charged with the battery installed it's always a good idea to use the included charger or equivilent. In the case of the istick, there's a mystery reason why some come with an included charger while others don't, even though the packaging is the same. Must've been some mix up between 'kit' & 'unit', i dunno.

 

[Hermit]

The charging limit is a MAXIMUM input charge rate.

Youre fine with using a .7mah charger...I use a .5mah wall charger to charge my mvp 20w with that came with my kanger evod kit for charging 650mah ego batteries...it does not get hot and the charge Is great on it..Do not use something over 1mah to charge with.

I assume you mean to write "A" when you say "mah"

Meh, Guess i shouldnt be charging my mvp anymore with a .5A charger...i mean innokin supplies a usb 2 charging cord thats intended for 1A of charging through a computers usb port but yet .5A charges the larger mvp 2600mah battery it to its full capacity just at a slower rate....the funny part is it never even gets warm to the touch nor does the .5A AC power supply from kanger....Ive even used it in pass through for a few hours..Surprised it didnt melt down or at least get warm.

What you need is something like this gadget, to see if your 'charger' (really just a supply) is still able to supply 5V and what current is actually being drawn. The MVP wants about 0.85A, IIRC. It could be that your supply actually manages to do that, despite its rating, perhaps just with a bit of voltage droop which would account for the slower charge rate.

The key thing though, is that even if for example some specific 0.7A supply seems to be fine at 1A, it's still bad advice to say that any 0.7A supply would be fine - it's under-specced for the job.

And advice that a supply capable of more than 1A shouldn't be used with the istick is completely incorrect.

Isnt the theory on charging a battery 1A per per 1000mah?...If so everything should be melting down and getting hot as all these manufacturers are only supplying 1A built in chargers for batteries double the capacity.

Why do you think that? No problem with the built-in chargers charging at less than the maximum rate, and that's going to keep the battery cooler (good thing since the batt is enclosed). It's more an issue for NiMH charging, where charging too slowly can make the termination point hard to detect accurately.

 

[efektt]

Most of you are WRONG. It's really quite worrying that bad advice is handed out with such confidence!

What is true for charging naked batteries is NOT true for a device like the istick with a USB power input and built-in charge circuit.



Since the istick's charger is built into the device, you can't control what current it tries to charge at. You could plug it into a USB supply capable of 10000000 Amps and it would still only draw 1A.

Use a supply with a 1A or higher rating with the istick. Using a .5 or .7 supply is not advisable, see last paragraph of quote.

Charging anything unattended (or worse, while asleep) isn't wise. That said, the istick can be left hooked up to a supply after it's charged without harm; it simply draws no current in that state.

Thank you. Exactly what I was trying to say.

 

[Hermit]

Thank you. Exactly what I was trying to say.

And you did, very clearly! Thread should've ended with post #13

 

[dubya314]

Well, im more confused than when I started. I appreciate all the advice, but it seems like almost a 50/50 split on over/under charging. Guess I'll just stick with 1a and hope for the best

 

[AmandaD]

Well, im more confused than when I started. I appreciate all the advice, but it seems like almost a 50/50 split on over/under charging. Guess I'll just stick with 1a and hope for the best

Hermit knows his stuff!

 

[dubya314]

It would be nice if I had any understanding on my own to help with the matter, but sadly I don't

 

[Robert B]

Hermit & efektt are 100% correct. Same thing for phones tablets etc... the device will only draw what the manufacturer rated it to draw. I use 2A Anker usb chargers on everything, including Anker's 4.8A usb car charger

These 13,000 mAh batteries would be a nice compliment to an iStick

 

[chewedatty]

Agreed. I was a tad wrong before. If the charger is integral with the circuitry in the device then of course a 1amp or higher ac/dc wall plug makes sense.
I have been charging my istick with a 700ma wall charger & havn't had any issues but now i'll switch to the 1amp versions.
Does it make any difference whether the ad/dc plug is regulated or unregulated ? I mean surely a regulated one is putting out more than necessary & conflicting with the istick whereas an unregulated plug will only deliver what the device demands.

 

[Hermit]

'Regulated', for a wall plug, refers to the voltage. I can't remember the last time I saw an unregulated one - I think they pretty much all are regulated these days, in effect, so they don't even bother mentioning it. Certainly, any with a USB connector ought to be. No conflict, because you want the supply to be a good steady voltage regardless of what current the istick is drawing.

 

[Jaaxx]

1A or better is fine, the istick will not draw more than 1A no matter what. Now, using a 700mA charger with the istick means that the istick will be drawing the maximum possible from the adapter (700mA.) In theory this would be no problem, but it means you are asking the adapter to run at it's absolute maximum limit for a long time. Good adapters can handle it no problem, cheap ones *might* crap out and cause a problem. So, when in doubt use an adapter that meets or exceeds the isticks charge rate (1A.)

 

[DevAuto]

Hermit & efektt are 100% correct. Same thing for phones tablets etc... the device will only draw what the manufacturer rated it to draw. I use 2A Anker usb chargers on everything, including Anker's 4.8A usb car charger

These 13,000 mAh batteries would be a nice compliment to an iStick

Yeah, but it looks way to thin to add the 510 connector ... there would be a lot of overhang with a standard 22mm tank too!