Married VTC 4's-problems, probably fake.

[conanthewarrior]

Hi everyone.

Earlier today, My Xcube 2 needed its batteries changing, so I put in a set I charged last night, some 'sony VTC 4's".

I was a bit confused as it was showing less than half battery, I took three hits then got the 'check battery' warning.

I put both batteries in my charger, and found that one battery was fully charged, but the other was completely empty, it showed 0MA on insertion, and a voltage of 3.68 V.

I gathered the battery had had it-but its charging on my charger.

I ordered a few new batteries-I went for LG HE4's this time, I usually get 25R's but fancied trying something different, and heard good things about them.

So, I have 4 HE4's on the way.

The thing is-this battery is now taking charge. I was thinking that last night, my chargers were rather crowded, and it is possible I simply forgot to charge the sony.

If I find this to be the case, I will carry on using as normal.

BUT, if I find the battery is dead again tomorrow, will it be OK to use the single battery that is still OK for low amp draw applications? E.G my Sigelei 30W mini.

Also-how do people find the LG HE4's? I only own multiple 25R's, two sets of VTC 4'S (One 100% genuine, not sure about the second set) and LG HG2's-I didn't find the HG2's all that to be honest, but needed some more batteries as I have quite a few dual battery mods now.

I am hoping I simply forgot to charge the battery, that is the most likely scenario as it is now at 4.09 V and near the end of charging, but I will leave it overnight to see if the voltage has dropped badly.

Were the HE4's a good choice? Or in future should I stick to 25R's? As I am not sure if the 25R is still the best all round battery or not, or the HE4 is better.

Thanks everyone, Conan.

EDIT: Sorry the title should be 'maybe fake'-as I was dubious of these from the get go due to the source-but they performed as well as a VTC4 should, and never even got warm at 100W, so I gathered they was genuine, until this occurence.

 

[Bean8379]

HE4 are the same specs as HE2's and 25R's so should be fine.

 

[conanthewarrior]

Ahh fair enough. They didn't cost anymore, so that is OK. I will just get 25R's in the future though if they are essentially the same spec.

Also-It WAS me being a donut. I had so many batteries on charge, I charged one but not the other. Its fully charged now, it was my being a donut, so should work fine.

So I will have even more spare batteries-a good thing for me .

EDIT: Actually, I think it is the battery. Its been off the charger for 10 minutes and already fell to 4.18V. the other is still 4.20V. Think its time to split these and chuck the dodgy one.

 

[NemesisVaper]

I'd say you forgot to fully charge one of the batteries.

3.6V is not a dead battery, it's around half way discharged, maybe slightly more.

The mAh counter on a battery charger won't tell you the remaining capacity of a battery. It should always show 0 when you put a different battery in that channel. The counter tells you how many mAh the charger has put in to a battery in that particular session. Showing 0 when you first put it in is exactly what it should do.

 

[conanthewarrior]

I'd say you forgot to fully charge one of the batteries.

3.6V is not a dead battery, it's around half way discharged, maybe slightly more.

The mAh counter on a battery charger won't tell you the remaining capacity of a battery. It should always show 0 when you put a different battery in that channel. The counter tells you how many mAh the charger has put in to a battery in that particular session. Showing 0 when you first put it in is exactly what it should do.

Ahh OK-It seems most likely this is the problem. I was worried as the voltage of the battery dropped to 4.18-but it hasn't dropped any more. I am going to leave it overnight, then check the voltage.

I also probably have never noticed the 0 before, but as I was checking the battery thinking there was an issue, I noticed it.

I will update tomorrow if there is a problem or it was just me, simply forgetting to charge it lol.

 

[Zamazam]

HE4's are a good choice Conan.

 

[conanthewarrior]

HE4's are a good choice Conan.

Ahh I am glad. I heard a few batteries that were recommended, but as you know I have memory problems, but I was sure the HE4 was mentioned, I bought them from a UK battery store, under a fiver each, so got 4. I read the description and it said 20A continous, 35A pulse, which if is for 5 seconds is not as good as the 25R's 45A for 5 seconds-not sure about 6 seconds though but I know the 25R is 30A for 6 seconds, but who takes 6 second pulls? 35A is perfect, as I rarely even hit 20A.

I will test them out, as I have put the ? vtc4's in a device, they are fine-I simply forgot to charge one due to how many batteries I have, and with the 25R's being green now as well I must of accidently charged a 25R and a VTC4.

I hope the HE4 is as good a performer as the 25R for me though-I fancied trying something different so went for that.

I may only marry one pair and keep the other two for single battery mods, as I also have the EVIC VT mini coming as it was calling out to me too much. So much stuff this month, I will have to use each device alone for a few weeks to learn its good and bad points, but while I can afford it, I am doing it.

 

[Bean8379]

I have a brand new 25r. My mod has USB charging but I usually throw it in my xtar overnight and put it back in my mod when I wake up. My mod has a battery display. I don't usually vape first thing in the morning and I turn my mod off until I'm ready to use it. When I turn it back on it shows a slight drop in battery level. But the battery always shows full when I put it in. No big deal.

 

[Bean8379]

Every time you charge a battery, a full charge begins to decay immediately afterwards. Some batteries faster than others and the more times it has been charged the faster it happens. Batteries have an acid and an electrolyte. When both the acid and the electrolyte are fresh, a full charge lasts longer. Over time, the more a battery is charged the more the acid or the electrolyte will lose potency/decay, and it will drop from a full charge quicker. This is normal and does not mean the battery is bad.

 

[conanthewarrior]

Every time you charge a battery, a full charge begins to decay immediately afterwards. Some batteries faster than others and the more times it has been charged the faster it happens. Batteries have an acid and an electrolyte. When both the acid and the electrolyte are fresh, a full charge lasts longer. Over time, the more a battery is charged the more the acid or the electrolyte will lose potency/decay, and it will drop from a full charge quicker. This is normal and does not mean the battery is bad.

Thank you for your explanation. I understood over time batteries lose capacity, and thus max safe amps- I didn't realise it affected the voltage though. I know now, and the batteries are indeed still full in my sig 150, so I simply forgot to charge.

One charge unmarried won't matter will it? Like the batteries have both gone through the same charge cycles, just one before the other.

 

[WiSK]

Batteries have an acid and an electrolyte.

Can you explain exactly what is the acidic component in Li-ion cells?

 

[conanthewarrior]

Nope, not a bit. Even a dozen times. According to Mooch, and I believe him.

Out of a lifecycle of 300 or more charges, a couple percent difference wont matter.
Just for myself, If it were convenient, I'd try to use both singly about the same, but I wouldn't be concerned if that wasn't possible. Then I'd marry them back up... no worries.

Ahh I didn't do that, I just put them straight in my sigelei 150 og, working fine, overnight battery was the same as it was when I went to bed. I think the batteries ARE genuine, I was just dubious because of this and source, if not they are good rewraps, plus I never use them for massive amp load, and they last as long as my other VTC4's, so I think my fears were unfounded.

Where the 25R's are now green, I must of got confused.

I did do one thing though-got myself a sharpie lol. My permanent marker wasn't so permanent,the sharpie should be, and as it is fine it looks much better on the batteries. No more paper with writing sellotaped on my batteries lol.

 

[Robert B]

I've stuck a pair of batts in my D2 charger before, not thinking or paying attention, put one in backwards. So one charged fully, the other just sat there in the same state I put it in at. Pulled them both off the charger, again, not looking. Put one of the batts in the smpl mech, wtf? dead battery?... lol


Also, you can re-wrap your own batteries using a transparent wrap, print out what ever info you want and slide the piece of paper under the wrap before you heat shrink it.

 

[MrScaryZ]

Every time you charge a battery, a full charge begins to decay immediately afterwards. Some batteries faster than others and the more times it has been charged the faster it happens. Batteries have an acid and an electrolyte. When both the acid and the electrolyte are fresh, a full charge lasts longer. Over time, the more a battery is charged the more the acid or the electrolyte will lose potency/decay, and it will drop from a full charge quicker. This is normal and does not mean the battery is bad.

LI-Ion cells do not have acid please go to http://batteryuniversity.com/ so you are not confusing people

 

[Bean8379]

LI-Ion cells do not have acid please go to http://batteryuniversity.com/ so you are not confusing people

My apologies. You are correct, li-ion do not have an acid, but they do have an electrolyte. Although li-ion do not discharge as quickly as nickel batteries, they still do.

 

[conanthewarrior]

I've stuck a pair of batts in my D2 charger before, not thinking or paying attention, put one in backwards. So one charged fully, the other just sat there in the same state I put it in at. Pulled them both off the charger, again, not looking. Put one of the batts in the smpl mech, wtf? dead battery?... lol


Also, you can re-wrap your own batteries using a transparent wrap, print out what ever info you want and slide the piece of paper under the wrap before you heat shrink it.

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Thanks man-I already have loads of shrink wrap, but didn't think of putting the paper UNDER the wrap. I may try that in future-for now I use a sharpie though .

And you know what? I think that is EXACTLY what I did, I must of put a battery in BACKWARDS as I always make sure to charge my married batteries together in either the D4 or I2, I don't really use the D4 for 4 batteries as it only charges at 375MA a battery with 4, 750MA with 2.