Balanced and even wear is what I'm after and switching them every time is what makes sense to me. If they are both not performing the same, they both become dangerous, right? And you know that battery safety is one subject I obsess about and want to clearly understand.
The reason why I've been confused about this is because of what was previously suggested that the top one should always be on top and the bottom one always on the bottom. I just don't want to make a mistake in this department and will gladly be over cautious even if to extreme.
... and I understand your confusion. I was also confuse and in all honesty I still am on many aspects, wrt batteries. I have spent a lot of time on battery U and rehash the articles etc... I found it often takes several reads to firmly grasp what is really going on.
From the beginning I never paid much attention to left or right, top or bottom. <---- This info was posted more than once. Is it credible? I honestly can't say. The user is going to need to make up his/her own mind on the subject, and unfortunately I can no longer edit that post. I'll explain...
Why do we use batteries in pairs? So that they deplete at the same rate. We often use both the words deplete and drain interchangeably. To me they have different meanings. I will often try and use the wording from the individual as to not confuse an explanation.
A drained battery to me is a battery that has delivered its energy via work, and needs a break e.g a re-charge, just like us. A depleted battery on the other hand is a battery that through work has depleted the chemical energy contained within the cylinder and can no longer accept a charge, or is only capable of storing a minimal amount of energy. The picture of internal resistance at battery U shows this quite clearly.
The latter becomes evident as time goes on:
- internal resistance increases:
- by the accumulation of spent deposits, the by product of chemical reaction to produce energy.
- as time goes by the flow of electrons in the battery becomes much harder, which in turn - causes the battery to provide insufficient current to power the load, accelerating the build up of spent deposits in the cell
- the battery not lasting as long;
- because the energy storing capacity has been reduced; causing
- the battery to work twice as hard to provide suffcient current to the load (think of fighting through the jungle with a machete) and in doing so, create more deposits at a faster rate
- the re-charge time is diminished; and
- it takes less time to fill a 3/4 full gas tank than it does a full one. 1/4 being the only usable storage left
- the charging frequency has increased.
Just another battery question - E-Cigarette Forumpost #17 (the bath tub analogy)
I will not purposely lead someone astray. At the same time I am not infallible. Through these/our discussions it is indeed possible to decipher chaff from wheat and lay to rest some of the myths that circulate the forum.
These discussions at times are difficult as they spread over several threads, and sub-forums. Based on what is written at Battery U and a working model provided by Vaporologist, I believe we can presume that:
- the top battery since it drains faster, has provided more work. Since it has:
- it's life expectancy will be diminished because;
- the rate of chemical deposits occured through work increases proportionately; and
- this increase in deposits increases the resistance of current to flow (stress), further accelerating cholesterol build up
- as internal resistance increases, storing capacity of the cell has decreased proportionately
- because the internal resistance of the top battery increased, the flow of current of the bottom battery is not efficient (fighting through the jungle, pushing a golf ball through a garden hose). This results in:
- stressing the bottom battery (has to work harder);
- increasing the internal resistance of the battery; and
- accelerating the accumulation of deposits
- because the aforementioned is taken place, and the load demand is constant, insufficient flow to the load will cause the top battery to stress further, once again compounding the problem. It is like a dog chasing it's tail. There is a better explanation that I could offer, but it is too complex for most to comprehend.
In conclusion I believe we can safely presume that based on the assumptions from interpreted text, it would be beneficial to rotate our batteries, rather than using them in the same position all the time. Why? Because I honestly believe it makes more sense.
Disclaimer: These are
my interpretations of what I deem is occuring based on what I have learned from Battery U. Discussion on the finer points is always welcome, we all benefit from them. The latter causes us to look a little more closely into the subject. It is also my further belief that everyone should endeavour to read and comprehend the source, and openly discuss the finer points here, so we can all learn from the text.
