Extending 18650 Li on battery life...

[carl cipriano]

Okay, so, I have done quite a bit of research into how to extend the life of my 18650 Li on cells, and some of the best information I read was on the Battery University website. I am just wondering if anyone else out there has been doing something similar to what I do, and if they have noticed a distinct increase in the lifespan of their cells? The reason I ask this is because I have only been vaping for about a year, and I only started using a mod with Li on batteries (18650) around 8 months or so ago. I have 5 batteries which I rotate (all 18650s), I charge them each to roughly 95% (or around 4.1 volts) and once each battery has been discharged to about 65% (or between 3.5 and 3.7V) I store it until I rotate through the other four.

So far, I have not noticed any significant decrease in performance, and I am guessing that if I keep doing this, I could probably use these 5 batteries for another couple of years. My question is, am I discontinuing use of the cell prematurely? What I mean is, instead of taking the battery out of the mod and storing it until I cycle therough the other four when it hits between 3.5 and 3.7V, could I use the battery longer and still increase the lifespan the same way?

I have been wondering lately, if I could discharge each battery to about 30% (which is where most Li on batteries are stored at, after all)......just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this? Thanks in advance

 

[retired1]

It's not so much the discharge (you can take 'em down to around 3.2v with no appreciable negative effects), but the charging that tends to degrade the battery life. As you've found, charging them to 4.1v will increase the useful life of the battery two fold. Amazing how that .1 volt makes a huge difference, huh?

 

[Ongakos]

I am using the Nitecore 4 batteries charger that charges them to 4,2 v.That charger gives me the options to charge them to High 750mA or Low 300 mA current mode. If I use more than 2 x 18650 it is possible to charge them to even lower 150mA only as low current charging option . I think the lower the better is for the life of our batteries.

 

[Alien Traveler]

It's not so much the discharge (you can take 'em down to around 3.2v with no appreciable negative effects), but the charging that tends to degrade the battery life. As you've found, charging them to 4.1v will increase the useful life of the battery two fold. Amazing how that .1 volt makes a huge difference, huh?

Nope. Degree of discharge also changes lifespan of a battery.
Deeper discharge = shorter battery life (battery university).
If you discharge battery only to 50% number of available chargers will increase three times. Definitely an improvement. Will I follow recommendations? Do not think so. Too much trouble.

 

[zoiDman]

Okay, so, I have done quite a bit of research into how to extend the life of my 18650 Li on cells, and some of the best information I read was on the Battery University website. I am just wondering if anyone else out there has been doing something similar to what I do, and if they have noticed a distinct increase in the lifespan of their cells? The reason I ask this is because I have only been vaping for about a year, and I only started using a mod with Li on batteries (18650) around 8 months or so ago. I have 5 batteries which I rotate (all 18650s), I charge them each to roughly 95% (or around 4.1 volts) and once each battery has been discharged to about 65% (or between 3.5 and 3.7V) I store it until I rotate through the other four.

So far, I have not noticed any significant decrease in performance, and I am guessing that if I keep doing this, I could probably use these 5 batteries for another couple of years. My question is, am I discontinuing use of the cell prematurely? What I mean is, instead of taking the battery out of the mod and storing it until I cycle therough the other four when it hits between 3.5 and 3.7V, could I use the battery longer and still increase the lifespan the same way?

I have been wondering lately, if I could discharge each battery to about 30% (which is where most Li on batteries are stored at, after all)......just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this? Thanks in advance

Here is a Good Read on Prolonging Li-ion Battery Life...

How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries - Battery University

 

[nyiddle]

Nope. Degree of discharge also changes lifespan of a battery.
Deeper discharge = shorter battery life (battery university).
If you discharge battery only to 50% number of available chargers will increase three times. Definitely an improvement. Will I follow recommendations? Do not think so. Too much trouble.

So essentially, in an impossibly ideal situation you'd be charging your batteries to 4.1V, then draining them to like 3.8V and charging them back up. Your battery would likely last years, but obviously that's not practical for any vaper unless you wanna be excessively .... about it.

 

[sonicbomb]

but obviously that's not practical for any vaper unless you wanna be excessively .... about it

I think that describes a large number of the borderline techno-fetishists on here

 

[schatz]

Okay, so, I have done quite a bit of research into how to extend the life of my 18650 Li on cells, and some of the best information I read was on the Battery University website. I am just wondering if anyone else out there has been doing something similar to what I do, and if they have noticed a distinct increase in the lifespan of their cells? The reason I ask this is because I have only been vaping for about a year, and I only started using a mod with Li on batteries (18650) around 8 months or so ago. I have 5 batteries which I rotate (all 18650s), I charge them each to roughly 95% (or around 4.1 volts) and once each battery has been discharged to about 65% (or between 3.5 and 3.7V) I store it until I rotate through the other four.

So far, I have not noticed any significant decrease in performance, and I am guessing that if I keep doing this, I could probably use these 5 batteries for another couple of years. My question is, am I discontinuing use of the cell prematurely? What I mean is, instead of taking the battery out of the mod and storing it until I cycle therough the other four when it hits between 3.5 and 3.7V, could I use the battery longer and still increase the lifespan the same way?

I have been wondering lately, if I could discharge each battery to about 30% (which is where most Li on batteries are stored at, after all)......just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this? Thanks in advance

How can you tell when their at 4.1 V, does your charger display volts.My charger Xtar and a Nitecore do not display volts, only read when they are fully charged. My Xtar will let me choose low amp chargeing, which is what I choose, but I would have to sit ther with my fluke meter on it for monitoring of the voltage and pull them out when reading 4.1. Not going to do that.Have 3 Batteries I bouaght 2 years ago with Provari and are still going strong. just dont let them go down below 3.5-3.7 volts. What charger do you have, I would like to have a charger that shuts down at a certain voltage if that would really be beneficial, although cost of batteries versus charger upgrade might need to be considered.

 

[nyiddle]

How can you tell when their at 4.1 V, does your charger display volts.My charger Xtar and a Nitecore do not display volts, only read when they are fully charged. My Xtar will let me choose low amp chargeing, which is what I choose, but I would have to sit ther with my fluke meter on it for monitoring of the voltage and pull them out when reading 4.1. Not going to do that.Have 3 Batteries I bouaght 2 years ago with Provari and are still going strong. just dont let them go down below 3.5-3.7 volts. What charger do you have, I would like to have a charger that shuts down at a certain voltage if that would really be beneficial, although cost of batteries versus charger upgrade might need to be considered.

I have a Luc V4, it has an LED display which does display volts. It'd be nice if it did hundredths, but no big deal.

Like I said in the above post though, it's pretty excessive to do this. Just don't over-discharge your batteries and they should last about a year or so. You can get LG HE2s for like 5 bucks now? 10 bucks a year? Not bad.

 

[zoiDman]

How can you tell when their at 4.1 V, does your charger display volts.My charger Xtar and a Nitecore do not display volts, only read when they are fully charged. My Xtar will let me choose low amp chargeing, which is what I choose, but I would have to sit ther with my fluke meter on it for monitoring of the voltage and pull them out when reading 4.1. Not going to do that.Have 3 Batteries I bouaght 2 years ago with Provari and are still going strong. just dont let them go down below 3.5-3.7 volts. What charger do you have, I would like to have a charger that shuts down at a certain voltage if that would really be beneficial, although cost of batteries versus charger upgrade might need to be considered.

I believe that some Relatively inexpensive charges have the Ability to set the Cut-Off Voltage that the charger will charge to. I have seen people Post the Brand/Model before, but I Can't recall any off the top of my head.

I think Prolonging Battery Life is Great. But to be Honest, I Don't really Worry about it too much. Batteries (to Me) are Not a Huge Expense compared to how long the Last.

I just do what you do. Don't run them down Lower than about 3.6v and then charge them in a Nitecore charger.

If I happen to Run the Battery down to the point where the Mod doesn't Fire, 3.2v-ish, Ca Sara-Sara.

 

[drrs]

I have heard they can go as low as 2.5V, was wondering if that is correct?

 

[nyiddle]

I have heard they can go as low as 2.5V, was wondering if that is correct?

No, don't run an 18650 down this low. If you do, toss it. It'll likely never hold a charge the same again.

 

[sunnynayak]

I use my 18650 batteries in SX Mini M class. I switch them once i get the Low Battery warning. When i throw them in a charger they are typically at 3.3/3.4
Is this going to reduce the number of cycles i get from my batteries?

 

[zoiDman]

I have heard they can go as low as 2.5V, was wondering if that is correct?

No... That's Not good to do.

 

[nyiddle]

I use my 18650 batteries in SX Mini M class. I switch them once i get the Low Battery warning. When i throw them in a charger they are typically at 3.3/3.4
Is this going to reduce the number of cycles i get from my batteries?

Yes. I'd recommend charging them slightly before you trigger the low battery warning.

ie: In my Sig150 I charge the batteries when the indicator gets to 50%, because at 50% the nominal voltage is around 3.5V. That's as low as I'd like to go on my 18650's.

 

[zoiDman]

I use my 18650 batteries in SX Mini M class. I switch them once i get the Low Battery warning. When i throw them in a charger they are typically at 3.3/3.4
Is this going to reduce the number of cycles i get from my batteries?

Yeah... It should. As compared to Charging them when they Reach 4.6v.

It just kinda gets down to How Much you want to Charge your Batteries. And Can you get 1 Day out of 1 Charge.

If I decrease my Battery life from 330 Cycles to 300 Cycles (about 10%) because I run them down to 3.3v, that's Bad... Right?

But if I can go All Day at Work on 1 Battery by running it to 3.3v. that's a Good Thing.

Everything is a Trade Off.

 

[sunnynayak]

Yes. I'd recommend charging them slightly before you trigger the low battery warning.

ie: In my Sig150 I charge the batteries when the indicator gets to 50%, because at 50% the nominal voltage is around 3.5V. That's as low as I'd like to go on my 18650's.

Okay, i might try this with my new Samsung 25R. I havent started using them yet.

Yeah... It should. As compared to Charging them when they Reach 4.6v.

It just kinda gets down to How Much you want to Charge your Batteries. And Can you get 1 Day out of 1 Charge.

If I decrease my Battery life from 330 Cycles to 300 Cycles (about 10%) because I run them down to 3.3v, that's Bad... Right?

But if I can go All Day at Work on 1 Battery by running it to 3.3v. that's a Good Thing.

Everything is a Trade Off.

I get your point.. I get a full days worth of vaping from 1 charge on my purple efest. I will give @nyiddle suggestion a shot and see if i can get some increased longevity

 

[nyiddle]

I get your point.. I get a full days worth of vaping from 1 charge on my purple efest. I will give @nyiddle suggestion a shot and see if i can get some increased longevity

Hold up, there's two kinds of "battery life" in play here. Battery life in terms of how long a charge lasts on your battery (like, in a given day), and battery life in terms of over the course of a year or so, (like, long-term longevity).

You won't notice the first from charging your batteries carefully, but you will notice the second.

 

[Baditude]

I have a couple of AW 18650 IMR 2000mah batteries that I purchased about 2 1/2 years ago, still in my battery rotation (approximately 5 AW 18650 IMR's which are all different in age). Still work nearly like new.

I believe using multiple batteries in rotation prolongs their overall longevity. I try not to leave them charging in the charger once they are topped off, and I try to allow them to "rest" a day or so after being fully charged. I have never over discharged them, as my regulated mod alerts me when they reach 3.4 volts.

 

[zoiDman]

Hold up, there's two kinds of "battery life" in play here. Battery life in terms of how long a charge lasts on your battery (like, in a given day), and battery life in terms of over the course of a year or so, (like, long-term longevity).

You won't notice the first from charging your batteries carefully, but you will notice the second.

Yeah... We should probably use the phrase "Battery Life" to describe the time needed between Charges.

And "Battery Lifespan" to describe how long a Battery lasts before you need to Replace it.