Is it bad to charge a battery before it is completely dead?

[Jdurand]

alien Traveler" data-source="post: 14676156" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

No. It also will prolong battery life. But it is too much trouble to look after charger...

UNTRUE, do not do this. Once a battery is on charge it should be allowed to fully charge. Taking a battery off charge before it is done will create a "false ceiling" and it may struggle to fully charge again. When I only had my MVP as a primary device I occasionally had to pull it off charge to head to work. Maybe it was at 4.0 or 4.1. Now I can only get a 4.1 full charge. The light shuts off as though it is fully charged but its built in meter only reads 4.1 volts no matter how long it is left on the charger. The MVP is only 3 months old now, so it's not normal for this kind of degradation so soon. I have had this same experience with R/C modeling batteries as well.

 

[Buckster]

Hi, Rammstein.

You didn't give us much info. But I looked at all your other posts.

To answer your question, spaceballs link is good. Read up on it.

I bought a pair of Variable Volt stick type batteries 900 mAh. These are Halo Triton (which I love, but I wouldn't recommend to you cause the threading is proprietary, and won't match the stuff you already have.) These aren't variable wattage, just regulated adjustable voltage. And easy to operate. You start at a low setting, like 3.3v. Then you turn it up bit by bit till you find your "sweet spot". If it's too harsh or burnt tasting, dial it down. And different tanks and juices will need a different power. That's the beauty of variable power. The battery you have isn't adjustable, you just deal with what it is providing.

But I love my VarVolt bats, cause they deliver the set voltage from fresh off the charger until it blinks for a recharge. And I used these HEAVILY for the past year, and they are still performing great, but the vaping time is going down. I used to get let's say 6 to 7 hours between charges, now I get 4 to 5.

Life is too short to continue with entry level stuff at this point in your vaping journey. Get thyself to a vape shop. Try out the variable volt and the var wattage mods they have. Bring your tanks, they will fit.

Then shop around. You might find you don't need variable wattage with the readout. Maybe a good adjustable V V battery will do. This Vision Spinner 2 1600mAh looks great at $25. Found good pricing at 101vapes.

That Apollo VV/VW seems a bit expensive for the capacity, $40 for 1300mAh. Although it is round, easy to hold and variable wattage.

Consider an iStick? Rounded edge is easy to hold, VV/VW, 2300mAh and plenty of power. It lasts me a day and a half. And you can use your current bats as backup. And find it at MyVaporStore for $39

And best of luck!!!

I would recommend the iStick too. My son and I both have one and are loving them.

 

[CoinLaundry]

Looking at the chart from Battery University (I can't post links yet), 100% depth of discharge is ideal, but your atomizer will not run a battery down to 0%. Recharging 10% of your battery's life 600 times means 60 100% dis/charges went in and out (60 credits), but 400 discharge/recharges at 100% is 400 100% dis/recharges (400 credits):

DoD aCyc zCyc ~Chgs Life
100 300 500 400 400
50 1200 1500 675 337.5
25 2000 2500 562.5 140.625
10 3750 4700 422.5 42.25

 

[Alien Traveler]

UNTRUE, do not do this. Once a battery is on charge it should be allowed to fully charge. Taking a battery off charge before it is done will create a "false ceiling" and it may struggle to fully charge again. When I only had my MVP as a primary device I occasionally had to pull it off charge to head to work. Maybe it was at 4.0 or 4.1. Now I can only get a 4.1 full charge. The light shuts off as though it is fully charged but its built in meter only reads 4.1 volts no matter how long it is left on the charger. The MVP is only 3 months old now, so it's not normal for this kind of degradation so soon. I have had this same experience with R/C modeling batteries as well.

Please, do not mislead other members of ECF.
According to
How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries - Battery University
we can charge battery to 4.2V and it will work for 300 – 500 charges.
If we charge it only to 4.0 V it will work for 1,200 – 2,000 charges.
See the difference?

 

[Jdurand]

Please, do not mislead other members of ECF.
According to
How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries - Battery University
we can charge battery to 4.2V and it will work for 300 – 500 charges.
If we charge it only to 4.0 V it will work for 1,200 – 2,000 charges.
See the difference?

Are you really going to refer to a study on cell phone and laptop batteries, and their inherent slow rate of discharge, to compare to high amp quicker drain devices we use. Even when that study clearly states a controlled atmosphere study and real life are two different things?

People, do some research and make your own call. Me, i now charge fully every time.

 

[KenD]

Are you really going to refer to a study on cell phone and laptop batteries, and their inherent slow rate of discharge, to compare to high amp quicker drain devices we use. Even when that study clearly states a controlled atmosphere study and real life are two different things?

People, do some research and make your own call. Me, i now charge fully every time.

The batteries we use for vaping are the same that are used in laptop battery packs (until the non-removable batteries became common - still, it's mainly the form factor that differs). No batteries are specifically made for vaping. Li-ion batteries (and that includes IMRs and hybrids) don't have a memory effect.

 

[Spencer87]

Depending on the Battery. For more advanced batteries... Recommends to charge at around 3.6 Volts. Usually, I charge when I have Voltage drop.... I aint got time for lower power hits. mind you I have to have about 4 batteries with me a day. Two in my two mods... and 2 spare. Usually i only stick to one flavor. But i like to have th option if I am bored to switch mods, and flavors.

 

[rammstein]

sorry im putting this in a new post

 

[WattWick]

Going totally OCD with your batteries is more hassle than it's worth, IMHO. The single most detrimental thing you're likely to do to your vaping batteries (besides actively mistreating them) is to constantly push their amp limits. Other than that, you're looking at an annual/bi-annual expenditure of the equivalent of a few packs of smokes.

I want my batteries ready to vape. Not a 'good thing' for the batteries, but a great thing for me.

The only comfort I offer my batteries is allowing them to rest between charging and discharging. These are not $100+ lipos after all.

Want OCD?
- Store at 40%
- Don't charge batteries unless you plan to use them that day.
- Discharge unused batteries down to 40% - the effect of storing charged batteries is cumulative. A day stored full here and there adds up.
- Store batteries in a cool place
- Don't charge or discharge cold batteries
- Log charge cycles - depth of discharge and mAH charged
- Monitor and log batteries' internal resistance.
- Etc and so forth.

For me it's simply not worth the effort. I want vapor produced at the push of a button.

 

[invisiblehand13]

Going totally OCD with your batteries is more hassle than it's worth, IMHO. The single most detrimental thing you're likely to do to your vaping batteries (besides actively mistreating them) is to constantly push their amp limits. Other than that, you're looking at an annual/bi-annual expenditure of the equivalent of a few packs of smokes.

I want my batteries ready to vape. Not a 'good thing' for the batteries, but a great thing for me.

The only comfort I offer my batteries is allowing them to rest between charging and discharging. These are not $100+ lipos after all.

Want OCD?
- Store at 40%
- Don't charge batteries unless you plan to use them that day.
- Discharge unused batteries down to 40% - the effect of storing charged batteries is cumulative. A day stored full here and there adds up.
- Store batteries in a cool place
- Don't charge or discharge cold batteries
- Log charge cycles - depth of discharge and mAH charged
- Monitor and log batteries' internal resistance.
- Etc and so forth.

For me it's simply not worth the effort. I want vapor produced at the push of a button.

Agreed, I have a forty battery collection and it is mixed (all in sets of multiples of twos lol on that I am OCD) but as far as storing them, I store them all fully charged with no noticeable side affects as far as I can tell, I use them, get home, charge them, take them off fully charged, store them, and start with a fresh set of stored fully charged batteries. I have heard this is HORRIBLE for batteries but no one told me that when I started out and I notice no real difference in battery life or battery strength whatsoever so I am not OCD about information that I feel I never needed lol, just IMO...

 

[WattWick]

Ye I still use my AW 18350s that I purchased some 18 months ago or so. Always mistreated; several hundred cycles each. They still serve their purpose. Think I paid the equivalent of 3 packs of cigs. I've gotteny money's worth and then some.

 

[Maiar]

Didn't read every post in here. But I dealt with cell phones for a living for a few years. So it depends on the battery, namely what type it is. Older types made out of nickel or cadmium or something like that are ones you don't want to charge until they're dead because you can actually trick the battery into thinking whatever level it was at when you plugged it in is empty and can destroy the capacity like that. Luckily, i highly doubt any of you are stupid enough to use a battery made out of that ancient ..... If it's lithium ion or lithium polymer, charge that .... whenever you want. You won't hurt it. Promise

 

[The Torch]

I also did not read all the posts, but I have to chime in and say that lithium-ion batteries will last longer if you keep the charge UP. completely discharging a Li-Ion battery takes some of it's capacity away each time, even if there is a circuit that will prevent over-discharge (discharge past the point where the battery becomes unusable or even dangerous with unprotected high efficiency regulation circuits). I know, big words, but the important part is to try to keep them charged up whenever possible unless storing them, when they prefer to be about 60% charged.

 

[rammstein]

So how far is best to let them drain before recharging? (Sorry I did read that link but all of this science is above my head Im not even sure I know what you mean by discharge... I figure you guys are referring to when you are smoking and wearing down the battery but Im stupid so I wouldn't be supprised if im wrong.

 

[The Torch]

So how far is best to let them drain before recharging? (Sorry I did read that link but all of this science is above my head Im not even sure I know what you mean by discharge... I figure you guys are referring to when you are smoking and wearing down the battery but Im stupid so I wouldn't be supprised if im wrong.

Nowadays, batteries can be charged pretty much whenever you want, except for Ni-Cad batteries that are still used in some power tools. Those are the batteries of old times and have a memory, therefore have to be discharged as much as possible and then fully charged in one shot. That is where the idea of discharging a battery comes from and is not applicable for other types of batteries.

In our case, we use Lithium-Ion batteries in e-cigs and those should NEVER be fully discharged (instant battery death to name the least.) The sooner you take them to the charger, the longer they will serve you. You can still take them down to 3.7-3.8 volts without shortening their life too much, but that is because e-cigs ask for a lot of juice, else it would be safe to bring them down much lower.

Does this answer you question?

 

[rammstein]

It answers my question except that my battery sometimes when fully charged reads 3.7 volts and that's when it is using its auto detect settings mode. So I don't know how to properly use this battery... the manual explains the buttons but not what I need to know

Nowadays, batteries can be charged pretty much whenever you want, except for Ni-Cad batteries that are still used in some power tools. Those are the batteries of old times and have a memory, therefore have to be discharged as much as possible and then fully charged in one shot. That is where the idea of discharging a battery comes from and is not applicable for other types of batteries.

In our case, we use Lithium-Ion batteries in e-cigs and those should NEVER be fully discharged (instant battery death to name the least.) The sooner you take them to the charger, the longer they will serve you. You can still take them down to 3.7-3.8 volts without shortening their life too much, but that is because e-cigs ask for a lot of juice, else it would be safe to bring them down much lower.

Does this answer you question?

 

[Susan~S]

It answers my question except that my battery sometimes when fully charged reads 3.7 volts and that's when it is using its auto detect settings mode. So I don't know how to properly use this battery... the manual explains the buttons but not what I need to know

Is this your battery: http://i.imgur.com/x4H3dpr.jpg

 

[edyle]

Going totally OCD with your batteries is more hassle than it's worth, IMHO. The single most detrimental thing you're likely to do to your vaping batteries (besides actively mistreating them) is to constantly push their amp limits. Other than that, you're looking at an annual/bi-annual expenditure of the equivalent of a few packs of smokes.

I want my batteries ready to vape. Not a 'good thing' for the batteries, but a great thing for me.

The only comfort I offer my batteries is allowing them to rest between charging and discharging. These are not $100+ lipos after all.

Want OCD?
- Store at 40%
- Don't charge batteries unless you plan to use them that day.
- Discharge unused batteries down to 40% - the effect of storing charged batteries is cumulative. A day stored full here and there adds up.
- Store batteries in a cool place
- Don't charge or discharge cold batteries
- Log charge cycles - depth of discharge and mAH charged
- Monitor and log batteries' internal resistance.
- Etc and so forth.

For me it's simply not worth the effort. I want vapor produced at the push of a button.

40% of 4 volts is 1.6 volts.
I'm pretty sure that's not what you intended to convey.

 

[rammstein]

Yes that is my battery and I have read that manual but it doesn't really explain whats happening to me

Is this your battery: http://i.imgur.com/x4H3dpr.jpg

 

[rammstein]

in that link the battery university said Lithium-ion does not need to be fully charged; a partial charge is better. so does that mean I should only charge my batteries a little bit at a time?