Mod charges faster than wall charger

[roxics]

I've noticed over the last couple months of using my VTC Mini, that my battery goes from empty to fully charged in about a couple hours if I plug it into the USB jack and charge it in the mod itself. If I take the battery out and put it into a dedicated 18650 wall charger it takes about eight hours. This doesn't make sense to me. I would think the wall charger would be way faster since it's directly plugged into a 120v power source versus my mod plugged into the USB jack of laptop.

 

[daveid777]

That depends on the wall charger, not sure of the VTC mini, but most mods will charge at 5V/.5amps. Maybe your wall charger is going at a lower rate.

 

[mauricem00]

some of the wall chargers on the market charge at a very low current. the one I tried had too high of a cut off voltage and charged batteries to 4.35 volts. stopped using it because this high cut off voltage can reduce battery life

 

[Kprthevapr]

I would recommend buying a new wall charger. I would also recommend not charging a removable battery in the mod. The mod is made so you can change batteries, charge them on a dedicated charger.
I can put a battery at 10% charge on my charger and it will be ready for use in less than two hours. How dead is the battery when you charge it?

 

[93gc40]

A slow charge is better for the battery, anyway. So, I would use the slower charger for most of my charges anyway. Personally, do to the hazards around the charging of batteries. I would treat the on-board charger as intended, the backup charger.

 

[roxics]

The wall charger is a Trustfire TR-001. It's always taken about 8 hours for an 18650. But my Evic VTC Mini is two hours or less. About two hours if the battery is dead.

 

[kbeam418]

The wall charger is a Trustfire TR-001. It's always taken about 8 hours for an 18650. But my Evic VTC Mini is two hours or less. About two hours if the battery is dead.

Evic charges at 1 amp (I believe?) That cheap (and dangerous) trustfire charges at 250 mah per cell! I would highly recommend buying a Nitecore i2, or something similar, they only cost $20 and they're safe and faster.

 

[MorpheusPA]

+Above. Your eVic will charge at up to 1A, so an LG HG2 should take about 3 hours and a bit to charge from completely dead (although the battery is 3,000 mAh, the eVic in my hand only drains them by about 2,750 mAh). Other batteries will vary.

My Xtar VC4 takes 3 hours (1 A) or around 6 hours (500 mA) to charge, but it's a dedicated charger. Your eVic isn't built to be used as a passthrough, so you shouldn't vape while charging. Plus I'll trust a dedicated charger far more than the dime-sized chip in the eVic. You also want to preserve the (notoriously delicate) USB connection to upgrade the device.

That Trustfire charger is...well, not good, let's just say. I'd replace that with a more reliable name brand (Xtar, Nitecore, or Efest) soonest.

 

[roxics]

I've had the Trustfire for about five years. It's worked fine in all that time, so I'm not going to suddenly start not trusting it. But it is slow and I guess I know why now. I probably should get a newer charger anyway or just use my girlfriend's Nitecore.

 

[AndriaD]

What about if you use the on-board USB, but instead of plugging it into your PC, you plug it into a USB adapter from the wall? What happens then? Because I do sometimes charge my removable-battery mods by USB, but almost always from a USB adapter in the wall; rarely ever from my PC, I like my PC too much to want to risk it. (plus it's cheaper to buy a new mod than a new PC!)

Andria

 

[MorpheusPA]

The Nitecore's a good charger, but in most of them, make sure to use different channels if charging two batteries. One per channel charges at 750 mA, two per channel at 375 mA (which is very slow).

What about if you use the on-board USB, but instead of plugging it into your PC, you plug it into a USB adapter from the wall? What happens then?

The same considerations apply, really. If the USB adapter can't supply the current, the mod's charger should step back to use whatever it can supply. If the USB adapter can supply more than the mod can use, that's not a problem. It just doesn't use the adapter's full capacity, which is less wear and less heat for the USB.

I never use my computer's USB for the same reason (with my Xtar VC4 charger). Replacing a $6-$10 adapter is cheap. Replacing the charger isn't too bad at $30 or so. Replacing the computer is expensive...

 

[AndriaD]

The Nitecore's a good charger, but in most of them, make sure to use different channels if charging two batteries. One per channel charges at 750 mA, two per channel at 375 mA (which is very slow).



The same considerations apply, really. If the USB adapter can't supply the current, the mod's charger should step back to use whatever it can supply. If the USB adapter can supply more than the mod can use, that's not a problem. It just doesn't use the adapter's full capacity, which is less wear and less heat for the USB.

I never use my computer's USB for the same reason (with my Xtar VC4 charger). Replacing a $6-$10 adapter is cheap. Replacing the charger isn't too bad at $30 or so. Replacing the computer is expensive...

Yeah.. the only time anymore that I ever use the PC's USB is if I want to use "pass-thru".... I've done it with my iPV Mini, but I'm a bit leery; with my Coolfire4's I feel a little safer doing it. If I'm really wanting to use my iPV Mini, I'll just use one of my old 5A 18650s while the 25R charges; I never vape over 9w and use a 2 ohm coil, so I feel fairly safe using a lower capacity battery for a short time. Safer than I'd feel plugging my iPV Mini into my PC.

Andria

 

[kbeam418]

I've had the Trustfire for about five years. It's worked fine in all that time, so I'm not going to suddenly start not trusting it. But it is slow and I guess I know why now. I probably should get a newer charger anyway or just use my girlfriend's Nitecore.

They work fine until they don't. It's kind of like using bald tires sure they will work for a while but if they fail when you're doing 70 on the highway you'll regret it. Just my opinion.

 

[DaveP]

I still have a Trustfire TR-001. I used to pack it to take on vacation. Mine was obviously one of the good ones from 2010. It still works fine today.

Efest LUC 4 does .5A, 1A, and 2A (2A for 26650 only). It's a great charger that displays voltages to the tenth while charging. I'm spoiled with knowing where it's at in the process.

The NiteCore D4 is a great charger with 3 LED bars that indicate charge levels. Since buying the LUC 4 I'm using the D4 for my NiMH AAA batteries for my Guitar wireless backpack transmitter. It charges NiMh faster than my old Tenergy.

There are lots of good Li-on chargers on the market today that can be had for under $30 on Amazon.

 

[AndriaD]

I still have a Trustfire TR-001. I used to pack it to take on vacation. Mine was obviously one of the good ones from 2010. It still works fine today.

Efest LUC 4 does .5A, 1A, and 2A (for 26650 only). It's a great charger that displays voltages to the tenth while charging. I'm spoiled with knowing where it's at in the process.

The NiteCore D4 is a great charger with 3 LED bars that indicate charge levels. Since buying the LUC 4 I'm using the D4 for my NiMH AAA batteries for my Guitar wireless backpack transmitter. It charges NiMh faster than my old Tenergy.

There are lots of good Li-on chargers on the market today that can be had for under $30 on Amazon.

I have an efest Luc2, and I'm also spoiled; actually I bought it when I first got a mech, so I could tell how charged my batteries were.

I've got a Nitecore i4, and I had to stop using it; once when charging a couple of 18350s, I gave it a touch, and it was HOT! I got the batteries out and let them rest for 24 hrs, then charged them in my Luc2 and they were fine, but i don't trust that nitecore anymore.

Andria

 

[crxess]

I've had the Trustfire for about five years. It's worked fine in all that time, so I'm not going to suddenly start not trusting it.

You completely miss the point.
OLD TECH - LOW POWER CHARGER

You, yourself said the MOD charges Faster. Why? Because your Trusted Tech is an Edsel in a BMW world.

Does not matter if you Trust it, if it is not doing the Job.

 

[r77r7r]

If you're using Trustfire batteries also, we've mostly all moved on to Much safer types.

 

[roxics]

You completely miss the point.
OLD TECH - LOW POWER CHARGER

I was talking from a safety perspective. But yes, being slow is a good reason to upgrade my charger.

I use Samsung 25AMP batteries. But I also typically vape at 10 watts on a 1.8ohm coil. So I think I should be alright.

 

[crxess]

I was talking from a safety perspective. But yes, being slow is a good reason to upgrade my charger.

I use Samsung 25AMP batteries. But I also typically vape at 10 watts on a 1.8ohm coil. So I think I should be alright.

Yes, you should be.
I keep several Batteries in rotation for each mod. This allows External charging - Better for Battery and Mod - and continued use.
It also guarantees an extra if a battery decides to crap out.
After 3 years using 18650's I had to retire (2) MNKE this past week - Both got extremely weak with short usable charge.