Slow Battery Charge

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dannyrl

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What are you using to charge these batteries? USB on your computer? Wall-to-USB?

If you're using your computer's USB or a really cheap wall adapter, the long charge is due to the really low current output. USB2.0 and a lot of no-name wall adapters only output 0.5A which will take FOREVER to charge anything.

I used to use a wall adapter designed for a tablet and it would charge my MVP's 2100mAh battery in a few hours. This charger was rated for 2.1A.
 
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mkbilbo

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Hi everyone. This is my first post and hope someone can help me. My Kanger Evod batteries 650 & 1100 are taking forever to charge, 8 to 10 hours or more.....what's going on? These batteries are less than a week old & I always clean the contacts before charging. What am I doing wrong?.

You plugging into a USB port on a computer or USB hub or using a "wall wart" adapter?

A USB port can work but may not have enough power to charge as fast as the charger is capable of doing. A pluggable adapter is better. And doesn't cost much. Back when I was using "stick" style batteries, I got one of these:

Amazon.com : AmazonBasics Wall Charger with USB Outlet (2.1 Amp Output) : Plug Adapters : Electronics

You want one with at least a 1 amp output capacity. Your usual "stick" style battery charger only pulls about half an amp (and charges the battery at 420mA) but you want something that has spare capacity. Not something running at its maximum.

Even powered USB hubs can make for slow charging. USB ports are supposed to be able to deliver half an amp (500mA) but that's a "supposed to". Also means you're running the port at full tilt which is kinda iffy for anything electronic.
 

mkbilbo

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Oh, also, occurs to me you should check the charger. It should have the output rating stamped on it. There are two kinds of chargers for "stick" batteries out there. One runs at 150mA. The "fast" version runs at 420mA (both of these are "output", not "input" by the way). If you ended up with the 150mA, that'll work but it'll take forever. Around 4 hours for a 650mAh battery and almost 8 on an 1100. The 150mA (output) chargers are meant for the "cig-a-like" batteries which are smaller with less capacity. For the bigger capacity batteries like 650 and up, you have to have the 420mA output charger or you'll be pulling your hair out. :)

(And the two look identical which, in my opinion, is a design flaw but nobody asked me)
 

mkbilbo

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I use a 5 volt charger and they charge a lot faster then if I use a 2 volt charger ?
All wall chargers are not the same

Not sure what you mean there. USB is 5 volts. That's it. There's no variation there. The Li-ion batteries used in vapor devices actually charge to 4.2 volts though they run at about 3.7 (the chemistry makes the numbers kinda oddball).

But the amperage matters. The "cig-a-like" batteries (like a Blu) are charged at around 150mA (milliamps). Bigger "stick" style batteries (like a Twist or Spinner) are usually charged around 420mA. The 18650s I use in my VTR are charged at 1000mA (1 amp).

Some batteries can be charged at higher amperages than others. Which is faster. Larger batteries can be charged at lower amperage but it'll take forever. Smaller batteries can't be charged at the higher amperages unless you like starting fires in your house.

(Mismatched chargers are the cause of almost every battery "explosion"--which is not what happens actually--that the "news" likes to yap about. They find doing actual research to be boring but screeching about E-CIGS WILL BLOW UP YOUR HOUSE is entertaining and sells ads.)

So since the OP has batteries that are taking forever to charge and the "stick" style batteries have two different chargers that can be hard to tell apart (I have a 150mA and a 420mA, they look exactly alike), it's possible it's the lower powered charger.

The other way around (higher powered charger on smaller batteries) would be, ahem, blazingly obvious. In the sense of the battery would overheat, vent, and burst explosively...
 

mkbilbo

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Sorry it took so long for me to get back. Wall wart - Input: AC 110/240V 50/60 Hz Output: DC 5.0-5.5V 500mA. USB Charge - Input: DC5V 500 mA Output: DC4.2V 420mA. Sounds to me like I've got the right charger. I changed outlets and no improvement.

Got a better wall wart? An output rating of 500mA is right at the input need of the charger. There's no wiggle room. And these are consumer products, not "mil spec". 500 may mean 485. What comes out of your wall socket ain't exactly 110 either. Just slapped a meter on my power strip. I got 124.4 VAC.

You can get 1 amp and higher for cheap. Best Buy has 1 amp output ones for about $10. I picked up a 2 amp off Amazon for about $9.

Last time I ran into somebody having the problem that it took forever to charge their batteries, the wall wart was flaky. Yeah, could be a bad charger but to be safe, you should have 1 amp or more capacity on your wall adapter to run a half amp charger. That'd be the first thing I'd try replacing.
 
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