# Battery differential



## Stew (6/8/20)

My questions:- should one charge in an external charger or is soly charging in the mod acceptable? Is a differential reading the time to charge and percentage of the battery capacity common and should one worry about it? The way I am thinking is the more you handle the batteries the more chance of damaging them. Is this a wrong way of thinking? According to the mod charging in the mod is safe and protection is built in. It looks like a good quality charger and spare batteries is not a cheap addition to Vaping and if not necessary I don't really want to splash out on it.
Thanks.

Coppied from Reddit.
Dual battery mod different discharge levels
I just got the xxx last week. I bought 2 new batteries from xxx batteries. Since the first time they were charged and everytime after when put in the device the screen on the device is showing one battery drains quicker than the other. Is this normal or is the battery indicater on the screen even trustworthy.
Answer 1
I trust my external charger more than the mod screen. I've got a xxx and the screen tells me that the batteries are close to being 'flat' but when I put them in the charger they're at 50%. I guess it helps me not run them too low.
Answer 2
Could be a display glitch but the only way to know is to check their voltage. If your external charger does not show battery volts, use a multimeter to read each battery's voltage.
Feedback 1
When i 1rst put them in te mod they both read full but after an hour or so of use thier levels will be uneven according to the screen on the mod.
Answer 3
When they're showing uneven charge levels on the screen, pull them and read the voltages. That will show if you've got a display glitch or the batteries are actually discharging at different rates.
On of the reviews they mentioned that it’s a common glitch on the battery display on all xxx mods, should be find. If you have external charger it will show you their at the same level.


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## takes (6/8/20)

in my opinion regarding external charging vs mod, having external charged up when you are not going to be near a charger and still want/need to vape is a plus (or even vaping whils it might be charging). I have 2 spare batteries for my DL setup (charge at least once a day, mostly twice) and one in the mod. MTL mod has built in battery as the battery drain from MTL and low wattage tend to last me an average of 2 days.

It really depends on your personal usage and preference. If using a dual battery mod, I would trust the external. (just for my peace of mind)

Working for a battery manufacturer and to have a difference in discharge is not uncommon for the same batch in the same device (due to recipe or component related of the battery) due to manufacturing process. What you also need to keep in mind the "charge" is based on the reaction inside the battery.

When doing battery life tests we would drain the battery at a certain current to simulate the use in a device (Toy/radio/torch) with for certain times and a rest time inbetween. During this rest time the batteries recover a little bit of voltage due to the chemical reaction internally (take note that it will never fully recover to full) eg would be current drain for 1 minute then 15 second :break before 1 minute on again until the battery Volts has dropped below the working range or "flat".

Depending on the device they would have a minimum V that is required to still give the required output and anything below that would be deemed 0% although technically there will still be some charge left

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1 | Informative 1


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## zadiac (6/8/20)

Mods will not let the batteries drain completely. It's meant to protect the batteries from over discharging. Charging in the mod would not damage the batteries imo but it is recommended by many that an external charger is better. I charge directly in my mod sometimes. Haven't seen any harm from that.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 2


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## Puff the Magic Dragon (6/8/20)

For any information on batteries go to "battery Mooch's" YouTube channel.

Info in external chargers starts at 3.30 mins :



He covers this in several videos but this one explains the basics.

Reactions: Like 3 | Informative 1


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## Stew (6/8/20)

Hi @takes, thanks for the feedback and information. Due to the virus I am spending most of my time near the computer so can charge it conveniently. Once this frees up with regards to being able to go out safely will have to look into maybe getting spare batteries once I assess the life of mine going out etc.
Once again, thanks.

Reactions: Like 3


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## Stew (6/8/20)

Hi @Puff the Magic Dragon, that was a magic little video, thanks for linking it. I hope most people on this forum have watched a similar video or read up on batteries. I have always had a healthy respect for batteries both lead acid and all the others, in the aviation industry it is drummed into people all the time how important battery safety is and when thing go wrong they really do go wrong. I also was at a model aeroplane club and saw the results of a plane crashing and it set the veld alight due to the exploding batteries.

Reactions: Like 3


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## takes (6/8/20)

Stew said:


> Hi @takes, thanks for the feedback and information. Due to the virus I am spending most of my time near the computer so can charge it conveniently. Once this frees up with regards to being able to go out safely will have to look into maybe getting spare batteries once I assess the life of mine going out etc.
> Once again, thanks.


@Stew my pleasure!

Reactions: Like 2


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## baksteen8168 (7/8/20)

In the old days (look at me sounding like a old fart), there were big issues with onboard charging (i.e. using the mod to charge). Many instances back then of inaccurate charging or batteries going bang when charged with the mod. Thus most of us went the external charging route. Nowadays that issue seems to be in the distant past and I haven't heard of anyone having issues using their mods as chargers. So I guess you can use either method. I like external chargers because I can see more info on the battery that's charging and also because my mod isn't tethered to anything when I want to use it.

Reactions: Like 3 | Agree 1


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## Intuthu Kagesi (22/8/20)

Here's some interesting anecdotal research on batteries to add the above ...
My observations to date are that slow charges of some 10 hours+, at a maximum of 500mA, offer a better overall charge than a fast charge of 1 to 2 Amps, (excluding the obvious additional heat of a fast charge, which would affect battery longevity).
This probably explains why external chargers are generally better than the internal to mod chargers, as mod internal charger charge rates are typically in excess of an Amp.

The second thing I'd like to add, is that I purchased a couple of cheapie "Chinese"? (aren't most of them Chinese manufactured anyway?), 18650's from the Bruma market ... my curiosity had gotten the better of me based on their price tag of R60.00 for two, (in a case nogall), and ... they're not bad at all! They give me some 60% of the "life" of a pair of Samsung INR30Q's, and I can get away with it as I use them in a dual mod, and rarely exceed 40 Watts, (meaning their high internal resistance / low current delivery has little bearing in my case).

Reactions: Like 1


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## Silver (22/8/20)

Hi @Stew 
The nice thing about having a spare set of batts and an external charger is you can pop in the fresh ones when the old ones are flat

for all my dual batt mods I buy 4 batts. 2 are in the mod being used, the other two being charged and when done they are ready to use. I never have to wait for things to charge before I can vape

I have charged inside the mod a few times and haven’t had a problem

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Stew (22/8/20)

Silver said:


> Hi @Stew
> The nice thing about having a spare set of batts and an external charger is you can pop in the fresh ones when the old ones are flat
> 
> for all my dual batt mods I buy 4 batts. 2 are in the mod being used, the other two being charged and when done they are ready to use. I never have to wait for things to charge before I can vape
> ...


Thanks Silver. At the present stage where we are not going out to much the need for carrying spare batteries or popping in a fresh set before going out etc. hasn't been relevant, but will most certainly need to get some and a good charger once we can start being out and about more. Thanks as always for your input.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Stew (22/8/20)

Intuthu Kagesi said:


> Here's some interesting anecdotal research on batteries to add the above ...
> My observations to date are that slow charges of some 10 hours+, at a maximum of 500mA, offer a better overall charge than a fast charge of 1 to 2 Amps, (excluding the obvious additional heat of a fast charge, which would affect battery longevity).
> This probably explains why external chargers are generally better than the internal to mod chargers, as mod internal charger charge rates are typically in excess of an Amp.
> 
> The second thing I'd like to add, is that I purchased a couple of cheapie "Chinese"? (aren't most of them Chinese manufactured anyway?), 18650's from the Bruma market ... my curiosity had gotten the better of me based on their price tag of R60.00 for two, (in a case nogall), and ... they're not bad at all! They give me some 60% of the "life" of a pair of Samsung INR30Q's, and I can get away with it as I use them in a dual mod, and rarely exceed 40 Watts, (meaning their high internal resistance / low current delivery has little bearing in my case).


Thanks.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Stew (22/8/20)

baksteen8168 said:


> In the old days (look at me sounding like a old fart), there were big issues with onboard charging (i.e. using the mod to charge). Many instances back then of inaccurate charging or batteries going bang when charged with the mod. Thus most of us went the external charging route. Nowadays that issue seems to be in the distant past and I haven't heard of anyone having issues using their mods as chargers. So I guess you can use either method. I like external chargers because I can see more info on the battery that's charging and also because my mod isn't tethered to anything when I want to use it.


Thanks. Will definitely get some spare batteries once we start going out for extended periods again.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Stranger (22/8/20)

Being a camper and using 12v DC on just about everything I have at time had to use the mods to charge. Usually I stuck to slow charging at 500Mah. My i2 Nitecore though does have a 12V input and this has now become the go to for the externals when camping.

I cannot say that I have had any issues using the mods for charging but am much more comfortable with the external.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Silver (22/8/20)

Stew said:


> Thanks Silver. At the present stage where we are not going out to much the need for carrying spare batteries or popping in a fresh set before going out etc. hasn't been relevant, but will most certainly need to get some and a good charger once we can start being out and about more. Thanks as always for your input.



only a pleasure @Stew
If you don’t want to spend too much when you decide to buy spare batts and an external charger buy good quality. Goedkoop is duurkoop

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 2


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## Stew (22/8/20)

Silver said:


> only a pleasure @Stew
> If you don’t want to spend too much when you decide to buy spare batts and an external charger buy good quality. Goedkoop is duurkoop


I just found this web site for chargers and their price is about R80 less for the same charger else where.
http://www.akita.co.za/Batteries/Li-ion.htm

Reactions: Like 1


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## Silver (22/8/20)

Stew said:


> I just found this web site for chargers and their price is about R80 less for the same charger else where.
> http://www.akita.co.za/Batteries/Li-ion.htm



I have a nitecore i2 and i4 charger
But they the older generation ones
Got them around 2013 or 2014
Both working perfectly to this day

Reactions: Like 1


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## Intuthu Kagesi (22/8/20)

Stew said:


> I just found this web site for chargers and their price is about R80 less for the same charger else where.
> http://www.akita.co.za/Batteries/Li-ion.htm



This is the charger I use 
(their battery prices are pretty good too) 

https://www.batteryexperts.co.za/shop/universal-battery-charger-four-slot/

Reactions: Like 1


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## Stew (22/8/20)

Intuthu Kagesi said:


> This is the charger I use
> (their battery prices are pretty good too)
> 
> https://www.batteryexperts.co.za/shop/universal-battery-charger-four-slot/


Thanks, did you see the Nitecore can be used as a power bank with two USB ports as well?

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Intuthu Kagesi (22/8/20)

Stew said:


> Thanks, did you see the Nitecore can be used as a power bank with two USB ports as well?



I think this may be a feature of all chargers that have an additional USB charger output, (or two in the case of the Nitecor unit)?
Certainly I know the "Lightsaver" unit can also double up as a power bank, (not that they mention in in their literature), only because with the recent loadshedding, I noticed that my cell phone had continued charging whist mains input had been cut, (it was plugged into the USB port on the side of the charger, sharing the charger at the time.

Reactions: Like 1


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