Charging

[andro]

My charger can charge at 0.25. 0.50. Or 1A ?
Whats best ?
As well is better to run the battery down to 3.7 and charcge it or just pop into the charger even if show 4.03 volts left in it to refresh ?
All my battery are purple efest

 

[johan]

All Efest's can handle up to 2A constant current charging, so adjust your charger to 1A for quicker charge time. No problem to charge them if they not discharged to 3.7V. If you however want to store your batteries for long term, discharge them to between 3.6 to 3.7V - don't store a fully charged battery for long term.

 

[Marzuq]

ive often wondered that some thought..

 

[andro]

Thanks . Is a month long term ?


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[MurderDoll]

From my days of RC racing, charging at a higher amp, the battery would be able to output higher "performance" but the battery drain would be higher.

Due to the higher amps being out into the battery during the charge cycle.

Does the same principle apply here?

 

[johan]

Thanks . Is a month long term ?


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Yes definitely

 

[johan]

From my days of RC racing, charging at a higher amp, the battery would be able to output higher "performance" but the battery drain would be higher.

Due to the higher amps being out into the battery during the charge cycle.

Does the same principle apply here?

No that is unfortunately and RC urban legend (the internal resistance on a new battery is fixed and only goes higher with cycle time)

 

[andro]

Ok so will drain all my spares today and tmrw . I normally fully charge them and put them back in the box . Thanks


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[Rob Fisher]

My EFest LUC V4 charger has three options for charging. 0,5A, 1A and 2A. The default (and the one I have been using all along) is 0,5A which I assume is the best for long lasting batteries?

 

[Derick]

If you really want to understand batteries, charging, discharging, what is best and why, (and you have some time) I can really recommend this site : http://batteryuniversity.com/

Everything is pretty well explained and it will clear up a lot of the myths out there

 

[Derick]

My EFest LUC V4 charger has three options for charging. 0,5A, 1A and 2A. The default (and the one I have been using all along) is 0,5A which I assume is the best for long lasting batteries?

Generally yeah, the slower you charge the battery, the more cycles you will get out of it

Also if you don't charge them fully to 4.2V they will also last longer, but it becomes a cost/effort analysis

 

[johan]

My EFest LUC V4 charger has three options for charging. 0,5A, 1A and 2A. The default (and the one I have been using all along) is 0,5A which I assume is the best for long lasting batteries?

I charge 18350's at 1A and all 18650's (even my fakes) at 2A

 

[Rob Fisher]

I charge 18350's at 1A and all 18650's (even my fakes) at 2A

So charging at 0,5A is the right thing to do and you charge at 2A? You have now lost me @johan!

 

[Silver]

Yes definitely

@johan

Here's a question for you
I have several batteries fully charged and ready to go.
Sometimes it could be a week or even two weeks before the same battery gets used again
It could sit for up to two weeks fully charged.
Is this okay?

I tend to charge them when I take them out of my REO - at about 3.7V
Should I rather wait for a day or two before it's that battery's "turn" again before charging it?

Only problem then is that it will be a bit of an admin nightmare and I will likely get caught with no charged batteries if I don't remember to charge them.

 

[johan]

@johan

Here's a question for you
I have several batteries fully charged and ready to go.
Sometimes it could be a week or even two weeks before the same battery gets used again
It could sit for up to two weeks fully charged.
Is this okay?

I tend to charge them when I take them out of my REO - at about 3.7V
Should I rather wait for a day or two before it's that battery's "turn" again before charging it?

Only problem then is that it will be a bit of an admin nightmare and I will likely get caught with no charged batteries if I don't remember to charge them.

To explain; when you buy a new battery and you measure the voltage, it is between 3.6 to max 3.7V. Reason being to protect the internal chemistry of the battery as the manufacturer does not know how long it will be on the shelf / storage. A week is fine to store a fully charged battery, but if we start talking about 4+ weeks storage time, its better to discharge them to protect against internal chemistry deterioration. What happens internally chemistry wise, I unfortunately don't have the foggiest.

 

[johan]

So charging at 0,5A is the right thing to do and you charge at 2A? You have now lost me @johan!

I normally look at the battery manufacturer's data sheet and what they recommend. On average 18350's across the different brands recommend 1A, and for 18650's across the different brands recommend 1 to 2A max. @Derick is correct in stating that the lifespan will be much longer if you charge your batteries at lower current (ie. 0.5A), but I am not that patient to wait that long for a battery to charge. I've been charging my fake 18650's daily since Feb '14 and they are still good, (they don't fully charge up to 4.25V anymore, but up to 4.18V on average).
Hope this explain to your confusion Rob.

 

[Rob Fisher]

I normally look at the battery manufacturer's data sheet and what they recommend. On average 18350's across the different brands recommend 1A, and for 18650's across the different brands recommend 1 to 2A max. @Derick is correct in stating that the lifespan will be much longer if you charge your batteries at lower current (ie. 0.5A), but I am not that patient to wait that long for a battery to charge. I've been charging my fake 18650's daily since Feb '14 and they are still good, (they don't fully charge up to 4.25V anymore, but up to 4.18V on average).
Hope this explain to your confusion Rob.

Perfect! Thanks @johan!

 

[WHeunis]

I normally look at the battery manufacturer's data sheet and what they recommend. On average 18350's across the different brands recommend 1A, and for 18650's across the different brands recommend 1 to 2A max. @Derick is correct in stating that the lifespan will be much longer if you charge your batteries at lower current (ie. 0.5A), but I am not that patient to wait that long for a battery to charge. I've been charging my fake 18650's daily since Feb '14 and they are still good, (they don't fully charge up to 4.25V anymore, but up to 4.18V on average).
Hope this explain to your confusion Rob.

Thanks for this @johan

If you dont me asking more here: would you recommend (or even consider it safe) to use a 1A or 2A usb charger device for mods like Hana, Evic Supreme, etc?
I ask because my EvicSupreme came with a 0.5A charger, but I am not finding much of any specs on what the board can or cannot do wrt charging...

 

[johan]

Thanks for this @johan

If you dont me asking more here: would you recommend (or even consider it safe) to use a 1A or 2A usb charger device for mods like Hana, Evic Supreme, etc?
I ask because my EvicSupreme came with a 0.5A charger, but I am not finding much of any specs on what the board can or cannot do wrt charging...

I don't know. As far as I understand these type of units you've mentioned has its own charging circuitry already built in to control the constant charging current and voltage. The USB port is only a means to supply 5V to the charging control circuitry and will only supply the current as required by the charging circuitry - my suggestion; keep with the charger supplied with the unit, the designers will have a valid reason why its only 0.5A.

 

[MarkK]

@johan what would be the easiest way to discharge my batteries ??

 

[andro]

@johan what would be the easiest way to discharge my batteries ??

What charger do you have?

 

[MarkK]

2 bay trust fire, but i dont use it anymore i use the SX with battery in my mod lol

 

[johan]

@johan what would be the easiest way to discharge my batteries ??

You can discharge them in your mech or buy yourself two 2.2Ω /10W resistors, connect them in parallel, connect one end to battery + and other end to battery -, you have to check battery voltage as to not discharge them below 2.5V (measured when you remove resistors). If you are handy you can make a simple automated cut-off circuit that will disconnect the load once you've reached your discharge level.

 

[capetocuba]

@johan what would be the easiest way to discharge my batteries ??

Just subohm like a boss!

 

[BumbleBee]

@johan what would be the easiest way to discharge my batteries ??

Whip out some awesome juice, dribble it over a fresh coil and vape on those bad boys