Batteries

[hicksvilleshick]

Ok, so I've got 2 mods I use. I have a rx200 and a fuchai.

I have 3 dedicated imren batteries that came with the rx200, I've seen favorable reviews of them on the youtube, but I've also been doing some catching up here and seen folks here say that any batteries with amperage on the sleeve is bad.

I have 2 purple efests, and 2 green samsung (25r's?) dedicated to the fuchai.

I also have a dedicated purple efest for the ol ladies kbox (50 watt max)

So knowing all that, and that I only seem to run between 55-75 watts on the rx and fuchai, am I ok? The coils I use are primarily premade, and run in the .2-.4 range. I've given up on my rda I had, it was a infinite clone and I got tired of jakking with the center post spinning, so I don't imagine I'll be running coils outside of the ohm range I've mentioned. I just started running temp control on one of my triforce tanks, and it ohm's out a .1-ish.

I get juices mixed 20pg 80vg 3nic.

I do want to try something 1.0 or greater, simply because outside of like a 1.2 kanger coil once, I haven't used anything other than sub ohm.

I seem to be a flavor chaser more than anything else, clouds are nice, but flavor trumps clouds for me so I don't ramp the wattage chasing clouds.

 

I'm not sure how much of this is pertinent to batteries, but figured I'd include it all. lol

 

Edited February 14, 2016 by hicksvilleshick

[FXRich]

I don't have any 25r Samsung, but I read that they are good batteries, I do have a couple of purple Efest 3100mAh batteries and they are marked 10A / 20A so I take it that they will go 10A continuous and 20A pulse, so they are not a good battery for high wattage. Most of my batteries are LG HG2 3000mAh, which are supposed to be a very good 20A / 30A battery.

[jasonculp]

1 hour ago, hicksvilleshick said:

 

I have 3 dedicated imren batteries that came with the rx200, I've seen favorable reviews of them on the youtube, but I've also been doing some catching up here and seen folks here say that any batteries with amperage on the sleeve is bad.

 

I say that.  I just use it as a rule of thumb.  The major manufacturers of batteries that work well in vaping are Samsung, LG, and Sony.  They do not put ratings on their cells, but have done exhaustive research on how they preform.  In most cases, the batteries from these 3 manufactures are not only better than the re wrapped batteries, they are cheaper.

If you want to know how a battery really performs, here is a good list that is done by an independent electrical engineer: Mooch's Blog

I am not saying that Imren, MXJO, or Efest batteries are bad.  I just feel it is much safer to go with a known commodity. A recent case in December Efest released the Purple 35A 3000 mAh which turned out to be a LG MH1, which is a good battery, but it is only 10A, then denied it and went after the testers that proved it.  Imren's 30A 3500mah Green battery were actually LG MJ1 and Panasonic NCR18650GA1, both 10A batteries.  When you buy a good Samsung 30Q or LG HG2, you know what you are getting, a good 20A battery.  In fact Samsung only rates the 30Q at 15A but tests have shown it is actually a 20A battery.  The tried and true Samsung 25R's have been proven to be one of the most versatile batteries on the market, not to mention cheapest.

Don't worry about the Ohms of your atomizer, as it has no effect on the battery draw of a variable wattage mod.  What you need to be concerned about is the wattage you have the mod set at.  My rule of thumb is with a good 20A battery keep it under 60 watts per battery.  So your Fuchai should stay at 120 watts or less, and the RX200 under 180 watts.

In the wattage range you are running (55-75watts) you are only pulling a maximum of 12A or so assuming a 90% efficient board.  You are probably only pulling less than 8A in the RX200, so you are pretty safe with just about any good 15 - 20 amp INR/IMR battery.  Where most of the problem comes in is when your batteries get low and the mod is trying to boost the voltage is causes it to work really hard.  This is more of a problem with the 1 and 2 cell mods as they are trying to take 3.7 or 7.4 volts and boost it to make the wattage required at the atomizer.  With the RX200 you have 10.5 volts available when it is nearly dead, so it doesn't have to work as hard to supply the requested Wattage.

Another thing we overlook too often is that we sometimes stick the mod in our pocket and the buttons get pushed, or they might malfunction so I like to have plenty of head room with my batteries.

[hicksvilleshick]

Ok I started to panic a bit. When I was getting batteries I've always tried to make sure I got the higher amperage batteries to make sure I had plenty of headroom. I baby my devices, they don't get put in my pocket, they have padded places to ride at work, the worst they get is put in the netted pocket on the side of my padded lunch bag walking into work. 

 

I'm going to be getting a x cube II soon so I'll be needing to get at least 2 more batteries for it and didn't know if I should look to get ones like I've got or try to source others. I'll have to try to go back thru the threads and see the links again to see if I can get some of the suggested ones cause you guys were talking prices cheaper than I've ever bought any at. lol

 

Thanks for the info guys, I appreciate it!

[jasonculp]

33 minutes ago, hicksvilleshick said:

Ok I started to panic a bit. When I was getting batteries I've always tried to make sure I got the higher amperage batteries to make sure I had plenty of headroom. I baby my devices, they don't get put in my pocket, they have padded places to ride at work, the worst they get is put in the netted pocket on the side of my padded lunch bag walking into work.

You will probably be fine.  I am not a big Imren fan due to the exageration on thier wrappers here are links to the most recent tests:

Imren Orange 30A 2100mAh 18650

Imren Purple 40A 2500mAh 18650

Imren Yellow 40A 2000mAh 18650

Imren Purple 40A 3000mAh 18650

Imren Green 40A 3200mAh 18650

Imren Green 30A 3500mAh 18650

As long as you are using them in the range that @Mooch lists in his tests, you will be fine.

As for places to get them, these are my favorites:

• If you are running 60W or less per battery:

18650 Samsung 3000mAh INR18650-30Q High Discharge Flat Top $6.00   back ordered

Samsung INR18650-30Q Battery 15A 3000mAh - Flat Top - Wholesale Discount, Genuine and Tested $6.75

LG HG2 18650 Battery Genuine & Tested - 20A 3000mAh - Flat Top - Wholesale Discount $6.95

18650 Samsung INR18650-25R R5 2500mAh (GREEN) High Discharge FLAT Top $5.00

Samsung INR18650-25R Battery Genuine & Tested - 20A 2500mAh - Flat Top - Wholesale Discount $5.15

• If you are running up to 70W per battery:

18650 Sony US18650VTC4 2100mAh High Discharge Flat Top $6.00

Sony 18650 VTC4 Battery Genuine & Tested - 30A 2100mAh - Flat Top - Wholesale Discount $6.99

18650 LG 18650HD2 2000mAh High Discharge Flat Top $5.00

• If you plan on running up to 100 watts:

LG HB2 18650 Battery Genuine & Tested - 30A continuous 1500mAh - Flat Top - Wholesale Discount $4.59

18650 LG 18650HB2 1500mAh High Discharge Flat Top $4.99

LG HB6 18650 Battery Genuine & Tested - 30A continuous 1500mAh - Flat Top - Wholesale Discount $4.99

 

Please note that as you go up in Amp capacity you loose capacity.  So a 20A battery will generally last longer than a 30A battery.

There are other good places to buy batteries such as:

RTD Vapor

101 Vape

 

If you choose the Sony I would only buy them from the places listed above.  They are highly counterfeited.  Many unsuspecting Vape Shops and Online Stores sell them as genuine.

 

[hicksvilleshick]

6 hours ago, jasonculp said:

You will probably be fine.  I am not a big Imren fan due to the exageration on thier wrappers here are links to the most recent tests:

Imren Orange 30A 2100mAh 18650

Imren Purple 40A 2500mAh 18650

Imren Yellow 40A 2000mAh 18650

Imren Purple 40A 3000mAh 18650

Imren Green 40A 3200mAh 18650

Imren Green 30A 3500mAh 18650

As long as you are using them in the range that @Mooch lists in his tests, you will be fine.

As for places to get them, these are my favorites:

• If you are running 60W or less per battery:

18650 Samsung 3000mAh INR18650-30Q High Discharge Flat Top $6.00   back ordered

Samsung INR18650-30Q Battery 15A 3000mAh - Flat Top - Wholesale Discount, Genuine and Tested $6.75

LG HG2 18650 Battery Genuine & Tested - 20A 3000mAh - Flat Top - Wholesale Discount $6.95

18650 Samsung INR18650-25R R5 2500mAh (GREEN) High Discharge FLAT Top $5.00

Samsung INR18650-25R Battery Genuine & Tested - 20A 2500mAh - Flat Top - Wholesale Discount $5.15

• If you are running up to 70W per battery:

18650 Sony US18650VTC4 2100mAh High Discharge Flat Top $6.00

Sony 18650 VTC4 Battery Genuine & Tested - 30A 2100mAh - Flat Top - Wholesale Discount $6.99

18650 LG 18650HD2 2000mAh High Discharge Flat Top $5.00

• If you plan on running up to 100 watts:

LG HB2 18650 Battery Genuine & Tested - 30A continuous 1500mAh - Flat Top - Wholesale Discount $4.59

18650 LG 18650HB2 1500mAh High Discharge Flat Top $4.99

LG HB6 18650 Battery Genuine & Tested - 30A continuous 1500mAh - Flat Top - Wholesale Discount $4.99

 

Please note that as you go up in Amp capacity you loose capacity.  So a 20A battery will generally last longer than a 30A battery.

There are other good places to buy batteries such as:

RTD Vapor

101 Vape

 

If you choose the Sony I would only buy them from the places listed above.  They are highly counterfeited.  Many unsuspecting Vape Shops and Online Stores sell them as genuine.

 

Thank you! This is immensely helpful. I do have one question. Battery life for me is a issue, and why I jumped on the rx200 with the 3 batteries for while I'm at work and keeping a rig running all night. Isn't the mAh ratings indicative of the charge life? Should I expect less battery life with the suggested batteries? The imrens say 40A and 3000mAh.

Currently the 3 imrens will last about 12 hours or so of pretty heavy vaping. I'm not too worried about the fuchai, having 4 batteries for it I've always got a charged set and can go a full day on the 4 I have for it because it gets less use.

Also, about how long should I expect batteries to work? Do they last a year? 2 years? About how frequently should I expect to totally replace batteries?

 

Again, many thanks!

[jasonculp]

 

8 minutes ago, hicksvilleshick said:

Isn't the mAh ratings indicative of the charge life?

Yes.  The higher the number the longer they should last.

 

4 minutes ago, hicksvilleshick said:

Should I expect less battery life with the suggested batteries?

I really don't know.  I am not sure if either specification on the battery is correct.  It is actually a 20A battery, it could have 3000mah, but there is no way to tell.

 

10 minutes ago, hicksvilleshick said:

Also, about how long should I expect batteries to work? Do they last a year? 2 years? About how frequently should I expect to totally replace batteries?

It really depends on how they are treated.  I have some that are approaching a year old that seem to be as good as the day I got them.  I also have a few that were not holding charge within a few months.  Here is a chart on the -25R on the cycles it will handle. 

 

 

Here are 2 good articles from BatteryBros (where I snagged the chart):

When to recycle 18650 batteries, and how to start a collection center in your vape shop.

Green Samsung 18650 25R5 vs. Blue 25R2

From this information, I gather that around 250 cycles is where they start loosing capacity.  A cycle is from 4.2 (full charge) to 2.8 or 2.5.  Since most electronic mods cut off at 3.5 - 3.2 a recharge is a bit less than a cycle.  It also is much better not to let them get that low.  Temperature is also a big factor is battery life.

 

[hicksvilleshick]

Well I went and did it, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a x cube II so I'll be ordering batteries dedicated for it, and I'll start replacing the existing ones as needed.

I think I'll go with the LG HG2's as they seem to have the higher amperage and 3000mAh since charge life is a biggie for me. I'll also look to replace the 3 for the rx200 with those as well I think. I think I'll keep the green samsungs and efests for the fuchai, and beings I just ordered the x cube, I may be selling off the fuchai, I dunno, I'm kinda attatched to it cause it was the first rig I bought after the subvod (first vape) so hell I may just keep them all. lol

Anyhow thanks so much for the info, you have been extremely helpful and I greatly appreciate the links!

Oh would it be bad if I used the 4 batteries I'm using in the fuchai for the xcube for a couple days until the new batteries get here?

[hicksvilleshick]

Tried to edit and waited too long... lol

 

Ninja edit: I just noticed they are Li ion, vs IMR. pros/cons? From my previous research I thought IMR was the safer of them and avoided Li ion, but saw that they were cheaper. Was I misguided on the li ion? I'm sure I was overly cautious being a noob when I originally looked into them. I have a 2 bay and 4 bay charger the 4 bay is the d4 nitecore with the display and all so I can charge the li ion's no worries.

[hicksvilleshick]

Ok so I found what appears to be a good guide. If I'm reading correctly after googling the specs for the LG HG2's it's a INR which makes it a hybrid and all good for vaping. IMR's are a step down.

for what its worth.