I got a BP with 4 sets of Tenergy 3.0v RCR123A 750 mah batts, all charged up and ready to go. Sweet! These are the older but apparently more reliable yellow/silver ones, not the new green/silver labeled ones. I metered a pair of the fresh batts @ 3.29v and 3.41v. Sounds good right? But, the ones I used in the BuzzPro are metering 3.21v and 3.12v now after 12hrs of chain-vaping a 1.8Ω Phoenix RBA. How can that be possible?? My 3.7v 18350's would have been dead by now....I know the BP is supposed to be very efficient, but damn! :crazy: My question is; I know how low to let Li-ion batts get before charging and things to watch out for, I don't know this with these batteries. I know next to nothing about LiFePo or RCR123A other than some cursory Googling. I won't have a charger until the 5th, but that won't be a problem as long at these are lasting. I just don't want to shorten the battery life or risk the BP by letting them go too long since I can't see the voltage without taking them out and metering them. I'm getting this charger for them and my 18350's as it does both: Xtar MP2 dual channel / Dual Voltage Charger - DiscountVapers.com Any tips or pointers for using these batteries with this mod?
Absolute minimum discharge for LiFePO4 cells is 2.2 Volts. Terminal charging voltage is 3.6 Volts. I don't know much about the Buzz Pro, but normally you use the cells the device is designed for. Why are you using LiFePO4 cells instead?
Cool, that's good to know, thanks. Sounds like either these batteries are old and weak or not fully charged. The BP takes RCR123A (16340 type) batteries, these particular batts just happened to come with it. From my limited understanding, LiFePo are actually safer chemistry batteries then even Li-Iion. They work just fine, but I'd like to know more about using them.
caff the tenergy 3.0 volt batterys are only to be charged in a tenergy 3.0 volt charger from specks on the battery package and they hold a better charge if you use the tenergy charger .. i have used many chargers that say they charge the rcr 123a 3 volt batterys in my 3 years vaping at 6 volts with them stacked ... just dont over charge them in a charger not designed for tenergy batterys...some chargers say 3.0 volt and they are implying that they charge the cr2 3.0 volt batterys that are smaller in size... just be careful my friend ... lawnman3.. the yellow tenergy and green tenergy batterys are quite safe if charged in the correct tenergy 3 volt charger... i have 3 pair that i use as back up batterys to my green sets that are over 2 years old with no problems yet... the new green one's have no mah rating labled on the battery itself...
Thanks! The Xtar MP2 is a pretty good dual charger with CC/CV and a 3v/3.7 manual switch, so I think it'll be fine for them but I'll watch 'em. The only charger I ever leave unattended at all is my Maha C-9000. ;-)
Hmmm. I thought 3.0v batts were not recommended for the Buzz. 3.6 or 3.7v batts should work better... though it sounds like you are getting good performance out of your 3.0s.
IDK...the batts they sell at notcigs are Trustfire 3.7v 16340's, so obviously that is what they would recommend. But, when I bought the BP it came with 8 of these batts and they seem to work fine. But, I'm running it at nearly the lowest voltage on a 1.8ohm coil, so that is probably a factor. I know I could just Google and search ECF, etc. But, I figured If I wondered about it, then maybe it'll be helpful for some peeps later on.
I have been running these into the ground (until completely dead) for years.. still using my first 2 pairs
Nice. I got the impression they had to be old batts when I first Googled the yellow ones and found Nada. Even on the maker's site. Excepting some Amazon reviews on the green ones saying how the yellow ones were better...haa!
There's no such thing as a perfectly safe Lithium Ion battery. Vendors are claiming LiFePO4 batteries are safe, however, in an e-cig, they are the most hazardous. This is because the dishcarge "C" rating is low for them, usually 1/2 to 1C which means they are grossly overloaded in an e-cig mod. Since they are supposedly safer, they are not protected so there's no mechanism to disallow an overload. Doesn't matter how safe a Li-Ion cell is when operated beyond tolerance. They are all flammable. That's all chemistries including LiCo, LiMn, and LiFePO4 Just about all of the incidents I've read about of mods blowing up in people's faces have been with these cells. There have been lots of reports of e-cigs like eGos blowing up on the charger, but mods running LiFePO4 cells are the only ones I've heard of blowing up in someone's hand.
"Safe, build-in IC provides various protection, Thermal protection, Overcharge protection, Short-circuit protection, mechanical. and electrical protection against reversal polarity, and auto defective battery identification. *" "Lithium Iron Phosphate - LiFePO4 Phosphate based technology possesses superior thermal and chemical stability which provides better safety characteristics than those of other Lithium-ion technologies. Lithium phosphate cells are incombustible in the event of mishandling during charge or discharge, they are more stable under overcharge or short circuit conditions and they can withstand high temperatures without decomposing. When abuse does occur, the phosphate-based cathode material will not release oxygen, will not combust and is therefore much less susceptible to thermal runaway. Lithium iron phosphate cells also offer a longer cycle life (1000 - 2500 cycles). Lithium iron phosphate batteries have lower energy density than cobalt, but they can support higher currents and thus greater power. They are a significant improvement over lithium cobalt oxide cells in terms of the cost, safety and toxicity."
There's a topic on CPF about these...in short, they said that even IF they did vent, they don't do so as explosively. "much less susceptible to thermal runaway" is the main point I see here. LiFePO4 abuse tolerance & overall safety. They were free. I don't plan on ditching them.
Yeah that's always been my conclusion when I read about it. I use them in mechanical mods and have had shorts before, or sometimes poor connection on the mechanical switch that would cause the batteries to heat up a bit but never had any problems with the batteries themselves. Only problem I've ever had is the charger became faulty. I have both the green and yellows and they act the same, although the greens are higher voltage off the charger.
Even if you can short them indefinitely and never have an issue (which I doubt), the energy density with them is even even lower than that of a NiMH cell. You have to take manufacturer's claims with a grain of salt. No Li-Ion battery is perfectly incombustable because lithium burns like magnesium. I don't have any links to quote, but I'm not making it up when I say I've seen reports of these cells combusting violently and causing personal injury in e-cig mods. You can find LiFePO4 cells with high discharge rates, but the Tenergy cells you're using are only 1/2C so they are heavily overloaded. If nothing else, the internal impedance on them is much higher resulting in a lot more power lost inside the cell and loss of run time. I don't know how to explain how your'e seeing longer run times with these cells, but on paper, run time is going to be a lot lower compared to other Li-Ion types of the same size.
Instead of claiming that these are notorious for blowing up, link something. There are several videos of people trying to blow these up and they can't.
the most important thing about using stacked batteries is that you pair them and never change them once they have been paired. I label mine with a sharpie put 1,2 and 3 on your sets and always use and charge them in pairs. I have been stacking these and the green tenergys for about 2 years now without a problem.
That's the first thing I did mate. To go through all 8 batts with my DMM and pair them up as best I could. Obviously once they get charged up fully, that might change some. I'm not running this at 5v or anything either.....I'm using a 1.8ohm coil with 33awg Kanthal. I highly doubt that with the BP's circuitry they'd be under much stress. If I vape too much the mod flashes for undervolt, and it won't let me keep using 'em anyways. It's not a pure mech mod it has all the usual protections, but it also has one of the strongest tubes around with Delrin bottom seals that'll blow first if shit hits the fan. It might rocket, but you can't blow up a Buzz. ;-) Really, I just wanted to know what to expect with these batts that were unfamiliar and with a new mod.
Truely, you have nothing to worry about. you know if you feel you mod getting super hot to toss it....its the people that know nothing about modding and think " Hey, just throw a few batteries in this thing and it'll hit like a truck" that get in trouble. Word to the wise.....if your a noob, unless you know about electronics and lith ion and li poly battieries...you should not be stacking batteries and to set a noob up with a 6 volt device that stacks batteries is just asking for trouble. Know ohms law, know what your dealing with. This is a serious hobby just like flying rc planes or racing rc trucks or cars. If you are not sure of yourself and dont know what your doing you are going to possibly ruin alot of expensive equipment and possibly hurt yourself in the process. If your the least bit unsure, use a single battery or an ego type device until you know enough to progress to bigger and better things.
