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Leaving Batteries on Charger overnight?


duke9023

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I know some of my batteries or my mvp 2.0 takes anywhere from 4 to 5 hours or better to fully charge my question is do you think its safe to put it on the charger before i go to bed and if it fully charges a few hours before i awake will that damage the battery or what?

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Leaving batts unattended while charging is a bad idea IMO.

Li-Ion batts can and do over heat,vent etc, and cause fires.

That includes cell phones,laptops,and flashlights that use LI-Ion.

There are several vape suppliers who sell charging bags that will contain the heat

so you may want to invest in one or two if you can't stay close to your batts while they charge.

JMO HTH

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IMO, charging the MVP, iStick, etc (self-contained/sealed battery devices) is safer to charge unattended than an exposed 18650 battery.

Notice I said "SAFER THAN" and "IN MY OPINION" :D

No battery charging activity is 100% safe or perfect, and we all should do this activity with the thought that something can/will go wrong. As suggested, buy a charge-bag to contain the devices when charging, if you MUST charge unattended. This is also another good reason to have back-up batteries... so you can charge one while you use another (while you're awake and can watch them).

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I go ta bed with mine plugged in quite often...

I woodnt recommend do'n like I do.

but I havent had any problems yet...

"Yet" is the operative werd here....

Its not wise but I've never been known ta make the smartest decisions...

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Leaving batts unattended while charging is a bad idea IMO.

Li-Ion batts can and do over heat,vent etc, and cause fires.

That includes cell phones,laptops,and flashlights that use LI-Ion.

There are several vape suppliers who sell charging bags that will contain the heat

so you may want to invest in one or two if you can't stay close to your batts while they charge.

JMO HTH

Contain the heat? That makes no sense at all. Unless used with a hobby charger those LiPO bags should be avoided.

This is how they are meant to be used, batteries only in the bag..

Lipo_bag_8.jpg

Here's a thermal pic of a Nitecore charger.

Temp1221.png

You can see we have some temps at ~125°F. These chargers need plenty of ventilation, they need to be able to dissipate heat, not 'contain' it. I can't imagine how hot these would get shoved into some insulated bag.

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Single cell LiPos are much less prone to charging issues than 2S packs. The issue with 2S is that the cells don't always charge/discharge at the same rate. Hence the balance board pictured above. Generally, not always, a LiPo pack will burst when the user has tried to charge on a setting other than one meant for LiPo. LiPo chargers charge on a CC/CV method. LiPo chargers (like the one Will pictured) first charge at a constant amp rate, and when the charger senses that the battery pack has reached a set voltage (usually 4.2v/cell) the charger switches to a constant voltage charge, dropping the amp rate as the battery reaches a full charge. That is the basic description, I don't know exactly how the charger determines the full charge.

A charger meant for NiMh or NiCd charges at a constant current (amp rate) until it sees a voltage drop of between .02 and .04 volts in the battery depending on the charger. When charging a LiPo this way the LiPo battery, single or mulit-cell does not produce the voltage drop, and the charger just continues to pump juice into the battery over charging it and causing a fire.

The Balance Board between the charger and the LiPo sack allows the charger to monitor individual cells in a multi-cell pack.

I've personally seen a LiPo fire. Long story short it was a 2S pack that had not been balance charged in many months, and wasn't balanced when it was being charged. Best guess of any one that was there was that it was so unbalanced one cell went up. Luckily it was in a sack, and it gave enough time to get a fire extinguisher. Another lesson there is don't think you can leave them unattended in a sack, all the sack does is give you time to get the fire extinguisher. The sack that particular battery was in was ashes in less than a minute.

Not trying to scare anyone away from LiPos, just expressing the need for caution and safety. I am sitting 6 feet from 2 2S packs and 2 or 3 single cell LiPos as I type.

I am not sure about the IMR cells (18650 etc) chemistry (is that the right word?) and their potential issues/quirks yet, but I am researching it.

Sorry for the long post, but LiPo safety is a big deal at a R/C race when there are a hundred guys with 2 or 3 packs each in 1 building.

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Bug my 16 1/2yr old & I fly RC planes at a local field in Tulsa (UnClub Electric)..

We heard that a batt pack swole up like a poisoned pup while being charged just before it exploded

Several guys scrambled with all the hoop'n & hollar'n we thought a lil kid got hung up in a copter blade or sumpin...

We was just get'n there (still before sunup) fer the Sunrise Flight....

I've known they get warm while charging, ALL BATTS get a lil warm..

but,,,

After see'n that thermal heat pic,, I wont leave one in the charger overnite like I used too...

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Bug my 16 1/2yr old & I fly RC planes at a local field in Tulsa (UnClub Electric)..

We heard that a batt pack swole up like a poisoned pup while being charged just before it exploded

Several guys scrambled with all the hoop'n & hollar'n we thought a lil kid got hung up in a copter blade or sumpin...

We was just get'n there (still before sunup) fer the Sunrise Flight....

I've known they get warm while charging, ALL BATTS get a lil warm..

but,,,

After see'n that thermal heat pic,, I wont leave one in the charger overnite like I used too...

Oh my gosh, he can learn, ladies and gentlemen! Now, we just need to teach him how to spell... :lol:

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I once bought a kit online. I actually got an extra battery from what I ordered and was super excited.

I left the battery charging at my desk while I went and got some coffee, came back and started smelling a weird burning smell. Turns out, there was a bit of what looked like solder connecting the battery terminal and the threading (causing a short). The charger was around 15% melted and I'm sure if I was gone longer things would've gotten bad.

Now I'm always paranoid about leaving batteries around charging (still do it though).

My advice, never leave a new battery charging unattended. Once you have more time to learn about the battery and the charger's quality, you're good to leave them.

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Uh-Oh! Im in trouble after this post! I leave my battery on the charger overnight all the time. Especially my extra one. I always just switch them in and out. So they more often than not are on the charger for a good solid 5 hours after they are charged. Honestly though, the batteries last me a few days... is that normal?

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I am honestly pretty amazed at the nature of this thread. If people purchase crap hardware that doesn't stop charging when optimal voltage is reached (and preferably also switch to a maintenance trickle), that is the fault of the hardware more than it is any danger factor of batteries. Same goes for crap batteries.

Of the billions (drastic understatement) of mobile devices containing litihum ion that have been sold, what percentage have detonated? Wouldn't it be a more pertinent point to stress the importance of using high-quality charging device and reputable battery manufacturer?

I am likely to get bashed for my perspective, but it is my opinion and I stand by it...No offense meant to anyone with alternate points of view.

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We don't allow bashing on this forum. For that, you need to go elsewhere. :)

What we do welcome, are different points of view and lively discussion (even if you don't agree and it becomes a debate), as long as it doesn't become personal attacks, we're all good.

Most of us who have been vaping for a bit stress getting quality hardware from reputable vendors. Many noobs who come to this forum, however, buy things online or at their local B&M that may be knock offs. That's why we tell them not to charge overnight unattended. Even quality products have flaws sometimes, nothing's perfect and neither are we. :)

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I obviously agree with caution of unknown or little-known products. Hard to argue with common sense, Tam! Before you buy, research, research, research!!

Along the same lines, I would have equal caution of unknown mech or vv/vw mods. You never know what might end up having erratic discharge properties or something.

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Like it or not, any new vaper, on any forum will be "interviewed" to gauge the knowledge and experience level by the members. Hopefully it's done in a pleasant way, but at least here it's in the best interest of the person in need of help. We all know that whatever we started with it was a strange new world. When you don't know what you don't know it's a bit scary.

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fishguy, I can really appreciate the interview process, particularly when trying to baseline someone's knowledge in order to provide them with the best answer. The helpfulness around this forum is why I joined here and stopped checking out a few others that will remain nameless. I was just meaning to comment on the overall "feeling" I got from reading this thread that there is a general fear. To that end, I only meant to voice that good products with established name and user base need have less fear than the "unknown".

Admittedly, I am a n00b in this big vape world (and on this particular site). I have, however, spent countless hours watching product review videos and reading forums. I felt that getting as educated as possible on the subject was the best possible option before choosing to drop the cigarettes and go for an alternative solution. I guess I perhaps assume that most others do the same, and that is quite possibly a poor assumption.

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Maybe not so much "fear" as there is a general "dread." We get new vapers (more than less these past few months), who try to fly a jet before they know how to ride a bicycle (and they don't even know how to check the air pressure in the tires). Little to no research done prior to diving straight into RDAs and coil building with no knowledge at all of Ohm's Law or battery safety. You name it, we've seen it... although there are a couple who take us by pleasant surprise who come on here and do their research to learn all they can. The latter are fairly rare, but we tend to hang onto those with both hands. :D

With the former new vapers, we try to give them solid advice (in the simplest terms possible) to keep them as safe as we can.You could call us their "training wheels." In the beginning there's a lot to learn about vaping, juices, coils, coil resistances, etc. We try not to overwhelm them with too much information until... later... when we take the training wheels off. :evil:

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I have a healthy reluctance to building coils for the safety reason, but I do see the numb-nuts at the local shop doing it and acting like a pro. So, I know that I will be trying it at some point because it clearly (you'd know if you saw him) does not require any advanced degree program.

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Tam is talking bout me,, hahaggagaaaaaaaa

I'm the kid that likes ta find out things the hard way & gets a few bumps & bruises ta show fer it...

I myself just bought my first RDA & I gonna have the guys at TikiMist Vapor shop do my coil building fer a while til I get the hang of it & a good digital ohm meter,,

I'm already familiar with ohm's law & have seen things go boom with 220v when not done correctly

(thank goodness it wasnt my lockout/tagout on box when they did that)......................

I bought a "Authentic"?? (I hope) Dragon on ebay,, ya'll will see it on vape mail thread when it gets here...

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