Trustfire Battery Issue

[Master Venturous]

I've been having some problems with one of my Trustfire batteries I got with one of my staves. The last few times I've tried charging the batteries (all Trustfires), I noticed one of them always showed a green light on the charger, as if it was already fully charged. I didn't think much of it until it happened three times in a row. I also noticed that the blade kept getting duller. I know it's not either of the chargers because I put the same battery in all four charging slots and each one showed it as being charged, whereas with other batteries it would charge them. I've only had the batteries since March, so I wouldn't think they'd be dying on me yet. Does anyone know if there is a solution to this or do I have to get another battery?

[Deep]

(This is copy pasted from the most recent newsletter) If you own an Ultrasaber that uses Li-Ion batteries then you have probably wondered what the best way is to take care of the batteries is to prolong them.  One gigantic piece of misinformation is that you shouldn't keep the batteries on the charger (or if you have a recharge port, you shouldn't keep your saber plugged in).  When that is exactly where you should keep them.  Our charger begin to "trickle charge" once the batteries are fully charged.  Which means that it will keep the batteries topped off but will not overcharge or damage the batteries.    The best way to risk damaging your Li-Ion batteries is to leave them in your saber for an extended period without using the saber or charging the batteries.  Over a very long period of time your saber will eventually fully drain the batteries and if your batteries stay idle for an extended period after being completely depleted they will eventually forget how to charge and become "fully dead" battery cells and won't recharge again.  So if your saber is going to be sitting idle for an extended period of time, please remove the batteries and store them in the charger or if you have a recharge port just keep your saber plugged in until the next time you plan to use it.  This will help to preserve your Li-Ion batteries.


It is possible to Revive a battery that no longer takes a charge:

What works often:
Shock the battery with a higher voltage. This means, connect the contacts with a higher voltage but for only a few seconds (important).

The charging voltage should be 30 to 50% higher than the cell´s voltage (i.e. a 9V battery for our 3.7V batteries).
Plus [positive] on plus [positive], minus [negative] on minus [negative] (otherwise you will short circuit the battery and kill it!!!).

Important!!!:
Only a few seconds (not more than ten seconds).

If it gets hot disconnect immediately.  Don´t be worried, there´s plenty of time between the point of noticing the heat and the dangerous threshold of exploding the cell. Those dramatic video clips where cells are exploding were made by using the excessive voltage of 12V or more.

If you have one, measure the voltage with a multimeter. You should reach at least 2.5V.

If not, connect the contacts again for a few second (and stop when the cell gets hot). You can repeat this procedure several times. Just watch for the temperature (give the cell time to chill).

If the voltage does not increase after several times, though you charged until the cell got hot, then the cell is defiantly permanently dead.  For example: the cell´s voltage is still 0.00 or 0.10V.

You can use a 9V cell (easy to get, easy to connect), just don´t forget to monitor the heat.

Now, the current voltage of the cell is high enough to get charged commonly (some chargers accept 2.2V as a starting voltage). You should charge it immediately with a common Li-Ion-charger, because the batteries voltage drops pretty fast again.

Don´t try to drain energy out of the battery (i.e. don´t use it yet) until you´ve completely charged the battery in a common charger. If you have a charger with a reliable standby-circuit [trickle charge like our chargers] (i.e. a circuit, that keeps the cell permanently on 4.20V), keep it in the charging cradle for 24 more hours.

This has worked for me on many occasions.  Otherwise, just get a new battery, they aren't that expensive and typically last so long as they are care for properly.

[eerockk]

This could be stickied, IMO... thanks, Deep!

[afrojedi]

Hi i have read the "how to prolong YOUR li-on" and I regularly leave the batteries in the charger, however, now my LED turns on But last for about 5 seconds before the LED turns off. I have sound on mine and that still is as loud as before. any ideas?

[Scarletspidey85]

See I am in the same boat as everyone else.  My saber will make sound but will not light up.  I just got these batteries from the first summer raffle and even after I used up the life on the batteries I quickly put them on the charger.  Right away the one battery would charge and the other one would not it just stayed green.  This has happened three different times now.  I put the battery on a tester to see if it was even just low and it would not read on the tester basically saying it was holding no charge at all.

[James Casey]

I've had a Trustfire battery die on me, and I don't have the equipment to shock it, as Deep's suggested.

I've just received my replacement batteries that I found online, so I now have one spare in case it happens again. Hopefully it's just one bad battery, but if not then I'll be making the seller happy, I guess.

[afrojedi]

looking good I shocked it and the red light is on. only thing is the multimeter now read 0.7 is that normal?

[merweb]

I too am having battery issues, is it common that the saber would just switch off after a few seconds. If I take out and put back in the batteries it will come on again for a few seconds. My charger is currently broken and I am awaiting another in the post. However I wanted to know if this is a symptom of low batteries - I would have expected dimmer LED or something.

This is the 2nd set of batteries to do this. I hoping a recharge will fix!!

Merweb

[RevanChrist]

So can I order just the batteries from U.S.? or,,,,,? what?

[Master Venturous]

So can I order just the batteries from U.S.? or,,,,,? what?

Yes, they sell individual Trustfire batteries in the Accessories section I believe it is.

[haldir]

ya ive had this problem too... at one point i had double the amount of batteries that i required so that i would never be without a charged battery.... over the last year, HALF my batteries have failed and i am back to the original amount of 2 batteries per saber.... i try to keep them in the charger whenever possible, if they do stay in my saber its never for longer then a few days to a week at most.... any ways, the batteries suck lol . im going to order some extra on my next saber purchase, i think thats all you can really do

some of the batteries would just stop working like you described in the first post... some batteries would hold a partial charge, like some other people are describing, so that when i put them in the saber the LED light would get dim and go out before the sound.

[eerockk]

ya ive had this problem too... at one point i had double the amount of batteries that i required so that i would never be without a charged battery.... over the last year, HALF my batteries have failed and i am back to the original amount of 2 batteries per saber.... i try to keep them in the charger whenever possible, if they do stay in my saber its never for longer then a few days to a week at most.... any ways, the batteries suck lol . im going to order some extra on my next saber purchase, i think thats all you can really do

some of the batteries would just stop working like you described in the first post... some batteries would hold a partial charge, like some other people are describing, so that when i put them in the saber the LED light would get dim and go out before the sound.

After one year of abuse, my first battery has lost its ability to charge. So, I now have 9 batteries total for the 5 sabers in the house, and it's not a concern as I always ordered an extra pair with each saber.

[haldir]

After one year of abuse, my first battery has lost its ability to charge. So, I now have 9 batteries total for the 5 sabers in the house, and it's not a concern as I always ordered an extra pair with each saber.

ya, its not too big of a deal, just a slight added cost to figure into the overall price of a happy sabering experience .

the fact that you have only lost 1 batt in a whole year is pretty good i think... Ive had 4 die on me in the same time frame. i exaggerated slightly in my first post... i have had up to 10 batts and one point and i currently have 6 that still work.

[eerockk]

Booo. Sorry to hear, Haldir. It is important to note that Trustfire does make a quality product, though they are not perfect. I've always been happy using them.

At least you're still powered too!

[Lord Benzile]

so what yall are saying is it is possible after a while one battery just dumps on ya.

I was using my intiate today in BR and noticed it dimmed after only 10 minutes of use. This is my dark intiate i got in april. I bought a regular initiate in GB in august. So i fully charged them both on opposite chargers. I have recharge ports for both with the faster chargers. Once charged i let them both run FOC for 5 minutes. then left them on. sure enough my April BR one dimmed after 10 minutes and my GB dimmed after 25.

I think ill just hit radioshack friday for a new set of batteries as long as they have same voltage. If im lucky maybe i can find some with high than 900mah  for more capacity.

Funny thing is i recharged them using opposite chargers and  the problem one took longer to charge. Iv done what Emory says about leaving them connected since ive had them. Has anyone bought any aftermarket Li-poly batts for their US?