Samsung 30Q 18650 shows voltage but no capacity status

Batteries and Chargers Rechargeable Batteries
1

Hi BLF, was wondering if anyone could help me out:

My Samsung 30Q 18650 shows voltage but no capacity status in my Efect LUC V4 charger, as shown in the following pictures:

https://i.imgur.com/PIOrVN0.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/rIHUxTf.jpg

The issue is replicated regardless of what bay I put the battery in. Any help or suggestions are welcome!

2

It’s interesting as the second photo shows a lower voltage than the first which is obviously taken later. It looks to be charging it still from the increase in voltage

3

Ah I didn’t order the pictures correctly in my post, the 1st picture with the higher voltage is the more recent one. Just an update, it did show one bar of capacity at 3.9v and then three bars at 4.08v until I finally took it out of the charger. Not sure why the charger was reading it that way - can’t tell if it was that specific battery or not. I have a bunch of 30Qs coming in soon, will see if they encounter the same issue.

4

That Samsung 30Q looks somewhat different than the 30Q that I get from 18650batterystore in the US.

Are your 30Q batteries ordered on BG or AE from China?

5

And what if you take the green battery out (and leave it out) and put the 30Q in the first bay?

6

The 30Q is empty. A drained battery shows no capacity.

Robert

7

The charger is showing a voltage though. It is just the battery icon that looks empty.

8

I ordered it from illumn.com (Illumination Supply LLC) last year.

It had the same issue, however, after an hour or so when it reached 3.90v the charger showed a bar of charge capacity. A redditor suggested that for some reason the charger might be “conservative” and read low 3 volts as not charged. Sounds plausible, but I did try charging on a Nitecore D4 as well which showed the same 3.08v and zero bar capacity (“empty”). I left it in the charger until it showed 4.08v and it actually displayed three bars charge capacity - not sure why the 30Q would behave the same in two different chargers and show “empty” capacity at 3.08v, but it did seem to charge ok.

9

What did it show in-between 3.08v and 4.08v? When does it change to 2 bars?

Also have you tested 18650 batteries other than your 30Q and see how they behave?

I think it might be worth ignoring the icon and just pay attention to the voltage reading.

10

Haven’t done any extensive testing yet, I do have a few 30Q batteries coming soon from 18650batterystore, will see if the issue is duplicated with those. Will probably drain a Sony/Murata VTC6 (green battery pictured) and an LG as well and see if they run into the same issue.

Edit: Not sure when it changed to two bars, it showed one bar at 3.9v and three bars when I took it out at 4.08v.

11

i’d test it in a real light and maybe run it down, charge it back on the charger, see what that does.

12

those capacity indicators are a rough estimate and are never accurate.
the voltage at the end is what will tell you if a cell is fully charged.