One thing I've noticed that kind of sucks is that it'll go all day if you're using batteries, but if you run it plugged in it will "overheat" and blink orange after a session and a half maybe... you can unplug and replug and this overrides it, but it'll do it again eventually... safety measure I'm guessing as it can go way hotter for longer on battery and be no prob.
Yep, as we've discussed before 'charge while using' is not what folks think. The battery has to work harder since it's constantly being charged a few seconds then discharged again. This heats the battery (something we know is not good for it's lifespan). It's no doubt 'tilting out' on battery issues, not overall heat.
We got this with the change in Solo we 'demanded'. The original PA mode in Solo meant the battery wasn't really being used at all (zero impact on lifespan) rather than abusing the battery so it dies earlier. This is why most vapes that this is possible with (like say FMs) tell you not to do it. 'Don't heat while charging to avoid damage' is the general rule. In fact, ESV 'discovered' that under the 'right' conditions (fully discharged battery) this can hammer the battery into the ground as it gets slammed into cutoff/protect a couple times a minute. So they upgraded to software to
block 'use while charging'. Removed the 'feature'. I recommend the 'charge it or use it (but not at the same time)' plan. In a cell phone you can charge faster than the unit can use power it's different, but here there's a clear clue in 'it takes 3 hours to charge but only one to discharge the battery'.
Best place to get a J hook?
I'd say at CK's house. She has several I believe? Ataxian might have more, but he'll have broken them by the time you get there....... Although he is easier to distract.
Has anyone else noticed that towards the end of the battery life the Air just doesn't heat well?
Yep, it's been discussed several times, here and other threads. Early on (when Air had no 'meter') I suggested/used heat up time as an indicator of charge.
To make the numbers easy, let's assume a constant one Ohm heater (it changes with heat, goes up a bit, but as an assumed average it'll work for a 'back of the envelope' estimate). With a 'full' battery, say 4.2 Volts, that one Ohm gives us 4.2 Amps. 4.2 Volts times 4.2 Amps, 17.6 Watts. At 'half charge', say 3.7 Volts, we have 3.7 Volts times 3.7 Amps for 13.7 Watts. At the bottom, 3.2 Volts, it's 3.2 times 3.2 for 10.2 Watts. From 17.6 to 10.2, a 42% reduction. Barely half the power to heat. This is, in fact, how the heaters are 'scaled' in such designs. You generally build the heater to work with the lowest allowed battery charge, allowing temperature control to cut that back with fresher charge.
You can also see this effect in 'duty cycle' (percentage of time the heater is on) while standing idle at temperature. The heater is on more seconds each minute holding temperature with less power when on as the charge decays.
This is, of course common to all vapes in this class (like Solo, FMs and so on). In fact it seems from testing my counterfeit this nasty detail rose up (partially discharged batteries 'couldn't make heat') so they simply cut the battery off early. I can run a battery in the counterfeit until it 'locks out' and refuses to heat, then take that battery out and put it in a genuine Air and
get another full session from it.
OF
Batteries stems or vials for not too much, just grabbed one.
