Best Battery Charger

[Imthiaz Khan]

Thank you @Rob Fisher! I though it was just be doing something wrong with the charger because I never had this issue with the I2 Intellicharger. Glad I'm not alone on this
Totally agree with you that the design could have been so much better!

 

[Silver]

Good to hear you are happy @Imthiaz Khan
Ya, sometimes its a mission to get the batteries out when its full
But if you move the battery downward slightly then use your nail to lift up the top - it makes it a bit easier - at keast thats how i do it on the i4. Not sure about the D4 though.

 

[BumbleBee]

Thank you @Rob Fisher! I though it was just be doing something wrong with the charger because I never had this issue with the I2 Intellicharger. Glad I'm not alone on this
Totally agree with you that the design could have been so much better!

I found the opposite is true for me, the i2 is a PITA, especially getting the batteries in, that spring is stupidly stiff. The D4 is a breeze, batteries go in and out with very little effort. It almost feel like the bays on the D4 are ever so slightly longer and the spring has slightly less tension.

 

[Imthiaz Khan]

Thanks for the tip @Silver, will give your method a try

Lol, that's weird, total opposite for me @BumbleBee

 

[Derick]

All battery chargers have the silliest of systems and I used to whine about it when I started vaping and I still swear at my battery chargers often... I have just accepted the silly system and live with it now... one day someone is going to build a real charger that has an awesome display and putting in and taking out batteries will be a breeze...

But I feel your pain @Imthiaz Khan!

Sounds to me like you want a hobby charger
http://lygte-info.dk/info/HobbyChargers UK.html

 

[Rob Fisher]

Sounds to me like you want a hobby charger
http://lygte-info.dk/info/HobbyChargers UK.html

Oh yes nice display and easy to put in batteries and get them out...

 

[DoubleD]

Hey guys, my Nitecore i2 gets warm whilst charging, is this normal? I have actually never noticed this while I have owned it until today. I randomly picked up the charger to remove a battery and notice it was warm(almost hot), the batteries were also warm?

Edit: I have had this charger for about a year now, bought second hand.

 

[Stosta]

Hey guys, my Nitecore i2 gets warm whilst charging, is this normal? I have actually never noticed this while I have owned it until today. I randomly picked up the charger to remove a battery and notice it was warm(almost hot), the batteries were also warm?

Edit: I have had this charger for about a year now, bought second hand.

Yeah, they do get a bit hot. If you still have the insert it shows where the charger's hot zone would be.

 

[Sharrivz]

Efest LUC6 all the way!

 

[Andre]

Efest LUC6 all the way!

My Efest LUC6 only charges to 4.14V. Wonder if other owners have the same "problem".

 

[johan]

My Efest LUC6 only charges to 4.14V. Wonder if other owners have the same "problem".

Most probably the battery and not the charger (I might be wrong).
To test:
1. Place fully charged battery in charger;
2. Take your doohicky (or whatever you call the battery voltage meter, even a multimeter will do) and wedge (red connector) between battery + and charger positive contact, and wedge (black connector) between battery - and charger negative.
3. The reading on voltage meter should read >4.20V, if battery is fully charged.
4. If the voltage meter or multimeter reads indeed >4.20V, then the voltage indicator on charger is out of calibration (nothing to worry about).
5. If, on fully charged battery, the voltage meter / multimeter reading is <4.20V, the charger is faulty.

 

[capetocuba]

Had my I2 for over 2 years & my D4 for over a year, both never a single issue.

 

[Andre]

Most probably the battery and not the charger (I might be wrong).
To test:
1. Place fully charged battery in charger;
2. Take your doohicky (or whatever you call the battery voltage meter, even a multimeter will do) and wedge (red connector) between battery + and charger positive contact, and wedge (black connector) between battery - and charger negative.
3. The reading on voltage meter should read >4.20V, if battery is fully charged.
4. If the voltage meter or multimeter reads indeed >4.20V, then the voltage indicator on charger is out of calibration (nothing to worry about).
5. If, on fully charged battery, the voltage meter / multimeter reading is <4.20V, the charger is faulty.

Will do so thanks @johan. What I have done so far: The charger says 4.20 and stops charging. Then I measured it immediately with the doohickey (outside of the charger) and it read 4.14. For all my batteries, both 18650s and 18500s.

 

[johan]

Will do so thanks @johan. What I have done so far: The charger says 4.20 and stops charging. Then I measured it immediately with the doohickey (outside of the charger) and it read 4.14. For all my batteries, both 18650s and 18500s.

It sounds like the charger voltage detection calibration is drifting (or the doohickey) - double check with a reliable multimeter.

 

[Andre]

It sounds like the charger voltage detection calibration is drifting (or the doohickey) - double check with a reliable multimeter.

I have 3 different makes of doohickey. They all say the same. In addition, when I then transfer a battery just charged on the Efest LUC6 to my Intellicharger, it carries on charging and reads 4.21 on the doohickeys when finished. Yip, think the calibration on the Efest is not right?

 

[Silver]

I have 3 different makes of doohickey. They all say the same. In addition, when I then transfer a battery just charged on the Efest LUC6 to my Intellicharger, it carries on charging and reads 4.21 on the doohickeys when finished. Yip, think the calibration on the Efest is not right?

@Andre, funny you should mention that

My i2 charges only to about 4.18 - then i put it in the i4 and it carries on charging - when done, its 4.20 or sometimes 4.21

I figured my i2 is slightly out - but the percentage its out is 3 out of 421 so thats like 0.7% - which i have accepted now is very small. Still bugs me

Yours is a bit more. Its off about 7 out of 421 so thats a bit more - 1.7%. Would bug the hell oit of me even though its such a small difference.

 

[Silver]

PS - the i4 has been going without a hitch since you advised me to get it in early 2014

So thats 2 years and not a single hitch. 4.20 or 4.21 everytime!

 

[Dave1]

Batteries charged to 4.2v will have more charge cycles than batteries charged to 4.5v.
Some interesting info:
Most Li-ions charge to 4.20V/cell and every reduction in peak charge voltage of 0.10V/cell is said to double cycle life. For example, a lithium-ion cell charged to 4.20V/cell typically delivers 300–500 cycles. If charged to only 4.10V/cell, the life can be prolonged to 600–1,000 cycles; 4.00V/cell should deliver 1,200–2,000 and 3.90V/cell 2,400–4,000 cycles.

On the negative side, a lower peak charge voltage reduces the capacity the battery stores. As a simple guideline, every 70mV reduction in charge voltage lowers the overall capacity by 10 percent. Applying the peak charge voltage on a subsequent charge will restore the full capacity.

In terms of longevity, the optimal charge voltage is 3.92V/cell. Battery experts believe that this threshold eliminates all voltage-related stresses; going lower may not gain further benefits but induce other symptoms.

Keep your battery cool and don't overcharge and you will have a happy battery that lives much longer than everyone else's.

 

[Christos]

Batteries charged to 4.2v will have more charge cycles than batteries charged to 4.5v.
Some intersting info:
Most Li-ions charge to 4.20V/cell and every reduction in peak charge voltage of 0.10V/cell is said to double cycle life. For example, a lithium-ion cell charged to 4.20V/cell typically delivers 300–500 cycles. If charged to only 4.10V/cell, the life can be prolonged to 600–1,000 cycles; 4.00V/cell should deliver 1,200–2,000 and 3.90V/cell 2,400–4,000 cycles.

On the negative side, a lower peak charge voltage reduces the capacity the battery stores. As a simple guideline, every 70mV reduction in charge voltage lowers the overall capacity by 10 percent. Applying the peak charge voltage on a subsequent charge will restore the full capacity.

In terms of longevity, the optimal charge voltage is 3.92V/cell. Battery experts believe that this threshold eliminates all voltage-related stresses; going lower may not gain further benefits but induce other symptoms.

Keep your battery cool and don't overcharge and you will have a happy battery that lives twice as long as everyone else's.

It would appear that @Andre's charger is then doing him a good service

 

[Silver]

@Andre, funny you should mention that

My i2 charges only to about 4.18 - then i put it in the i4 and it carries on charging - when done, its 4.20 or sometimes 4.21

I figured my i2 is slightly out - but the percentage its out is 3 out of 421 so thats like 0.7% - which i have accepted now is very small. Still bugs me

Yours is a bit more. Its off about 7 out of 421 so thats a bit more - 1.7%. Would bug the hell oit of me even though its such a small difference.

Actually, I made a mistake in my post above by not focusing on the useable battery range

If one is on the Reo - we typically take out the battery at 3.7 volts - so @Andre, if your charger only charges up to 4.14 instead of 4.20 V, the percentage difference (of useable life) is much greater.

Its more like 7 out of 51 which is about 14 %. And that bit of additional voltage would keep you at higher power initially for a bit longer on a mech.

And if using a regulated and you pull out at like 3.2 volts, then its 7 out of 100 - so about 7%.

Conclusion - that charger is robbing you of valuable battery life

PS - thanks for your input @Dave1 - so @Andre, you're being robbed but at the same time, being rewarded by longer overall battery lifespan !

 

[stevie g]

For what it is worth I've never had a battery charge over 4.16v using an I2, I4, LGHE2, LGHG2 or Samsung 25R.

 

[Gazzacpt]

For what it is worth I've never had a battery charge over 4.16v using an I2, I4, LGHE2, LGHG2 or Samsung 25R.

My i2 use to charge to 4.21
i4 to 4.19
The D4 I currently have does 4.19 on the nose every time.
Thats with all my batteries 25R, efest, VTC5 and MNKE.

 

[stevie g]

My i2 use to charge to 4.21
i4 to 4.19
The D4 I currently have does 4.19 on the nose every time.
Thats with all my batteries 25R, efest, VTC5 and MNKE.

probably margin of error on my multimeter then seeing as it is a cheap jobbie.

 

[Andre]

Actually, I made a mistake in my post above by not focusing on the useable battery range

If one is on the Reo - we typically take out the battery at 3.7 volts - so @Andre, if your charger only charges up to 4.14 instead of 4.20 V, the percentage difference (of useable life) is much greater.

Its more like 7 out of 51 which is about 14 %. And that bit of additional voltage would keep you at higher power initially for a bit longer on a mech.

And if using a regulated and you pull out at like 3.2 volts, then its 7 out of 100 - so about 7%.

Conclusion - that charger is robbing you of valuable battery life

PS - thanks for your input @DaveH - so @Andre, you're being robbed but at the same time, being rewarded by longer overall battery lifespan !

Yeah, I do not like it - have gone back to the i4.

 

[Dave1]

More battery info:

See last post on charging levels.

Batteries wear out faster with heavy use, and the depth of discharge (DoD) also determines the cycle count. The shorter the discharge (low DoD), the longer the battery will last. So another way to lengthen a batteries lifespan is to avoid full discharges and charge the battery more often between uses. Partial discharge on Li-ion is fine. There is no memory and the battery does not need periodic full discharge cycles to prolong their life.

@Silver Recharging at 3.7V will increase the lifespan to 1200 to 1500 charge cycles. Some chipsets are better than others at protecting batteries, the chipset in my Sigelei 150w gives a low battery warning and will not allow firing until wattage is reduced or charged batteries are used. After dripping @ 0.35 Ohm the battery capacity can still be in excess of 65% when the device stops firing so changing to a 1 to 1.2 Ohm coil in a tank I can still use the same batteries in the device for almost a day

A regular Li-ion should not remain at the high-voltage ceiling of 4.20V/cell for an extended time. The Li-ion charger turns off the charge current and the battery voltage reverts to a more natural level. This is like relaxing your muscles after strenuous exercise. Estimating State of Charge by reading the voltage of a charging battery is impractical; measuring the open circuit voltage (OCV) after the battery has rested for a few hours is a better indicator. As with all batteries, temperature affects the OCV, so does the active material of Li-ion.

Environmental conditions, and not cycling alone, govern the longevity of lithium-ion batteries. The worst situation is keeping a fully charged battery at elevated temperatures. Charging a battery or leaving a fully charged battery in a hot car is probably the worst thing you can do to it. Battery packs do not die suddenly but the runtime gradually shortens as the capacity fades. Avoid so-called ultra-fast chargers that claim to fully charge Li-ion in less than one hour.

Charging:

Li-ion is fully charged when the current drops to a set level. In lieu of trickle charge, some chargers apply a topping charge when the voltage drops.

The charge rate of an Energy Cell is between 0.5 and 1C; the complete charge time is about 2–3 hours. Manufacturers of these cells recommend charging at 0.8C or less to prolong battery life. Most Power Cells can take a higher charger. Charge efficiency is about 99 percent and the cell remains cool during charge.

Some Li-ion packs may experience a temperature rise of about 5ºC (9ºF) when reaching full charge. This could be due to the protection circuit and/or elevated internal resistance. Discontinue using the battery or charger if the temperature under normal charging conditions rises more than 10ºC (18ºF).

Full charge occurs when the battery reaches the voltage threshold and the current drops to three percent of the rated current. A battery is also considered fully charged if the current levels off and cannot go down further.

Increasing the charge current does not hasten the full-charge state by much. Although the battery reaches the voltage peak quicker, the saturation charge will take longer accordingly. With higher current, Stage 1 is shorter but the saturation Stage 2 takes longer. A high current charge will, however, quickly fill the battery to about 70 percent.

Li-ion does not need to be fully charged as is the case with lead acid, nor is it desirable to do so. In fact, it is better not to fully charge because a high voltage stresses the battery. Choosing a lower voltage threshold, or eliminating the saturation charge altogether, prolongs battery life but reduces the runtime. To achieve maximum runtimes, most chargers for consumer products go for maximum capacity; extended service life is perceived less important.

A device should be turned off during charge. This allows the battery to reach the set voltage threshold and current saturation point unhindered. A parasitic load confuses the charger by depressing the battery voltage and preventing the current in the saturation stage to drop low by drawing a leakage current. A battery may be fully charged, but the prevailing conditions will prompt a continued charge, causing stress.

Storage.

If batteries are not going to be used for prolonged periods they should be stored at 50% charge.