Choosing the right Li-ion charger for your batteries can be as confusing as choosing the right batteries for your mods. It's my objective to help you aware of the different features available so that you can make a better, more informed, choice. If you know nothing about chargers, hopefully by the time you read this you will have a good idea of what features you need in a charger.
THE "BEST CHARGER"
People often ask, "What's the best charger?" And most people will answer by naming one of the more expensive chargers with all the "bells and whistles". However, that charger may not necessarily be the right or best charger for YOU. For example, you may not need a fancy display screen or a fast charger. A budget charger manufactured by one of the preferred brands may be a better choice for you.
I went all out when I purchased my first Li-Ion charger. I went with the Pila, widely considered to be the best charger four years ago. It was the most expensive charger, only had two bays, and didn't have a LCD screen ... just LED lights. I have no regrets as it performed admirably for nearly two years under heavy use. One of the charging bays stopped working when it was about 2 years old, so I was then in the market for a new charger.
I decided to go with a six-bay Xtar WP6 II charger, as I was using two mods that used the smaller 18350 batteries and was going through 4 - 5 a day. Unfortunately, that model uses a combination of "spacers" and springs to retain the batteries in the charger, and the 18350 batteries kept "popping out". I had to place a heavy textbook on the charger to keep the batteries in the charger. I was not a happy camper.
My third charger, which I happen to still use, is the Nitecore Intellicharger i4. It is a budget charger which suits my current needs.
RECOMMENDED BRANDS
I recommend buying an Xtar, Nitecore, or Efest LUC charger. Just like recommended battery brands (Lg, Samsung, Sony), these three manufacturers have earned excellent reputations for producing qualtiy reliable chargers. The best batteries deserve a good charger. Should you buy a cheap generic or offbrand charger, you're probably taking a gamble that the manufacturer did not cut any corners to lower his production costs.
NUMBER OF CHARGING BAYS
You will choose between a single bay, 2-bay, 4-bay, or 6-bay charger. The choice depends upon how many batteries you will need to charge at once. I only see a single bay charger as being useful as an emergency charger for the office or car. Many will get by easily with just a 2-bay charger. If you anticipate going through more than two batteries a day, choose a 4-bay charger. If you anticipate using more than four batteries a day, a 6-bay charger would seem to be ideal.
INDEPENDENT CHARGING BAYS, OR NOT?
True independent charging bays will offer faster charge times for each battery being charged simultaneously. The individual charging bays will not be sharing a circuit, which can slow charging times. Independent bays adds more electrical components, and therefore add to the overall cost of the charger. In this case, you get what you are paying for. Not everyone needs a fast charger however. Desirable yes, a necessity no. Chargers without independent bays will still charge batteries in a decent amount of time.
LED LIGHTS OR lCD SCREEN?
The budget chargers use LED lights to allow you to monitor the charging progress. The more advanced chargers utilize a Liquid Crystal Display to monitor the charging progress, and also have a digital readout of the battery's voltage. Desireable yes, a necessity, no.
I will say that if you use a mechanical mod, and don't have a voltage tester or multimeter to measure your battery's voltage, using a charger that has a digital readout of the battery voltage is very worthwhile.
ODD BATTERY SIZES
All listed chargers here will charge an 18650 battery. However, some may not charge some of the less popular sizes like 14500, 16340, 18350, 18500, or 26650. If you use this size battery, make sure the charger you are considering will accept it.
CHARGING BAGS. YAH OR NAY?
This is a controversial subject. Those who use them say that the flame ......ant bag will contain a fire caused by either the battery or charger. Those who don't use them say they may actually create a problem where none existed.
Charging bags were designed to be used with Li-Po batteries and chargers. Li-Po batteries are used in the remote control car and plane hobby. These batteries are not a safer-chemistry battery, and a "battery incident" with one can be quite spectacular if you are into fireworks and flames.
Li-Po batteries are not charged in the chargers. They are kept separate, connected by battery charger cables. The batteries are placed into the bag, and the charger remains outside of the bag. This is because chargers produce some heat while they charge batteries, and leaving the charger outside of the bag allows the charger to be cooled by natural air circulation.
Li-ion batteries are charged while in the charger, so if using a charging bag both the batteries and charger will be contained inside of the bag. The theory against using a charging bag is that the charger may generate enough heat in the bag to cause a problem, and the heat generated will not be allowed to ventilate inside the bag. I'll leave the decision up to the reader whether to use a charging bag or not.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STANDARD, RAPID AND "SMART" CHARGERS
- A Standard charger is considered to be a slow / overnight charger. It typically takes up to 12 hours to charge your battery. Slow chargers continue to charge your battery even after it is fully charged. Over time this can shorten the life of your battery. With a slow charger it is important to remove the battery after it is fully charged to maximize the life of your battery.
- A Rapid charger charges your battery typically in 1 to 3 hours. Once the battery is fully charged it will switch to a trickle charge mode so that it does not overcharge your battery. Most of today's Li-ion chargers are either a rapid charger or smart charger.
- Smart chargers will typically charge your battery in the same amount of time as a Rapid charger but they will also discharge, analyze, condition, and perform cycle tests on your batteries. In most cases they will double the life of your batteries.
- Some Li-ion chargers include a wake-up feature, or “boost,” to allow recharging if a Li-ion battery has fallen asleep due to over-discharge. A sleep condition can occur when storing the battery in a discharged state and the self-discharge brings the voltage to the cut-off point. An over-discharge situation can also occur in a mechanical mod. A regular charger treats such a battery as unserviceable and the battery will need to be discarded. Boost applies a small charge current to raise the voltage to between 2.20 and 2.90V/cell and activate the protection circuit, at which point a normal charge commences. Caution applies if Li-ion has dwelled below 1.5V/cell for a week or longer.
Prices and pics are courtesy of RTD Vapor:
PILA IBC CHARGER - $47.95
At one time widely considered to be the top charger on the market. However, this model has not had any upgrades to allow it to remain competitive with those chargers with display screens. A fast "smart" charger with two independent charging bays. Pila includes spacers for charging 18350 and 16340 size batteries. If you have weak or disabled hands, this is probably the best choice for you, as the spacers used make inserting/removing batteries easier than the sometimes stiff spring-loaded sliding bars seen in most battery chargers.
Charging process
Stage 1 – Automatic analyzing battery status
Stage 2 – Quick charge
Stage 3 – Slow charge
Stage 4 – Standby mode, trickle charge
Xtar VP1 ($24.90), VP2 ($34.89), VP4 ($39.99), and VC2 ($19.95)
Xtar VP1 ($24.90)
2 Channels 10440/16340/14500/14650/17670/18350/18500/18650/18700 XTAR VP1 Intelli-Battery Charger
Features:
1.Two independent charging channels for 10440/16340/14500/14650/17670/18350/18500/18650/18700 Li-ion battery
2.Algorithm(CC.CV)charging system
3.Optional and adjustable charge current:250mA,500mA,1A
4.VP1 with switchable LCD indicator to display the real-time charging voltage and battery status
5.Activation function for over discharging battery.VP1 can recover the overly dicharging protected batteries
6.Soft start function avoids damage from a large current surge
7.Automatically restart charging when batteries voltage(full charged batteries not taken out from the charger channel)is below 3.9V(batteries may self discharge)
8.Reverse-polarity protection circuit board
Xtar VP2 Battery Charger ($34.89)
Features：
●Three charging current options (0.25A/0.5A/1.0A)
●Three charging voltage options (3.2V/3.6V/3.8V)
●for 10440/14500/14650/16340/17670/18350/18500/18650/18700/22650/25500/26650 3.0/3.2V, 3.6V/3.7V, 3.8V Li-ion batteries
●Low-Voltage, over-load and over-heat protection, power indication, stop supplying when low power
●LED status indications
●Real-time status display
●Adopts PWM technology to control the high efficiency DC-DC circuit, lower the voltage and reduce energy loss
●Three-stage charging and 0V battery activation
●USB Output （5.0V/1.0A）
●Adopts IC temperature monitor, avoid over heat
●Small charge current when start to charge
●Compact size, portable
●Reverse-polarity and short circuit protection circuit
- Includes a car adapter power cord.
XTAR VP4 ($34.99) is an intelligent four channel, completely independent lithium ion LCD battery charger. Charging current can be adjusted automatically according to different channel, the user can also manually choose the current by the current switch button. The 120°angle high definition VA real time display, precision of battery cutting-off voltage, battery power indicators and optional currents, etc., whenever you know the battery charging status. If you want to buy a charger which is multislot, multi charger currents and can see charger status, VP4 charger will be your best option!
Features:
* 10440/16340/14500/14650/17670/18350/18500/18650/18700
or two pcs 22650/ 25500/26650 lithium batteries
* Compatible with IMR lithium battery
* Each channel is independent
* Three-stage charge algorithm(TC-CC-CV)
* Three charge current options (0.25 A, 0.5 A, and 1.0 A)
* Soft-start function, to avoid damage from large charge current while charging
* Automatically cut off when the battery is charged fully
* Precision cut-off voltage at 4.2V
* Compatible with small capacity battery
* Over heat protection
* LCD displays each battery real time statues
* Use high power intelligent step-down DC - DC circuit,
greatly reduce the energy loss
* Built-in reverse-polarity and short-circuit protection circuit
* The car adapter power cord is included with purchase.
The XTAR VC2 ($19.95) charger is the World's first lithium-ion battery charger that features an innovative tachometer-style LCD display screen. This charger will tell you the real power of your battery! The VC2 will display the batteries mAh capacity assuming it is completely drained before charging. Like all of our chargers, it can intelligently identify input power and automatically adjust the the most suitable charge current (0.15A~0.5). It is compatible with both IMR lithium batteries and small capacity batteries. Both channels are independent and it can also tell you if you have bad batteries. And like all XTAR chargers, the VC2 features overcharge protection, over-discharge, short-circuit, and reverse polarity protection. Adopted from the VP2 charger, the VC2 can revive overly discharged batteries as well.
What's Included:
- VC2 charger
- MicroUSB cable
- Microfiber carrying pouch
- User manual
- Warranty card
Applies to: 10440/14500/14650/16340/17500/17670/18350/18500/18650/18700/22650/25500/26650 3.6/3.7V batteries
Features:
- Compatible with IMR lithium battery
- Each channel is independent
- Three-stage charge algorithm(TC-CC-CV)
- Soft-start function, to avoid damage from large charge current while charging.
- Automatically cut off when the battery is charged fully
- Precision cut-off voltage at 4.2V
- Compatible with small capacity battery
- Over heat protection
- LCD displays each battery real time statues
- Use high power intelligent step-down DC - DC circuit, greatly reduce the energy loss;
- Built-in reverse-polarity and short-circuit protection circuit
- Use fireproof material for the shell
- 0V activation function can wake up the over-discharged/sleeping batteries
- 120°angle high definition VA screen to display the charging current ,voltage and power indicator, you can see the charging status from any angle of view.
- Certified by CE, RoHS
How to test your batteries mAh capacity:
Step 1: Insert your discharged battery (at a discharge cut-off voltage generally below 3.0V)
Step 2: Let the battery charge and notice the 0000mAh displayed on the screen. Do not remove the battery until the charge is complete.
Step 3: When the battery is fully charged, the screen will show "FULL" and the entire screen will flash 3 times every 10 seconds.
Step 4: The mAh on the screen should now give you the batteries actual capacity.
Xtar WP6 II ($33.90)
* Six independent charging channel for 10440/ 14500/ 14650/ 15270/ 16340/ 17670/18350/18500/18650/18700 battery.
* Algorithm charging system (CC/CV)
* 6 spacers
* Real-time battery monitoring system.
* IC temperature monitoring system
* Car adaptor is included
* 90 day warranty
References:
What everyone should know about Battery Chargers, Battery University
this is a work still in progress. please be patient.
