Charger that will work well for AW IMR 18650

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paulc35

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Any 3.7 volt lithium battery charger that will take an 18650 size battery will work fine:

Pila charger, Ultrafire WF-188, Trustfire TR-001, etc

I have the WF-188 and I used it at 3.7v, 300ma instead of 650ma and it didn't hold. It went on the charger for about 5 hrs then turned green. It stayed powered up for about 10 minutes on a AW IMR high drain 18650. Tried it again and it was on for 5hrs again and its working so far. Just wanting a better charger
 

Killjoy1

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I have the WF-188 and I used it at 3.7v, 300ma instead of 650ma and it didn't hold. It went on the charger for about 5 hrs then turned green. It stayed powered up for about 10 minutes on a AW IMR high drain 18650. Tried it again and it was on for 5hrs again and its working so far. Just wanting a better charger

That switch just sets the charge rate, I don't know if charging a large battery at a slower rate would affect anything. Sounds like you either have a bad batt or a bad charger to me. I've used that one in the past, but currently am using the TR-001, both are good chargers for cheap (actually regretting getting rid of the WF-188 since I've started using the 3V batteries again, so now I'm back to having two different chargers)

That Sysmax charger should work fine, but for the price I personally wouldn't go for it unless I was in need of a charger for those other battery types it supports, as well. Can't speak to its quality since I've never used it
 

BuzzKilla

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i have a hobby grade charger that does;
Li-Po / Li-ion / Li-Fe
Ni-Cd / Ni-Mh
PB (lead acid)

are the IMR's related to any of these chemistries?
does the general vaping public use use the same chargers for IMR as they do for Li-Ion?
can they handle a 1C charge rate? higher/lower?

I was under the assumption that they are a Lithium type battery, but i have never seen them used in RC's so i am not familiar with them.


i would love to use my charger instead of having to purchase a cheap overnight charger, just for IMR's....
my reason for using a hobby grade charger...
being able to safely charge six 2900mAh 18650 simultaneously in less than 2 hours :vapor:

*Charger is a GT Power A6-10 the downside, it is not plug and play, you need a quality power supply(not a 5A modified PC power supply...) , AND you have to create a charging cradle with a balance port, to charge the individual cells properly.:blush:
 

Killjoy1

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I think the IMRs are typically lithium manganese dioxide, and yes you can charge them in any of your standard li-ion chargers (like those mentioned in this thread). I know they're capable of higher discharge rates than standard li-ions, so I would assume they can also handle higher charging rates, but I'm no expert so don't quote me on that . . .
 

Shadow102

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I think the IMRs are typically lithium manganese dioxide, and yes you can charge them in any of your standard li-ion chargers (like those mentioned in this thread). I know they're capable of higher discharge rates than standard li-ions, so I would assume they can also handle higher charging rates, but I'm no expert so don't quote me on that . . .

I wouldn't up the charging rate, even your higher grade chargers like the Pila's don't really go over 500mA just for battery safety. One thing to realize on IMRs though is that their internal resistance is less than that of a LiIon and some chargers can overcharge them because of this. However I've been using IMRs on my T-001 and they come off at a nice 4.19-4.21v every time.

Just make sure that you check it with a multimeter the first few times you charge them and you should be good to go, and as always, never leave a battery on the charger longer than necessary and don't leave them completely unattended while charging.
 

blindsight

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Hey buzzkilla,

I have been looking into getting a model charger to do what you have stated below. Do you have a step by step on how to do this? Or any sites to use as a reference? I have been trolling flashlight forums and modeling sites without anything concrete. In addition, the model chargers will allow you to graph how the chargers are working as well.

I have dead WF 188 that I can use as a cradle. I have to first rip the electronics out to wire the model charger to. I think with this setup I should be able to charge any battery (10440, 18350, 123, 18650).

Thanks,
blindsight

i have a hobby grade charger that does;
Li-Po / Li-ion / Li-Fe
Ni-Cd / Ni-Mh
PB (lead acid)

are the IMR's related to any of these chemistries?
does the general vaping public use use the same chargers for IMR as they do for Li-Ion?
can they handle a 1C charge rate? higher/lower?

I was under the assumption that they are a Lithium type battery, but i have never seen them used in RC's so i am not familiar with them.


i would love to use my charger instead of having to purchase a cheap overnight charger, just for IMR's....
my reason for using a hobby grade charger...
being able to safely charge six 2900mAh 18650 simultaneously in less than 2 hours :vapor:

*Charger is a GT Power A6-10 the downside, it is not plug and play, you need a quality power supply(not a 5A modified PC power supply...) , AND you have to create a charging cradle with a balance port, to charge the individual cells properly.:blush:
 

slimest

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AW IMRs have very low internal resistance, so vendors and developer recomend to test a charger you are going to use with these batteries. Usual issue - overvoltage on charge. Mostly it is on chargers made with discrete components, I mean old cheap models. So you have to measure voltage on accumulator at the end of charge, exactly after the led shows that charging process is complete. Voltage should be exactly 4.20V. If more, say, 4.30, charger is wrong for this battery.
 

Youssefa

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i have a hobby grade charger that does;
Li-Po / Li-ion / Li-Fe
Ni-Cd / Ni-Mh
PB (lead acid)

are the IMR's related to any of these chemistries?
does the general vaping public use use the same chargers for IMR as they do for Li-Ion?
can they handle a 1C charge rate? higher/lower?

I was under the assumption that they are a Lithium type battery, but i have never seen them used in RC's so i am not familiar with them.


i would love to use my charger instead of having to purchase a cheap overnight charger, just for IMR's....
my reason for using a hobby grade charger...
being able to safely charge six 2900mAh 18650 simultaneously in less than 2 hours :vapor:

*Charger is a GT Power A6-10 the downside, it is not plug and play, you need a quality power supply(not a 5A modified PC power supply...) , AND you have to create a charging cradle with a balance port, to charge the individual cells properly.:blush:

I am with him on this one.... Hobby charger will save your batteries....

you never wanna charge over 1C, Ideally .5c....this will extend the life of your batt in a big way. So lets say you get a charger that fast charges 2600mah 18650's 1c is 2.6a then you throw a 880mah 16340 1C is .800ma, NOT GOOD!

Then of course if you make a little tray with a balance tap you can charge 2, 3, 4 batt at once....

The other thing is WE that RC hobbiests have REALLY expensive lipos, a brand name 3-4cell 5000mah can run close to 200$. So these chargers are very reliable.
 

Youssefa

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Sep 15, 2009
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Gainesville, FL USA
i have a hobby grade charger that does;
Li-Po / Li-ion / Li-Fe
Ni-Cd / Ni-Mh
PB (lead acid)

are the IMR's related to any of these chemistries?
does the general vaping public use use the same chargers for IMR as they do for Li-Ion?
can they handle a 1C charge rate? higher/lower?

I was under the assumption that they are a Lithium type battery, but i have never seen them used in RC's so i am not familiar with them.


i would love to use my charger instead of having to purchase a cheap overnight charger, just for IMR's....
my reason for using a hobby grade charger...
being able to safely charge six 2900mAh 18650 simultaneously in less than 2 hours :vapor:

*Charger is a GT Power A6-10 the downside, it is not plug and play, you need a quality power supply(not a 5A modified PC power supply...) , AND you have to create a charging cradle with a balance port, to charge the individual cells properly.:blush:

You cannot beat a THUNDER POWER AC6 charger
Thunder Chargers

I have the AC power one..... But they come on different flavors!
 

CraigHB

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The hobby LiPos can charge at 2C no problem. I do it all the time to one cell I use for circuit testing, though it probably does put some extra wear on it. Generally, you get the least wear charging at 1C and under. I think the IMR batts can handle 2C, but it doesn't matter because for an 18650, you're not going to find a 3A charger. Most of the chargers for round cells are around 500mA so for an IMR18650, that's less than 1/3C. For a ICO 18650, that's about 1/5C. That's a snail's pace though. 1/5C is somewhat over 5 hours for a charge.

$200 for a 3S or 4S LiPo? That's insane. Are they made with gold foil or something? I was getting quality ones for about $15 a cell, then found them super cheap at HobbyKing, $3.61 a cell, bought a bunch of them. They're made in China with a brand I've never heard of, but they seem to work well enough. I could spend more and maybe find cells that hold up better or have more capacity, but at that price, who cares. I've run these cells through their paces and they do deliver their advertised capacity and seem to wear well. That's good enough for me. I'm only using them to power my e-cig mods. Though, if the build quality is poor and one goes into thermal runaway due to an internal failure, I don't suppose it's worth it. You pay your nickel and take your chances I guess. They seem as well made as any other cell from the outside at least.
 
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