18650 what Charger do I need?

[coilburner]

I'm kind of in the same boat...
When me and the wife started vaping she choose an istick 30, internal batt, she never thought she'd need more power!
Being an outdoors man, I recognized that external batts were the only way to go for me! and being a man, I went for the istick 100. I did however do a fair amount of homework on chargers, I wanted the best I could afford, we're broke! And I saw no need for more than a 2 bay, 2 batts in my mod, 2 charging, and bought use both nice 1A cords.

Of course we were young and dumb...4 months ago and quickly learned a lot, quick!
Ditched those junky ... isticks and now have 2 vtc mini, an ipvd2 and and rx200, and a couple of unregulated mods...
We didn't realize how big a part of our lives vaping was going to become! She's managing a local shop and I spend what little free time I have reading and watching YouTube about vaping!
So now my xtar vc2 is pretty popular! We're constantly battling to get a charge, we have more 18650's than I can count right now...15 atleast...
I know I said were broke but we were smoke close to 4 packs a day between us, so even with all the vape gear were constantly buying, trading for, and even being given (we give back and try to convert our friends, but you can only help those that want to help themselves!) were still saving tons of money by vaping and not smoking!

So I'm on the hunt for a new good charger!
The vc2 works great! Slow and I hate that it automatically chooses the charge rate based on how many batts are in it.
I'd love to be able to chose modes(.5,1,2A) I'd always choose .5.

So far, I've had 7 recommendations, 4 for nitecore...I hate nightcore! They're such junk! You can just feel it!
And 3 for efest!
I really hate efest luc4/luc6.
Lying ... rewrapping sons of .....es!
Everyone who's given advice is adamant that their preferred brand is the best, most have bashed on me for wasting money on an xtar...so clearly they know dick about chargers!

To be fair, it's hard to find anything bad said about the luc chargers, and the luc 4 works as a power bank, which I do desperately need, but it probably doesn't work!
The luc 6 is overkill, too big, too many bells and whistles, but damn, Bluetooth... I can check my batts without getting off my lazy ......
I've been considering the luc 4, but just don't think I can support efest... And I don't trust nitecore, ever if I can get a 4 bay for super cheap locally...
Ive not done much homework on the opus, but I've seen the price tag! And can hear the bells and whistles from here and they sound like a symphony of ....!

Do I guess by process of elimination I'm left to get an xtar vc4, and since I don't like to fast charge, I don't need the much beloved wall wart, my 1A micro usb should make it useable right out of the box, and if I do choose I can upgrade to a wall wart in time...

I guess I just needed to work that out on paper...
If anyone sees an mistakes in my logic, feel free to chime in!
I never was any good at showing my work, but could usually get the answer right... Atleast when it was multiple choice...
Cheers.

Just ordered the opus for less than $40 shipped. Ill let everybody know how I like it when I get it. Cant imagine I wont like it.
BTW, I wouldn't never give a cent of my money to efest, its about all I can do to make sure they go out of business.

 

[swayback]

All you can really do as a consumers is spend your money elsewhere!
Sadly I doubt we can make difference... Those ....ty purple rewraps just fly off the shelves, and people seem to love em!
I'm sure they'll come out with a 50A 4000mAh soon, and their sales will double!
If only consumers would do just a bit of homework!
Sadly one of the recommendations for a luc4 was from a vendor that said, "I don't get where all the hate for efest is coming from"
Sigh!
Maybe I should look at the opus a little better, I saw it for $60+ if I remember right, and just passed right by it!
I've really liked my xtar for the past 4 months, but the fact that they sell the vc4 in an unusable state is sort of a turn off...

 

[KenD]

Good call on not supporting Efest! The xtar vc4 is a really nice charger, as you'll know having the vc2. A 2+ amp wall wart is a must have though, in my opinion. Charging four batteries will be incredibly slow otherwise, slower than charging batteries in the Wismec rx200.

Sent from my M7_PLUS using Tapatalk

 

[swayback]

I've never actually used onboard charging with anything that has external batts, just too risky for me, but having a 2 bay charger and a device that uses 3 batts doesn't really make much sense! I have 2 married sets of batts for it, but can't charge them all together. My logic is that if I charge 2 of them, and then charge the other one with another bat from my vtc mini, I'm basically charging them together... They charge at the same rate, and are always used together, so I doubt it's duper detrimental, but I know if I could just charge all 3 at the same time it would probably be better. It really might not make any difference at all, so far I haven't noticed any, then again, what would I notice?

I don't mind slow charging, I have enough batts and mods that's it's rarely an issue...

 

[coilburner]

So now that I picked a charger up what the max safest amps or mA to charge a LG hg2? those are 20 amp 3000mah batteries. Im thinking 1 amp, any reason to charge slower than that?

 

[KenD]

So now that I picked a charger up what the max safest amps or mA to charge a LG hg2? those are 20 amp 3000mah batteries. Im thinking 1 amp, any reason to charge slower than that?

The lower the charge rate, the better for the battery. High discharge 18650s should have no problems charging at 1c or even more though. So that would be 3 amps for the hg2. Akkuteile, one of the places I buy batteries from, gives 1.5 amps as the normal charge rate and 4 amps as the maximum rate (0-45c temperature range for charging, -20-60c using, if that is of any interest). I'm certainly no expert on batteries though so maybe somebody who knows better will chime in.

Sent from my M7_PLUS using Tapatalk

 

[swayback]

Slower the charger, the longer the life of the batt, and less heat build up, but as others have said, it really won't amount to much difference in the life of your batt in the long run. A handful of extra charges at the most.
That said, I've ALWAYS been taught that you should charge batts as slow as possible, no matter what type of batt or charger, it's just safer and better for the batts!

One thing that does matter, if you're charging and your batts are hot, you should certainly charge at a slower rate! Anything above warm is not good!
On my vc2, my lg hg2's stay cool as can be!

 

[coilburner]

something occurred to me. with how fast we discharge these batteries is the difference of charging them 500ma really going to matter. does charging batteries have a different effect than discharging?
Wait, pretty sure I know the answer.

 

[swayback]

Beat me to it there @KenD

 

[Mooch]

something occurred to me. with how fast we discharge these batteries is the difference of charging them 500ma really going to matter. does charging batteries have a different effect than discharging?
Wait, pretty sure I know the answer.

The difference between 500mA amd 1000mA charging isn't much with the low internal resistance batteries we typically use.
Charging vs discharging...very different electrochemical reactions.

 

[coilburner]

The difference between 500mA amd 1000mA charging isn't much with the low internal resistance batteries we typically use.
Charging vs discharging...very different electrochemical reactions.

That's what I thought. Although the difference isn't much between 500 and 1000mA, 1000mA would charge twice as quick as 500 right? logic says yes but my logic has failed me before when it came to batteries.

 

[Mooch]

That's what I thought. Although the difference isn't much between 500 and 1000mA, 1000mA would charge twice as quick as 500 right? logic says yes but my logic has failed me before when it came to batteries.

Definitely a lot faster but not twice as fast.
The faster you charge, the more the internal resistance of the battery makes the battery voltage appear to be higher (the opposite of what happens during discharge). This forces the battery to reach 4.2V before it has actually charged to that level. Once it reaches 4.2V it switches from the fast constant-current portion of the charge to the slower and slower constant-voltage portion. This early entry into the constant-voltage portion of the charge means it spends more time charging at a slower rate, extending its overall charge time.

So, the 1A charge is twice as fast for 80% of the charge cycle but it slows down more at the end. It's still a lot faster than a 0.5A charge, but not twice as fast.

 

[BackDoc]

I've read through this thread, its given me a headache.......ive owned at least 8 nitecore chargers, still have 2, have passed on to new vapers along with batteries......never once have I had a single problem with any of them....recently ive bought two Xtar VC4s.( 25$ delivered each at vaporrange).....excellent as well(I like the display) yes, they don't have a wall adapter but I actually prefer to use my own......as far as the Opus, its considered an excellent choice as well( yes, has some features the others do not).............my rant.......don't overthink it guys, in the end its just a battery charger, not a Parachute...........

 

[VapieDan]

I've read through this thread, its given me a headache.......ive owned at least 8 nitecore chargers, still have 2, have passed on to new vapers along with batteries......never once have I had a single problem with any of them....recently ive bought two Xtar VC4s.( 25$ delivered each at vaporrange).....excellent as well(I like the display) yes, they don't have a wall adapter but I actually prefer to use my own......as far as the Opus, its considered an excellent choice as well( yes, has some features the others do not).............my rant.......don't overthink it guys, in the end its just a battery charger, not a Parachute...........

I too have had many chargers with no failures. It seems it a lot about features rather than durability or basic performance. Point well taken. On the other hand my Opus BT-3100 v2.2 is better than anything you own. na na nah nana Time for a charger hand check. Does Provari make a charger?

 

[BackDoc]

Well ,do you have the opus 2.3 titanium DNA/ provari / MClass 40 amp? .....I don't either , but I heard a guy in Michigan is currently beta testing one I heard it doubles as a service panel !

 

[VapieDan]

Well ,do you have the opus 2.3 titanium DNA/ provari / MClass 40 amp? .....I don't either , but I heard a guy in Michigan is currently beta testing one I heard it doubles as a service panel !

Where? Gotta have it! Need now!

 

[coilburner]

I too have had many chargers with no failures. It seems it a lot about features rather than durability or basic performance. Point well taken. On the other hand my Opus BT-3100 v2.2 is better than anything you own. na na nah nana Time for a charger hand check. Does Provari make a charger?

So have you have had a bad experience with its durability?

 

[coilburner]

@Mooch I have an rc car battery charger. in lipo mode it charges to 4.2 volts but in li-ion mod it only goes to 4.1. Can I charge my 18650s in lipo mode or would that destroy the battery?

 

[Mooch]

@Mooch I have an rc car battery charger. in lipo mode it charges to 4.2 volts but in li-ion mod it only goes to 4.1. Can I charge my 18650s in lipo mode or would that destroy the battery?

It theoretically should be ok but I can only advise you to follow the directions for the charger. Charging to 4.1V will extend the life of your batteries though.

 

[coilburner]

It theoretically should be ok but I can only advise you to follow the directions for the charger. Charging to 4.1V will extend the life of your batteries though.

Cool, thanks for that info. I was aware not fully charging and discharging batteries will extend their life but I have two that are fully charged and one that isn't because I was barrowing my roomates i2 charger. I think for this time Im going to have to charge the 3rd battery in lipo mode as long its not going to cause harm.