A Good Battery Charger for 18650, 21700, 20700

[Shadav]

I need a new charger
the one that I have works well but does not fit the 20700 and the 21700 barely fit
it takes 6+ hours to charge 2x 3000mah batteries

the other one I have is a pos
LitoKala Lii-402
while I can put almost any battery in it...it takes dayssssssssss to charge them
supposedly you can change the charging mode from 500ma, 700ma, 1000ma, and 2000ma...but every time I try to change it, it just reverts back to 500ma

and then I have something called MXJO smart usb li-ion battery charger
it was a gift from a contest
but it's janky and poorly crafted, only works half of the time....really should just be thrown away...not sure if it's the charger or if the one I got was defective but it feels and looks cheaply made....

I would like a 4 bay charger but 2 bay would be ok
something that can handle all battery types (or at least most....aa, aaa, 18650, 21700, 20700, ect)
and something that will actually charge the batteries and not still be at 50% after 3 - 4 days of charging and well nothing too expensive although at this point I'm thinking I may need to splurge a bit to get a decent charger

thank you for any suggestions

 

[bask]

I'm currently looking at the XTAR VC4S Charger myself. Seems like a decent yet affordable charger. Can do 1a charging on 4 batteries at the same time and can take unprotected 21700. Not that I have any 21700, but who knows what shenanigans I'll get into. The only thing I don't like is that you can't change the charging current, it's all automatic and I'm afraid I'm way too much of a control freak for this. It would mean if I only charge 2 18650's it would charge at 2A and I like to have a longer battery life (sure 0.5A would be better, but ain't nobody got time for that). I haven't found another contender at the price point though. Will let you know if I do.

 

[Shadav]

I've gotten a few suggestions from the random thread folks...
haven't made up my mind yet
Xtar ST2 4.1A
Gyrfalcon All-44
Efest LUSH Q4 Intelligent LED Battery Charger
MiBOXER 3A
Nitecore Q4
NITECORE Digicharger D4
Xtar AC Wall Adapter 2100mA
Xtar U1 Six-U 45W 6-Port USB Charger Hub (2.4 A per port)
Xtar VC2

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

I hear a lot of good things about Miboxer chargers, especially the C4.
$38.45 MIBOXER C4-12A 4-slot Intelligent Battery Charger - LCD display / 3A/1A output / Li-ion/Ni-MH/Ni-Cd battery compatible / US at FastTech - Free Shipping

I'm link to Fasttech so you can see pics and specs but you can buy it in the USA.

IIRC, you can change the charging amperage independently on each bay (but don't quote me on that).

One gripe I have heard about it is that it's a one-button operation so changing the settings can be a drag, especially when you're new to it.

 

[zoiDman]

Kinda an Old School Charger...

But I like the XTAR VC4. It can charge 2 Cells at 1 Amp. Or 3 or 4 Cells at .5 Amps. It also will charge AAA, AA, C, etc cells.

And for 16 Bucks from IMRBatteries, it's kinda a Win-Win (for Me at Least).

XTAR VC4 4 Channel Digital Battery Charger | eBay

 

[rob33]

I'm using a Xtar VP4 plus Dragon, It may be over kill for most vapers.

 

[Spydro]

I've owned quite a few battery chargers over the years. Some were acceptable, some were not. Mostly many different models of three brands, Xtar, Efest LUC and Nitecore. The Xtar chargers held up the best/longer than the Efest and especially the Nitecores. Some of the Xtars are still fine, I've owned them the longest, but not the other two brands that died long ago. Then I bought what has been the best of them all, an Enova GyrFalcon All-88. This 8 bay chargers will do just about any battery, including 2X700, 26XXX and 32XXX in the two outside bays. With around 100 batteries I ended up with two of them. They have been used day and night for years without a single issue. At the time I found them for around $55, far less than some places listed them at. And as mentioned above by @Shadav they also offered a 4 bay version as the All-44. I'll link a review of the 88 below that has everything you'd ever want to know about it.

Review...
Review of Charger GyrFalcon All-88

 

[Mordacai]

@Shadav, I cannot highly enough recommend the SkyRC MC3000 charger.

But they're dammed expensive.

And I found out recently that Molicel P42A 21700 cells fit really nicely, which is always good to know.

 

[BNEAT]

I just bought my second Efest (LUC V4 ELITE) and I like it even more than my first Luc V4 that's about 6 years old and still going strong. The nice things about the new one is it goes dark after a few seconds, and you can pick your power from .25 up to 2 amps!! Also, 21700s fit perfectly (21700s "fit" in my first one, but not so wonderfully)

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

I just bought my second Efest (LUC V4 ELITE) and I like it even more than my first Luc V4 that's about 6 years old and still going strong. The nice things about the new one is it goes dark after a few seconds, and you can pick your power from .25 up to 2 amps!! Also, 21700s fit perfectly (21700s "fit" in my first one, but not so wonderfully)

Interesting. I never heard of the Luc 4 elite. I have Luc 4 and luc 2 chargers and are are 6 years old and going strong, too.

And even though the Luc 2 is not advertised to take 21700 batts, it fits them with lots of room to spare. Not the Luc 4, though.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

One of the main reasons I never bought the XTAR VC2 is because from what I gathered you can't set what charging level you want. The charger determines that according to how many batts are charging.

So if you you only want to charge at 0.5A, you have to have all the battery bays charging something otherwise it will charge that one battery at a higher amperage than 0.5A. I don't care for that personally. I like to be able to control what the battery charges at.

Efest LUC chargers don't allow you to select what each battery in each bay charges at, but at least I can set it to charge all of them at 0.5 or 1A (LUC 4 does 2A but only 2 batts at a time).

If I'm wrong about the XTAR VC2 and 4, someone should correct me, but that's the impression I got from what I read.

 

[Seiggy]

The XTAR VC2 (USB input) can not change charge rate, at least mine can not. It's a .5A per slot max all the time. If you have two slots charging it's .5A each for a total of 1A. One slot charging it's .5A for a total of .5A. I use this charger the most, Low and Slow..... Never did understand why they had a 0A to .5A (in .1A increments) meter ?

 

[BNEAT]

On the new LUC 4 you can only charge at 2amps in the first and forth slots simultaneously, but I never push my batteries that hard so it doesn't really apply to me. I charge my batteries like my BBQ: low and slow baby!

 

[bask]

I’ve had a Nightcore for 7 years now and it has never let me down, but I do want one that can charge at 1A. That Miiboxer looks good, it’s pretty mich the same price as an Opus though.

 

[Hawise]

One of the main reasons I never bought the XTAR VC2 is because from what I gathered you can't set what charging level you want. The charger determines that according to how many batts are charging.

So if you you only want to charge at 0.5A, you have to have all the battery bays charging something otherwise it will charge that one battery at a higher amperage than 0.5A. I don't care for that personally. I like to be able to control what the battery charges at.

If I'm wrong about the XTAR VC2 and 4, someone should correct me, but that's the impression I got from what I read.

I don't know about the VC2, but with my VC4 you can choose 0.5 A or 1 A for one or two batteries. It's determined by the bays you use. If you put 1 or 2 batteries in the inside bays, they charge at 0.5 A, while in the outside bays they charge at 1 A. With three or more batteries, you're limited to 0.5 A.

 

[BNEAT]

The LUC4 charges all 4 bays at 1amp (I didn't specify that in my previous posts) only the outer two bays at a time at 2amps

 

[madstabber]

The Miboxer C4-12 is what I use and is one of the very few that can do 3a over all four bays. It’s very roomy making insert/removing 21700 very easy unlike many other chargers. It monitors temperature and will reduce current if the cells/charger gets too hot. There is the C4-12 updated which uses two buttons making adjusting current easier although I have the single button and have no complaints. Besides this Miboxer the GyrFalcon All-44 or 88 seems to be the best charger options in my opinion. Oh except for the SkyRC mentioned in the post above which is on a different level with programming options and a price point to match. Go to Round cell charger index
for in-depth reviews on a ton of chargers. A good site to have bookmarked because I’ve found nothing even close to it for charger reviews. Best of luck on your search for a new charger.
Oh and if you do choose the Miboxer read the description carefully because the make a C4 a C4 plus and some other chargers that can be easily confused for the better performing C4-12.
Edit: forgot to mention the C4-12 has an IR reader which is a good way to know if your batteries are holding up or may need to be retired. There is some speculation as to its accuracy, from what I understand there isn’t any chargers that perform particularly well at IR reading, but mine has proved helpful with the cells that start to lose performance reading in the several hundred range. It will also give false readings on occasion so if I’m suspicious of the reading I wipe the contacts and it will correct at that point.
One caveat I should mention, since I’ve been happy with my Miboxer I haven’t really been following the charger market offerings closely so it’s possible within the last 6-8 months some chargers have come out that prove some of my statements false.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

Oh and if you do choose the Miboxer read the description carefully because the make a C4 a C4 plus and some other chargers that can be easily confused for the better performing C4-12.

Is the Miboxer C4-12 and C4-12A the same? I don't see a C4-12 on fasttech, just C4-12A

 

[madstabber]

Is the Miboxer C4-12 and C4-12A the same? I don't see a C4-12 on fasttech, just C4-12A

It should be because they have some chargers called C4 and C4 plus that I know of but the only chargers that use the C4-12 are the single and double button versions. The A may be the single button and there may be a B that is the updated two button version. I’ve only seen it called the C4-12 updated and only found it at Banggood Dot com but haven’t checked around in awhile.
Here’s some good info about the chargers Miboxer C4-12 |18650 Battery Charger|Smart Charger|Where There is MiBoxer There is Power|smart 12v battery charger,smart aa battery charger|MiBoxer Charger
and at this forum they’ve discussed the two versions and are knowledgeable folks http://budgetlightforum.com/node/66923
Hope that helps.

 

[DaveP]

Shadav

I've had my MiBoxer C4 for well over a year and it's been a workhorse. I'd buy again. It charges 4 bays at 1A quickly and the slides are smooth and tight. The C4 does it all, so I have several other 2 and 4 bay chargers that have been relegated to backup status.