Battery and charger advice sought

[Grimjack]

So I have a trustfire charger for my 18350's and 18650's, but I'm not happy with it. Would like some suggestions on a good charger (not looking for the cheapest) that will handle both 18350's and 18650's. I've been looking at xtar and NiteCore, but it's hard to discern from the descriptions I am finding whether they handle both types of batteries. If I had to settle for one battery, it would be 18650.
Also, any input on top notch batteries would be appreciated as well.

Thanks!

 

[Rodderik]

Battery Chargers : Xtar WP2 II is a good charger

or you could get the bigger brother with 6 bays which i use and love:
Battery Chargers : Xtar WP6 II

both have the spacers to charge almost any li-ion type battery you would use in an ecig

i use it to charge my 350s and 650s

 

[DillPickle]

I have the Nitecore and can confirm that it works with 18650s and 18350s without the need for any spacers. Bonus that they also work with Ni-MH as well. I've tried charging an 18650, 18350, AA and AAA all at once and not a problem.

 

[garyd]

I have the Nitecore and can confirm that it works with 18650s and 18350s without the need for any spacers. Bonus that they also work with Ni-MH as well. I've tried charging an 18650, 18350, AA and AAA all at once and not a problem.

I also have the Nitecore, intellicharger i4 is the model I have. Charges great, all types of batteries as stated. I got mine at Amazon, check all the vendors for the best price/ship. Mine actually charges my 18650's to 4.3 volts as I've tested with my voltmeter and batteries are not warm/hot whatsoever after the charge,

 

[klondikes]

I, too, have the Nitecore. I have the NiteCore IntelliCharger i2 Charger. I got it here for $15.95. With shipping in the US it was $20.95. It works on Lithium Ion, Li-MN (IMR), and NiMh. Nice not having to use those darn little buttons that the Xtar requires on the 18350's. I am sure that I would lose or mis-place those pretty quickly. The NiteCore charger fits the 18350 and the 18650 just as it is.

klondikes

 

[DillPickle]

I got mine at Amazon, check all the vendors for the best price/ship.

As garyd suggests, shop around. I picked up my i4 on eBay from EdisonBright for ~$23 shipped. I don't see myself using the car-adapter that's included via Amazon. At the time I ordered, I read that he also accepted Best Offers of $20. I personally didn't try so I can't comment as to whether or not that's true. Nice compliment to my BC-700.

 

[donesmokin]

Intellicharger i4 and Efest batteries here. I'd say stick with AW or Efest batts.

 

[Rickajho]

Definitely the WP2 II. If the Nitecore is really charging stuff to 4.3 volts that's not a feature, that's an indication of a bad design. If anything, from the tests I have seen done on the WP2 II it slightly under charges to 4.1 volts. Which is not only safer, it's better for the batteries and won't cause the anode to break down and shorten their life span. It never puts a battery over voltage like that. Bad idea.

 

[Mr.Self_Destruct]

I have a nitcore intellicharger i4 and it's the best piece of vaping hardware that I have purchased in 3 years.

None of my batts ever came off the charger at 4.3V, so I have no idea where Rickajho is getting their information.

My favorite feature of the i4 charger, is when you put one battery on each side of the charger it puts out twice as many ma and charge almost twice as fast.

This charger will also charge two 26xxx batts at the same time.

It's a smart charger with over charging protection and can also charge nimh batts.

 

[garyd]

Definitely the WP2 II. If the Nitecore is really charging stuff to 4.3 volts that's not a feature, that's an indication of a bad design. If anything, from the tests I have seen done on the WP2 II it slightly under charges to 4.1 volts. Which is not only safer, it's better for the batteries and won't cause the anode to break down and shorten their life span. It never puts a battery over voltage like that. Bad idea.

I'm not worried about 4.3 volts as the battery is down to 4.2 after a couple vapes according to the Vamo voltage readout. If they were warm coming off the charger or charging to 4.4 I would certainly be concerned. According to battery university these cells should not be charged over 4.30 volts.

 

[Omnipanzer]

I use a UltraFire WF-139, I love it and I've never had a problem.

 

[rockb4]

I use this one:

Efest Bio Charger

It's worked well for me so far.

 

[klondikes]

garyd - 4.3 volts is too high. The recommended maximum voltage for a single cell Li-Ion battery is 4.2 ± .05 volts. So, 4.25 volts is the highest voltage a Li-Ion battery should ever see. In this article on battery charging it says, "Most cells charge to 4.20V/cell with a tolerance of +/–50mV/cell. Higher voltages could increase the capacity, but the resulting cell oxidation would reduce service life. More important is the safety concern if charging beyond 4.20V/cell."

Both the NiteCore Intellicharger i4 and i2 specify a maximum charging voltage of 4.2V ± 1%. The maximum output charging voltage of the NiteCore charger should not exceed 4.242V. Li-Ion batteries charged in my Intellicharger i2 when fully charged measure 4.19V on my meter. If your batteries are really being charged to 4.3V, then I would guess that there is a problem with your charger.

As for charging current of the i4, Mr.Self_Destruct is right. The normal charge current is 375mA. But when charging a single Li-Ion battery or when charging 2 batteries with them in slots 1 & 4 (other combinations will do it, too) it charges at 750mA. But this higher charge amperage is OK for all Li-Ion cells above 750mAh capacity. The lowest capacity 18350 Li-Ion that I have found is 850mAh.

klondikes

 

[mtw4shore]

Before trying one of the online options, have you tried your local battery store? Batteries plus or battery giant is our
local ones. The advantage is you can bring it back.

 

[flintlock62]

If money is not the object, then get a Pila charger.

 

[Rickajho]

I have a nitcore intellicharger i4 and it's the best piece of vaping hardware that I have purchased in 3 years.

None of my batts ever came off the charger at 4.3V, so I have no idea where Rickajho is getting their information.

My favorite feature of the i4 charger, is when you put one battery on each side of the charger it puts out twice as many ma and charge almost twice as fast.

This charger will also charge two 26xxx batts at the same time.

It's a smart charger with over charging protection and can also charge nimh batts.

Post #4: "Mine actually charges my 18650's to 4.3 volts"

 

[garyd]

garyd - 4.3 volts is too high. The recommended maximum voltage for a single cell Li-Ion battery is 4.2 ± .05 volts. So, 4.25 volts is the highest voltage a Li-Ion battery should ever see. In this article on battery charging it says, "Most cells charge to 4.20V/cell with a tolerance of +/–50mV/cell. Higher voltages could increase the capacity, but the resulting cell oxidation would reduce service life. More important is the safety concern if charging beyond 4.20V/cell."

Both the NiteCore Intellicharger i4 and i2 specify a maximum charging voltage of 4.2V ± 1%. The maximum output charging voltage of the NiteCore charger should not exceed 4.242V. Li-Ion batteries charged in my Intellicharger i2 when fully charged measure 4.19V on my meter. If your batteries are really being charged to 4.3V, then I would guess that there is a problem with your charger.

As for charging current of the i4, Mr.Self_Destruct is right. The normal charge current is 375mA. But when charging a single Li-Ion battery or when charging 2 batteries with them in slots 1 & 4 (other combinations will do it, too) it charges at 750mA. But this higher charge amperage is OK for all Li-Ion cells above 750mAh capacity. The lowest capacity 18350 Li-Ion that I have found is 850mAh.

klondikes

Thank you klondikes, I will have to see what's going on here as my 18350's always charge to 4.2 volts. Now I'm using a cheap voltmeter from Harbor freight, so that may be the problem, I'm sure there is some plus/minus differences 0.05 volts or so on a good voltmeter. Battery university says these cells should not be charged above 4.30 volts. The other chargers I've used (cheap ones) have always read 4.2 on my voltmeter for the 18650's. So I don't know if my intellicharger is charging to 4.25-4.30 volts and my cheap meter is reading 4.3 or it's overcharging. Being that my 18350's only charge to 4.2 according to this meter and none of the batteries I charge are ever hot/warm taking off the charger and I'm always in the room where and when the batteries are charging and check to see if they are getting warm or hot frequently. Thank you for your concern and I certainly appreciate it as battery safety is a top priority.

 

[klondikes]

If money is not the object, then get a Pila charger.

The Pila charger is pretty expensive and, except for the 12 month warranty, is not very feature packed. It does charge at 600mA which is not bad but in reality Li-Ion batteries can be charged at a rate up to 1C. For a 1000mAh battery, 1C is 1 amp. For a 2000mAh battery, 1C is 2 amps. Charging at less than 1C is fine and is actually better for the batteries with .9C being considered a high rate charge while still being friendly to the battery.

I have a Turnigy A-6-10 200W Balance charger & discharger that will work for Li-Ion batteries. I have it to charge the Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries that I use in my electric radio controlled airplanes. It is user controlled on charge current from 100mA to 10.0A with a limit of 200 watts. However, 10 amps for a single cell Li-Ion battery charging at 4.2 volts would only be 42 watts - well within the limits of the charger. But, using 1C as the charging rate, the battery would need to be 10,000mAh in size to be able to use the 10 amp output. But I could charge my 2000mAh Li-Mn batteries at a safe, fast 1.8A.

The LiPo batteries that are used for RC planes are high discharge and high charge rate batteries. Each cell is 3.7V nominal and 4.2V at full charge. I have some 4 cell, 14.8V 3300mAh LiPo's that are rated at 40C continuous discharge or 132 amps. They can put out a burst of 80C or 264 amps for up to 10 seconds. They can be charged at up to 3C or 9.9 amps. However, that is their rated maximum. I actually charge these at 6 amps and in the plane I use them in the maximum, full throttle current that is pulled from the battery is 55 amps which calculates to 790 watts.

The problem is that I do not have a holder for my Vamo batteries that my Turnigy charger will plug into. I am sure I could get one at Radio Shack but it was easier to just get the NiteCore Intellicharger i2.

klondikes

 

[TraceyS]

So I have a trustfire charger for my 18350's and 18650's, but I'm not happy with it. Would like some suggestions on a good charger (not looking for the cheapest) that will handle both 18350's and 18650's. I've been looking at XTAR and NiteCore, but it's hard to discern from the descriptions I am finding whether they handle both types of batteries. If I had to settle for one battery, it would be 18650.
Also, any input on top notch batteries would be appreciated as well.

Thanks!

Watching this thread also ....I also have a trustfire and one side is already not working....makes weird noises too, I do not trust it.

Tracey

 

[Light Seeker]

Watching this thread also ....I also have a trustfire and one side is already not working....makes weird noises too, I do not trust it.

Tracey

Whoa.... sounds like a soon-to-be fire! Get something else ASAP!!