Battery charger.

[Steve W Pedersen]

I am quite new and am still in the process of getting all my tool's and gear.
I am looking at various battery chargers.
Pokeing around the diy powerwall folks forums and blogs it appears that the opus BT-C3400 is the most recomended charger in thoes circles.
I have also been looking at all the various hobby chargers.
What I would like is to find a charger that is programable so I can set the full charge at only 4 volts instead of 4.2. by not charging all the way to full I should see dramaticly better cycle longevity instead of only a few hundred cycles I should have 1000's of cycles and much happyer batteries.
Does anyone know of a fully programable battery charger ?

 

[puffon]

What I would like is to find a charger that is programable so I can set the full charge at only 4 volts instead of 4.2.

Let us know if you find one.
I'd like that feature also.

 

[Fidola13]

There’s entire forum dedicated to chargers and batteries on here. I don’t know how to look but just look under forums. There’s sooo much to learn about batteries to ensure safe vaping so I’d advise you too read as much as you can about both batteries and chargers.

It may have a list of programmable chargers that you are looking for as

 

[Rossum]

What I would like is to find a charger that is programable so I can set the full charge at only 4 volts instead of 4.2. by not charging all the way to full I should see dramaticly better cycle longevity instead of only a few hundred cycles I should have 1000's of cycles and much happyer batteries.
Does anyone know of a fully programable battery charger ?

Yes, charging to something less than 4.2V will reduce stress on a cell. But the trade-off is capacity; i.e. you won't get a "full charge" or as much vape time per charge.

With a "power wall", or the main battery in a PHEV or BEV car, the battery is composed of a around a hundred hundred large prismatic cells to (in some cases) thousands of 18650 cells. Replacing those batteries costs big bucks, and it would be unacceptable to have to replace them after only a year or three.

With vaping we use a few cells at a time, and cost of each cell is in the same ballpark as a pack of smokes. So the cost of replacement cells is insignificant in the overall scheme of things.

 

[DaveP]

I am quite new and am still in the process of getting all my tool's and gear.
I am looking at various battery chargers.
Pokeing around the diy powerwall folks forums and blogs it appears that the opus BT-C3400 is the most recomended charger in thoes circles.
I have also been looking at all the various hobby chargers.
What I would like is to find a charger that is programable so I can set the full charge at only 4 volts instead of 4.2. by not charging all the way to full I should see dramaticly better cycle longevity instead of only a few hundred cycles I should have 1000's of cycles and much happyer batteries.
Does anyone know of a fully programable battery charger ?

I've looked at the Opus charger line, but haven't bought one yet. I have the Efest LUC 4, XTAR VC4, and the Nitecore Intellicharger i4. I like the OPUS features but really don't need another charger.

The reviews I read say that the OPUS BTC-3400 is the same identical charger as the OPUS BTC-3100. The 3400 is branded for multinational markets and priced higher for some reason. Both are updated with quieter fans.

Opus BT-C3400

 

[Baditude]

A few months ago I was in a similar situation. I had been using a Nitecore Intellicharger i4 with no problems other than it is a relatively slow charger and doesn't have a display screen. I decided to treat myself to a faster charger with a nice LCD screen.

I compared the OPUS, the Efest LUC V4, and the Xtar VP4:

The OPUS was in the higher end of chargers price-wise ($48.99). Considered to be one of the faster chargers on the market, I had read consumer comments that although it was highly programable, the instructions were not very user friendly. I'm not really a tech savy guy, so this bit of info and the price dropped the OPUS down a notch or two in my consideration. The OPUS has a large and busy screen, but it is not backlit as well as other charger display screens.

​

My son has the Efest LUC V4, and loves how fast the charger charges his batteries. From what I have been able to find, it is one of the few chargers which will charge 4 batteries simultaneously at 1A speed. It has a decent LCD screen, and is in the lower end of chargers price-wise ($23.99).

I loved the large, angled LCD screen of the Xtar VP4. I can look across the room and see the charge status of my batteries. It will charge two batteries at 1A speed simultaneously, however if you put in one or two more batteries the charger automatically drops the speed down to 0.5A for all four bays. Price-wise, this charger is in the middle of the road ($34.00).

In the end, I chose the Xtar because of the great display screen. Four bays charging at 1A would have been nice to have, but practically speaking I don't really need that because I'm using a single battery mod.

Guide to Choosing a Li-ion Battery Charger

 

[madstabber]

The SKY-RC mc3000 Charger is highly thought of among users. I’ve come across it during my charger purchase research. It was more than I was looking for and if memory serves me it was around $100. I was down to the opus and the liitokala lii-500 and I went with the liitokala. I just wanted a way to analyze my batteries so I could get an idea of the amount of life left in them. It’s been a great charger for me but if your looking for programmable the SKYRC may be a good choice.

 

[madstabber]

Oh and Flashlight information was a website I found very helpful for its reviews of battery chargers. There is also reviews for batteries and other things so it’s worth a bookmark for future reference.

 

[Mr. Relentless]

Batteries are not that expensive. I have over 600 full charges on one set that cost me about 12 bucks.

 

[Steve W Pedersen]

I didnt find the skyrc mc 3000 till after I bought an opus, dang it. Going to have save up a little for that.
love that the mc 3000 has an app for easy programing.

 

[madstabber]

I didnt find the skyrc mc 3000 till after I bought an opus, dang it. Going to have save up a little for that.
love that the mc 3000 has an app for easy programing.

How do you like the opus?

 

[Steve W Pedersen]

The opus just works TM but it is not at all programmable, really super simple to opperate.

 

[Robin Becker]

I can recommend warmly the new Folomov A2 and A4. Those chargers are really fast and easy to handle. Just be sure to get one with a Power supplier, that is UL certified. A low quality Power supplier causes disruptions:
https://www.amazon.com/Folomov-Inte...e=UTF8&qid=1518451825&sr=8-4&keywords=folomov
https://www.amazon.com/Folomov-Inte...e=UTF8&qid=1518451855&sr=8-7&keywords=folomov
The same to the Opus charger. Many seller save money on your costs and sell this charger with a very low quality of Power-supplier. The Opus requires 36W (12V / 3A) at least.

 

[DaveP]

I like a charger that can charge 4 bays at 1A. Mooch says that we can charge at 2A with no problems, so 1A isn't a stress level and won't shorten the life of a cell. Charging four cells at once at 1A is my new minimum spec for charger shopping. Why not charge in half the time and be able to charge all bays at 1A?

I like the MAH display and the voltage readings on the Xtar VC4 and that's useful for evaluating cell condition. The VC4 has much more info on the screen vs the Efest LUC4 with its simple bar gauge charge level display.

 

[Barkuti]

Charger Opus BT-C3100 V2.1 @ lygte-info.dk
This charger is regarded by some, but it has a couple shortcomings:

1. It uses a noisy and shabby fan, incapable of providing enough cooling power for accurate 1A discharge tests. Check this out: OPUS BT-C3100-Stock Fan VS. Top Tier Delta fan. Discharge slower or mod it.
2. It charging algorithm uses 2A pulse width modulation, and sucks up power in nasty 6A (almost) pulses when fully loaded. The stock power supply is rated for 3A and despite it does work, the input voltage drops are known to affect its accuracy when measuring capacity. See the following graphs from its aforementioned review:

If after this unit bear in mind that at the very least the fan may need to be replaced from time to time, and that it is very advisable to replace its stock power supply with a quality 5A (or more) one.

The Lii-500 (review at lygte-info.dk) is a solid and inexpensive unit. It's stock AC IR measurements are quite innacurate but this can be improved quite a bit. Check this thread of mine: LiitoKala/Colaier Lii-500 inconsistent IR measurements FIXED

Be sure to get some Lii-100s, it's good, nice and cheeeap (some lads have gotten units on deal sales for $0.99 S&H included LoL!). There's available information on how to change its output (voltage divider adjustment): How to fix high charge voltage in Liitokala Lii-100 and how to make lower charge currents
Being so cheap, if you screw up while modding 'em you'll barely feel the pain.

Oh! The Enova GyrFalcon All-44 and All-88 very nice too.

Cheers

 

[jj_9]

Hi !

@Steve W Pedersen : I didn't see in your post which size of batteries you want to charge, but as currently there more and more 20700/21700 you may be careful that your charger can work with them.

Regards
JJ