Battery chargers that don't use sleds?

[DavidOck]

Sounds like you need more batteries as well!

 

[DaveP]

Get busy

If charger manufacturers read vaping and flashlight forums they already know that we are tired of stressing our fingers pulling those spring loaded battery launchers back!

That, and rewrapping batteries with nicks in the wrap from removing them after charging.

 

[DavidOck]

But is has boosted the market for a certain size shrink wrap tube....

 

[zoiDman]

When you design the perfect charger think about an extending bay that slides back. You put the batteries into the bay and slide the spring loaded section up. It snaps into one of several click stop positions to provide the right fit for the battery length and the spring loaded section applies the right spring pressure as it clicks into place. You could etch the battery size designation into the plastic and apply color to make it readable. Match the lines with the right battery type and you are in business.

One size fits all chargers where the 18650 gets the most pressure may not be the best design.

I have thought of things similar to what you Mentioned.

I like the Design on many Semi-Automatic Shotguns where you pull the Charging Lever back and then it stays in place. You then would place a Battery into the Sled. And then you pull the Charging Level back again and it Releases it from it's Looked position. Allow it to travel forward making contact with the Battery.

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The Existing Sled Designs could also be Slightly Modified by Extending the Negative Contact up so you have something to grab onto. Instead of pushing it back with you Finger but not having Enough for you finger And the Battery in the Sled.

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I think there is About a Half Dozen ways that these Sled Chargers could be Improved upon. And None of them would have a Significant impact on the Retail Price.

 

[Racehorse]

How do you guys like that PILA charger baditude posted? Thats the one i ordered , cause i'm so tired of these sleds lol.

I only use PILA chargers.
I hate spring loaded sleds.

It's so easy w/Pila to just drop the battery in. Spacers are better than springs IMHO.

Going strong after 4+ years, and it has a fold down cover, so no dust gets in.

 

[chazz80]

About the dust cover.. thats a good idea. I thought i was the only one OCD about stuff like that , but for months i was actually putting the charger back in the box when not in use. I thought leaving it out was a bad idea cause i've seen what vaping does to stuff like my fan ( water actaully drips from the fan from it sucking the vapor in over time) and other electronics ( the added moisture can't be good, and probably makes dust stick more) I mean no where near the damage smoking did, but i thought why chnace leaving the charger out..that moisture has to go somewhere, best not be the battery charger lol.

I actually got tired of repackaging it everytime i wasn't using it, especially the ac cord, sinc eim charging batteries like twice a day, so i just stick the charger ina ziplock bag now.

 

[chazz80]

This efest LUC v2 charger was always wonky though. Married sets would never charge the same. I mean it was never anything drastically off and the volts would always seem to catch up, but one battery always seemed to get done charging faster. Then you notice if you turn the battery and reset it ever so slightly int he bay the volts would change. Like i would notice a battery being stuck on 4.15 volts, then move the battery a bit and it would hit 4.20. LIke the connection is never solid.

Is that problem with most chargesr like that? Or is that again the product of the badly designed sleds not allowing the battery to make better contact? Or a combination of that and the "one size fits all" charging? Like if the charger was just dedicated to charging only 18650's, the contact area would be a better fit.

 

[DavidOck]

Married or not, they're not likely to discharge exactly the same. So a slight variation in charge time - emphasis on slight! - probably isn't going to be a problem. And, if contact is briefly lost during such rotation, the charger will retest the battery before "deciding" what to do with it.

Maybe just a dirty contact. Dip a cotton swab in some isopropyl alcohol and wipe down the sled contacts and both ends of the battery. Allow enough time for it to evaporate before use!

 

[chazz80]

Yea, i make it part of my routine to clean all contacts of EVERYTHING every couple of weeks. More so if i have any "accidents" with juice.

 

[DaveP]

Yea, i make it part of my routine to clean all contacts of EVERYTHING every couple of weeks. More so if i have any "accidents" with juice.

I see the same thing in my LUC 4. There will be a .1 difference between cells sometimes while charging. I can rotate the low one and see it match the others. It's a beast of a charger that will charge 4 18650's at 1A without flinching, unlike my Xtar VC4 (4 bays) that only charges two at a time at 1A.

I use Deoxit and that might be a fix. It's probably a dissimilar metal issue between the charge contacts and the battery terminals. Low voltage connections frequently need contact solution. I might just try a thin coat on the charger terminals and see if it fixes connectivity. I never really worried about pairing as long as a wiggle revealed a voltage match.

I spent 36 years as a Tech Rep working on some pretty complex equipment. Sometimes I had to crawl around on the floor in a computer room or print shop using Deoxit in low voltage plugs to solve intermittent issues. Some of these were gold plated pins in 5v logic circuits, but still there were airborne contamination issues with dust and moisture.

Tinned copper pins carrying AC voltages were the worst over time. We'd pull those, replace any burned or discolored pins, coat the connectors with silicone grease, and re-plug. Once you did that the problems were pretty solved for a while.