Best charger on the market?

[Tas9158]

I'm looking for the best charger I can get for my Panasonic CGR18650CH batteries. Best in safety and every other possible way. And I mean the best! I have an amazon credit card and I'm not afraid to use it. I don't want my house burning down


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[Tinkiegrrl]

I've seen Nitecore i2 and i4 chargers on Amazon. Heard good things about xstar or xtar as well, but I don't know if those are on amazon.

 

[Baditude]

Popular concensus should be that the Xtar VP1 is the top-rated charger.

Unless one anticipates needing to use larger than 18650 batteries, the newer Xtar VP2 would not be a necessary upgrade. "Is there a reason to upgrade from the VP1? The actual charging is the same, but VP2 supports more chemistries, larger batteries and it has a very visible led, showing when it is finished with charging. If you are using or going to use any of these batteries that it now supports, an upgrade might be a good idea."

Long considered the top charger in this class for several years is the Pila IBC. However, it has not been upgraded during this time with a fancy LCD screen like the VP1/2. If the fancy screen is not a priority, the Pila is still a very worthy contender for "best charger" on the market.

RTD Vapor

 

[Vaslovik]

I have an eFest LUC V4 on the way, and it will be my third charger since I started using mechs a year ago. I expect it will be much better than the other two. My first was a Trustfire, yeah I know.... then I got a Nitecore i2, it was okay for a few months, but then went goofy on me, so after reading reviews and shopping around I went for the V4. I expect it will be an excellent charger, perhaps not the top of the heap, but much better than what I've been using.

 

[Froth]

Can't really go wrong with any charger Xtar makes, for the price I personally believe the Xtar MC1 offers the best performance for the money, at $6 for a single bay charger you get IR temp monitor, Over charge protection, Three stage charging(never hits batteries all-at-once, slowly ramps up the charge rate) and it also has 0V battery wakeup and works with all the popular models of batteries with no adapters or spacers. I originally bought my MC1 as a backup charger but it took over as a full-duty charger because it's just so good. Why spend $20 for a 2-bay charger when you can spend $12 for two one bay chargers with more features than other brands? To each their own, but personally I have been more than impressed with the small Xtar MC1. 18 Five star reviews on litecigusa.com as well, most everyone who buys one is surprised by how well they work - XTAR MC1 Charger

 

[anumber1]

Can't really go wrong with any charger Xtar makes, for the price I personally believe the Xtar MC1 offers the best performance for the money, at $6 for a single bay charger you get IR temp monitor, Over charge protection, Three stage charging(never hits batteries all-at-once, slowly ramps up the charge rate) and it also has 0V battery wakeup and works with all the popular models of batteries with no adapters or spacers. I originally bought my MC1 as a backup charger but it took over as a full-duty charger because it's just so good. Why spend $20 for a 2-bay charger when you can spend $12 for two one bay chargers with more features than other brands? To each their own, but personally I have been more than impressed with the small Xtar MC1. 18 Five star reviews on litecigusa.com as well, most everyone who buys one is surprised by how well they work - XTAR MC1 Charger

I use an Efest LUC 2 bay charger at home. It works great. Always finishes between 4.17 to 4.21v. Perfect!

I use a MC1 on the road. It is a bit slower than mt LUC but also charges to perfection and is super portable.
I have also been wanting a 4 bay charger for home but am seriously thinking about just buying 2 more Xtar MC1 chargers instead.

When I originally got my MC1 I thought it was cheap and crappy. It seemed to take forever to charge 18650's. It turns out the contacts needed a swipe with alcohol. They were a bit dirty. Since I found that a simple clean was all it needed. It has been a great little charger.

Batteries come off the MC1 @ 4.2 on the nose. Every time.

I purchased mine from SunVapers for $5.95. Great outfit. Great charger. Great price.

It's a very overlooked piece of gear.

 

[Kyi]

I am looking at the Xtar charger myself, while I was originally okay with getting the Nitecore i2 and didn't really want to spend over $30 on a charger, the Xtar has a lot of nice features and I like the volt reader and additional protection. So

What do y'all think of the Soshine charger? Would it be a decent alternative for someone who doesn't need to charge a lot of batteries or very often?

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[readmermaid]

Love my Pila's, even if they are a bit spendy....

 

[Baditude]

What do y'all think of the Soshine charger? Would it be a decent alternative for someone who doesn't need to charge a lot of batteries or very often?

For what its worth, reviewer PBusardo uses the Soshine charger as his personal charger. Other than that, I got nothing.

 

[niczgreat]

I am looking at the Xtar charger myself, while I was originally okay with getting the Nitecore i2 and didn't really want to spend over $30 on a charger, the Xtar has a lot of nice features and I like the volt reader and additional protection. So

What do y'all think of the Soshine charger? Would it be a decent alternative for someone who doesn't need to charge a lot of batteries or very often?

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Soshine Chargers are excellent. I've owned two of them and they were great. I traded the 2 battery charger for a Xtar 6 Bat Charger. And later bought a 1 Bat charger because it had the ability to detect bad batteries. Both worked well.

I've always had good experience with Soshine brand. I also have had great experience with the Xtar.

You look through the forums and you just don't find complaints about the Xtar Chargers.

1 Feature I like with the Xtar is that it charges to close to 4.17 and if I decide I want my battery to go to the max I just take out and re-insert and it resets and charges up to 4.20

 

[rob33]

I upgraded to an Xtar about 6 months ago, but to be honest I never had a problem with the trustfire I used for almost 5 years. The only reason I upgraded was I was using higher amp batteries.

 

[JavaDan]

As others have stated . . . .

VP1 or the Pila. I've been using the Pila for about 5 months now, and I sweat by it.

 

[NickZac]

Avoid the Pila. Mine has been great until I needed a part. Now it is an absolute nightmare and I regret the purchase 100%.

Go for the XTAR VP1. Based on what I've read, it's a better charger (and from a more reputable company to deal with).

 

[HilseeJ]

Can't really go wrong with any charger Xtar makes, for the price I personally believe the Xtar MC1 offers the best performance for the money, at $6 for a single bay charger you get IR temp monitor, Over charge protection,

Overcharge protection? Does that mean that I could theoretically leave my batteries on the charger for 12+ hours with no damage as might be caused by another charger? Do all Xtar's have this? Do the intellicore d2 and d4's have this?

I was thinking of getting the VP2: http://www.amazon.com/XTAR-Intellic...=UTF8&qid=1403986146&sr=8-2&keywords=xtar+vp2

If it had that option. (I want the ability to charge 26650)

 

[haden49]

I just purchased the nitecore intellicharger i4. I also bought my first 26650 mod (seven22) yesterday, and I bought 2 MNKE 26650 Li-MN 3500mah 3.7v batteries to finish it all up. However, I have a question and it may be a dumb one, but what is the difference between Li-MN and Li-ion? I'm wandering because I had to purchase a new charger to accommodate the 26650's, but every charger I looked at only said it was good for Li-ion, not a single charger listed anything about Li-MN.

 

[beckdg]

Li-MN is but one form of Li-ion.

 

[HilseeJ]

What features make the VP1 better than the Digicharger d2 or d4? (ignoring the number of slots)

http://www.illumn.com/batteries-chargers-and-powerpax-carriers/chargers/nitecore-d4-digicharger.html

 

[HilseeJ]

What features make the VP1 better than the Digicharger d2 or d4? (ignoring the number of slots)

http://www.illumn.com/batteries-chargers-and-powerpax-carriers/chargers/nitecore-d4-digicharger.html

Going to go ahead and bump this. Very curious as to the differences and I'm in the market.

 

[beckdg]

What features make the VP1 better than the Digicharger d2 or d4? (ignoring the number of slots)

http://www.illumn.com/batteries-chargers-and-powerpax-carriers/chargers/nitecore-d4-digicharger.html

soft start that ramps up from low current to the current setting to ease the pulse at the onset of charging.

selectable current.

more charging current in total than even the 4 bay D4.

the ability to "save" a battery that's been overly discharged.

more accurate charging. (my i2 always cuts out at 4.18 or 4.19. my i4 always cuts out at 4.21 to 4.23. my vp2 always terminates the charge at exactly 4.20V.)

 

[BudmanNC]

I have an I4 at the moment. I like the idea of the displays on the newer chargers. What are the difference of the new D4 and the VP2? Is the VP2 a better charger than the D4?

There's nothing wrong with my I4 other than it seems a little slow sometimes and does not have a display other than flashing lights. I would like faster charging but at the same time want to take care of my batteries to get maximum life from them.