I have the liitokala lii-500 so my comments about the liitokala charger I have don’t apply to that one. I should have been more specific in the first place. Anyway good luck with that charger and let us know how it works out for you.
Budget Recommendation for a 4-battery charger?
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Andrew Wan, founder and CEO of AW batteries once said that ALL of the AW batteries on Ali Express are counterfeits.
The AW production plant had a flood a few months ago which put a complete stop to all production. AW batteries have been out of stock worldwide for the last 3 - 4 months, but I see AliExpress is still selling them. Maybe that should tell you something "fishy" is going on at Ali Express. Why do they still have AW batteries for sale when every other supplier worldwide is out-of-stock? My guess is that they are counterfeits.
AW batteries have been the most counterfeited batteries in the world. AW began using a special holographic AW sticker to help authenticate their batteries, because counterfeiters would have a more difficult time creating the hologram. I note that none of the AW batteries on AliExpress have that hologram sticker visable in their pics.
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Looks good, but the only Liitokala mentioned that I saw was the 500
Ok since what I really want doesn't seem to exist, I think you have me talked into getting a Zanflare C4 but i have a couple of questions first:
1. It seems the default charging rate for 18650's is 0.5A (500mA) but you can select up to 1A. What I want to know is once you set that does it "remember" that setting when changing batteries or do you have to set it each time? What about if it gets unplugged?
2. Does the screen stay lit up, or is there some way to see the charge status in the dark?
Each channel lights up in blue and remains lighted. The display is nice.
On the Zanflare C4 each bay is independent. When you plug it in it reads"Null" until you insert a cell. Then it defaults to 500ma and waits a short period for you to select parameters, then starts charging. When you remove a cell it goes back to default and reads "Null". There's a button on the rear of each channel and you can set different channels to what ever you want. it doesn't retain the settings. It initializes to 500ma and you use the power button on the front to select 1000ma.
At the rear of the display there are individual setting buttons on each channel that allow you to choose what appears on the display while charging. You can set the display to Voltage, MAH, Internal Resistance, or Time.
It initializes each time and defaults to the default power setting of 500ma. I don't think its possible to custom set channels to various parameters and have the charger remember it.
The screens stay lit up and you can walk by and check it during charging. It if gets unplugged it starts up the next time at default settings.
I haven't seen an issue with the layout or the setup. I just insert a cell, it goes to 500ma, and there's short delay before charging begins. During that time I usually set the display to 1000 using the power button and then I set the charge display status to voltage. That takes maybe 15 seconds from cell insert to charging, less time once you learn the controls. Yes, you do have to do that for each bay that is filled. You can change any parameter at any time while it's charging.
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Nitecore Sysmax NEW i4 - intelligentes Ladegerät für Li-Ion, LiFePo4 und Ni-MH Akkus Ladegeräte NitecoreSysmax
(Akkuteile.de website also is on Mooch's list of trusted battery vendors so less risk of dealing with counterfeit stuff.)
(Akkuteile.de website also is on Mooch's list of trusted battery vendors so less risk of dealing with counterfeit stuff.)
That is a slllloooooooowwwww charger. With 4 batteries it only charges at 0.375A which is like the slowest charger in the industry.
Actually, if you put a couple of batteries in and want the same settings for all of them, just hit the mode or current button while the display is still slowly flashing. I do 2 at a time, but the other day I did all 4 slots.
The screen is lighted while the unit is plugged in. Never goes dark.
The OP didn't ask for a fast charger. Instead, he asked for an inexpensive reliable charger that doesn't do anything weird should you forget taking out the batteries after they are fully charged, and, IMO the Nitecore NEW i4 really is the best answer for that.
I understand that, but if you aren't supposed to charge overnight, then putting batteries on a charger, after work (5pm-6pm), that will take 7-9 hours to charge (depending on battery) could be a non-starter for many people. It is of course his choice, but I wanted to make sure he understood what he would be getting into.
If he only needs to charge 2 batteries at a time then it will charge at 0.5A and a single battery will be at 1A. Just for the sake of completeness.
Andrew Wan, founder and CEO of AW batteries once said that ALL of the AW batteries on Ali Express are counterfeits.
The AW production plant had a flood a few months ago which put a complete stop to all production. AW batteries have been out of stock worldwide for the last 3 - 4 months, but I see AliExpress is still selling them. Maybe that should tell you something "fishy" is going on at Ali Express. Why do they still have AW batteries for sale when every other supplier worldwide is out-of-stock? My guess is that they are counterfeits.
AW batteries have been the most counterfeited batteries in the world. AW began using a special holographic AW sticker to help authenticate their batteries, because counterfeiters would have a more difficult time creating the hologram. I note that none of the AW batteries on AliExpress have that hologram sticker visable in their pics.
I found a store here in China that sells wraps for every popular battery. 1:1 copy wraps.
I have checked pretty much anything that is available. That includes all of your recommendations. Thanks for that.
There are great chargers, many of them tested/reviewed HERE, which is a great source of infos on chargers.
However, when you're on a tight budget, you won't have many choices. Many chargers can charge most but not all types of cells, others have additional functionality (speed charging, capacity test, resistance test, charging time prediction), but only the devices above the $35 will satisfy most of those needs.
Except 3 devices.
The Liitokala Lii-PD4 (or PL4 if you don't need the LCD), and the Lii-402.
The brand generally gets favorable reviews, they are dirt cheap, they charge any and all types of cells (Li-Ion at 3.7/3.8, LiFePo,Nimh/NiCd) from 10-26mm width and 34-70mm length, and they even have a 2A speed charging bay. What these models don't have, is capacity/resistance testing. The PD4/PL4 come with 12V or 240V input, has 4 independently controlled slots, while the 402 has USB input and 2 independently controlled slots. Therefor, the 402 is a tiny bit cheaper than the PD4/PL4.
If I only needed Li-Ion charging for my vape batts, I would definetely go for the:
Basen BD2 - 2*2A charging bays, also inexpensive. But it doesn't support NiMh/CD, and it can't tell the difference between 3.7 and 3.8V Li-Ions.
I ordered the PD4, simply because it was the best offer during Ali's Brand Sale Week ($11.69 shipped). If you're willing to spend above $30-35, you can get superb devices which charge anything with 2-3A per bay, and which have lots of additional functionality. Personally, I don't need that.
(BTW: Another cheap-but-good brand is Golisi. Feel free to take a look at their devices as well)
There are great chargers, many of them tested/reviewed HERE, which is a great source of infos on chargers.
However, when you're on a tight budget, you won't have many choices. Many chargers can charge most but not all types of cells, others have additional functionality (speed charging, capacity test, resistance test, charging time prediction), but only the devices above the $35 will satisfy most of those needs.
Except 3 devices.
The Liitokala Lii-PD4 (or PL4 if you don't need the LCD), and the Lii-402.
The brand generally gets favorable reviews, they are dirt cheap, they charge any and all types of cells (Li-Ion at 3.7/3.8, LiFePo,Nimh/NiCd) from 10-26mm width and 34-70mm length, and they even have a 2A speed charging bay. What these models don't have, is capacity/resistance testing. The PD4/PL4 come with 12V or 240V input, has 4 independently controlled slots, while the 402 has USB input and 2 independently controlled slots. Therefor, the 402 is a tiny bit cheaper than the PD4/PL4.
If I only needed Li-Ion charging for my vape batts, I would definetely go for the:
Basen BD2 - 2*2A charging bays, also inexpensive. But it doesn't support NiMh/CD, and it can't tell the difference between 3.7 and 3.8V Li-Ions.
I ordered the PD4, simply because it was the best offer during Ali's Brand Sale Week ($11.69 shipped). If you're willing to spend above $30-35, you can get superb devices which charge anything with 2-3A per bay, and which have lots of additional functionality. Personally, I don't need that.
(BTW: Another cheap-but-good brand is Golisi. Feel free to take a look at their devices as well)
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For me, personally, a non-starter would be to have only one charger on hand because what if it breaks? So I recommend to get a pair of these Nitecore NEW i4 chargers for the best reliability at an affordable price and also to work around the problem of charging too slow if charging more than 2 batteries at a time. Compared to other popular 4-bay chargers around the same price, the NEW i4 has less bells and whistless that essentially are useless anyway because bells and whistles only increase the risk of breaking the charger, whereas the fact the NEW i4 runs at a pretty low temperature decreases the risk.
If he needs to charge 3 or 4 batteries at a time then it will charge at 0.5A whereas if he only needs to charge 2 batteries at a time then it will charge at 0.75A and a single battery will be at 1.5A. Just for the sake of correctness. Finally, charging 4 × Sony VTC5A batteries on the Nitecore D4 typically took less than 6 hours despite the D4 charges 4 batteries at a time at only 0.375A so I don't think you really understand the meaning of the word "slow".
I'm usually charging two cells at a time, but for those occasions when I need all four bays filled I want a charger that can do all at 1A. I have the Xtar VC4 and the Nitecore i4 and they won't do it. The Nitecore i4 drops to .375 with all 4 bays filled.
My Efest LUC 4 does 1A x 4 and so does my Zanflare C4, FWIW.
My Efest LUC 4 does 1A x 4 and so does my Zanflare C4, FWIW.
Device arrived today. Made a short check to see if it works. Will report about details as soon as I charged some batts.
The nitecore charger I had (new I2) would make my batteries scorching hot. Burns the skin kind of hot. I felt they might vent kind of hot. I tossed that thing and replaced the batteries then got a Xtar rocket and efest luc6 and have had no such problems since. I don't trust the nitecore brand anymore. I'm sure there are good ones out there, but the one I had ruined the trust I had for that brand.
I started with a Nitecore D2, then got a Opus BT C3100. Batteries didn't get hot in either of them, but I did notice they got warm when I loaded them up. So.... single batteries go into the D2 and married batteries into the C3100 with an empty bay in between. I try to baby things.
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