Meh, I charge all of my 18650's overnight some times. It's just not worth worrying about in my opinion if you're using high quality cells and a high quality charger. Laptop batteries have caught fire with people using them numerous times but many people don't think much of that, and that is a much more violent lithium ion reaction.
Come On, Be Honest: No One Here Charges Their Batteries Overnight?
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The unit does completely shut off though (besides sporadic monitoring of voltage). And with the shelf life of these batteries being so darn good for rechargeables, that could mean days upon days, if not week(s) before it reaches 4.17 volts and the charger wants to top it off again...
So overnight charging, like this topic is talking about, is beyond fine, safe, and dandy with this battery chemistry in chargers like the Pila IBC.
But for a blanket statement for those of you who have no clue how your charger really works: yes, it's always better to take them off when they're done charging of course (just in case).
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Chargers gone bad. I participated in one troubleshooting thread where OP's batts getting warm on charger, Turns out charger was malfunctioning and producing a charge voltage over 5 volts. Normal charge voltage is about 4.2 v.
Isn't all this Based on what Happens when the Charger is Well Designed, Using Quality Components and is doing what it is Supposed to be Doing?
And may not Apply when the Charger is some Cheap Knock-Off or a Unit that was Rushed Out the Door by some Sub-Vendor using Questionable Components and or Manufacturing Techniques.
The Same goes for Batteries.
Any battery expert on ECF, CPF, or anywhere else will tell you it's safe practice to not charge batteries overnight. Even if there is a 0.0001%(made up number) chance that something goes wrong it's about mitigating that possibility.
If you have a good charger and you charge batteries overnight do I think you are in grave danger? no
Is there a possibility that something can go wrong? yes
Can someone who uses safe practices mitigate that possibility? yes
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People can also turn off the circuit breaker for the entire house every night as well, just in the 0.0001% case there might be an electrical fire started somewhere during the night (and please don't make me go on with stupid things we could all due to reduce minute risk 
Buying a quality charger, quality batteries, using your ohm calculator so you don't stress these high power batteries during use, remove them from the device at the first sign they're losing voltage (if not before), not charging them next to a can of flammable mineral spirits or something, ARE safe practices that mitigate the possibility of something going wrong. That's all I personally think needs to be done if you're like me and reduce risk where it's warranted and not in 1 in a million situations. Not knocking anybody who says otherwise, it's just a decision everybody has to make.
Buying a quality charger, quality batteries, using your ohm calculator so you don't stress these high power batteries during use, remove them from the device at the first sign they're losing voltage (if not before), not charging them next to a can of flammable mineral spirits or something, ARE safe practices that mitigate the possibility of something going wrong. That's all I personally think needs to be done if you're like me and reduce risk where it's warranted and not in 1 in a million situations. Not knocking anybody who says otherwise, it's just a decision everybody has to make.
People can also turn off the circuit breaker for the entire house every night as well, just in the 0.0001% case there might be an electrical fire started somewhere during the night (and please don't make me go on with stupid things we could all due to reduce minute risk
Buying a quality charger, quality batteries, using your ohm calculator so you don't stress these high power batteries during use, remove them from the device at the first sign they're losing voltage (if not before), not charging them next to a can of flammable mineral spirits or something, ARE safe practices that mitigate the possibility of something going wrong. That's all I personally think needs to be done if you're like me and reduce risk where it's warranted and not in 1 in a million situations. Not knocking anybody who says otherwise, it's just a decision everybody has to make.
I'm not telling anyone to live in a bubble just in case. I'm simply stating that it's universally accepted as a safe practice to not charge batteries overnight and not just a rumor started by vapers.
And I feel that statements like
"So overnight charging, like this topic is talking about, is beyond fine, safe, and dandy with this battery chemistry in chargers like the Pila IBC." Is irresponsible to say the least. I have nothing against you Docartaigh How about we agree to disagree and move on?
Yeah, I charge them overnight. Right on my nightstand. I have a better chance getting struck by lightning !
I don't babysit my gas oven, so why would I babysit my 18650 batteries in a Nitecore Charger? The battery charging paranoia on this forum never ceases to amaze me.
I use an efest soda charger and feel its very safe and very economical. First the ending charge voltage is ~ 4.15, even tested it at 8 hours overnight on an 18650 @ 1 amp charge rate. Extends battery life and doesn't over charge. Secondly it charges batteries very fast. About an hour or so. So you can have them charged quickly and not even need to leave them on overnight.
If your charger goes above 4.2 you start getting into the danger zone and I would not leave a battery on a charger that goes over 4.20
Soda Is selectable to 1/2 amp for smaller batteries. It is recommended to charge at no higher than 1c rating. That's 2 amp for 2000 mah imr. 50-70% or .5-.7 c extends battery longevity. For 18350 850 mah 1/2 amp is .6 c charge rate. Good
It has all the good features you would want in charge cycles and only cost me 11.00!
Don't use trustfire batteries and you'll be worlds ahead in safety. Use imr safe chemistry batteries as the will not blow up.
If your charger goes above 4.2 you start getting into the danger zone and I would not leave a battery on a charger that goes over 4.20
Soda Is selectable to 1/2 amp for smaller batteries. It is recommended to charge at no higher than 1c rating. That's 2 amp for 2000 mah imr. 50-70% or .5-.7 c extends battery longevity. For 18350 850 mah 1/2 amp is .6 c charge rate. Good
It has all the good features you would want in charge cycles and only cost me 11.00!
Don't use trustfire batteries and you'll be worlds ahead in safety. Use imr safe chemistry batteries as the will not blow up.
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I charge all batts 18350 to 18650 on a dedicated 0.5 amp charger (no rate switch). This trickle charger eliminates user error charge rate switch positioning; the no switch low charge rate charger could reduce batt explosion risk.
There is a chance one could bump the switch (on rate switch models) and accidentally charge an 18350 at 18650 rate which could promote venting.
As I said earlier. I charge in metal box. Batt can do anything it wants in there and I'm not worried.
You can charge 18350 at 1a just make sure the battery supports a higher charge current
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Good for you Hypatia. Neither do I. No batteries are charged overnight or unattended during the day here. It took me a while to get my wife to understand, but she gets it now too.
It does not matter how infrequently batteries burn during charging, once you set yourself up to charge attended it costs nothing in money or time to do it this way. The gain is that small risk is eliminated. That's good enough for me.
I don't think it's a good idea to use Lipo charging bags to put chargers into. Those bags are designed for putting just the battery pack into with the charger outside of it and connected with a cable.
People can also turn off the circuit breaker for the entire house every night as well, just in the 0.0001% case there might be an electrical fire started somewhere during the night (and please don't make me go on with stupid things we could all due to reduce minute risk
The difference is we have building codes for building houses. Those codes are the result of many people being hurt and killed in fires and other mishaps over the years caused by unsafe building practices. The same level of safety is not used in charger design and build.
I charge mine over night to, I just do it on my neighbor porch that way my house won't burn down.
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Slight diversion from topic, are there any major advantages of charging an 18650 battery at .5 a vs 1a?
No, it just takes twice as long to charge.
The actual capacity of a battery is called the C rating. Let's assume you have a 2000mAh battery then its C rating is 2000.
It's perfectly alright to charge up to a 0.8C charge rate so 0.8 x 2000 = 1600mA
I usually charge at 0.5C so It takes around 2 hours. This does mean you'll need a charger capable of charging at those rates though. Charging a 2400mAh battery at 0.5C requires 1200mA and most multi chargers aren't capable of that. That's the reason I've switched to a hobby charger. They are capable of charging at much higher currents.
Yeah just takes longer, for some reason it seems some chargers take longer than their charge rate would indicate. The longer a charger takes, the more likely you are to leave it on overnight. So I'm happy with the SODA because it's was inexpensive and charges fast with a cc/cv charge algorithm, and slightly under charges. Your better to be slightly under, than slightly over.
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