Deeming Regulations have been released!!!!
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What's the most affordable, yet accurate combination of equipment to test the CDR, internal resistance, and capacity of a lithium ion battery?
I was looking at the CBA IV - Computerized Battery Analyzer. Not sure yet if it will check off all those boxes or if there is a better solution.
I was looking at the CBA IV - Computerized Battery Analyzer. Not sure yet if it will check off all those boxes or if there is a better solution.
I'm thinking of another backup charger, and checking out that luv v4 HD, looks good for 21700s, but I want the option to charge at 0.5 amps, and that one looks like it's either 1 or 2 amp charging only. Am I reading that right?
Hmmm, it does look that way. The old LUC V4 does 0.5A, but no 21700. And no, it cannot be modified, I tried already lol. I almost broke the charger, but was able to fix it.
If you want an affordable charger that takes 21700 batts, the Opus BT-C3100 is on sale at 18650batterystore for $28. It has a lot of features and can be set as low as 0.2A. It does 0.2A, 0.3A, 0.5A, 0.7A, 1A, 1.5A & 2A, However 1, 1.5 and 2A depends on how many batteries you're charging. Each bay's current charging rate can be set independently, unlike the LUC V4 (and I assume the LUC V4 HD)
If you are interested, I suggest you read this post I made to @hittman as there are somethings you may want to know about it which may or may not matter to you.
Lots of people like the Opus BT-C3100 but it has it's drawbacks for some people depending on what they want in a charger.
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To determine CDR, you need the ability to discharge at high currents and a CBA IV is good for that. But you also need the ability to accurately measure cell temperature, because that tends to be the limiting factor.
If you just want to test capacity accurately, you don't need a CBA IV, the CBA HR is just fine for 0.2C discharges and is more accurate.
For A/C IR, I use a Vapcell YR1030. I have yet to come up with a method of measuring DC IR that's consistently repeatable.
Yeah @hittman , I just went ahead and ordered that Opus charger too, after reading up and watching a couple of reviews. Think I'm going to like this one, yep. Georgia is a bit far from my lo-cal-ity for ground shipping, but ordering from China over the years taught me LOTS of patience, lol. Thanks for your help, @UncleJunkle !
I just got the HD in a few weeks ago and liking it. Does fine for someone like me who isn't interested in all the tech stuff. I charge everything at 0.5 but it has 0.25-2 amp charging. Miss my luc 6 since switching over to 21700.
Unless you need your batts to charge faster it is always (as a rule) to charge your batteries at the lowest rate possible.
I read somewhere that Mooch recommended a 2 Channel Mini K Type Thermocouple Meter with 0.3% Accuracy to pair with the CBA IV. I am still doing research on the matter though.
At 0.5 they charge during my at home/ waking hours. Tried the 0.25 and it just took too long, found myself forgetting about it.
I'm not sure that's correct. I don't recall where I read it, but charging too slowly is not beneficial and may even be mildly detrimental.
My personal rule of thumb is: If there's no noticeable (to the touch) temperature rise of the cells during charging, there's no benefit in charging more slowly than that. The chargers I use all support 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 amps. At 0.5A there is no noticeable temperature rise, but at 1.0 there is, so I use 0.5 unless I'm in a hurry.
Do a lot of the newer mods take 21700 batts? No No wait don't tell me The last mod I bought or even looked at was in 2016 and I don't need new ones!
Most of what I read suggested the lower the rate the less detrimental affects there are on the battery (heat). That said, I suspect there is little impact between 0.25 and 0.5. And your rule of thumb is probably a good one in absence of a $247 million federal grant to study it at Carnegie Mellon University.
I watched one of Mooch's videos the other night where he confirmed what @Rossum is saying in terms of 1A (or even 2A) being more "healthy" than 0.5A charging. IIRC, there's not much different in terms of overall battery health/life as long as the batteries aren't heating up to a certain point. It was in one of his Q&A videos so no chance of me going to find that video again because those videos are hard to find info in. You just have to watch the whole thing.
But, IMHO, if you're not going to monitor your batteries' temps, might be best to go with 0.5A if that's fast enough for the situation.
ETA: I believe it was in that same video where he mentioned that the older Nitecore chargers weren't ideal because they heated batteries more than they should.
But, IMHO, if you're not going to monitor your batteries' temps, might be best to go with 0.5A if that's fast enough for the situation.
ETA: I believe it was in that same video where he mentioned that the older Nitecore chargers weren't ideal because they heated batteries more than they should.
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