do chargers matter that much?

[hubstacker]

when I first got into vaping, I bought a first i bought a cheap little charger from ebay

New Battery Charger for 18650 Rechargeable Li ion Batteries Black | eBay

however the charge time on my battery are ridiculously long. like wait over night for a full charge long.

is it worth upgrading to a another charger?

 

[DreamWithin]

Absolutely worth upgrading. IMHO your battery charger is one of the most important pieces of kit that you should not skimp on There are a lot of good chargers out there at affordable prices, so no reason to use some no-name charger that might or might not be reliable. xtar, Nitecore and Pila are some of the most recommended brands

 

[ScottChensoda]

Sound advice from DW above and I would add that you should never leave any lithium-ion battery to charge unless you are in the room or very close by. Certainly never leave your charger on overnight unless you sleep with a fire extinguisher to hand. More so if you use a Mickey Mouse charger built in the back streets of Guandong Province.

Until you have bought a recommended charger HS I suggest you invest in a Lipo safety bag for peace of mind and then carry out some research on Lithium-ion batteries and their charging. Lithium-ion cells are far more volatile than NiCads or NiMhs but providing a few basic pointers are observed and respect given, there shouldn't be any issues.

 

[Baditude]

I agree with the above comments. High quality batteries deserve a high quality charger. Batteries and charger are your most important investment in vaping.

Lots of good information on batteries and chargers in the sticky of this sub-forum. Take advantage of the wealth of info.

 

[The Ministry]

I got a Trustfire TR001 with my first APV (kind of a bundle sale) Used it no problems until my battery collection (inevitably) grew. I wanted a 4 bay charger so invested in an Intellicharger i4.

The difference is staggering, to me. The i4 charges MUCH quicker, and more accurately. I can take a battery that is "charged" out of the TR001 and it's not quite fully charged, the i4, it's near enough bang on 99% of the time.

A quality charger will probably extend the lifespan of your battery, not overcharge and make sure they are fully charged (and quicker than a cheap one)

You can get better than the Intellicharger, but for the money it's been a worthwhile investment to me. I'd check them out, not particularly expensive and I trust it.

 

[Sptz]

I got a Trustfire TR001 with my first APV (kind of a bundle sale) Used it no problems until my battery collection (inevitably) grew. I wanted a 4 bay charger so invested in an Intellicharger i4.

The difference is staggering, to me. The i4 charges MUCH quicker, and more accurately. I can take a battery that is "charged" out of the TR001 and it's not quite fully charged, the i4, it's near enough bang on 99% of the time.

A quality charger will probably extend the lifespan of your battery, not overcharge and make sure they are fully charged (and quicker than a cheap one)

You can get better than the Intellicharger, but for the money it's been a worthwhile investment to me. I'd check them out, not particularly expensive and I trust it.

Do you know if the i4 actually shuts down each module when the battery is fully charged? So that you could leave the battery in without any problems.

Thanks

 

[wheelie]

Do you know if the i4 actually shuts down each module when the battery is fully charged? So that you could leave the battery in without any problems.

Thanks

Yes but everything in this world is prone to malfunction. Get into bad habits and when that malfunction happens and charger don't shut off can lead to trouble. Might as well just use precautions from the start.

 

[The Ministry]

I remove the battery when I get three solid bars, with my luck mine would keep charging

I think it will shut down when charged, but as wheelie stated, you can't account for failing parts and disaster. I'd never sleep well leaving it on overnight, in fact I doubt I'd sleep....

I trust it not to under or overcharge my batteries, trusting it to do it 100% of the time unattended is a different ball game

 

[DreamWithin]

Absolutely agree with the above. Even with a good, trustworthy charger the components can fail sooner or later. In the few years I've been vaping I've never had one come off the charger over-charged, but I still check them every time just in case and never leave them on for longer than I need to

 

[DreamWithin]

And I absolutely need to stop starting all my posts in this thread with "absolutely"

 

[KenD]

Does anyone have any experience with the Soshine h2? I'm thinking of getting one (the improved version), primarily due to the led display and the information it can display (I have a Nitecore i2 and it's doing a great job, but that display on the Soshine...). The review of the second version on a lygte-info is mostly positive on it when it comes to li-ions (nimh and lipo not so much), but it would be nice to hear from someone with hands on experience.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[yo han]

And I absolutely need to stop starting all my posts in this thread with "absolutely"

Absolutely!

 

[beckdg]

Does anyone have any experience with the Soshine h2? I'm thinking of getting one (the improved version), primarily due to the led display and the information it can display (I have a Nitecore i2 and it's doing a great job, but that display on the Soshine...). The review of the second version on a lygte-info is mostly positive on it when it comes to li-ions (nimh and lipo not so much), but it would be nice to hear from someone with hands on experience.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

...

Conclusion

The V2 of this charger has been much improved, but it not perfect yet.
LiIon: Works fine.
LiFePO4: Does not terminate, the batteries must be removed when charging is finished.
NiMH: Does not fill the batteries completely.
9V NiMH: Probably works fine.
9V LiIon: Works fine.

source; Test/Review of Charger Soshine H2 V2 | BudgetLightForum.com

 

[Sptz]

I bought an Xtar VP2. It's an investment for sure but don't want to take second chances with batteries.

 

[KenD]

...



source; Test/Review of Charger Soshine H2 V2 | BudgetLightForum.com

Yeah, that's the review I've read. As I don't use lipos or nimhs it should be fine for me. An xtar would of course be better, but I don't think they have as detailed displays. I'm particularly interested in the feature that you can see how much mAh has been "stuffed in" during charging. Probably not 100% accurate, but should give some indication of the health of the battery.

No one has any hands on experience?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[beckdg]

No one has any hands on experience?

no, sorry. the nitecore chargers fit me well. they offer just the right feature set for me.

 

[KenD]

no, sorry. the nitecore chargers fit me well. they offer just the right feature set for me.

I have the nitecore i2 and it's great, will definitely continue using that one. I've accumulated so many mechs that two charging slots just don't cut it anymore (2x2 should be enough, for now), and if I get something new I might as well try something other than a nitecore. Was looking at the Efest lucs, but the display appears very rudimentary. I guess I'll just get the Soshine and see how it works out.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[beckdg]

well, definitely report back.

 

[Firecrow]

I think there is an under-estimation of safety. LiPo chargers have been around for years in other industries. Battery and charger systems have been there for airsoft, RC cards, model planes etc and the microprocessors specially designed for this charging is safe for mid and high quality chargers are safe to use overnight. Don't confuse poor battery management on discharge in unregulated mods with the safety systems in place for regulated discharge or charge. I've done LiPo charging for years for airsoft and have never had a battery explosion on charge.

 

[AndriaD]

I think there is an under-estimation of safety. LiPo chargers have been around for years in other industries. Battery and charger systems have been there for airsoft, RC cards, model planes etc and the microprocessors specially designed for this charging is safe for mid and high quality chargers are safe to use overnight. Don't confuse poor battery management on discharge in unregulated mods with the safety systems in place for regulated discharge or charge. I've done LiPo charging for years for airsoft and have never had a battery explosion on charge.

Yeah, but it only takes ONCE to ruin your whole day...

Andria