LG 18650 HE2 - charger keeps blinking

[Train2]

So - it's not a faulty charger or slot - my Nitecore i4 Intellicharger works fine with every other battery.
And I don't think it's a faulty battery, it's BRAND new and from RTD (then again, I only have that one HE2).

But that battery, and that battery only, never stops blinking.
I actually don't THINK it will overcharge - I left it on (watching) after it was charged, and it never exceeded 4.22, which I understand is "in spec".

But it never registers on the charger as complete - meaning the last light never stops blinking.

I am a little concerned - I don't want it continuously TRYING to charge a full battery...but I suppose I can just be careful to charge this one an hour at a time, and check it before use...and I don't think I can return it as faulty.

Has anyone else had trouble with this?
Heard anything about a Nitecore not being able to "read" an LGHE2?
One person said SOMETHING about that - different chemistry? - but cannot find it anywhere...

 

[Ryedan]

From your previous thread about this issue:

Trusted vendor? If so get in touch and see what they say.

Good idea - I did shoot them a note...

Did you get a response and if so, what did they say?

I charge MNKE, LG HE2, Samsung 25R, VTC3, VTC4 and VTC5's on the same xtar charger with no issues so I doubt battery chemistry is an issue. Did you try cleaning the contacts?

 

[Train2]

Vendor, (RTD) is who said they thought it might be the Nitecore not reading the LG's properly- due to chemistry difference. Which DOES seem odd - but they're asking Nitecore and will let me know if they hear back anything...

And yeah, this charger's perfect with my AW's and my NCR18650PD's and my CGR18650CH's.
And the Samsung 25R I got at the same time as the LGHE2.

Contacts are clean...
And it's doing the same thing on another charger - also a Nitecore, that's all I've got...
Don't have another LG to check - but it's definitely either the battery type, or this particular battery.

From your previous thread about this issue:

Did you get a response and if so, what did they say?

I charge MNKE, LG HE2, Samsung 25R, VTC3, VTC4 and VTC5's on the same xtar charger with no issues so I doubt battery chemistry is an issue. Did you try cleaning the contacts?

 

[Froth]

Very odd behavior for sure, I've got five LG HE2's and none of them show this behavior on either my Efest LUC or Xtar charger.

 

[Ryedan]

OK Train2. I'm with Froth in thinking this is really odd. I've never heard of this before. Please let us know what RTD says when they hear from the Nitecore folks.

 

[Train2]

Thanks, both of ya.
Yeah, unfortunately, I don't have another HE2, or a different brand charger - that might let me PROVE whether it's a faulty battery or some weird "incompatibility"...
I'll come back and post whatever happens - news from Nitecore or RTD or whatever...

Very odd behavior for sure, I've got five LG HE2's and none of them show this behavior on either my Efest LUC or Xtar charger.

OK Train2. I'm with Froth in thinking this is really odd. I've never heard of this before. Please let us know what RTD says when they hear from the Nitecore folks.

 

[markophonic]

So - it's not a faulty charger or slot - my Nitecore i4 Intellicharger works fine with every other battery.
And I don't think it's a faulty battery, it's BRAND new and from RTD (then again, I only have that one HE2).

But that battery, and that battery only, never stops blinking.
I actually don't THINK it will overcharge - I left it on (watching) after it was charged, and it never exceeded 4.22, which I understand is "in spec".

But it never registers on the charger as complete - meaning the last light never stops blinking.

I am a little concerned - I don't want it continuously TRYING to charge a full battery...but I suppose I can just be careful to charge this one an hour at a time, and check it before use...and I don't think I can return it as faulty.

Has anyone else had trouble with this?
Heard anything about a Nitecore not being able to "read" an LGHE2?
One person said SOMETHING about that - different chemistry? - but cannot find it anywhere...

Interesting. I received 2 LG HE2 18650 batteries today from Vivid. I put them on my new Xtar VP2. Both batteries read about 3.5v when charging started 2pm today. One battery finished charging around 10:30pm tonight and the other just finished charging about a half hour ago...12:30am. That last battery took forever to finish charging.

Granted I was only charging them at the 0.25a rate...but these were the longest I've had to charge new batteries...they were also the lowest starting voltage I've had...

I haven't tried them yet but assume that they are fine.

 

[wLyFbR9i]

I have 2 LG HE2's that work fine on my Intellicharger i4 - they charge up to 3 solid lights and are good to go.

Perhaps you just got a bad battery? I've seen cell and laptops with bad lithium batteries and they just appeared to charge forever but held very little actual charge.

 

[Train2]

Thanks - that's the first response from someone with a Nitecore!!
I returned the battery, they're going to test it...

If I read my own story, I'd suspect the charger - it's the charger's job to prevent over-charging, right? Except that EVERY other battery works just fine... But I'm kind of hoping it IS something wrong with the battery, so I don't have to think about replacing the charger.

 

[Train2]

Well, as promised, here's how this story ends. Unfortunately, no clear answer on the cause.

I tried a second time to charge this battery - and it never stopped blinking the 3rd light.
When I took it off, we were at 4.25. Which is getting BEYOND "spec".
I did take a few hits so it wouldn't STAY 'overcharged' while shipping it back. Hit really nice with that little extra oomph too!

Anyway - RTD said to send it in.
They tested it, and said it came off their charger at 4.19.

So AGAIN, it seems like something's wrong with my charger - except that it's working perfectly with every other battery...Sony's, Samsung, a bunch of AW's...

So I requested, and was granted a Samsung INR18650 25R as a replacement instead of another LGHE2 - just in case there's something weird about the LG charging on a Nitecore.

Kudos to RTD, as usual, for being a totally "stand up" vendor!

 

[KTMRider]

I charged my HE2 on a Nitecore D2. It started at 3.2v and took a little over 5 hrs to get to 4.2v at 500ma charging.