Pila Charger Question - worth the cost?

[MacDiver]

Guyz,

I have two Trustfire T001s and two Ultrafire WF-139s but don't like either of them. My AW IMR 14500 batts come off the chargers most of the time at only 4.14. Sometimes the cheaper T001s will come off at 4.20. It's not a total waste because I keep one at work, car and two at home but I'm pretty sure I'm getting deminished batt life right out the gate.

Do the Pilas charge to 4.20 every time? Are there any other factors that make them worth their cost? I'd have to spend more to get at least one car adapter and that's another 20 bucks.

I guess the real question is, is the difference in charge levels worth replacing my current chargers.

Thanks much

 

[Big Hitter]

My pila charges the AW IMR 14500 to 4.19 every single time .... done it hundreds of times.

Oddly it charges the AW IMR 18650 to 4.22 every single time

I think its worth the cost hands down.
Its one of the most important parts of the vaping puzzle and gets used every single day.
Take that 50 bucks and divide it by how long you use it and you will be down to pennys a day before long.

Its so good I own two ..... One I've used every day since December and one still in the box from January for backup.
(I did take it out of the box to test its working correctly)

IMO, these spacers complete the set-up.
No more screwing in and out the pila ones if you charge both sizes.
I got sick of that and bought some aluminum 15mm spacers first .... everytime i bumped the charger they would loose connection.

These puppies are super slick.

 

[mlinky]

Guyz,

I have two Trustfire T001s and two Ultrafire WF-139s but don't like either of them. My AW IMR 14500 batts come off the chargers most of the time at only 3.14. Sometimes the cheaper T001s will come off at 4.20. It's not a total waste because I keep one at work, car and two at home but I'm pretty sure I'm getting deminished batt life right out the gate.

Do the Pilas charge to 4.20 every time? Are there any other factors that make them worth their cost? I'd have to spend more to get at least one car adapter and that's another 20 bucks.

I guess the real question is, is the difference in charge levels worth replacing my current chargers.

Thanks much

I assume they are coming off the charger at 4.14 (not 3.14). If so, the batteries are probably aging and your charger is actually doing the correct thing. If they are new batteries, they need to go through 4-5 cycles to reach full capacity. If neither of those, then get a new charger

Pila chargers are generally recognized as the best and safest charger. OTOH, as long as you pull the batteries off of your charger when they are done and test them with a multimeter before you use them, I don't know that it is really necessary to purchase a Pila.

 

[MacDiver]

I corrected the OP to say 4.14 (not 3.14). The AWs are made up of two sets of four, numbered 1 through 8. The first set was bought Dec 2010. I don't know exactly when I got the second set but it was around Feb or March I guess. I use all eight of them in rotatation. I got the second set when I thought the first may have been losing charging power but they both seem to take and hold the same charge and last the same to this day.

Thing is that these chargers have always only charged to 3.14 to 3.17 max so I guess they haven't ever really worked as they are supposed to.

 

[mlinky]

I corrected the OP to say 4.14 (not 3.14). The AWs are made up of two sets of four, numbered 1 through 8. The first set was bought Dec 2010. I don't know exactly when I got the second set but it was around Feb or March I guess. I use all eight of them in rotatation. I got the second set when I thought the first may have been losing charging power but they both seem to take and hold the same charge and last the same to this day.

Thing is that these chargers have always only charged to 3.14 to 3.17 max so I guess they haven't ever really worked as they are supposed to.

It could be your multimeter. You can try a new one from Harbor Freight at about $5.

 

[Titan Vapes]

My pila charges the AW IMR 14500 to 4.19 every single time .... done it hundreds of times.

Oddly it charges the AW IMR 18650 to 4.22 every single time

I think its worth the cost hands down.
Its one of the most important parts of the vaping puzzle and gets used every single day.
Take that 50 bucks and divide it by how long you use it and you will be down to pennys a day before long.

Its so good I own two ..... One I've used every day since December and one still in the box from January for backup.
(I did take it out of the box to test its working correctly)

IMO, these spacers complete the set-up.
No more screwing in and out the pila ones if you charge both sizes.
I got sick of that and bought some aluminum 15mm spacers first .... everytime i bumped the charger they would loose connection.

These puppies are super slick.

I also see you are a Mac fan, great choice!

 

[oplholik]

Will the Pila IBC 4 stage charger, charge a AW ICR123 with some kind of spacer? If it could, that would be cool. I could charge any battery I've got, and keep my other chargers for backups.

 

[brian1g]

Expecting my pila to arrive any day now. Right now I have a new wf-139 that overcharges them and a cheap charger from madvapes. The overcharging has taken its toll on my 2-3 month old imrs and they are starting to not hold a charge long now.

I figured my pila will pay for itself if I'm not ruining batteries ever couple months.

 

[mlinky]

Will the Pila IBC 4 stage charger, charge a AW ICR123 with some kind of spacer? If it could, that would be cool. I could charge any battery I've got, and keep my other chargers for backups.

It will NOT charge a 3v/3.2v Here is everything you ever wanted to know about the Pila charger: Pila IBC Charger Compendium

 

[tybin]

actually it will charge the aw icr 123, as it is a 3.7v battery. you'd need 4 15mm spacers for that. two on each side, according to wonderlite

edit: that would be the black and silver 750mah option, not the imr

 

[pianoguy]

My Pila charges my batteries at least twice as fast as my old cheapie TR-001, which I keep at the office now.

 

[Tat_skull]

I use my pila for every AW IMR I own, 18350, 16340, 14500, and 18650. I found it very effective as I am not home every time the batts are charged to remove them. All in all in my honest opinion, it is a good investment!

 

[oplholik]

I use my pila for every AW IMR I own, 18350, 16340, 14500, and 18650. I found it very effective as I am not home every time the batts are charged to remove them. All in all in my honest opinion, it is a good investment!

Since it sounds as if I can also charge the black and silver AW ICR123,3.7v protected on it with a spacer, it sounds good. I also like the fact that it has a cover.

 

[Mvgratz]

I love my Pila's (I have 2, one is a brand new spare like Tim (Big Hitter)does for back-up) I also like the UltraFire WF-188. It charges 3.0v,3.2v,3.7v has a selector switch on the side for 300mah/600mah levels and 3.2/3.7v settings. No spacers required to charge any size battery that falls into these catergories I have ran across. My batts (aw imr 14500 and 18650's) all come off this charger at 4.2-4.22v's everytime. The Pila is a hair faster at charging imo, but the WF-188 would be my choice if money were tight... Got mine for $16.20 at RTDVapors. They also have Pila's on order... One can never have too many batteries or chargers IMHO...

 

[Chornbro]

You can actually check to see exactly what your charger is putting out with your multimeter... just put the positive lead to the positive end, ground to ground... I do this every-so-often to make sure my chargers are doing their job.

The cheaper spring-loaded chargers (3.7v... usually good for a size-range of 14500-18650) work just fine for me... and have been for a while!

 

[Diablo]

I use my pila for every AW IMR I own, 18350, 16340, 14500, and 18650. I found it very effective as I am not home every time the batts are charged to remove them. All in all in my honest opinion, it is a good investment!

Are you saying the Pila charger is safe to leave batteries on? It doesn't shorten the life of them? I have searched and searched but never found anything saying they are or aren't. Be great if it is because I have stayed up later than I wanted to several nights now.

 

[Big Hitter]

One more nice feature is its completely silent.

I've had chargers that make a humming noise and that crap drives me crazy.

 

[pianoguy]

I've never had a problem with mine - I leave them on overnight every day. The Pila has a standby mode that monitors the battery and trickle charges as necessary.

 

[Big Hitter]

Are you saying the Pila charger is safe to leave batteries on? It doesn't shorten the life of them? I have searched and searched but never found anything saying they are or aren't. Be great if it is because I have stayed up later than I wanted to several nights now.

I don't know if your supposed to, but I've been leaving them on until I think about it for 6 months now on the same batts.
They still last as long and charge to 4.2 so it can't be too bad for them.

 

[Chornbro]

I don't know if your supposed to, but I've been leaving them on until I think about it for 6 months now on the same batts.
They still last as long and charge to 4.2 so it can't be too bad for them.

I think thats one of the features of the Pila... you can leave the batteries on there...

with the cheaper chargers, you can still leave your batteries on... but I dont think it's really good for them.

That being said, I leave my bigger batteries on the cheaper charger overnight and havent noticed a big difference in their performance.