Problem with Nitecore SC4 Battery Charger

[Caterpiller]

So as I mentioned in the other thread:
Need help picking a budget 4 bay charger (please)

I got the Nitecore SC4 four bay battery charger the other day.

I've now used it several times, but I'm having some issues with it.

I tend to put three 18650's in it at a time as I mainly use the Tirade 3x18650 mod.

I set all three bays to 500mah (0.5amp) charging.

It then proceeds to charge bay number two to full (4.2v) before making any effort on bays 1 & 3.

Typically if I put all three batteries in at 3.6v bay two will be full (4.2v) in about 3hrs and bays 1 & 3 will be at about 3.8v.

As soon as bay two is full it cracks on and charges bays 1 & 3 over the next 2 hours.

I don't get this at all - the display indicates all the bays charging simultaneously at 500mah and the SC4 is rated to 6A charging, which is more than the 1.5A I'm asking of it.

The manual had an option for prioritising bay one and two for faster charging, but to the best of my knowledge I'm not in this mode.

Anyone own an SC4 and know what I'm doing wrong?

 

[Eskie]

Don’t have it but double check you’re not in that bay priority setting without realizing it. If so it might do funky things with three instead of two bays filled. If it’s not that I’d return or exchange it for a new one.

 

[Topwater Elvis]

I had one, I either never figured it out or it was factory defect.

The first time it was used it worked fine, took it out of the box plugged it put 4 cells in, walked away.
From that point forward it was frustratingly random, no matter what mode selected or left in default it seemed to have a mind of its own.
The only way it worked to my satisfaction was 1 cell at a time or one in #2 slot one in #4 slot, even then sometimes it would charge #2 first.

I fixed it with a 3lb ball peen hammer.

I hope someone that has had success with the SC4 will come along and be more help.

 

[Caterpiller]

Don’t have it but double check you’re not in that bay priority setting without realizing it. If so it might do funky things with three instead of two bays filled. If it’s not that I’d return or exchange it for a new one.

I'm fairly sure I've not adjusted the settings to make it charge bay two only first - hope I'm wrong and someone will come up with a solution as returning to Fasttech would be a major pain. I'll probably just chalk it up to a bad job and move on.

I had one, I either never figured it out or it was factory defect.

The first time it was used it worked fine, took it out of the box plugged it put 4 cells in, walked away.
From that point forward it was frustratingly random, no matter what mode selected or left in default it seemed to have a mind of its own.
The only way it worked to my satisfaction was 1 cell at a time or one in #2 slot one in #4 slot, even then sometimes it would charge #2 first.

I fixed it with a 3lb ball peen hammer.

I hope someone that has had success with the SC4 will come along and be more help.

Oh dear, this sounds very similar to the problem I'm having. This could be my first and last Nitecore purchase. Thanks for the information

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

I had a nearly four year old Nitecore die on me earlier this year. But that thing performed well during its life.

My only complaint was the difficulty operating the sleds and when I went to replace it the newer Nitecore I2's had sleds that were even worse.

Went with two Efest LUC 2-bay units.

 

[Natalievapes]

Check if it's in priority mode, which show hexagon on the screen. And depends on different capacities/ types of the battery, the charger will select charging current automatically.

 

[Caterpiller]

Check if it's in priority mode, which show hexagon on the screen. And depends on different capacities/ types of the battery, the charger will select charging current automatically.

Yes I'm aware of the option with the hexagons but it's not that.

The charger simply has a mind of its own and always prioritises at least one shot above the others.

It's really annoying as this means the overall charging time for the three 18650's I normally charge together gets extended.

I'm now mitigating the extra time, due to one slot getting priority, by setting all slots to charge at 700ma rather than 500ma.

It still slow charges two shots while fast charging one, but overall they all get charged in about the same time as charging three shots at 500ma on my Luc v4.

The choice to charge at 700ma had just about saved the Nitecore for me (but it's still annoying).

 

[KGB7]

Charge only one battery at a time in each slot at a time and see if charging times vary from slot to slot.