What charger meets these requirements?

[ScottP]

I am sill looking for a good 4 port charger that meets all of my requirements but so far a few come close but haven't found one to check all the boxes.

• 4 ports
• Reasonably decent quality
• Selectable charge current .5A, 1A, and 1.5A all ports simultaneously.
• Displays INDIVIDUAL charge status for all 4 ports (preferably as %)
• Screen stays lit while charging to easily see status.

So far the Golisi S4 seems to come the closest (primarily for the display) but it doesn't charge at 1.5A, it goes from 1A to 2A (which is too much for my batteries without shortening lifespan).

Also I have a question, many chargers when listing the types of batteries they can charge say 3.7V Li-ion but not 4.2V Li-ion and I thought most of what we used were the 4.2V variety. Does this mean they won't charge all the way to 4.2V? If so that would rule out a LOT of chargers out there, the Golisi included.

I have looked at and ruled out the following:
Miboxer C4 - have to press a button to toggle through each slot to check charge status.
Nitecore New I4 - Non-selectable charge rate and SUPER slow with 4 batteries.
Eastshine S4 - only goes up to 1A and is probably not real good.
Lii_PD4 - no 1.5A charging and have to cycle through slots to check status.
SVPro H4 - no 1.5A charging, display does not stay on, not sure about quality.
Xtar all models - have to cycle slots to check status.
Luc4 - No 1.5A and only 2 of the 4 slots can charge at 2A.

Did I miss anything?

 

[Zaryk]

Also I have a question, many chargers when listing the types of batteries they can charge say 3.7V Li-ion but not 4.2V Li-ion and I thought most of what we used were the 4.2V variety. Does this mean they won't charge all the way to 4.2V? If so that would rule out a LOT of chargers out there, the Golisi included.

When they say 3.7v batteries, they are talking nominal voltage. It will still charge them up to the max voltage of 4.2v (or right around that area, some may cutoff a little early like 4.19).

I have no good suggestions for a charger though. Pretty much all of them I have used skips 1.5v and goes from 1v to 2v. I'm not sure if they make the xtar rocket in 4 bay (mine is 2 bay) but if they did I would suggest it since it fills all of the rest of your requirements besides the 1.5v. It does .25v - .5v - 1.0v - 2.0v, bas an always on lit screen that is easy to see from a distance, and battery % on each bay displayed all the time. But I'm not so sure it is made in a 4 bay model, but worth a look. Heck, they are not too expensive, you may be able to buy two for around the same as a 4 bay would cost, mine was $20 on amazon but it was listed for sale for cheaper after I bought mine so it could be less now.

 

[tailland]

Miboxer C4-12 |18650 Battery Charger|Smart Charger|Where There is MiBoxer There is Power|smart 12v battery charger,smart aa battery charger|MiBoxer Charger

btw: the toggling of slots doesn't matter in everyday practice, plus those powerful chargers have too much data to display to do it for all 4 bays at the same time.

 

[papergoblin]

I am sill looking for a good 4 port charger that meets all of my requirements but so far a few come close but haven't found one to check all the boxes.

• 4 ports
• Reasonably decent quality
• Selectable charge current .5A, 1A, and 1.5A all ports simultaneously.
• Displays INDIVIDUAL charge status for all 4 ports (preferably as %)
• Screen stays lit while charging to easily see status.

So far the Golisi S4 seems to come the closest (primarily for the display) but it doesn't charge at 1.5A, it goes from 1A to 2A (which is too much for my batteries without shortening lifespan).

Also I have a question, many chargers when listing the types of batteries they can charge say 3.7V Li-ion but not 4.2V Li-ion and I thought most of what we used were the 4.2V variety. Does this mean they won't charge all the way to 4.2V? If so that would rule out a LOT of chargers out there, the Golisi included.

I have looked at and ruled out the following:
Miboxer C4 - have to press a button to toggle through each slot to check charge status.
Nitecore New I4 - Non-selectable charge rate and SUPER slow with 4 batteries.
Eastshine S4 - only goes up to 1A and is probably not real good.
Lii_PD4 - no 1.5A charging and have to cycle through slots to check status.
SVPro H4 - no 1.5A charging, display does not stay on, not sure about quality.
Xtar all models - have to cycle slots to check status.
Luc4 - No 1.5A and only 2 of the 4 slots can charge at 2A.

Did I miss anything?

All I use are Nitecore chargers, they may not be as fancy as others but they just work, lol. I honestly wouldn't get hung up on the reading percents as they aren't exact, just like mods. Then while slow charging is a pain, it is better for the batteries.

I'd say buy a solid 4 or 6 bay and if it's slow just use it as a reason to buy some extra batteries, lol. Personally I want a charger that has the least amount of electronics as possible. I figure the less going on, the less to break and the less heat generated. I just want reverse protection and overcharging protection.

Honestly, if you can hold out for about a month you might be better off. Remember Black Friday sales aren't that far away. I'd imagine you can get almost twice the charger you are looking at for the price if you wait til November.

 

[Baditude]

Also I have a question, many chargers when listing the types of batteries they can charge say 3.7V Li-ion but not 4.2V Li-ion and I thought most of what we used were the 4.2V variety. Does this mean they won't charge all the way to 4.2V?

Zaryk explained to you about nominal (3.7v) and maximum (4.2v) voltages. 3.7V and 4.2V batteries are one and the same.

I also don't have any recommendations for you. When researching for my blog Guide to Choosing a Li-ion Battery Charger I found the product description pages for charger manufacturers to provide confusing and often misleading information. For example, I found out that some four-bay chargers with four "independent" bays does not mean all four bays will put out 1 amps simultaneously, only two of them will and the other two will only put out 0.5 amps. The blog is largely unfinished because its nearly impossible to get reliable information.

For the money, I still think the Efest LUC V4 is the best bang for the buck (no pun intended) that offers true 1 amp charging for all four bays simultaneously. The display screen isn't the best on the market, though.

I debated between choosing the Efest LUC V4 and the Xtar VP 4 a couple of years ago when I was shopping for a new charger. I went with the Xtar mainly because its superior screen display was more important to me than the ability to charge 4 batteries simultaneously at 1 amp. However, it can only put out 1 amp in two bays while charging 2 batteries simultaneously, the charger defaults to 0.5 amps when four batteries charge simultaneously.

 

[diagrammatiks]

I love my miboxer. Maybe the gyrfalcon or something? Xtar dragon?

Changing slots doesn’t bother me.

 

[ScottP]

Thanks guys for your input. I know that my requirements may seem like a bit much but they are each for a good reason.

Baditude I have read your blog, and I agree with everything in there. For the most part you reinforce some of my requirements. Specifically around the display showing the status of all the slots simultaneously. If we are supposed to remove batteries from the charger as soon as they are done then the best way to make sure you do is to have the status of all slots readily visible. We keep our charger in the kitchen (a highly trafficked area) so we can monitor status at a glance as we walk by doing other things and we can remove batteries promptly when we notice they are done. I can GUARANTEE that if a charger requires people to stop and cycle through slots to check status then batteries will NOT be removed promptly. I don't have to have the readout as a %, it's a nice to have but not required. I do have to have a status indicator for all slots that is always on though. For these reasons the two MOST important of my requirements are the individual status and always on display and these are non-negotiable.

The reason for the current requirements are that the listed "standard" charge rate for my batteries is 1.25A so I plan on charging at 1A most of the time. However I live on the Gulf coast and hurricanes are an unfortunate reality. I live just far enough away to not worry too much about flooding or wind damage but every time there is a hurricane I am usually without power for 1 to 2 weeks. During this time I run a generator at about half duty cycle (1 hour on, 1 hour off) so during these times I would like to have a bit faster charge rate without going over too much. Thus the 1.5A requirement. If I have to I can forget about 1.5A and go with one that is selectable between 1A or 2A, but doing that 2A across all 4 bays would also be a non-negotiable requirement. I may also try to find a small solar system to help keep things charged up like phones, laptops, and vape batteries but again in a long term no power situation and lots of things to charge, speed is an important factor.

 

[ScottP]

When they say 3.7v batteries, they are talking nominal voltage. It will still charge them up to the max voltage of 4.2v (or right around that area, some may cutoff a little early like 4.19).

I have no good suggestions for a charger though. Pretty much all of them I have used skips 1.5v and goes from 1v to 2v. I'm not sure if they make the xtar rocket in 4 bay (mine is 2 bay) but if they did I would suggest it since it fills all of the rest of your requirements besides the 1.5v. It does .25v - .5v - 1.0v - 2.0v, bas an always on lit screen that is easy to see from a distance, and battery % on each bay displayed all the time. But I'm not so sure it is made in a 4 bay model, but worth a look. Heck, they are not too expensive, you may be able to buy two for around the same as a 4 bay would cost, mine was $20 on amazon but it was listed for sale for cheaper after I bought mine so it could be less now.

Thanks. That makes sense on the nominal voltage.

The XTAR Rocket does look like it would be great if they made it in a 4 bay, but it doesn't look like they do. The closest thing I could find from Xtar is the VP4 but as Baditude mentioned when charging 4 batteries it drops to .5A so it's not what I need. Given where I plug it in at, plus my "hurricane" scenario, I really need (1) 4 port (I would even take a 6 port) instead of (2) or (3) 2 port chargers.

 

[ScottP]

Miboxer C4-12 |18650 Battery Charger|Smart Charger|Where There is MiBoxer There is Power|smart 12v battery charger,smart aa battery charger|MiBoxer Charger

btw: the toggling of slots doesn't matter in everyday practice, plus those powerful chargers have too much data to display to do it for all 4 bays at the same time.

The Miboxer isn't going to work primarily because it can only charge up to 1A when using all 4 bays. Honestly I couldn't care less about all the data. I just need charge status for all cells simultaneously. The toggling to see the status absolutely does matter, at least to my family. See my post above for reasons why.

 

[diagrammatiks]

The miboxer does show the charge status of every battery.

Why would they do it any other way?

I dunno if the backlight can be locked on tho.

 

[papergoblin]

Thanks guys for your input. I know that my requirements may seem like a bit much but they are each for a good reason.

Baditude I have read your blog, and I agree with everything in there. For the most part you reinforce some of my requirements. Specifically around the display showing the status of all the slots simultaneously. If we are supposed to remove batteries from the charger as soon as they are done then the best way to make sure you do is to have the status of all slots readily visible. We keep our charger in the kitchen (a highly trafficked area) so we can monitor status at a glance as we walk by doing other things and we can remove batteries promptly when we notice they are done. I can GUARANTEE that if a charger requires people to stop and cycle through slots to check status then batteries will NOT be removed promptly. I don't have to have the readout as a %, it's a nice to have but not required. I do have to have a status indicator for all slots that is always on though. For these reasons the two MOST important of my requirements are the individual status and always on display and these are non-negotiable.

The reason for the current requirements are that the listed "standard" charge rate for my batteries is 1.25A so I plan on charging at 1A most of the time. However I live on the Gulf coast and hurricanes are an unfortunate reality. I live just far enough away to not worry too much about flooding or wind damage but every time there is a hurricane I am usually without power for 1 to 2 weeks. During this time I run a generator at about half duty cycle (1 hour on, 1 hour off) so during these times I would like to have a bit faster charge rate without going over too much. Thus the 1.5A requirement. If I have to I can forget about 1.5A and go with one that is selectable between 1A or 2A, but doing that 2A across all 4 bays would also be a non-negotiable requirement. I may also try to find a small solar system to help keep things charged up like phones, laptops, and vape batteries but again in a long term no power situation and lots of things to charge, speed is an important factor.

Being in rural N. Alabama, I get the bad weather no power thing, lol. I've actually been debating on going with a small solar panel setup, to offset generator usage (things happen or don't when the generator has issues, lol). I'm thinking it's a great alternative, especially if power is out a while and gas runs short. I have to have a power source, not just for vaping but also my son's feeding pump. Just throwing you some ideas on the power outage part.

 

[ScottP]

View attachment 772187 The miboxer does show the charge status of every battery.

Why would they do it any other way?

I dunno if the backlight can be locked on tho.

Yeah, I did a bit more digging and realized there are two Miboxer "C4" chargers. A C4 "Smart" charger and a C4-12 Charger. The C4 "Smart" charger DOES have the indicator BUT only charges at 1A on all 4 Bays as a Max. The C4-12 can charge at up to 3A max on all 4 bays but only shows a "lightning bolt" when a battery is present instead of a charge indicator (which is REALLY dumb).

 

[diagrammatiks]

Yeah, I did a bit more digging and realized there are two Miboxer "C4" chargers. A C4 "Smart" charger and a C4-12 Charger. The C4 "Smart" charger DOES have the indicator BUT only charges at 1A on all 4 Bays as a Max. The C4-12 can charge at up to 3A max on all 4 bays but only shows a "lightning bolt" when a battery is present instead of a charge indicator (which is REALLY dumb).

Ya I just took a look at mine and it doesn’t have the same configuration as the picture I found above.

Kinda dumb.

That being said, the bolts flash. And when it’s done charging it no longer flashes.

I think you have the versions reversed. I have the c4 with bolts and it does 1a times 4.

I think the c4-12 has the indicator lines and does higher a charging.

The c4 will stop flashing when that slot is done tho.

 

[ScottP]

Ya I just took a look at mine and it doesn’t have the same configuration as the picture I found above.

Kinda dumb.

That being said, the bolts flash. And when it’s done charging it no longer flashes.

I think you have the versions reversed. I have the c4 with bolts and it does 1a times 4.

I think the c4-12 has the indicator lines and does higher a charging.

The c4 will stop flashing when that slot is done tho.

Doing even more looking around, it seems that all C8, all C4-12 and SOME of the C4 Smart chargers have the lightning bolts. Only some of the C4 Smart chargers have the indicator. Not sure why the inconsistency. Maybe the bars for the indicator is a "new feature" only available on some of the C4 Smart chargers? So far all of the ones I can find with the bars are only the 1A style. I'll keep looking because if I can find one of the 3A selectable versions with the bars, it's as good as bought.

 

[diagrammatiks]

Doing even more looking around, it seems that all C8, all C4-12 and SOME of the C4 Smart chargers have the lightning bolts. Only some of the C4 Smart chargers have the indicator. Not sure why the inconsistency. Maybe the bars for the indicator is a "new feature" only available on some of the C4 Smart chargers? So far all of the ones I can find with the bars are only the 1A style. I'll keep looking because if I can find one of the 3A selectable versions with the bars, it's as good as bought.

Looks like the smart charger has bars as a new feature. But the other features seem a step back. It is only capable of 800ma times 4 charging.

The c4-12 has the bolts but it is capable of 3a times 4.

Only one I’ve found that can charge that fast.

 

[ScottP]

Looks like the smart charger has bars as a new feature. But the other features seem a step back. It is only capable of 800ma times 4 charging.

The c4-12 has the bolts but it is capable of 3a times 4.

Only one I’ve found that can charge that fast.

Yeah that is what I have come up with as well. I don't really need 3A, just 1.5A or maybe 2A max is fine for me. It's just when I saw your pic with the bars I was all excited thinking maybe the images I saw were just mock-ups and not representative of the actual product. Then reality hit.

What is really pissing me off is how many charger companies post their ads as "CHARGES UP TO 2A!!!" then buried somewhere else in fine print "2A 1 battery, 1A 2 batteries, 0.5A 4 batteries". Like what is even the point of have a 4 battery charger if it takes the same amount of time to charge 4 batteries simultaneously as it would to charge them one at a time consecutively? Yeah I know you don't have to swap them out, but still it isn't saving you any charge time this way.

 

[DaveP]

I am sill looking for a good 4 port charger that meets all of my requirements but so far a few come close but haven't found one to check all the boxes.

• 4 ports
• Reasonably decent quality
• Selectable charge current .5A, 1A, and 1.5A all ports simultaneously.
• Displays INDIVIDUAL charge status for all 4 ports (preferably as %)
• Screen stays lit while charging to easily see status.

Few, if any chargers will do what you are asking. Capabilities vary and you just have to decide what fits your needs.

I have the Efest LUC 4, Nitecore i4, Xtar VC4, and the Zanflare C4. All have varying capabilities.

My newest, the Zanflare C4 is the most capable. It will do 1A across 4 bays. It has a standalone display for each bay and the screen stays lit while charging.

I haven't found one that will charge at a higher rate than 1A across 4 bays.

 

[ScottP]

Few, if any chargers will do what you are asking. Capabilities vary and you just have to decide what fits your needs.

I have the Efest LUC 4, Nitecore i4, Xtar VC4, and the Zanflare C4. All have varying capabilities.

My newest, the Zanflare C4 is the most capable. It will do 1A across 4 bays. It has a standalone display for each bay and the screen stays lit while charging.

I haven't found one that will charge at a higher rate than 1A across 4 bays.

/Sigh. Why can't Evolv make a charger? They would do it right.

 

[TrollDragon]

/Sigh. Why can't Evolv make a charger? They would do it right.

The Gyrfalcom All-88 will give you 1A on all 8 bays at the same time with a screen for each bay.

They also make a 4 bay version the All-44, but why not just get the 8 bay version and charge up extra batteries.

 

[dc99]

/Sigh. Why can't Evolv make a charger? They would do it right.

Its funny you say that because I dont remove the batteries in any of my evolve DNA mods. Including the lipo ones.