Which charger now?

[DaveP]

Efest Luc 4 "lucked out" as the Editor's Choice in vaping 360's charger reviews (pardon the pun).

The Gyrfalcon also made the list for 8 bay chargers.

Best 18650 Battery Chargers For Vaping 2017 - Vaping360

 

[OlderNDirt]

Another follow-up:

Contacted my vape shop about the LUC-V6 never charging at 1.0a and because of the misinformation, they are "upgrading" me to the Nitecore I8 at no additional cost. Works for me!

I understand some having bad experiences at some vape shops, but there are some good and trustworthy shops out there and I don't mind paying a little more at the one I found 3 years ago. Kudos to them!

 

[Spey]

I sold my NiteCore charger because the battery sled slides sucked. Everytime I inserted a battery was frustrating.

While I can not speak to this condition being typical if all NiteCore chargers, I can say it seems typical from many others comments I have read.

By contrast each if my LUC chargers has nice smooth battery slides. Would be my assumption, smoothly sliding contacts put less stress on the springs and the spring anchors.

Additionally, NiteCore i-series only use LED's to display rudimentary charge info. To me, I prefer to see voltage display real-time and also be able to see drops in fully charged battery voltages (indication battery nearing end of life).

Just thought I'd comment, as it seems broken spring anchors have a lot to do with the origination of this thread ...

 

[OlderNDirt]

Well, since I started this thread, I can confirm it started about broken spring posts!

And I am one who complained about the roughness of the Nitecore i4 I had and that is why I went with the VP4 in the first place. My i4 is now back in service, roughness and all. Yes, I really liked the detailed screens of the Xtar, but longevity (or lack thereof), and lack of support make it hard to go with another one. I'm not an Efest battery fan, but tried one of their chargers. Only charging at .68a or 2.0a seems unreasonable to me and I understand other models are more flexible. Being "old school", I like to touch and feel new item purchases and when presented the opportunity to get an 8 bay charger that would charge 4 batteries at 1.0a at the same time, figured it was a reasonable offset to the additional information. And I can manage OK even if 4 springs or spring anchors fail.

 

[Spey]

OlderNDirt,

No problems here. I appreciate your comments.

I know I was disappointed when I realized LUC charged at 2a or 0.68a (and nothing in-between). Wished I had just bought the LUC-4 (especially considering how much easier/availability it was, rather than hunt down a LUC-6) to pair with my LUC-2.

Realistically, I do not even notice the difference in charge time between LUC-6 at 0.68a and my LUC-2 set at 1.0a ... Anytime I am short on time, I just press the 2.0a button on the LUC-6 (internal resistance on all my vape batteries is low enough that they charge ok at 2a).

I just thought it kinda funny that you elected to go to a charger with no digital voltage display and sketchy battery slides, considering the history referenced.

Just goes to show the individuality of the decisions we make, and why we make them. Sounds like having four extra bays for just-in-case-senerio was a deal maker for you.

I have not read many folks talking about that model, and you have experienced a number of different chargers. After you have a week or so with that new charger, maybe you could post back your thoughts/impressions/comparisons?

 

[OlderNDirt]

Hey, @Spey

I appreciate and have enjoyed the info and conversation! Sometimes it is a bit strange how things seem to fall in place. No question I will miss the display. But it seems like chargers are just like pretty much everything vape related I have bought. Lots of good stuff, things I like in each, but nobody has managed to put everything I like/want in one unit. And then if/when they do, they ruin it by making stupid mistakes like making a spring anchor weaker then the spring itself!

Now that I have a quad 18650 mod and subscribe to the married battery belief, my first need was being able to charge at least 4 batteries together at 1.0a. I will not leave batteries in the charger overnight! Extra bays are just a bonus. I will be testing the smoothness, or lack thereof, on the i8 before walking out of my shop...... something I cannot do if I buy a charger online. So that limits me to what my shop has available.

 

[Spey]

Wow, Quad-Mod.
A four battery marriage can be a religious relationship ;-)
4 married batt's @ 1.0a ..., makes more sense now.
What mod you running?

 

[OlderNDirt]

Wow, Quad-Mod.
A four battery marriage can be a religious relationship ;-)
4 married batt's @ 1.0a ..., makes more sense now.
What mod you running?

I got the Smok GX2/4, great in both dual and quad battery mode.

 

[Tonee N]

I got the Smok GX2/4, great in both dual and quad battery mode.

OH Yeah![emoji106]

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[Spey]

GX 2/4 case and battery door metal or plastic?

 

[OlderNDirt]

GX 2/4 case and battery door metal or plastic?

I believe the body and doors are non-magnetic metal.

 

[Spey]

Chinesium Alloy it sounds ...

Thx 4 the reply

 

[Monotremata]

So it wasn't just bad luck in my case with my last Xtar! Been using my Nitecore D2 for three years now, but wanted to move up to a 1A charger. Jumped on an Xtar Rocket back in May when they were dirt cheap at Illumn. Thing lasted 10 days before one of the sleds broke. Illumn was totally cool and sent me another one. That one also lasted exactly 10 days before the same side sled broke. Got my third one, that lasted a whole three days. I gave up on waiting for replacements after that and just kept using the D2. If this also happened with your VP4 guess Ill pass on that one too as thats what I was looking at getting. Maybe Ill finally give Efest a shot.

 

[DaveP]

Well, since I started this thread, I can confirm it started about broken spring posts!

And I am one who complained about the roughness of the Nitecore i4 I had and that is why I went with the VP4 in the first place. My i4 is now back in service, roughness and all. Yes, I really liked the detailed screens of the Xtar, but longevity (or lack thereof), and lack of support make it hard to go with another one. I'm not an Efest battery fan, but tried one of their chargers. Only charging at .68a or 2.0a seems unreasonable to me and I understand other models are more flexible. Being "old school", I like to touch and feel new item purchases and when presented the opportunity to get an 8 bay charger that would charge 4 batteries at 1.0a at the same time, figured it was a reasonable offset to the additional information. And I can manage OK even if 4 springs or spring anchors fail.

Am I understanding correctly that your LUC6 wouldn't charge 4 batteries at 1A? I only own the LUC4, but the specs in the 6 say that it charges 4 cells at 1A. I was thinking of buying one for that feature as well as the cell phone connectivity for monitoring charge progress.

(ETA: it's the LUC Blue 6 that can do 4 cells at 1A in bays 2,3,4, and 5. It's also the one that has and android app that lets you check charging progress on your phone. I didn't know about the two models being different)

Amazon has it for $36.63
https://www.amazon.com/Efest-Intell...qid=1504959122&sr=1-1&keywords=efest+luc+blu6

Efest 6 bay intelligent charger with bluetooth

Charging Configuration Examples:
2 batteries - 26650 - Bay 1 and 6 at 2A per bay
4 batteries - 18650 - Bay 2, 3, 4 & 5 at 1A per bay
6 batteries - 18650 - Bay 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 at .5A per bay

 

[Hightech Redneck]

I am curious about the new nitecore 8 bay vertical. Yes it is led based unlike my luc4 and lists at 1500ma at each port, per the specs anyway.
Nitecore i8 8-slot Intelligent Universal Battery Charger For 18650 26650 14500 RCR123A 17650 17670 AA AAA C D

Edit I have seen on a live show it does fit 20700 and 21700 batts.

 

[OlderNDirt]

I've had the Nitecorei8 for about a week now. It seemed to charge 2 batteries and 4 batteries equally fast, what I would presume to be 1.0a. I am currently charging 6 batteries, so will see how long that takes. The vertical sleds are quite smooth, but a bit awkward for my wonky hands. I do miss having an LED read-out, otherwise I am happy with it so far.

Am I understanding correctly that your LUC6 wouldn't charge 4 batteries at 1A? I only own the LUC4, but the specs in the 6 say that it charges 4 cells at 1A. I was thinking of buying one for that feature as well as the cell phone connectivity for monitoring charge progress.

(ETA: it's the LUC Blue 6 that can do 4 cells at 1A in bays 2,3,4, and 5. It's also the one that has and android app that lets you check charging progress on your phone. I didn't know about the two models being different)

Amazon has it for $36.63
https://www.amazon.com/Efest-Intell...qid=1504959122&sr=1-1&keywords=efest+luc+blu6

Yeah, the inability to charge 4 or more batteries at 1.0a was a killer for me. The Blue 6 sounds very appealing, especially if the app shows all the charging details! Would be interested how it works for you. Wish my shop would have had those!

I am curious about the new nitecore 8 bay vertical. Yes it is led based unlike my luc4 and lists at 1500ma at each port, per the specs anyway.
Nitecore i8 8-slot Intelligent Universal Battery Charger For 18650 26650 14500 RCR123A 17650 17670 AA AAA C D

Edit I have seen on a live show it does fit 20700 and 21700 batts.

The instructions are a bit confusing (and so tiny that I need a magnifying glass and still quite small), so am not real clear on the charging amps for 4 batteries or which slots to use. It states it charges 4 batteries at 1.0a as well as 4 batteries at 0.75a. I have no idea how that works since it says to put the batteries in the same side for fastest charging. At some point, I'll just have to search for a video review.

 

[Spey]

Two VERY different eFest charges being discussed here.
1. LUC 6
and most recently
2. Blue-6
I think there may have been some confusion between the two, and their specifications.

Attached Specs on LUC-6
Illustrate two charge modes (as previously described back in post #19 of this thread).

When you push button to change charge mode the two options are:
1. all 6 bays at .68a
2. two inner bays at 2.0a

It's just a simple, compact, sleek design with a display that always shows all charging bays (no fussing around switching various display modes between the different bays).

Realistically, it might charge less than 6 batteries at higher than .68a/bay (1-4 at around 1a/bay) but I've never actually tested as time wise it really does not seem slower than my LUC-2 set at 1.0a/bay.

When I first bought LUC-6 I was ...... to see that digital display reads 2.0a or .68a even when less than 5 batteries charging. But, after a short time realized no desirable difference. It's a great 6-bay simple combo charger that can rapid charge 2.0a when needed (I only run single & dual tube Mech's & 2-bat regulated devices).

 

[Spey]

RE: Post #37 above ^^ LUC-6
Regarding my comments related to possibility that charging 1-4 cells might exceed .68a/bay. >>Possibility the .68a/bay spec is only when charging all 6 bays, and that unused input power "may" be distributed evenly when charging less than max. capacity (less than all 6 bays being used).

I just tested bay-1 and bay-3 with one battery. Charge current measured at .68a - .69a.

Appears this manufactures specifications are on the mark.
Good job eFest ;-)

Bad job on those vape shop employees giving incorrect information :-/

Take away ... I still think this is an excellent, simple, compact, 6-bay charger. Additionally, after doing charge output testing (probes inserted to test inline amperage) illustrate I believe charger will take 20700 batt's I see in my future ;-)

 

[DaveP]

I like Efest LUC chargers and have owned the LUC 4 for two or three years. It's the only one I own that charges all 4 slots at 1A simultaneously.

I'm charger shopping right now and leaning toward the Gyrfalcon AL-88. It does 8 bays at 1A with individual detailed information displays for each channel. At $55 it's a few bucks more than the one in this thread, but far more capable. When I jump for a new charger, this one is it so far in my research.

GYRFALCON All-88 8 Channel Digital Battery Charger

 

[SCOTT-3]

What about Pila chargers any good.