No, the Lii 500 is not just for beginners. But it is an easy to use charger that does a good job at a very reasonable price.
- It will decide the battery type
- You must choose which mode. You may also choose the rate of charge OR it will choose the default rate automatically.
What ‘WalkIntoTheLight’ said about the CC17 charger is correct. It will do a fine job on your Eneloops or other NiMH batteries. It is just super slow.
I’m speaking for teacher here he will probably agree with me. He is saying get the li500 charger. Because when you upgrade to lithium eventually your already prepared charger wise and even if you never do. You can track the life of your cells nihm with it. It cost less then some plain nihm chargers.
Exactly……. :+1: What ‘Speed4goal’ said here is exactly right.
I am trying to give you some choices that will save you much money in the long run. Choices that I had no idea about or did not exist when I started. Therefore I started at the bottom and worked my way up…… spending & spending along the way. :person_facepalming: . :money_mouth_face:
I have several of the CC17 type chargers that I NEVER use.
I have more chargers now than I can say Grace over…. all the way from the SKY RC C3000 right on down to some cheapo UltraFires I got years ago when “starting out”. I have the OPUS BT C-3100 v2.2 & several Xtars. PILA & Maha C9000.
Yet my “go to” chargers are the Lii 500 & Xtar SV2 Rocket
Why you might ask or wonder why……….
- The Li 500 because it will do both NiMH & Liion batteries. It will also do capacity tests with a degree of accuracy that is just fine for us “hobbyist types”. It measures IR (Internal Resistance) of the batteries. This is not very accurate or repeatable however… but it doe give you a ballpark idea what it is.
- The SV2 because it will charge both bays at 2A (2000ma). “For me”, this comes in handy for 26650 LiIon cells & high capacity 18650 cells.
There are untold combinations of choices out there to be bought.
I am simply telling you what I have “boiled it down to” that works & is working well, for me. And this is from experience, not from what I have read. From experience of buying way to much, using it; and then coming to the conclusions I have given you.
IF you want the PRO Eneloops, go ahead and get them. I have 8 of them that I wish I had never bought. The regular Eneloops are unbeatable… In my experience anyway.
They are either made in Japan or now China. All of mine are from Japan. Many of them are over 10 years old. They are still going strong. What more could one want???
As far as LiIon batteries go. IF you will take the time to learn about them & treat them properly…. the chance of a problem is greatly reduced. Sure, anything can still happen.
It could also while driving your car, even if you are extremely careful. But go out and drive your car while drunk and texting increases the chance of a problem.
The point I am trying to get across is don’t be afraid of LiIons.
But do respect them and take the time to learn about them.
IF you are not going to do that……. DO NOT USE THEM.
As far as DMM’s go…… IF you are just going to measure battery voltage, a cheap DMM is just fine. They are plenty accurate enough for that.
Unless you want to become a “full blown obsessed Flashaholic”, you don’t have to worry about half of this crap. It will drive you crazy trying to figure it all out IF you just want to keep it simple and use your light & charge your batteries. (nothing wrong with that at all either)
But, if you want to go deeper…… read, listen, ask questions , read some more, and learn as you go. All this stuff is fun to me & I have learned a ton in the last year. BUT…… I still have a lot more to learn, that will probably be never ending.
So there it is for what it i worth…………
I hope it helps some.
Any more questions, feel free to ask. :+1:
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EDITED to add:
When and if you do buy LiIon batteries, do not buy some off brand junk. Don’t buy anything with the name “Fire” in it as a general rule. The “WindyFire” brand can be an exception to that rule.
Buy some good name brand cells.
Sanyo NCR18650GA’s — Samsung 30Q’s — LiitoKala 26650’s
Those are but two examples… The main thing is DO NOT BUY JUNK…
If your not sure what to get, come on here & tell what you will be using them in and ask for advice on what to get.
It will save you money and heartache in the end. :+1:
EDIT #2………. more good info.
- HKJ Review/ LiitoKala Lii-500 Review of Charger LiitoKala Engineer Lii-500
- HKJ Review/ Xtar SV2 Rocket Review of Charger Xtar SV2 Rocket
- HKJ’s site / http://lygte-info.dk/