Best bang for the buck charger? Anything on the horizon?

I would keep the opus I’ve had one for awhile. And have charged over 1000 cells on it easily by now. Usually it’s charging something day and night. It discharges at 1 amp not 500mah like the li500. Old cells can sag underload I’d rather have the highest load. To be more inline with flashlight use. My wife even uses the opus. Its all around a great charger and would not hesitate to purchase another.

Someone mentioned worry about pulse charging ga cells. I’ve put around 250 cycles on a set charged in the opus almost exclusively and its not again any differwbtm I did unofficial test awhile back over the last year. Keeping a handful of marked cells that go into the xstar or liito. Same amount of cycles as the others just a cc vs pwm. And when discharged tested at certain intervals and even at 250 cycles you couldn’t tell them apart. They are aging exactly the same.

Me too. I’ve had the Opus 2.2 for around two years now. I charge 6 LG HG2’s daily for vaping purposes. (3 at a time) After 1 year, these cells have over 300 cycles are rock solid, and so is the Opus charger. I charge AA’s, AAA’s, 18650’s, 350’s, 340’s, 14500’s, 26650’s, and some 4.35v cells. Button tops, Flat tops, protected. Have never had a single problem.

The Liitokaka Lii-500
seems to be going for an excellent price at the moment.

The opus is free to send back. So no big deal. I wouldn’t have bought it if it wasn’t (going from $10-20 charger to $40ish). The lii for $17 seems to do what I need it to do for less than half the price. I don’t doubt ill return to Opus, but maybe in a year or two when the tech is better and I don’t have to worry about having extra fans/lubing fans/etc.

Yes, the samsung cells are dead. If you charge one with a ‘dumb’ travel charger (its one ive had for forever, it will charge anything) they lose charge very quickly. I was shocked myself, I kinda hope illumnsupply gets to see this and realize they lost a customer who has spent, well, a lot there over a stupidly small transaction. There is seriously something wrong with them. But time and time again their IR test is through the roof(regardless of temp, etc) while my other cells test fine. Seems pretty indicative of a bad cell? (which I kinda knew through my years of using cells, but didn’t have a number to back it up).

Got myself a Lii on the way with the charger, thanks for the link Syndicate :slight_smile:

Me 3, the opus has been my go to charger for a good while now. Drilled the bottom for access to the 4.35v charge setting. This works providing the cell voltage is 4.1 or less(if close to 4.2v it won’t charge to 4.35v and instead terminates at 4.2v ). I tend to use bays 1+4 the most with vape cells 1.5a. 2a gets used for 26650 cells(1+4 bays). My fan was pretty noisy so simply swapped out for new and been quiet simce(6+ months). Not had any issue using the 4 bays 1a .

When I need more bays i just break out some of the other chargers

Have more but don’t tend to need them much at home. Work wise I have the vp2 and opus BT c100. The latter simply because I was happy with my other opus and wanted 4.35v support for 16650 cells I use in work. Also for a nice voltage display(my xstar sp1 does not have)For a single bay, the BT c100 has been excellent. I would have preferred a quicker way of selecting 4.35( have to insert cell, wait till charge stops flashing ,press hold mode for a few seconds then wait for the 3.7v to flash, release mode button and press to select 3.8v). Maybe 10s of waiting which is not ideal, but I have got use to it now. Shows the IR when cell inserted (around 100-110 on one 16650 cell). How accurate it is who knows, until my use time/voltage drops I will simply keep using the cell/s.

Might be tempted to try out an lii 500, seem very good value and make an excellent back up charger. It’s more flexible than my vp4 which limits 4 cells to 0.5a……too slow for me! Not to mention Nimh support!

Cheers :slight_smile:

i have one and like it —-$13

http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=79&product_id=279

Yes… 100% agree. :+1:

The Opus is on its way back, I feel like I will order another one down the road, when their fans are better and IR readings are more reliable.

I found my old laptop charger but it has an output of

I am assuming that is way too much for the Lii? So I guess I should just order it with the charger it comes with? I have a bag load of AC to DC wall worts but im not sure if the plugs would fit and what not. Since I don’t really ever rapid charge, would the charger that comes with the Lii be okay? Honestly id say 99% of the time I choose 500ma if given the option, because it seems to give a healthier charge if that makes sense?

So should I just order the Li-500 from alibaba with whatever power supply it comes with? Or is ebay/amazon the cheaper or better route when going for one with the power supply (do you get different power supply if ordering from alibaba, ebay, or amazon?) (sorry, I lost track a bit, been sick so sorry if anything sounds off, still foggy headed. A link would be greatly appreciated atm because im in derp mode and need to get something on the way because im about to give away my last spare charger)

Gauss, they were Samsung 25R cells. The way that it died is that I plopped the batteries in for a charge not thinking anything of it, came back to notice they wren’t charging. Now it no longer recognizes any battery to charge. I will do a tear down and take pictures as soon as I get a chance. I mean that thing was rock solid for many years before it met those super high IR cells, maybe coincidence but seems odd considering the timing.

Yeah, 19V is to much for the Lii 500 or the OPUS. To date I have never had any issue with my Lii 500’s nor the power supplys that come with them.

Check out m4dm4x.com for some good codes at either Banggood or GearBest. M4dM4x will save you some money. :slight_smile:

Found this
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-Liitokala-lii500-Smart-Universal-LCD-LI-ion-NiMh-AA-AAA-10440-14500-16340-17335-17500/32661356047.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_3_10152_10065_10151_10068_10130_10084_10083_10080_10082_10081_10110_10178_10136_10137_519_10111_10060_10112_10113_10155_10114_437_10154_10056_10055_10054_10182_10059_303_100031_10099_10078_10079_10103_10073_10102_10189_10052_10053_10142_10107_142_10050_10051,searchweb201603_16,ppcSwitch_5&btsid=1a5229cb-da81-487d-9778-cbe04ac38b2e&algo_expid=8e7cf447-9f68-4e49-91ff-e54774c143e0-0&algo_pvid=8e7cf447-9f68-4e49-91ff-e54774c143e0

$17.25 with home and car charger. Think this one is too good to be true? Seems like ebay they run about $25 (with car & home power cords).

or this one
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Liitokala-lii500-LCD-Charger-for-3-7V-18650-26650-18500-18640-Cylindrical-Lithium-Batteries-1-2V/32659455238.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_3_10152_10065_10151_10068_10130_10084_10083_10080_10082_10081_10110_10178_10136_10137_519_10111_10060_10112_10113_10155_10114_437_10154_10056_10055_10054_10182_10059_303_100031_10099_10078_10079_10103_10073_10102_10189_10052_10053_10142_10107_142_10050_10051,searchweb201603_16,ppcSwitch_5&btsid=1a5229cb-da81-487d-9778-cbe04ac38b2e&algo_expid=8e7cf447-9f68-4e49-91ff-e54774c143e0-11&algo_pvid=8e7cf447-9f68-4e49-91ff-e54774c143e0

Seems like that seller has sold a lot more.

I have been using this charger ISDT SC-608 for RC hobby and been using it also for charging 18650s. for power, price and size it is currently my favorite granted this is not your typical 18650 charger and need a seperate 18650 holder to charge but it can charge up to 8A or 150w at $39 it is a steal. For more power and not much bigger size you could always go for its bigger brother ISDT Q6 Plus

If you have light which uses 4x18650 this will save your time.

Dang! I like that charger rizky_p! :beer:

Question, since I was starting to look for another all around charger, at what voltage does it terminate the charge for Li-ion and Li-Po? Can it also charge 12V Pb batteries? Is the screen glass or plastic? Have you had any problems with it?

I am definitely ordering a Lii, does anyone know of an alibaba vendor that delivered a good Lii charger (should I be worried about fakes?)

I have 2pcs from this link and it’s original product.

Thanks,

I wish I had saw yours but I went ahead and ordered from the 2nd link I posted because they had sold a lot of units. If it turns out to be not real or something ill reject the charge through my credit card if I have to. $17.25 was my total. If the Lii is as good as everyone says that should be the definition of bang for the buck. Right now my TR-01 is humming away just fine so I am in no rush. Ill be more interested at the $40-50 price point for a charger if it has really precise IR readings and no potential issues with fans or anything. Now, just time to wait 2 or 3 weeks to get try out the Lii :slight_smile: . Thanks for all the information in the thread, it has been great!

Don’t worry, I am sure you will get real thing.

It’s really that good. Only “problem” it has is IR measuring, but many people don’t care about that.

The Liitokala Lii 500 is certainly good, and has lots of useful features - but the best bang for the buck from my POV is the Liitokala Lii-202.

Available for below 5 USD, small, power-bank function, useful currents, flawless function (see http://lygte-info.dk/ ). :slight_smile:

Lii-202 is good charger. Powerbank function is no good.
Here is a link to HKJ’s full review… read at least the “Conclusion” at the end.
http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20LiitoKala%20Lii-202%20UK.html

Welcome to BLF AlexLED…… :+1:

I have both C3100 v2.2 and lii 500, also other charger and a 300W hobby charger, i will reccomend definitely the OPUS over the lii-500. I've made a whole long post with many argumentations.

The lii500 is not bad but if you don't care about the opus being PWM, go for it.

Also the PSU from both are pretty decent. I've tested with may Maynuo m9710, i don't know what are people complaining for.

Also i have absolutely no fan issue on my OPUS.

My lii500 overcharges Li ion cell a bit from 4.22 to 4.25V tested with my fluke and my Brymen BM967s

Regards