Choosing a first LiIon charger

I strongly recommend choosing a charger that has been approved by HKJ. Even well known brands don’t always get it right.

Yes, I noted such a requirement in the OP, though it’s not clear what rating constitutes an “approval” since it depends on one’s needs.

Given that I have time, I’d be happy to have models brought to my attention that are still in the review queue.

Again, the most important factor to me is not the recommendation, but the reasoning.

What works for me is the Olight Universal Charger
I like

  1. USB powered
  2. small and portable
  3. works with both LiIon and Eneloop
  4. costs just $10

what I suggest to you is
https://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20SkyRC%20MC3000%20UK.html
because it is an analyzer and has 3 happy faces (see above link from HenkU)

Klarus K1 Smart Charger. It has 73 mm slot, and I therefor think 21700 cells should charge nicely with it, even if it is not approved for 21700s.

This charger gets good review by HKJ ( To make the url link work, I put “%20” in its empty spaces )
https://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20Klarus%20K1%20Smart%20Charger%20UK.html

Buy

@jon_slider Wow the price and portability of the Olight UC is incredible. That’s one way to support virtually any cylinder size! haha Meanwhile the SkyRC MC3000 is the other end of the spectrum. Anything in between? :smiley:

@RapidLux Similarly, the Klarus K1’s price and versatility are also great (supports LiFePO4 too!).

However, if a charger does not have analysis capabilities, I’m not sure if there’s much point in me getting one at all since many of the lights I’m interested in come with built-in USB chargers. My current motivation for analysis is to gauge and track the health of the laptop pulls. Does that seem reasonable or unnecessary?

I’ve been using ‘analyzing’ chargers starting out with RC hobby chargers and graduating to Opus, Liitokala, and Zanflare. The most versitile=Opus. The most easy=Zanflare (hard to get now). The Liitokala isn’t bad but the IR test is pretty much useless, though to be fair it’s not very reliable in any of these.

I finally got this: ZB206+, suggested by another BLF member. It tests capacity from 0.1A up to 2.6A and IR quite reliably. It is NOT a charger at all.

BOY DID THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE! My recycle box for NiMh and Li-on soon filled up. A huge majority of laptop pulls got dumped. If ALL you want them to do is light a ‘candle’ for hours they can do that. If you want them to actually put out amps, the ONLY way you can tell that is to test them in that kind of scenario. Analyzing chargers that max out at 0.5 or 1.0A draw are pretty limited in that regard.

Thanks for the tip. I have no current plans other than “lighting a candle” but it makes sense that capacity tests should be done at the intended current draw, as shown in HKJ reviews with multiple curves. Thanks for mentioning the ZB206+. It’s nice and cheap though I do wonder if 2.6A is enough as there seem to be several applications that draw considerably more.

“Choosing a first LiIon charger”

Miboxer C4-12 Upgrade version like you mentioned or the less expensive Miboxer C4 Upgrade are good choices.

What is the difference between the C4 and C4-12? I don’t know why they insist on these confusing model names…

This also just caught my eye: an interesting BLF charger The making of the BLF UC4 charger: the start of a new venture, INTEREST LIST, UPDATE 7 (Well, ramping stopped :/ )

There are several models of C4: the original C4, C4 Plus, C4-12, C4 Upgrade, C4-12 Upgrade.
To know all the differences, it’s probably best just to go to the Miboxer website and look through the descriptions.

In short, I think the two best ones are the ones I mentioned above (upgrade versions) because those accept the longer 21700 cell. The C4-12 Upgrade has higher charging capability and also temperature display. But its also more money.

In my opinion, don’t worry about having a charger with built in discharging capability. I rarely need that feature and if I do I actually use a piece of equipment ( ZHIYU capacity tester) strictly designed for doing such. In discharging a battery to measure capacity……….that energy (in the form of heat) has to go somewhere which means either power resistors or a fan. My issue is that I do not like having a fan on a charger that makes noise. I would use a charger more for charging than for discharging so its nice just to have a charger without all that extra stuff (and cost) built in. :slight_smile:

@phouton, the main difference between the C4-12 and C4 is current capability.

Thanks for the clarification hiuintahs, BlueSwordM. Also, I can’t fault the reasoning of having a dedicated capacity tester that does its job well, even if having an all-in-one does seem convenient.

I’m starting to see why so many lights are including built-in USB charging. Probably for most people, including me, that will be simpler and cheaper.

When you have a battery charger that runs off of 12v, you get better efficiency than one that runs off of the USB 5v. The reason is that there isn’t much headroom between 5v and the fully charged 4.20v battery. Thus the USB chargers tend to use a USB charging IC that is a linear device. And the 12v based chargers will use a switching type of power conversion which is more efficient. If you have a linear USB charger going at a 1 amp rate, then the power into the battery is 1 amp times whatever the voltage of the battery is. But you also have one amp of 5v power being used. So you loose the power differential between the USB voltage and whatever the battery voltage is.

Pushing 1 amp of charge current through a small surface mount IC is kind of putting it at its max capability………thus you see most of these with max charge rates under 1 amp.

I have been a bit skeptical of built in chargers in flashlights as I know they are simple chargers because there isn’t much room in there. And just seems like another thing to go wrong. I don’t know that its wise for someone that has a lot of batteries to rely on the built in battery charger on a flashlight. I think there main advantage is with someone that only has one lithium ion flashlight or as a backup means when on the road or where you have easy access to a USB charger.

But if doing a backpack trip for example, it makes more sense just to carry a spare battery and a smaller flashlight. In disclosure, I have no flashlights with built in chargers.

Good point about efficiency, though with the amount of energy consumed for a single cell flashlight, it doesn’t seem too significant.

I remember reading one or two reviews of flashlights with built-in chargers (don’t remember which anymore) and they seemed decent in that they properly charged with CC-CV and proper termination, albeit a bit early. So there would be something to be gained from a good standalone charger, but again, how significant is the difference? Another good point about more things to go wrong, though I wonder how often that happens.

For disclosure, I don’t have any lithium ion battery flashlights yet. My inclination right now is to start with one with a built-in charger, and keep watching new developments and reviews of chargers to get if I don’t find it sufficient.

The Miboxer C4 upgraded variants with 70mm height support and the BLF charger in development look interesting.

I really like my Zanflare C4. It’s really easy to use and has a lot of features. Charges all cylindrical li-ion (except LiFeP04) nicad and nickle metal hydride up to 26650 and 27100. Each slot is independently controlled and you can see the real time info for each battery while some chargers you need to press a button to choose slots. Charges at 300 miliamps, 500, 700 and 1A on all slots too and it does all the fancy analyzing. You cab get it for around $25.

Thanks for the mention, Sirstinky ! The Zanflare C4 seems well reviewed, including by HKJ, and the reports of IR being reliable make it appealing. Is it related to the identically priced Miboxer C4? Unbelievably confusing…

Edit: The inconsistencies in reported capacity give some pause: Test/review of Zanflare C4 I wonder if there are updated models now since it dates from 2017.

I think it’s comparable to the miboxer, except it doesn’t have automatic charging. The default charging current when you put in a battery is 500mah, which might be too high for AAA nickel metal hydride, or 10440 li-ion but is easy to change with a single button press. My capacity tests are accurate enough, within 50mah and that’s using old cells and brand new. The internal resistance measurement is very consistent and believable. I tested Sony VTC6 at between 24 and 18 mililliohms which is within spec. I tested Sanyo 18560GA at 45 to 55, a little high but still within spec, and old cells that I knew had really high internal resistance in the 100’s up to 1000 for some worn out AAA nickle metal hydride.

The 12 in the C4-12 is 12A spread across 4 slots. Capable of 3A each slot

Definitely the SkyRC MC3000 if you want more analysis on the batteries you’re doing testing of.

Since capacity test and IR test is a requirement, then I’ll suggest these:

- Opus BT-C3100 (try not to do discharge testing at 1A since the unit will heat up and pause, which results in incorrect too high capacity readouts; consistent IR reading)

  • ZanFlare C4 (not sure if this model is still available, the IR reading looks consistent, capacity test can read a bit higher — but if you’re comparing with this same charger it’s OK)

For general purpose charging of many batteries, I like the Miboxer C8 with its 8-slots. It won’t charge too fast (like the C4-12/C4-12v2) but has IR reading and charged capacity readout; but no “analyzing/capacity-testing” function.

Thanks for explaining the differences. It’s gradually making more sense. If the main difference between the C4 and C4-12 is the charging current, I’ll probably be fine with the former as I usually plan ahead and am not in a hurry.

How do the Miboxer C4[–12] and ZanFlare C4 compare?