This is a review of the ThruNite MCC-4S charger. This charger was sent for review by Thrunite and no other compensation recieved for my review other than the charger itself.
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Direct link to charger on ThruNite site……… http://www.thrunite.com/thrunite-charger-mcc-4s/
Amazon link for charger………… Amazon.com
This IS my first review of any charger and I do not have the equipment or the knowledge to test the circuits and outputs of the charger , so I will do my best to tell you what I can.
This charger is capable of charging a wide range of sizes and also a wide range of chemistries of cells. I have tried everything from my longest, protected 26650 cells to my shortest unprotected ones. The charger also handles the small cells well such as the 10440 and 16340. As mentioned above it handles more than just Lithium Ion cells and will automatically detect the NiMH and NiCD cells . The charger is also capable of charging LifePo cells , but you do need to press and hold the button of the slot that cell is in for 10 seconds to manually change it over for the LifePo.
I do not have any 32650 cells , but it looks as if the contacts are pretty much at thier limit with the protected 26650’s , with only a few millimeters left before hitting the end.
The charger will hold two 26650 and two 18650 cells at one time and charge all at 1000mAh rate if chosen with the selection buttons (1 second press), or it will charge at 500mAh rate (default). I have tried all sizes of the cells i have on hand in the charger and in all the formats i have on hand , which include 10440 , 16340 , 14500 , 18650 and 26650 sizes and also AAA and AA sized Ni-MH. I have some of these sizes in button top and flat top , with some of the 18650 and 26650 being protected. The charger seems to accept all of them pretty well. The only ones i had to wiggle around just a bit were the flat top 10440 to get them to seat just right on the contacts , as the POS end is about the same height as the little insulator on top of these particular cells.
The termination of the MCC-4S shows to be 4.22v on the screen , but with 2 separate multi meters that have short heavy leads on for testing (12awg copper wire 10 inches long), I was showing 4.20v and 4.21v right off the charger on all the cells tested.
The charger will charge up to 8 hours and then automatically shut itself down if the cells are not fully charged by that time and the cells must be removed and reinserted before any further charging will take place.
The charger also comes with the DC or 12v cord , that will plug into your cars 12v power supply , so it can be taken on the road pretty easily. This feature also works just fine , as I tested it in my pickup for about 45 minutes to charge a couple of cells.
This charger DOES have reverse polarity protection and shows each cell’s voltage, charging current, charging time and battery type.
The MCC-4S got fairly warm when charging the two 26650 and two 18650 cells all at the same time at the 1000mAh rate , but it never got to the point that it had me worried about anything overheating. This was sitting on a table top with NO fan or anything , just the normal air movement in the house , with the house being at or around 77 or 78 degrees fahrenheit.
I did do a few timed charges to get an idea of how long it takes for each sized cell to fully charge and did a protected and unprotected both in each size that i have both in , to get an average time.
Those times and my final opinion of this charger are at the bottom of all the pictures along with the factory listed specs.
Package
ThruNite Box
Package Contents
MCC-4S
MCC-4S beside Nitecore D4
Top
Back
Side
Contacts
Various Cells
Display
Display 2
Charge times are just an idea and of course different mAh cells and the resistance of each cell will of course play a part in the actual charge times.
Here is what i had in my test for an average………
All cells were at or around 3.6 to 3.7 volts when charging started.
26650—–1 protected / 1 unprotected (both 5200mAh) EVVA ……average time 120 mintues
18650—–1 protected / 1 unprotected (both 3500mAh) LG MJ1….average time 105 minutes
14500—–1 button top / 1 flat top … unprotected (both 650mAh) Efest purple…average time 75 minutes
16340—–1 button top / 1 flat top….unprotected (both 700mAh) Efest V2 Red…average time 60 minutes
10440—- 2 unprotected flat top…………(both 350mAh) Efest Red/White……average time 40 minutes
Overall this is a good basic level charger in my opinion. It seems to be built solidly and should withstand a lot of duty for getting your cells charged up. The fact that it has the 12v charging cable with it makes it a little more useful than a lot of the chargers to me also.
As with most any charger , I would like to see the slots widened enough to charge four 26650 cells at the same time.
Factory Product description……………………….
ThruNite Charger MCC-4S… $31.95
Product Description
Features
•Broad spectrum of Li-ion, LiFeP04, Ni-MH, Ni-CD rechargeable cell size.
•Supporting AC charging and DC charging. MCC-4S Charger automatically identification of Li-ion/Ni-MH/Ni-CD battery, manual-select is needed for LiFeP04 battery charging.
•Four independent charging channels. Advanced protection against short circuiting, over-current, over-charging and wrong polarity direction.
•LCD display of each cell’s voltage, charging current, charging time and battery type. Intelligent saving mode power consumption less than 0.9W.
Specifications
•Input: 100-240V(AC), 50/60Hz, 600mA(Max)
•Input: 12V-24V(DC) 2000mA(Max)
•Output: 4.2V/3.65V/1.5V 500mA*4/1000mA*4
•Size: 145*104*39.5mm (Length*Width*Height)
•Weight: 260g
•Operating Temperature: 5–90(40℃)
•(full load in normal working condition)
Product Ratings
•Product Rating: TUV, GS, PSE, FCC, CE, C-TICK, CB, ROHS
Instruction
•Plug the power cable into a standard AC outlet or plug the car adapter into the cigarette lighter in your vehicle. The charger automatically check the battery. If the charger stand for 30s without inserting batteries or pressing the switch button, it will start the energy-saving function as brightness of LCD screen decreased, any effective operation will wake the screen.
•Reverse insert battery or wrong operation will lead the LCD screen display “Err”. MCC-4S Charger automatically identifies Li-ion/Ni-MH/Ni-CD battery, LiFePO4 battery could be selected manually. Default current is 500mA, 1000mA is available if needed
•Button A/B/C/D corresponding to the separate charging slot. Short press 1s: Select of charging current 500mA or 1000mA . Long press 10s: Select between Li-ion and LiFeP04 charging mode.
•For safety, MCC-4S will automatically stop charging when reach 8 hours. Remove batteries and unplug the power when charging is done.