Charging a 10440?

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1

Any day now I should receive a pair of cheapo e-bay 10440's that I plan to try in my A3. Looking around it sounds as though the 2 chargers I have may be a little to strong for these. I have the WP2 II and a cheap DX http://www.dealextreme.com/p/18650-digital-battery-charger-3499

From what I understand the 500ma on the WP2 will be too much but I have no idea what the DX unit charges at?.

Which one of these chargers would you recommend I use on the 10440's.

thanks

Rob

2

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-pcs-3-7V-10440-AAA-600mAh-Rechargeable-battery-/140625101472?pt=US_Batteries&hash=item20bde8c2a0

3

I never had any problems with a TR-001 charger with 10440s.

Never charged them on the Turnigy charger and don't have a WP2 ll.

The charger however may pick up the fact that these are low capacity batteries and quickly drop down the amps.

4

I use a cheapo DX (2) 18650 charger that came with a cheapo dive light I bought. I've never had any problems. I measure the charge afterward. I don't use the 10400 all that much. I only have them for the A3 and even so I usually use Eneloops as the low is too high with the 10400 and on high it gets hot fast.

It was more a novelty for me to try them.

5

So chargers like the XTAR WPA 2 should work fine for 10440 cells? I always disregarded it just to be on the safe side.

6

Well, I don't have a WPAII but it has a selector switch to choose between 500 and 1000mAh charge rates. I have the Trustfire TR001 which also charges at 500mAh. So far, I've had no issues charging them at that current. They don't get hot or even warm. Also, the Tr001 backs down on the current when the cells are near full charge. Not bad for $8.50.

7

i have a ultra-fire 139 which i us to charge

10440

14500

rcr123

18500 and 18650 had no issues so-far

8

It was my understanding that once you start charging 10440's much above 300mAh then you start to shorten their lives significantly. Obviously you wouldn't notice the effect right off.

9

Is it really all that difficult to build a WF-139 priced charger that is capable of charging 10440 up through 18650?

10

there is the WF-188 charger ....

But the 10440 is a small battery , I havent discharged any for capacity / now that would be interesting ..

But I would not be surprised if they came out at 250mAh or worse , will have to book that one in for a test I thinks

But they do seem to have quite a bit of internal resistance , the ones I have stop around 4.13 to 4.15v in my WF-188 @ 300mAh charge rate

What these batteries might need is a 150mAh charge rate as 300mAh might still be over 1C

11

No its not difficult. But the only truly inexpensive way is to build one that charges cells all at a low rate (i.e. 300mAh) and unfortunately most people want a fast rate for 18650's.

There are some very inexpensive single cell wallplug type chargers at DealExtreme that charge at 300mAh. I use one just like that for my 10440's and occasionally use it for my 14500's as well if I just need to charge a single cell.

12

Just noticed the back on the DX charger indicates 600ma and if I remember corrrectly testing performed on CPF indicated that when 2 batteries were being charged together each would receive 300ma. I might just try going that route for the first couple of charges then if all is well will switch over to the xtar.

13

This one charges at 250ma, but you will need some adapter of sorts. There is a review here.

14

I have a Trustfire TR003P4 that says it will charge 10430, 10440, 14500, 16340, 17670, 18500, 18650. All I have is 18650's and 14500's and it seems to work well for both. the 18650's will get warm if they have been discharged pretty low but the 14500's barely ever get warm. Charger says 500mA x4 (4 slots) I mix 14500's and 18650's with no problems. Not the fastest charger but it appears to not be hard on batteries. I bought it after reading a review by old4570 https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/3250

Larry

15

I charge my 10440 cells on my WF-139 and they never get warm and always stop at 4.19v.

16

A 10440 is too short to fit in that, sadly.

17

[I charge my 10440 cells on my WF-139 and they never get warm and always stop at 4.19v.] How do you insure the voltage? Can you measure at the battery terminals with a voldtmeter?

Thanks,

Jerry

18

Me to I have been doing it for over a year without a problem.

19

10440's. i have no problems with charging with WF-188.

the charger terminates at voltages < 4.200V unless i repeatedly put them back in the tray. the grey Ultrafire would reach the 4.200V (up to 4.220V) after 1-3 repeated chargings, the blue Ultrafire require more of these and also dont seem to hold the charge as well as the grey Ultrafire.