4x Bays wide enough to fit 4x 26650s at the same time and able to charge all slots at 2A at the same time.
Longer bay slots, some of the protected cells really squeeze into the current chargers
ACCURATE voltage cut off. I have a Nitecore D4 and a Thrunite MCC-4 both of which terminate either a fair bit under or a fair bit over and as such I don’t use them even though they are practically brand new. My Nitecore i4, BT-C3100 and Xtar VP4 are all bang on 4.19-4.20v.
Option for an Australian plug pack (I assume US/EU will be automatically offered anyway). It’s annoying having to use adapters and has been a deal breaker for me in the past.
Ability to for the largest length of protected batteries
External switch for 4.35V
LifePO4 capable
1A when all slots are populated
Additional:
Analyzing function
Resistance test
The basic configuration should cover the majority. The additional things can increase costs to make out of reach for many. I have Opus v2.1 and using analyzing features are time consuming and seldom used. Resistance check is a good thing and a quicker way to check condition of battery than discharge test even if it does not give MaH
While many have suggested features the most important feature has not been mentioned. After $20-$25 the market weakens. $40 seems to be upper end and while not the most expensive can be considered expensive to those just starting. When you go above the $40 the market seems to diminish quickly to a select few.
Your current 8 bay looks good. IMHO if it had a digital display then your USA distributor would not be able to keep in stock.
Enova, I think what is missing in the slot-charger market is higher current options (1A minimum) for those using high capacity cells (think about charging several Panasonic 3400mAh cells at 1.5A, or 26650 cells). I believe there is still demand for an affordable, simple charger like the Nitecore i4 (very popular despite its shortcomings), but can charge over 1A per slot. If it had power bank option like XTAR XP4 is a bonus.
There are already analysing multi-chemistry chargers at different price points (Opus BT-C3100 v2.1 and SKYRC MC9000 most notable).
If you can either make the screen show useful information such as state of charge/voltage like XTAR VP1 or aforementioned analysing chargers, otherwise just use LEDs to save cost. Really the screens on Nitecore D4, XTAR VC2 etc. don’t seem worth the extra cost to me, and just seem to be cashing in on appearance.
My charger needs are not great. I don’t really need four slots or over 1 A. per slot. The main things I could use and don’t have are a greater selection of charge currents with ability to fit a larger range of sizes from 10400 to 26650, and ability to set the charge voltage, usually lower than 4.2 V. for cells I am not using hard immediately.
Thank you very much. accurate cut off voltage is very important. So our new products and the improved products’s cut off voltage are all on 4.19V-4.2V.
Design a charger that be able to charge different chemistries at different currents at the same time.
Details see below:
• Compatible with (1.5V Ni-Mh, 3.6V LiFePO4, 4.2V Li-ion, 4.35V Li-ion)
• Adjustable charging current (0.1A - 0.25A – 0.5A – 1A – 2A)
• 2x or 4x Bays wide enough to fit 2x or 4× 26650s at the same time
• Bay slots to handle 34mm-72mm lengths
• With or without digital display
I have a question for multi chemistry charger: Whether you need to design a protection switch? Touch the switch and choose the right types of battery, the charger will go to work, otherwise not .
If not 3.6V LiFePO4 may be charged by 4.2V (This is the default charging voltage. 3.6V,4.2V Can’t automatic identification), the battey will be damaged.
My English is not very good, so my expression may be confusing or incomplete parts, Please correct them.
I like that you have included a 0.1A setting, this makes it much easier to charge my 10180 and other small batteries I uses in some small flashlights:
Just remember that the termination current must follow the charge current, i.e. low charge current means low termination current and high charge current means "high" termination current.
You are missing 4.30 volt in the list.
With the voltage switch I like the selected voltage to be very visible, requiring a voltage selection each time is one way to do it, but a display or leds can also do it. Starting at 4.2 volt will not damage a 3.6 volt max. battery immediately, you have good time to change the voltage selection (If you see it).
Hi,
I would like it to function like the Soshine H2-V2 in two or four battery model, but would also like to have thermal sensors for each battery compartment (maybe on the backside of the negative contact?). If the sensor detected a thermal anomaly it would shutoff charging current and issue an audible alert that would keep going until the user shut it off. The alert for this mode would be optional. It could also just shut the bay off and not alert.
After the current is shut off, if the temperature did not go down in x time or continued increasing, it would alert with a continuous tone. This tone would not be one you could optionally disable. You would shut it off manually.
You could then call your charger “FireSafe” as a marketing gimmick. Of course, there are no guarantees that it actually would stop a fire, but it would be a feature worth promoting and I would definitely buy one because of it.
-Bob
There are lots of good and varied ideas being listed that could make a really good charger but I would give all of them up for a basic 4 bay charger that could supply at least one amp to each cell.
