I purchased my Xtar VP1’s, VP2’s, SV2’s, and the Litokala Lii500 based on HKJ’s reviews. I couldn’t be happier. To be honest, I never was a fan of Nitecore chargers. This review reinforces my opinion.
Ths SC4 was interesting because of the high total current output, but that was false advertising, and for the looks and display. For 2 cells it does everything it’s expected, the ONE would do that with 4 cells, 4 truly independent channels that provide fast charging, and looks good in the process. It is better than the D4 I had before, but this detail would make or break a purchase decision.
To be fair, it does specify 6A total charging current. So, it’s not false advertising. What is a bit misleading (or unclear) is how it manages that current.
Still, it’s an average of 1500mA across 4 slots. I think that’s reasonably fast, at least compared to many other chargers that have much lower charging current. Four Samsung 30Q cells charged in 2 hours. I’m okay with that.
Four independent charging channels would certainly be better. But if you want each of them to support the full 3A charging, then that might make for a much bigger (and noisier due to a fan) charger. If you still would be okay with a 6A total charge, then how do you manage sharing the current across 4 slots? You don’t want to charge cells in parallel, because they might be different capacities or different states of discharge.
A lot of chargers do time-sharing among slots. So I don’t think it’s fair to single out the SC4 as being especially bad in that regard.
The GyrFalcon All-44 by Enova, reviewed by HKJ. Charges everything, and up to 1 amp per slot simultaneously. Does it all except analyzing cells. I bought one from Mountain Electronics and have been very happy with it. Enova GYRFALCON ALL-44 4x Li-Ion + NiMH Charger
As I said in another post (or thread) I don’t dislike the charger, I like it a lot better than the D4 despite being about 30% larger, and the display is gorgeous and informative (would be dreamy if it’d show all info on the cells simultaneously), it’s the misleading advertisement that bothers me (a lot, actually). As some people already said, I think this charger was still a little expensive but fine with group buy price, wouldn’t recommend at full price.
it says 4 independent channels, says 3 amp charge in the first slot. They are not truly independent (2 cells are on the connected channels it does not charge as fast) and it only does 3 amp charging when blocking the other connected channel
I think to be more clear they should have said “4 independent slots”. They are separately monitored and you can mix & match any kind of cell in any of the slots.
I think to most users, it doesn’t matter. They don’t really care whether time-sharing is used, or if it uses 4 distinct power channels. It does independently charge each cell.
However, I don’t like that you kind of have to figure this out for yourself. For 1 or 2 cells, it charges exactly how you think. But if you charge 4 cells at the same time, it takes twice as long as you think.
As it is now, I usually enter double the current if I’m charging 4 cells. For example, if I want to charge 4 cells at 1500mA, I’ll tell the charger to charge them at 3000mA. Time-sharing makes the average 1500mA. So I get what I want, but it isn’t intuitive.
This is currently my top favorite charger, and i will still recommend it to my customers after reading HKJ's report. I can't wait to compare it will MiBoxer C4-12 though.
The only complain that i have is that SC4 should display a reduction in charging current (like Lii-402) when 3rd cell is inserted into the bay.
Well, only in that the average charging current is halved if you have something in those additional slots. Other than that, all slots are completely independent.
Yes, I do this quite a bit (mixing 14500 cells with 18650 cells). You can even use different chemistries (lithium-ion and NiMH). The time-sharing allows the unit to change the current when it switches to power the opposite slot, back & forth every few seconds.
So, each slot gets whatever current you set it to, regardless whether it’s slot 1 & 3, or 1 & 2, or whatever.
It works out well in the end, but it’s a bit confusing until you figure out what it’s doing behind-the-scenes.
Thanks! That looks like it might be The One for me, too. Or the All-88. Still poring over HKJ’s numerous and helpful reviews. Thanks for all you do HKJ!