At the end of the NOR test, is the number displayed for the discharge only?
Is there a way to stop it and see the discharge capacity without charging it fully?
Mine was always wrong about true capacities, see post #46. I doubt it’s a constant offset as those Dolidadas were about 5.050mAh instead of 4.600mAh and the Samsung 35Es were about 3.700mAh instead of 3.500mAh. So, I would guess it’s a percentage you need to add. However, worst of all is that my C4 measured inconsistent as slot 2 was even more off than slot 1, 3 and 4. Gearbest claims this is just normal and within certain thresholds of tolerances. Well, I don’t agree with them as I need to be sure about consistent capacities before using multiple batteries in series.
Correct.
Stop it? No unless you pull out the cells or unplug the device. But you can read the measured capacity on the display as soon as the discharge process has finished and the cells are being charged again.
As stated, you can’t stop it. you can hover tediously and catch it at the right moment. Why would you want to? You get the DC info.
You can do straight discharges in the Opus. It has more ‘abilities’ that either the C4 or the Lii-500.
I wonder if these chargers get made in ‘batches’ with some getting differently sourced components? That might shed some light on different experiences people have. A VERY popular hobby charger (IMAX B6) is also the most counterfeited of all the hobby chargers. The real one is pretty decent. Some of the fake ones seem to be OK. Some have pretty lousy accuracy. You have to be careful of what you buy, or get lucky.
I have an Opus, 2x Zanflare, 2x Lii-500, and 2 hobby chargers (not IMAX). IMO they are all close enough and good enough to do the job satisfactorily. I use whatever is handy or sometimes pick one for a particular job. I probably use the Lii-500 least now.
Got my new Zanflare C4 today and tested the IR on a set of six Samsung 30Qs that I purchased from Obtronics in May 18. The results are listed in the table below.
Internal Resistance Measurements (mΩ)
| Cell | Slot One | Slot Two | Slot Three | Slot Four |
Difference1 |
Std Dev2 |
| 1 | 32 | 12 | 14 | 34 | 22 | 10 |
| 2 | 54 | 20 | 50 | 36 | 34 | 13 |
| 3 | 20 | 26 | 56 | 20 | 36 | 15 |
| 4 | 34 | 50 | 32 | 32 |
18 | 10 |
| 5 | 30 | 20 | 22 | 18 | 12 | 6 |
| 6 | 20 | 76 | 18 | 38 | 58 | 22 |
1. The Difference is the Delta between the highest and lowest values for each cell.
2. The Standard Deviation is a statistical representation of the differences in the values for each cell.
While these IR values are more consistent and reasonable than those obtained with my LiitoKala Lii-500, they are not on par with those seen by HKJ above. Oh well.
Update: I added Standard Deviation to the above table and try to compare it somewhat to HKJs data. Here are HKJ's IR measurements for the Zanflare C4 as listed in his review above.
Now here is a table of values just looking at the "Battery" measurements. HKJ please forgive me if I've screwed this up somehow.
HKJ's "Battery"
Internal Resistance Measurements (mΩ)
| Cell | Slot One | Slot Two | Slot Three | Slot Four |
Difference1 |
Std Dev2 |
| 1 | 24 | 22 | 24 | 28 | 6 | 2 |
| 2 | 26 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 6 | 2 |
| 3 | 26 | 22 | 32 | 22 | 10 | 4 |
| 4 | 26 | 20 | 28 | 20 |
8 | 4 |
| 5 | 20 | 26 | 24 | 22 | 6 | 2 |
1. The Difference is the Delta between the highest and lowest values for each cell.
2. The Standard Deviation is a statistical representation of the differences in the values for each cell.
By looking at the Standard Deviations in both tables, one see that HJK got much better results with his Zanflare C4 IR measurements than I did with mine. For some reason, I felt as if I had to try to quantify this.
Just got my C4 a couple days ago . My button top 30Qs were all over the place and mostly higher than one would expect from new cells from Liionwholesale. I’m giving up on IR readings from budget chargers. Also , seems like too short of a CV stage as all came off the charger around 4.16 volts. The Miboxer charges them to 4.20 but takes longer to finish.
Me, I’d actually prefer 4.16V over 4.20V.
Especially if readings are <coff!> “suspect”, a few mV wouldn’t be all that contentious.
Good to hear that . I have got to stop buying chargers. I am getting more than I need.
hmmm…just got it
tested the cells in my TOMO’s for ir
TOMO1
88 fenix arbl23400
78 keepower p1834j 3400
76 Sanyo/Panasonic NCR18650GA 3500mAh protection
68 orbtronic orb3500p
TOMO2
16 Sony VTC6 18650 3000mAh
16 Sony VTC6 18650 3000mAh
16 Sony VTC6 18650 3000mAh
16 Sony VTC6 18650 3000mAh
2nd test
TOMO2
18 Sony VTC6 18650 3000mAh
16 Sony VTC6 18650 3000mAh
24 Sony VTC6 18650 3000mAh
20 Sony VTC6 18650 3000mAh
3rd test
TOMO2
18 Sony VTC6 18650 3000mAh
18 Sony VTC6 18650 3000mAh
16 Sony VTC6 18650 3000mAh
14 Sony VTC6 18650 3000mAh
no, I wasn’t anal about which cell was in which slot.
2nd test
TOMO1
86 fenix arbl23400
72 keepower p1834j 3400
62 Sanyo/Panasonic NCR18650GA 3500mAh protection
64 orbtronic orb3500p
I’m done
Tell me about it. I was agonising over which analysing charger to get, researched all the different types, etc., and ended up pretty much with 1 (or more) of each. :weary:
Just get more batteries, so you can use different chargers simultaneously. And what to do with all those batteries… well get more flashlights. Problem solved.
I guess I have to get out more. With summer here , it gets dark so late that I don’t even use my lights much. And they are like guns , no matter how many you own , you can only use one , maybe two at a time . So many lights and so little time.
Without watching it , I’ll guess he shoots multiple guns at once?
Or just watch me transition from weapon to weapon on the field 
There is no such thing as too many guns. Only too little time and too little ammo.
And you gotta blast “Satisfaction” from yer car-radio. 
Well…actually, you can carry more than one or two weapons at a time. One’s just need to use some scotch tape. :sunglasses: Every once in a while I love to see Ripley kickin’ those Alien asses… :smiling_imp:
I’m not even sure the IMAX style hobby charger will get you much further ahead, unless you are lucky. I have an Opus, several Lii-500, and 2x Zanflare C4, along with an Acucell-6 and Turnigy MAX80W both of which are in the same ‘family’ as the IMAX B6.
I just finished a test of small camera Li-on tests. I get results with a spread of ~ 20% between the 2 hobby chargers. Which one is right? It may be a problem of working with small capacity batteries, tiny wires (high IR), shaky connections, and only able to throttle the discharge down to 100mA. But, at least I’m comparing various cells to one another using the same equipment.
On regular 18650 the hobby chargers are reasonably close to the 4-bay chargers. I seldom use those anymore.
The other 3 4-bay chargers are close enough I don’t worry about the results much. I use what is convenient unless I have a special test to do. The Opus has more options and power, the Zanflare does IR better than the Opus, or is at least more consistent. The IR on the Lii-500 is useless. I’ve have 3, all acted the same, so it seems to be a problem with them in general. The other functions are good.
These are all consumer grade ‘hobby’ chargers. I’d say unless your unit is notably out of whack, you get what you pay for.
I recently got a Zanflare C4 on sale for 17.99 shipped. I don’t have 5 other chargers to compare it to, so for me it is perfect. Perhaps it reads high in capacity, but it will certainly show when the capacity is reduced, and when the IR increases. A man with one watch knows what time it is, while a man with two watches is never sure . . .
As the previous poster said, you likely get what you pay for.
Yeah, even if you know your watch loses 13min/day, you can still guesstimate the “real” time.