I have the XTAR Dragon, but what back up?.

Hi I am getting a new XTAR Dragon Charger and looking for a good back up to this. something XTAR maybe, and fast like the Dragon.

thank you.

I use the VC4 as backup . Not as fast , but I like the display on it. Just had to buy another Dragon , because I forgot and left it on all night . Cooked it .

Lii-500?

I am superhappy with my Liitokala chargers.

I love mine. It’s a great charger at a minimal price.

thanks , I dont mind any good named charger but the GRYFALCON seemed slow. 1A.

Please explain , it doesn’t sound good!

Your supposed to remove batteries after charging . I forgot and left it on all night ( and part of the day ) . Must have over heated and fried internals. Didn’t smell too good. Lights flash and do weird stuff , but it doesn’t charge anymore. Sooo don’t leave unattended. I knew better. I might get into it sometime and see what happened. Or not. Oh yeah , batteries were fine , so the cut off seemed to work well .

Is this common with this charger ? I’ve left chargers on overnight & they’ve been fine.

I have 12 chargers from different brands. None of them have overheated or even got more than lukewarm from leaving them charging overnight. That said, I’ve been charging Li-Ion batteries since 2011 with no issues at all. One other thing, I only buy name brand batteries from reliable USA sellers.

I would recommend getting a Folomov A4:

Can charge cells at 2A/slot maximum, and 3A/slot if you need it for large 26650/21700 cells or fast charging.

Has support for 21700 flat tops, LiFePO4 charging, etc.

An all-around excellent charger.

Guess I’m not as fortunate as some.

And XTAR actually warns against leaving cells in the Dragon charger overnight?

I guess that’s not just a lawyer-type caution.

Scary.

I like to have a charger on 24/7 and always there is at least a Sony VTC6 (for ecig use) charging (one I use, one I charge and a few more are charged backups).

Using chargers 24/7 had its downs in the past and, since 2007, I have killed (each after 6-12 months use) these chargers:

  • 2 * XTAR WP6-2
  • 2 * Nitecore 4 slots (one with LCD screen, one with led lights)
  • 3 * Trustfire TR-001
  • 1 * Ultrafire WF-139

For the last year, I am using one of my six Lii-402 24/7 without problems and I keep the better ones (Opus BT-C3100, Miboxer C8, Lii-500) unplugged until I need them. Using Lii-402 as my main charger was decided after making the thought that “no charger, cheap or expensive is going to last 24/7 for more than a year, so better burn cheap but reliable chargers”. And Lii-402 is cheap and reliable.

So, my opinion is get a few Lii-402, use them all the time and keep Dragon for stuff other than daily charging.

thanks , what is the Miboxer C4-12 compared to the dragon?.
seems many like it.

It’s a good charger, if it’s within your budget. The only potential issue with it is the auto current rate selection based on measured IR. This is a hit or miss, in my experience. Thankfully, you can always override the auto rate with a manual setting, but you have to remember to do that.

You haven’t specified a price point in your OP, so I figured you were looking for something inexpensive for backup, so that’s why I suggested Lii-500 earlier. The ability to measure capacity is an added bonus, IMO.

I looove the C4-12.

Its DC internal resistance meter is accurate for a charger(although not as accurate as a constant current load).

It can charge stupid quickly cells. It ends the voltage right at 4,20V.

It supports 21700s, although not protected ones.

It’s the only charger that I have that can super fast charge 14500s if you need to.

AA as in NiMH, or AA as in 14500 Li-Ion?

Max current for NiMH is 1A - not super fast, IMO.
And as for charging 14500 Li-Ion, you probably don’t want to charge them faster than about 0.7-1.0A anyway.

Sorry, I only have a 14500 cell, and mistook it for an AA cell.

for backup just get something 2 or 4 cell and cheap

many lights are now coming with built in charging, so that is ‘backup’ if you have those

wle