I got the same reply earlier today, it would be a good buy to me if you needed a 26650 charger a big bonus would be it does not have a fixed power cord like some or an external power supply with a foreign country wall plug and maybe (looks like) if it takes cigarette lighter cord with a small male plug of the end as i have heaps of spares of both.
But i use my iCharger 106B+ with 240 volt and 12 volt plus for charging/discharging all my batteries, i plan to gift the charger i reviewed after a few more uses to make sure its OK to give to some body.
True, but 4Sevens has a disclaimer on the site stating their charger is only designed to charge their 26650's correctly. That's the only reason I mention it.
I love me some Lighthound! Some of the best guys in the biz with great prices and unsurpassed punctuality and customer service, and my #1 go to company for sure. But I've had lots of trouble with the 3.5aH 26650 IMRs they sell. Maybe it's a bad batch, or maybe the cells are fine and I'm just doing something wrong, but 3 of the last 5 I bought from them leaked. 1 leaked on the initial charge (other 2 didn't), then 1 leaked for no apparent reason after the second charge, and 1 leaking in transport before it even got to my house. Very strange.
I got it specifically to charge these 26650s because I didn't have any other charger that I felt comfortable using to charge them, and have had good experiences with Tenergy's NiMH 'smart' chargers. I charged the cells 1 at a time, 2 did just fine and 2 didn't.
Yeah, I sent them back. They made good and sent me 2 new ones. The last replacement they sent leaked too though, so I didn't even hit 'em up for another. I hate being a pain in the arse, especially since they've always been such an excellent company. Very fast delivery, great products, easy RMAs with no questions asked, and good prices. I've placed several more orders with them since then because I guess it was just a fluke, but I'll stay away from their 26650s after that.
I think you should still return them for an RMA. They are a GOOD upstanding company, you'd be doing them a favor by letting them know the problem appears to be more wide-spread than a couple isolated incidences. All it takes is ONE flame/vent/fire incident (property damage, personal injury...etc) to bring down the entire reputation of the retailer. I believe LH understands this and they would not see you as a "pain" at all... so long as you are professional and polite. See it s a chance to partner and collaborate with them. Good luck though in whatever you do!!
Anyone else have these cells or have a similar experience with leaking? I too think Lighthound is a great vendor and I don't want to put a warning in the OP unless warranted.
OK, talked with LH. They are conducting an investigation with the cells I returned to them, but stated that my case was the only issue with this batch of cells so far, so at this point they're considering it a fluke. They also said they'd send me another replacement after a discharge/charge cycle had been performed to verify it was a good cell prior to shipment.
The professionalism of LH is truly top notch. Couldn't ask for more. :)
