Help me pick a new analysing charger

i love the OPUS!!

i also bought several Miboxer Blitz sales, great stuff but ..

XTAR has too many similar chargers wait for their 4 new or updated models to be released in 2022.

actually for months i just use only 2 program memory settings on skyrc, 1 for 18650 1 for 16340. it has memory for 8 custom programs, perfect for lazy me . interesting that no other company

Vapcell S4 Plus is work horse charger. Its only issue is that over discharged NiMH need to be jump started in another chsrger. The XTAR VP4 Plus Dragon is good but struggles to accept 21700s. The new VC4SL is good for consumers but cut down in features compared to the Vapcell.

It’s the XTAR VC4 Plus that I was interested in. But I can’t find any reviews, or much information at all on it really, other than the Amazon listing - Here

Anyway, I’ve gone for the Vapcell S4+. The 4x 3A charging is an appealing feature and it seems to offer everything I’m after. The only thing it’s lacking is a charging/discharging to storage voltage feature.

After “collecting” various chargers, like the Opus, plus an XTAR, almighty Miboxer, Zanflare, Nitecore, etc., I like them all, but I keep coming back to the Ope.

Most others have quirks here and there (eg, can only analyse in bay #4, don’t handle some chemistries, etc.), whereas the Ope is pretty much orthogonal, with no need to memorise quirks.

Damned fan buzzes like an angry bumblebee, and it can get heat-stroke if you dump too much total current at once, but all in all it’s my go-to charger.

Based on the product picture and description, this "Xtar VC4 Plus" would appear to be the now-named-as "Xtar VC4SL":

Basically it's almost the same charger as the previous Xtar VC4S (which is more different than the VC4 / VC4L).

So the VC4SL would have similar features, like charging, storage, grading (capacity test).

The additional changes of the VC4SL vs the previous VC4S would appear to be:

- VC4SL now uses a USB type C port, whereas the VC4S uses a micro-USB port (however, both models can use 5v/2A or QuickCharge 2 (9v) for faster charging)

- VC4SL has longer slots, and now fit protected 21700 batteries in length ; the VC4S may fit the shorter unprotected 21700 batteries

- VC4SL now allows manually changing the charging current ; whereas VC4S only uses automatic charging current (based on internal resistance check, and limited by the USB power supply, faster charging possible when using QC2 USB port)

At least those are the main differences I've noticed.

HKJ has a review of the VC4S. (I can't be sure if they tweaked the charging/discharging algorithms from VC4S to VC4SL, but maybe not?)


StephenK has a review of the Xtar VC4SL here:

[Review] XTAR VC4SL Charger

https://www.stephenknightphotography.com/post/charger-review-xtar-vc4sl

Same here.
I like the Opus, but the whining sounds of the tiny fan make it unsuitable as a bedroom charger :smiley:

I have the MC3000. I like having the ability to control every parameter of charging and discharging. If you understand how charging of different battery chemistries works, it’s not too difficult to set up. It took me about 30 minutes to glance at the manual and set up a few different charging profiles when I first got the charger. Once you’ve initially set up the profiles, it’s as simple as inserting the cell and selecting a profile.

Its two biggest downsides that I can see are a) price and b) inability to fit larger (>70mm) cells.

I’m looking for my fist charger, any idea about Nitecore UMS4?
Can I understand with it if my batteries are original or fake?
Seems like it can show batteries internal resistance. Will it be enough to figure out if my Samsung 40T and 30Q is original?

Thank you.

What’s the exact brand and model name of this charger? I searched for Ope but couldn’t find it.

Opus 3100, but there might be newer models.

Hehe, thanks. I think having individual discharge function is much better. It only exists inside capacity test for most chargers. And 700mA discharge current is much better compared to 250-300 mA discharge current of Xtar.

Anyone know a charger that supports USB-C for input power?

Xtar vc4 plus or xtar vc4sl does but don’t buy it. Quick charger implementation is problematic and terminates early. If you use usual 5v adapter without qc it works fine for me. However another forum member tells he also had problems with usual 5v adapter without qc.

If you can somehow disable qc and trick the charger think it utilizes qc, it will probably work fine. I don’t know how to do it.

Fully agree.

I started with Discharge tests but most chargers only list the discharged capacity, not the charged one (or show the charges capacity after discharge); and mostly you can choose the discharge current, only the charge current.

I have the C3100 and overall it´s an usable charger but the noisy fan annoys me.

Still the Vapcell S4 Plus is my No.1 in that price range.

You’re right. I use xtar vc4 plus nowadays. I tried to trick the charger applying 1.55 V to cell while charging to start discharging directly but I couldn’t succeed. I need to take out the cell as soon as it starts charging again to observe both discharged and charged capacity and it’s annoying.

Yep, I have also chargers which can´t discharge directly:

VC4SL (no comment)

Zanflare C4: Only via NOR Test, annoying because charge rate in this mode is only 300mA or 500mA (discharge can´t be adjusted, is the same as charge rate), no display about the charged capacity in this mode.

Accupower IQ338XL (similar to Liito kala Lii-500): After charge the mode can changed to Fast Test which start immediately to discharge (always 500mA) but you have to keep an eye on it because it starts to charge again after discharging and the dicharged capacity is lost.

If you interested in capacity test a Charger like the Vapcell S4+ or Opus BT-C3100 is a good choice

I have 3 analyzing charger, Hitek x4, Xtar vc8, Littokala lii500. they are all pretty good, all have pretty wide range of functions, if you need it for individual cells, vc8 and lii500 would be the ones to get, imo. if you need something more serious, to work with lead acid/nimh/nicd, you want a hobby charger. I like my x4 but it does have a problem correctly terminating charge for some nimh cells but not others (would not charge some tenergy cells correctly, would stop charging at about 1/3 capacity, but charges eneloops, tenergy centura, and pro just fine, and even other no name brands correctly).

I don´t know the Hitek, but the VC8 and and the Lii-500 have no discharge function. And the Lii is slow at grading, the VC8 very slow

I also used grading in the past, but a charge and discarge is better because I can see which capacity was charged and discharged

they all discharge, but unlike x4, others discharge as a part of capacity test. They do it slower, that is true, since they have nowhere close to heat dissipating capacity of x4. X4 has huge heatsink and several fans to dissipate the heat, (it also costs 4-5 times more than other two) individual cell chargers are basically sealed with no exposed heatsinks or fans. so they will always fall behind hobby chargers.

I mean discharge as a separate function, not inside a capacity-test :slight_smile:

I don´t know the prices in USA, but here a good charge-analyzer like the Vapcell S4+ costs ~ 50€. It has discharge as a separate function and bcan do a capacity-test. I would it prefer clearly if I had the choice between it, the Lii-500 and Xtar. It can discharge in bay 1 and 4 up to 1A and in bay 2+3 500mA. And it have no fan

Another benefit if it have a discharge-option is to choose the charge/discharge current; I think it´s a very rare feature to choose these parameters for capacity-test-mode. And especially Xtar-chargers lacks of options, I know it from my new VC4SL