Why Batteries Function Better with Their Dedicated Chargers?

I charge just about everything (You name the cell & chemistry) with Nitecore chargers. Been doing it for about a decade and never had an issue. I don’t buy cells that come with a charger or cells with built-in charging capabilities. Hopefully that gives you some insight to others experiences.

What is C/3 and does this extend to other lithium cells like those in laptops and phones?

Lithium ions you refer to? I never heard of these kind of batteries. Only know that 18650 have built-in overcharging protection.

They’re saying Capacity divided by three = charge rate. So a hypothetical 3000mAh li-ion cell should have an initial charge rate (the setting you put the charger on) of 1000ma.

Second point is one I also agree with, often the clamshell packages of cells and charger you buy in stores includes a cheap charger which isn’t very good.

I thought you meant charging battery to 1000mAh capacity out of its 3000mAh capacity initially. So it’s charge rate 1000mAh and not maximum charged capacity? I know in cellphones its the opposite. They are charged at normal rate but slow down after around 90%.

Can even be charged using quick charge technology that is so much marketed these days but in itself introduces heat that affects battery longevity.

Do Nitecore, LaCrosse and BT chargers detect lithium battery automatically and set C/3 preset or I set it manually?

18650 don’t ‘automatically’ have built-in overcharging protection. It has to be added after the raw cell or pack is made.

Some chargers automatically set the charge rate, but not by capacity. Its usually by testing the internal resistance. There is no way it can figure out capacity in a short electronic ‘probe’.
Some people like that feature-put it in and let it go. You usually CAN over ride it if you want.
I dislike it. I want control.

C/3 or 0.33C is certainly safe, but seems to be rather conservative. Most sources I’ve seen recommend 0.5C as a safe charging rate.

All properly designed Li-Ion chargers will automatically and gradually reduce charging rate toward the end of the charge cycle when they switch from Constant Current (CC) phase to Constant Voltage (CV) phase. This is to prevent over-voltage situations.

All EVs, like Tesla, also do this. Charging up to about 80% is fairly quick. The last 20% takes a long time. Plus, it’s actually bad to charge li-ion cells all the way to 100% - high voltage puts extra stress on the cell. I typically charge my cells to about 70-80, including my phone, unless I just really have to have 100 capacity available to me.

Yes

here is a charger that can do both LiIon and Eneloop

you do not have to tell it what charge rate to use (but you can), it is smart enough to charge safely, automatically.

here is a review:
https://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20Vapcell%20S4%2B%20fast%20charger%20UK.html
suggest just scroll past all the test pictures, to the conclusion at the very end…

usually the ‘automatic’ ones are just slow

like 100ma default for a 2200 mah battery, would take all day

they do have to reduce current at the end but bigger capacity cells can have more current before that phase

smaller ones may end up over-voltage if the charge is too fast

i have one tiny worn out 16340 that ends up at 4.7V on the lowest current i have, 300 ma

wle

charging to 80% is still slow if you are way under the max current the cell COULD take

or if you do not monitor temperature

wle

Sounds like its internal resistance is extremely high now and should be headed for a recycle bin. :slight_smile:

yeah probably

it;s old and cheap

….didnt know about th HJK site. Round cell charger index
Wished I’d known before I bought my charger a month ago :slight_smile:

….just noticed the “sticky” in the charger category.

This one I bought for several euros almost a decade ago but it was a standalone charger. Is it similar to chargers that come in clamshell packages with included batteries?

It takes almost half of a day to charge batteries. It acts strange sometimes because some channels have indicator that either does not turn on. Or turns on but emits a dim light. When I rotate the battery the light turns on fully. You can see it in this video: https://streamable.com/zhj7nv

Are you referring to chargers that plug into wall’s receptacle directly? Those branded chargers for their respective batteries like Panasonic, Duracell and my Camelion? With 100mAh it would take 22 hours to charge 2200mAh battery?

Another question. Are there chargers that come with or without batteries that are as easy to use as plugging them into wall’s receptacle without requiring any knowledge but are almost as smart as universal charger to take care of batteries automatically? This one I would need for someone who just wants easy to use optimal charging that charges withing 4-5 hours without wearing out batteries. I assume that these wall chargers are only for NiMH and NiCads but are not for charging lithium-ions?

usually the default currents are pretty low, for safety

2200mah / 100 ma would be 22 hours - at least

the “C” (capacity) is 2200mah, 100mah is 1/22C

BU-409: Charging Lithium-ion - Battery University
https://batteryuniversity.com › article › bu-409-chargin…

The advised charge rate of an Energy Cell is between 0.5C and 1C; the complete charge time is about 2–3 hours
that would be 1100 to 2200 mA

wle

your assumption is mistaken. The charger I linked you to will do all of those, automatically.

Try to let go of the idea that certain brands of batteries need certain brands of chargers. That is not correct. Chargers do not care what brand the battery is.

they can distinguish battery type, easily

what they cannot do is, figure out the capacity of a li-ion

and without knowing that, they can only guess the right charge rate

you are right, brand does not matter

what i was thinking more about was, internal chargers, where the [internal] charger knows what battery comes with the light
there, the charge rate can be matched to the cell

wle