Is i4 the best 4-battery charger? Best all-in-one?

Batteries and Chargers Chargers
1

By best universal or all-in-one charger, I meant a charger that could possibly charge a huge range of batteries.

i4 could take 10440 to 26650, and also AA/AAA!

Before I plunge my dollars into this roughly $20 charger, I wish to ask if there are other such chargers around? Any Xtar models?

Another question: are there other chargers that have better interface (such as LCD displays) but also charges a considerably wide range of batteries? AccuPower IQ328 seems not bad but doesn’t take 18650.

EDIT: Changed title to ask for best 4-battery charger. I understand that charging current for i4 is quite low, but it seems like no other 4-battery charger could compete with this.

2

Soshine has a single channel universal charger, it does not support as many sizes, but has an interesting display.

I4 is not recommended for 10440 batteries.

3

My understanding is, it's fine to charge 10440, but at least two must be charging at the same time, otherwise the current is too high?

4

I would prefer to call it possible, not fine.

5

HKJ,

does your i4 have a serial number engraved on the back of the charger?

mine doesnt.

6

I know that it charges C batteries, if someone can make the contacts for a D battery would it work to charge them?

7

No, all my i4 chargers are from before they started putting serial numbers on them.

8

ah all right, thanks for the info!

:)

9

Would a 7135 chip limit the input current to a 10440 or would the charger try to maintain full spec charge current?

10

@HKJ thanks for the Soshine suggestion. But I don’t like that it can only charge one. Looks like I might end up buying i4.

11

I gave up and ordered both.
Now I can charge 3 at once with the new chargers and 2 with my old charger.

12

That’s great! I just wish to see if there are other similar options before I buy the i4. Had a couple of cheap chargers and I guess it should be time for me to spend the money on a good quality one.

13

Just updated the title.

14

If you want the best LiIon 4 channel charger, the i4 does not cut it. I have a review brewing on a charger that does 4 channels with CC/CV at 1A (Maybe only 0.95A) and does it well.

15

Hmm . . . anxious to hear about it.

-Garry

16

I got my i4 this week and I like really how it looks and feels. The LED indicators are simple and great, also that it fits the 70mm cells easily.
I have not tested it really but the first impression is really good.
I would really like a defective i4 as charging cradle for a hobby charger.

The most time I use my hobby charger or my old wf139, but now I have this nice little device which is also capable of charging nimh.
I would be happier if there would be a switch for current selection like on the xtar but so far it is the nicest charger I have seen so far.

17

Does it terminate at proper voltage?

-Garry

18

Anxious too. Glad I delayed my i4 order :bigsmile:

19

That is sort of a silly questions. Sorry about that remark, let me explain: the problem is that all electronic components has tolerances and that includes the references used in LiIon chargers. I.e. I can get a charger with a low termination voltage and you can get the same charger with a high terminations voltage, because of this.

Only time and a lot of people with voltmeters can say anything about the actual variations on the charger model.

Due to this I have mostly stopped commenting on termination voltage as long as it is within the 4.20 +/ 0.05 volt range that is the most common specification for LiIon batteries.

20

My understanding of how the i4 works: When two cells are in the same bank, the charger will alternate charging each one with the 700mA charge current.
This averages out to about 350mA. However, the cell itself sees 700mA for a short period, repeatedly.
I present a hypothetical scenario of charging a 10440 cell rated for 350mA max charge.
Is it OK to charge a battery with double it’s rated charge current at 50% duty cycle?
I’d say no to this. I think that whatever internal chemical structure that defines the charge limit is still affected by short, repetitive overcurrent charge pulses.