This is probably a stupid and simple question, but I searched around a bit and didn't find an answer.
What is the difference between a Hobby Charger and a Brand Name normal charger. (Like NiteCore Intellicharge)?
Benefits to having one over the other?
They seem to me to be able to do all the same things, but the normal charger requires less settings.
I ask because I want to charge 4+ 18650s (Possibly 16340s too) that are at different charge percents.
Perfect CC/CV profile, never exceeds 4.2 volts if you parallel charge, fast and great if you salvage cells from laptop packs., and can be adjusted to different charging currents to perfectly suit any size battery.
I can do a test charge of a laptop pull and use a temperature probe so that it will stop charging if the battery starts to heat up, then do a discharge to check it's capacity.
see https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/22976 for my charging cradles
I you want to charge both 16340's and 18650's your choices in a normal charger to do both sizes are a bit limited because of current requirements - for 4 batteries you could get a pair of Xtar WP2s so that you could use .25amps/.5amps for the 16340's and 1 amp for the 18650's.
You could also get a bunch of TP4056 modules http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10005926/1453504-tp4056-1a-li-ion-battery-charging-module and use them with the charging cradles from this https://www.fasttech.com/products/1298405-2013, some of TP4056's with resistors changed for the right current for your 16340's.
Xtar WP2s review http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20Xtar%20WP2s%20UK.html
TP4056 review http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20TP4056%20UK.html
Thank you for the very informative reply.
I currently have a DuraTrax ICE Hobby charger that I've been using.
Let's scratch the 16340s from the first post, They are only for a laser pointer that have never needed recharging.
Assume I have tested good 18650s and those are all I will use the charger for. (Which is basically what I do now)
What is the benefits of a Hobby Charger vs an "intelligent" charger?
Just charge rate amps control? (I usually charge everything at 0.1amp)
I want to charge 4 batteries that are at different charge levels, like a 2x @3.7v and 2x @4.0v at the same time.
Can I just do that with my ICE and have all the batteries reach full?
Your charger doesn’t do a balancing charge at least not with out buying a external balancer. You could charge all 4 in parallel if they are all close to the same voltage state when you connect them together. Your charger will fully charge them.
The i4 will be just be a simple stick them in and wait for all 3 lights to come on. They do go on sale from time to time if that’s what you decide you need.
http://www.batteryjunction.com/smx-intellicharge-i4.html?gclid=CKvapOibsbsCFU_NOgod1mUA9A
A smart charger is ready to go. You don't have to assemble a wiring loom, acquire a suitable power supply, make a charging cradle or adjust settings. I would like to see one with integrated balancing though.
:~ back away slowly…
007 covered the short answer (no!).
I assume you are not charging more than 1x 18650 at once with your Ice now. If you are, they should be at a very similar level of charge and be done in parallel as 007 mentioned - unless you are manually balancing them.
As far as using a regular, balancing, hobby charger to charge cells which are at different charge levels: most hobby chargers balance slowly so charging the hypothetical “2× 3.7v and 2x 4.0v” (voltages which are far out of balance) will slow down a normal charge a lot…. and that brings us to the next thing!
You are charging at a really low rate. I think even the most frail 18650 allows a 0.5C charge rate, which for a 2000mAh cell would be 1.0 amps. Charging a 2000mAh cell from dead to full at 0.1 amps would take a long, long time (20 hours?)… are you leaving these on the charger while you go to work or something? Many people here and elsewhere have harsh words about that kind of thing (unattended charging).
I like the up to 10 amps discharge rate and it can supply more amps than my budget Accucell 6 charger, and I notice there is a temperature probe for it too.
Now about charging batteries of different voltages in parallel.
The conservative answer is that you can charge your batteries together in parallel if there is less than .5 volts difference between them.
The other forum has a good discussion of parallel charging and actual measurements of surge currents here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?161299-Li-Ion-Parallel-Charging.
I normally charge in parallel at 1 amp per cell which means a terminating current of .1 amp per cell, more amps per cell means a higher terminating current and lower resting voltage, less amps per cell gives a higher resting voltage but takes a lot longer.
I usually top up my batteries after each use and they are seldom under 3.8 volts when I recharge.
Good info xv-750.
Silverfox shows a more extreme case than anything I would have tried - and shows that even in that case it is much safer for the cells than I would have expected. He does make it clear that you should be using a voltmeter to check each cell every time you parallel charge, which is not for me. For me a smart charger is the way to go. My hobby charger is just a backup for doing special stuff.
I want to get rid of having all of these wires and either makeshifting a holder or using a cheap 18650 holder that keep damaging my battery.
Every single set of wires I have all read different voltages.
I'd like to just simplify the charging of single and 4 cells if there isn't going to be a difference using a Smart Charger compared to a Hobby Charger.
What am I actually losing if I just use a Smart Charger to charge my 18650s?
The ability to discharge, test capacity, storage charge, and adjust charge rates, also different chemistry charging (you can charge your car battery for instance).
Get it ……I have two hobby chargers, always being used for something
You gain simplicity and lose control-ability, but in the end you are still putting current to the battery.
For those of us who do not do any testing of batteries and simply just want to charge them, a smart charger is fine. I have 10440, 14500, 16340, 18350, 18650 & 26650 cells, as well as NiMH. My I4 does them all, whether it's only one slot or two or 4, it does fine. I have never had an issue yet. They all come out where they should be. I know some want to do all these tests and play with laptop pulls and that's cool, but don't knock the smart charger for simply charging batteries when you don't desire to do all that stuff.
What is a (definition of a) "Smart charger" please?
Is i4 or XP4 a Smart charger??
Delta V cutoff, reverse polarity protection, dead short protection, bad cell protection. Most of them have “some or all of those features”. A “dumb” charger would just be a timer based charger, with no protection features at all.
The i4 is a smart charger because of:
Each of the four battery slots monitors and charges independently
· Automatically identifies Li-ion, Ni-MH and Ni-Cd rechargeable batteries
· Features three charging modes (CC, CV and Trickle Charge) (Constant Charge Current (CC), Constant Charge Voltage (CV)
· Automatically detects battery status and selects the appropriate voltage and charge mode
· Automatically stops charging when complete
· Features reverse polarity protection
Isn't there just two weeks left for dinoboy's miracle charger to come out?
Thanks O-L!
so pretty much every new charger which comes out by Nitecore, Soshine or Xtar could be called a Smart charger. Not a very distinctive naming then ;)
This is a perfect description of why I made this thread!
Just what I was looking for.
I tried discharge testing but something has to be wrong with my connections or wires.
My 3000mAh Samsung batteries return a capacity of 400-500mAh before reaching 2.7v under 0.5amp currant.
My one light drains at 2.8amp and even after a while the battery has never reached it's cut off.
Since that, I just gave up "testing" and just enjoyed having fully charged batteries that work.
Can you link to that chargers thread?
Googling dinoboy's miracle charger returns GameBoy stuff, lol.
Those Smart Chargers looks really good and they gets rid of the miles of wires I have laying around.
But if there's a "miracle charger", I should probably wait for that.
Really liking the idea of a 2Amp USB out power bank on the XTAR chargers.
Haha, using my tools against me! xD
I didn't want to clean up my google searches URL, so LMGTFY was easier. I could have even Bing'd or Yahoo'd the term (ewww).
They should make that site less rude sounding since it could actually be useful.
Thank you for the link. (unshort.me)
I am also thinking I've been had... was he being sarcastic about the miracle charger?