LiitoKala Lii - 202 newby question

Batteries and Chargers Chargers
1

I’m needing some help with my recent battery charger purchase. I’ve always been interested in flashlights and am wanting to start buying higher quality cells to run in them. I purchased a LiitoKala Lii 202 as an entry level charger. Can someone please explain to me when i should or shouldn’t use the 0.5A and 1.0A function.

I also put some AA sanyo eneloops in there that had been laying in a drawer for over a year. They would only charge to 50%, no higher. Is it possible these cells could be bad? Thanks in advance for your help.

2

I`s best to charge at half the battery`s capacity if you can, so for an 2000mah Eneloop charge it at 1000ma 0.5C , Eneloops can be charged at 1C or 2000ma but a slower charge makes the battery last longer.

John.

3

Thank you John, so the 0.5A and 1.0A simply determines the speed at which the battery charges?

4

Yeah, the higher the charge current ma, the faster a battery will charge, But charging fast causes the battery to get hot and this can reduce the battery`s life, so it`s best to stick to between 0.5-1C

About 10-20% of the power you put into a rechargeable battery is wasted as heat, So charging an empty 2000mah battery at 2000ma you would think would take 1hr but you have to add and extra 20% time, So about it`s around 1h12m

Have a look at the Battery University website for a lot of information on how to charge and care for battery`s

John.

5

How did you determine the batteries would only charge to 50 ??

From my experience with Eneloops, though not impossible; I would be surprised if they were bad.

6

New or battery`s that have not been used for a while can stop charging before they are full, I feel the battery if it`s cold then i re-insert the battery and try charging again.

John.

7

I may have not given the eneloops a fair shot at charging. After an hour or so they wouldn’t get past 50% so i took them off. I’ll put them back on for a few more hours and see what happens.

8

I have the single channel version of this charger the LiitoKala Lii-100, I have noticed the battery gauge does not seem to be very accurate when it comes to nimh battery`s and an lot more accurate for li-ion battery`s

HKJ did a test/review of this charger.

http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20LiitoKala%20Lii-202%20UK.html

John.

9

That could be it. Where are you getting the “50%” from though. Is that just an estimation?

10

The 50% came from the actual reading on the charger.

11

OK, my bad ‘bhorn’; I know what your talking about now. The little blue lights on the face of the charger.
I just never pay any attention to those. I just wait for them to quit blinking. :wink:

Chance are you are right, you did not give them enough time.
If you were charging at 0.5A it would take right at or over 4 hours if they were very depleted when you started.

I am thinking they are probably A - OK. :slight_smile: