MiBoxer C4-12 Review
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Hey folks today we will be reviewing the MiBoxer C4-12 this is the one you have all been waiting for. This is the biggest charger in the MiBoxer series it is a smart fast charger?. The C4-12 is capable of charger 4 cells at a whopping 3amps each! If you ever feel like running around with a S70 and a L6 in each hand and need a charger to charge all those cells this is the way to go!
Seeing as this is using so much current we will pull it apart and see how the cooling works. It is passive cooled no fans are included on the C4-12. Which is weird as the C2-4000 uses a fan. Now I am off to find my thermocouple probe its gone walkies!
Usual disclammer the C4-12 was sent to me my by MiBoxer i will link there amazon store here.
MiBoxer Amazon
What is included in the box?
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- MiBoxer C4-12 charger
- AC figure 8 plug
- AC-DC power supply (looks like a laptop power supply made me laugh)
- Instructions
Build
MiBoxer is on a roll so far with the chargers I have reviewed lately. The C4-12 is more of standard looking charger but it is built to the same standard and quality as the rest of the line up. The C4-12 is very solid it has no creaks and squeaks even when I try and twist it. The rail slides clean and smooth with minimal resistance but enough to hold a battery fairly tight. The C4-12 has a large and clear LCD display with a bright and easy to read back lite display. I am yet to stress the charger to the max seeing as I only have ten 26650s in total. There is not many occasion where I would use all 4 slots at 3amps. So far it has handled the applied heat of 4 slots being used at once fine. I have mixed it up charged 2 cells at 3amps and the other 2 slots at 1.5amps and heat dissipation has been good.
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Design
The C4-12 is build like the original C4 but it a bit larger. As said above MiBoxer went for more of a standard setup with the C4-12 it has less curves than the C2 series. I would like to see the C4 8 bay charger come with the same design features that are on the C2 series. The C4-12 still has the groves on the sides and in the middle that make battery placement such a joy on the C2-6000. Battery separation is only average on the C4 its slightly better on the C2-6000. You can fit your 26650 side by side but its a tight fit. There is no room to fit your fingers in between the side by side 26650s I think MiBoxer should widen the bays considering this charger the C4-12 is made for charging larger cells.
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Placing flat top 26650 on the end slots is a pain they need to be adjusted a bit to fit the side walls gets in the way. The C4-12 does have bumps/contact points on the positive and negative terminals so that helps with the flat top cells. I did find some flat top 26650s are still a pain to fit in the bumps on the positive or negative should be raised a tad more.
On the plus side the C4-12 has super long bays and can easily fit my biggest protected 26650 with space left for the negative slide to move down more.
The C4-12 has a USB out on the top of the charger next to the DC input the same setup as the C2-6000. The C4-12 only has one button so operation is super easy this button controls all the features.
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Features
- Compatible with Li-on 4.2v, Ni-MH/Ni-Cd 1.48v batteries
- Can be used with all different types of cylindrical rechargeable cells including Li-on and Ni-MH/NiCd cells (Can charge any cell from 10340-26650s cells)
- Power bank function when using lithium cells (Only work from slot 4)
- Maximum 3amp per channel and 12amp for all slots fast charging
- Manual current select (Enables the charging of all types of cells from small to large)
- High precision reference voltage calibration
- Automatically ends charging cycle when cell/cells are full
- Inbuilt safety features including reverse polarity protection and short circuit protection
- Automatically adapts to power input (can be used with a car charger or different AC-DC plug)
- Intelligent battery temperature control (will lower charge current if battery is to hot)
- Automatically detects battery type Li-on/ Ni-MH/Ni-Cd and displays state of charge
- Automatically detects and displays batteries internal resistance and capacity measurements
- Four fully independent slots, Different cell chemistry can be charged at the same time (Li-on in slot one and Ni-MH in slot two)
- Supports small capacity battery charging (manual output selects enables charging of small cells like 10440 and even smaller cells)
- Support Li-on battery repair function (Can reset tripped protection circuits)
- DC12v car charger mode
- Made out of PC fire retardant material
- Excellent heat dissipation and circuit design
- 3 years warranty
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UI
The UI is super easy on the C4-12 its only got one button so not many option to chose. You either tap the slot button to change slots or you hold the slot button to activate manual current selection. Super easy and you can always leave the charger in auto mode if you want.
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What is displayed on the screen?
The screen on the C4-12 is very similar to the C2-6000 except bigger and has a few more option because of the extra slots. But the exact same display option just shows 4 slots instead of 2 slots. Its basically got 3 rows of display so I will move from left to right top to bottom.
Top row
- First channel/Bay display
- Second channel/ Bay display
- Third Channel/ Bay display
- Fourth Channel/ Bay display
Battery voltage displayed
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Middle row
- Battery type (Li-on/NiMH,Ni-Cd)
- Battery temperature display (Can be changed per cell by selecting slot)
- Battery state (Internal resistance, Current input, Voltage)
Bottom row
- Battery percentage (fullness of cell)
- Charging time
- Battery capacity (Amount of energy input into the cell while charging)
- Charge symbol
Charge current display
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Output currents Li-on
- 100ma
- 200ma
- 300ma
- 500ma
- 800ma
- 1000ma
- 1500ma
- 2000ma
- 2500ma
- 3000ma
Output current Ni-MH/Ni-Cd
- 100ma
- 200ma
- 300ma
- 400ma
- 500ma
- 600ma
- 700ma
- 900ma
- 1000ma
Internal resistance measurement
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Performance
So we have arrived at the best part of the C4-12 the performance. Output wise no charger on the market can match the MiBoxer C4-12. The C4-12 has a whopping total output of 12amps total that is a massive 3 amps per slot. MiBoxer give you a laptop battery power supply to run this beast just so you grasp how many watts it can output.
As I said with the C2-6000 the C4-12 brings unbelievable performance to the table with a whopping charge output. This charger is equivalent to having 3 standard 4 bay chargers. That is why you are buying this charger to charge all your bigger cells like 26650 and C and D cells.
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Auto charge
As with the other MiBoxer chargers I have reviewed lately the C4-12 has an auto current select. You can simply insert a battery and let the charger choose the charging current. This features on the C4-12 works as well as other chargers on the market. It uses the internal resistance measurements to choose the charge current. The lower the internal resistance the higher the charge current will be. Some cells like protected 18650s have a higher internal resistance and can charge slower than usual when using auto charge.
My Littokala 26650 charged at 3amps in auto mode they have super low internal resistance of about 30milliamps.
Also note with small cells please use manual current select for safety. I had 14500 on charge and the internal resistance was 60milliohms and they charged at 1.20amps which is a tad high for 14500s. Even if they are IMR cells.
Newer high drain 18650s will be okay to accept 3amp current charge just monitor the temp.
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Internal resistance measurements
- Sanyo laptop pulls (UR18650ZT): 101 Milliohms
- liitokala 26650: 30 Milliohms
- Samsung 25r: 36 Milliohms
As with all chargers take the internal resistance measurements as general guidance. The C4-12 performs on par with the C2-4000/6000 when measuring internal resistance.
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Battery compatibility
The MiBoxer C4-12 is not compatible with Lipo 3.6v cells and 4.35v Li-on. It will still charge 4.35v Li-on cells fine it will just end the charge at 4.20v so you will have less capacity overall.
The charger can charge all cells from small to large from 10340 to 26650 and just about all cells in between thanks to the manual current select. It will charge the following cells fine. Remember C4-12 the can charge your 4.35v cells it will just end charge early like many other standard chargers.
- Li-ion 4.2v (IMR/INR/ICR)
- Ni-MH/Ni-Cd (AAAA/AAA/AA/A/SC/C/D)
Temperature measurement
The temp measurements works well on the C4-12. The charger is measuring the external temp of the cell. Its not the most accurate way to tell the temp of a cell but it gives you a general guidance. I usually feel my cells while they are charging its a force of habit thing I have been doing it so long.
You can get similar results using a K type probe from a multimeter or slightly better result if the probe is tapped tightly to the cell. Just make sure the cells are pushed close to the temp sensor for proper reading. I checked my cells charging compared to my multimeter and the temps that are displayed on screen are correct.
2.3amp fast charging
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Battery bank
The MiBoxer C4-12 does offer a USB out option. The USB out can only be used when the C4-12 is not plugged into the mains. You can not use the USB output while the charger is on operation. It would be cool to see MiBoxer upgrade this option so USB out is always active. Its the same on the C2-6000 you can only run the USB from batteries. This time around the USB draws its power from a single slot which is slot 4. I would have liked to see at least 2 slots being to be used as a USB out. You still need need to use Lithium cells to get the USB to work it will not work with Ni-
MH,Ni-Cd batteries.
This is as far apart i could get the charger the temp sensors are hooked up in a weird way. MiBoxer used silastic to hold them in place.
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USB output features
- 5v @ 1amp output
- Displays battery channel and USB output currents
- Auto shutdown when cells are fully drained
- Auto shutdown when no load is detected after 20 seconds
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Overall
Overall the MiBoxer C4-12 is a great charger it give you all the option you need plus extra. Its not really missing any thing seeing as you can always manually drain the cells and still get a semi accurate indication of total MAH of a cell thanks to the MAH read out. The C4-12 is build to charge large cells with a whopping 3amp charge current but its also fine to use with small cells thanks to the manual current select. This make the MiBoxer C4-12 a great all round charger.