Chargers with discharge function?

[justanotherguy]

Am I correct that the discharge function is to see how much capacity a cell has? OR is there another reason for discharge?
I currently run two folomov A4 chargers and an older wp6 at work…
It seems like some of my cells at work do not last long, though with 3 people running 18650’s I can’t keep tabs on which cell
is doing what…

What is a good charger with this capability?

Thanks!

[MrBrown]

I wanted a charger that would completely test my batteries and give me their capacity. I ended up getting a Zanflare C4 on Amazon. I think the Opus BT-C3100 will do the same thing, along with a couple others.

[justanotherguy]

I will say this, I bought the A4’s used but in short order one of them developed some missing segments on the display… it’s weird. they charge well though

[Speed4goal]

The opus 3100 2.2 is a good charger for that it let’s you discharge at 1 amp other charges only allow 500mah discharge.
But yes discharge is how you check capacity. And the closer you can discharge to what the device is using it at the better it is.

[Speed4goal]

@justanotherguy

I will say this, I bought the A4’s used but in short order one of them developed some missing segments on the display… it’s weird. they charge well though

Here’s what I noticed I used the a4 they don’t like heat. If you charge at 2 Amps with 4 cells it gets really hot the display messes up. At 1 amp and 4 batteries it does fine. At 2 amps I put a fan on the charger and it’s fine or place it in front of my window ac

[HKJ]

You can look here for chargers with discharge function: Round cell charger index (Analyzer)

[Tom_Tom]

@MrBrown

I wanted a charger that would completely test my batteries and give me their capacity. I ended up getting a Zanflare C4 on Amazon. I think the Opus BT-C3100 will do the same thing, along with a couple others.

I have found the Zanflare C4 quite good. To fully test four cells (charge, discharge, re-charge) takes a while, best done overnight, but it seems accurate, and measures internal resistance quite well.

It is rather large, and built upside-down, and a house-brand of Gearbest, but it does the job for me and was the right price when I bought it.

HKJ is of course the expert/guru in these matters.

Edit: no fans to wear out either.

[Terry_Oregon]

All three of my chargers will do a discharge test:

Xtar Dragon

SkyRC MC3000

Accupower IQ338XL

The first two are highly recommended by HKJ and the Accupower hasn't been reviewed by HKJ.

The SkyRC in particular can even do discharge tests on alkalines. Per the manual:

Can I discharge non-rechargeables such as Alkaline or Lithium primaries? I would like to verify their rated capacities. Primary batteries don’t often come with a capacity rating but yes you could compare discharge capacities of primaries of different makes. Use BATT TYPE NiMH with D.REDUCE option for discharging Alkalines, use BATT TYPE LiFe for discharging Lithium primaries.

[Speed4goal]

The opus does discharge on alkaline I think they all would. I’ve done it out of curiosity.