I brought some 18350 batteries from Sofirn, and the normal charge current is .2C. Which means something like 250mA. But most chargers charge at 500mA.
What kind of chargers are appropriate for smaller batteries like 18350 and 14500? I was thinking of using one of those cheap USB-powered chargers and find a lower current USB power adapter to charge it.
The Miboxer C4-12 is adjustable as low as 100mA
These days I just use my MC3000. But that’s a bit expensive for the task.
Oh man, these are pretty expensive.
I had a nice USB single cell charger, might have been an xtar. Sadly I have mislaid it. Ideal for this size and smaller batteries and did 0.25 and 0.5 charge rates.
That said, what batteries do you have and what is their capacity?
Most 16340’s are circa 700mAh.
Which means 1C = 0.70 and 2C = 1.4amp
I have a Xtar VP1 that has 250/500/1000mAh options, a Nitcore Digicharger D2 that has 300/500mAh, and a Zanflare C4 that has 300/500/700/1000mAh options.
The Nitecore is the only one i can see available on UK Amazon so hopefully it’s still available from your sources. The Xtar VP2 is also available and looks to charge at 250mAh.
Sofirn 18350, and the ‘something like 250mAh’ @ 0.2C would indicate the higher capacity ones around 1100mAh.
I’m probably being dumb but what’s the relevance of this info?
Nitecore UM2:
100 - 1500 mA, step 100 mA.
Most batteries (at least LiPo) will be quite happy charging at 1C rate. Although many will allow much higher fast charge ratings.
So I’d have thought that charging a 16340 at 0.5 or 1.0amp would be absolutely fine. Unless the battery specifically says lower.
Ops post is a little unclear, it looked like they said 2C saying 0.2C is just really weird….
I have 2 of the little Xtar XPI (or XP1, I can’t tell) that I use to charge all of my little cells. They can run at .25 or .5 amps. Handles everything from 10440 to 18500. Will also charge Nimh.
this one goes down to 0.25A, is from a trusted USA seller, and is 50% off…