Thanks for the info. I downloaded the app and even though I don’t have the charger, managed to play around with it a bit. I was able to get it to launch on my iPhone but apparently Android users aren’t usually so lucky.
It’s solely for choosing charge parameters; it’s not possible to alter any other settings. I like that you can save multiple charge profiles, unfortunately you can’t give them unique names so you have to remember what each one does; bit of an oversight there.
It’s nice that you can walk away and return and not have the charger interrupt its duties. It would have been nice if the app didn’t interrupt the PC software and vice-versa though.
Hi Team,
A pleasure to meet this topic with quite recent information. I am already using a charger SkyRC B6ACv2 and I am fully satisfied to use it to charge Li-Po Pack, Li-Ion Pack or 18650 Li-Ion Cell.
Charge, Decharge, Test, Cycle or Stock, Internal Resistance I have here everything it is needed to get the best from battery to any RC Model.
I have all specific connector provided and this easy to custom any solution and all pack can be balanced using the good connector.
But I also appreciate the use of a charger for maybe the most difficult battery to be managed and this is Ni-Mh or sometimes Ni-Cad. I have ton of AA and AAA Ni-Mh and also some pack and heres comes the limit.
First of all B6AC is not designed as a support for AA and AAA and you need to buy battery holder if used in series or build it for // charging.
As you may know the best is to use slow charge using C/10 but here the Delta Peak Voltage reach a limit to be used with precision (and this issue increase with number of cell you have to charged together)
B6AC could be used with a sensor (you can buy or build with a simple LM35 3 pin component) to use the Delta Peak Temperature and this is for sure the best solution to control Ni-Mh charge on maxi without reaching damaging zone.
But you can’t control really each element for capacity voltage and temperature peak. With or without software this is just good for a pack with all element in equal conditions.
For that reason I am also seriously considering to buy a specific charger for AA and AAA support where I can manage more easily plenty of cell in any conditions to assist a BC-700 La Crosse I have but has no Delta T control
SkyRC 3000, XtarDragon VC4 Plus or maybe the VC8S is on my list but I need to make sure what charger is able to control Delta Peak Temperature for each channel (and not only Delta V you can use at higher current).
This is clearly annonced for SkyRC 3000 and we see the sensor contact behind each cell but I am in favour to VC8S with 8 channel and Xtar just miss to give the information.
VC8s use most of features from Dragon plus propose 8 display zone including the internal resistance for each. Any advice is welcome. BR
SkyRC MC3000 is likely still top of the line.
The Xtar Dragon VP4 also does charge li-ion and NiMh very well.
The Xtar VC8 does fine for Li-Ion, but based on HKJ’s testing, NiMh charging may sometimes not charge to full capacity (I have tried inquiring with Xtar in the “help with Xtar” message thread regarding the VC8’s “sometimes does not fully charge NiMh batteries” issue, but haven’t checked if they have a reply. I have tried the Xtar VC8 but I don’t use much NiMh so have not really tried much tests for NiMh batteries on the Xtar VC8 personally though… (I wonder if it could just be an issue with the Xtar VC8 unit received by HKJ, or it happens across most VC8 batches…) Something to look out for in case considering the VC8. (I like the VC8 in that it can do manual charge current selection from 0.25A, 0.5A, 1A, 2A, 3A [only outer slot] plus some of the features and battery length support)
New thread is probably not necessary, so I’ll use this one
I have few AA and AAA batteries and 18650. I would like to buy a charger that will those types of batteries but I prefer to have more types just in case.
I don’t need every future there is but I would like to have batteries discharged to 0% and function to test / discharge and fully charge batteries.
I’ve been thinking about liitokala Lii-500s, Nitecore SC4 (I think it doesn’t have discharge function but I’m not sure).
Xtar VC4S is great but I don’t want micro usb connetction.
Maybe mixboxer c4-plus (or c4-12. Don’t know which one is better)
Never discharge any battery to 0%. That’s old information that seems to still be floating around. Good way to kill a battery.
You discharge to whatever is ‘appropriate’ for the particular chemistry of the cell.
A number of chargers will capacity test. I personally like the Opus BT-C3100 for all around use.
Assume you’ve found this wonderful table: Table of tested chargers, comments?
Sort the [Extra] column by clicking on it, look for (Analyzer), then at least 2xsmiley faces (my opinion), sort for the features you think you want, then go read the review, and maybe comments.
Just to be clear, 0% doesn’t necessarily mean 0 Volt. Most li-ion chargers will assume the cell is at 0% capacity around 2.8-3.0V, which is still a safe discharge level.
Btw, anyone here have the Nitecore UMS-2? I like the size and display, but I find it behaves… erratically. Mine didn’t come with a Micro USB cord, so I’ve used a few. I’m wondering if its very sensitive to the cord and the AC to USB adapter? By erratic, I mean the buttons to view stats and switch view between cells 1 & 2 often become unresponsive. I have to unplug and plug back in again to get momentary function, then it happens again. VERY annoying.
I have found a HUGE difference in USB cords. MOST of the cords that come with cheap products are……lousy. High resistance, fiddly fit and connection. Got a UM24C USB tester + load module, tested all I had and threw hoards away.
Had an old Samsung that was extremely USB cord sensitive. ONLY cord I found that was reliable are the Monoprice Select A>Micro series. Inexpensive, many lengths, colors, and simply work.
Assume your USB power supply is up to the requirement.
I don’t own this charger, but just reading through HKJ’s review of it, he mentions that this charger can ask for a lot of current from a USB wall adapter (up to 4A), which most wall power adapters can’t deliver, so I would make sure you have a robust USB wall power adapter that can maintain voltage at high current. He also states “The charger has some problems with a unstable power supply,” but I don’t know exactly what he means by it. Maybe ask him?
And yes, flydiver is correct that there are a lot of garbage USB cables out there with high internal resistance which will further reduce the amount of available current to your device.
I bought a Vapcell S4 Plus and so far have been happy with it. It has a minor quirk when doing a Capacity Test on NiMH batteries but the workaround is easy; it doesn’t really fully recharge them so you just have to kick off another charge cycle on them. I suggest doing your own research and reading lots of reviews. Let me know if you have any specific questions about my Vapcell.
It was my incorrect way to say what I want
I don’t want to discharge batteries to 0. I want a charger with a function that could bring dead battery alive
I’ll check the table.
Thank you
In my country I can’t buy Miboxer or Opus.
Can you recommend a seller from aliexpress?
If you mean cycling to improve some NiMh, that can be a useful function. It is less useful for LSD NiMh.
For Li-on cycling is not useful to improve it. It just eats up another charge cycle. It can be useful for checking capacity on occasion, and checking the state of new or old unknown cells.
For truly DEAD batteries - a ‘few’ top end chargers will try to revive a dead NiMh. Many (most?) will reject it. The most useful tool for that is an old ‘dumb’ NiXX charger that will charge anything you put in it. That will generally get it ‘going’ again, THEN you can put it back in the smart charger to finish. NOTE - every time you run a NiMh to 0 volts you are doing some damage. The damage is cumulative.
For Li-on, if it is indeed DEAD (0v) it has sustained damage and should be recycled. You may be able to revive it but it is now damaged, more dangerous, and not recommended. In general any cell that spends a lot of time below 2.2v-2.5v should be considered suspect and probably discharged and recycled.
Modify your profile so we know your country. That helps us.
I don’t use aliexpress, so no help there.
I use a GYRFALCON All-88 8 Channel Digital Battery Charger and love it. I can have 8 batteries of all difference sizes charging. You can adjust the current (amps) and max voltage but I just stick the puppies in and wait for the lights to turn red indicating they’re done. I also like that it has no lights except when you have it charging. No need to unplug it to get rid of those annoying lights
Miboxer chargers are available from AliExpress sellers, but I’m not sure if there is an official “Miboxer” store from AliExpress (eg. Xtar has an “official” Xtar AliExpress store but can’t seem to find Miboxer’s official one). Anyway, I’ve tried a few Miboxer, and have bought at least 1 Miboxer charger from an AliExpress store (which turns out to be a genuine Miboxer).
