Best Charger?

[LSX]

Thanks guys. So how do you set up charging say 4 batteries at once with the iCharger?

[tatasal]

@LSX

Thanks guys. So how do you set up charging say 4 batteries at once with the iCharger?

There are 4-bay battery cradles I bought from FT (available in series or parallel connected) but only for unprotecteds. I think the longest that can fit is 66mm only.

[LSX]

So is it possible to just put 4 batteries end to end in series with magnets and then hook the charger leads to each end?

[tatasal]

@LSX

So is it possible to just put 4 batteries end to end in series with magnets and then hook the charger leads to each end?

Yes, but in li-ions, most people prefer to do it in parallel. I have tried both and doing it in parallel sort of balances the different starting cell voltages in the end. Series is recommended for niMh though.

You mentioned in your OP you have up to $120 budget…why don’t you get an iCharger 106B+ AND a BT-3100!

[ryansoh3]

I use a portable battery pack as a cradle. Cost me $12 from eBay.

[Ejected_Filament]

balance charging 18650's / 26650's

here is a 2s balance charge lead set up for 18650's i had to cut the springs in the battery boxes as they are for none protected cells and I'm using protected cells so to get them to fit i had to remove the spring and reverse the polarity of the battery boxes (run the batteries the other way round) i have also made some singular ones for protected cells and use red heat shrink to cover the black wires and black heat shrink to cover the red wires so there is no confusion witch way the battery goe…

or maybe

4 x 18650 balance charge cradle for Hobby class chargers

With all the bright 4 battery lights I have been getting lately I have found charging all my 18650’s to be a little onerous. So I ordered a couple of these battery holders from DX here and built myself a 4 cell battery holder with a balancing lead to connect to my hobby class chargers. This will safley charge and balance 4 batteries in a little over the same time it normally takes to charge one battery. I got the balance circut here So far its working great just remember polarity when putting i…

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Hobby Chargers

So, lets start of with some discussion around hobby chargers. Why aren't more of us using hobby chargers to charge our flashlight batteries? Sure, they are more expensive but in return they offer so much more versatility that they almost pay for them self. I'm using my Turnigy Accucel 6 for all my flashlight batteries, Li-ion 18650, 16340, 10440, NiMH AA and AAA and even the battery pack for my cordless drill. In all cases I can set the charge current from 100mA to 5000mA and the charger always…

[pinkpanda3310 (Pinky)]

@LSX

So is it possible to just put 4 batteries end to end in series with magnets and then hook the charger leads to each end?

If you were using the same 4 cells in a given light and never split them to use in other lights so they were all the same age with the same life cycle then you could do the above. BUT they would still need a balance charge every 3th - 4th charge.

@ ryansoh3 he wants to charge 26650’s as well.

[LSX]

26650s I can get away with charging single cells as I only have a couple of them at the moment.

[ryansoh3]

@pinkpanda3310

If you were using the same 4 cells in a given light and never split them to use in other lights so they were all the same age with the same life cycle then you could do the above. BUT they would still need a balance charge every 3th - 4th charge.

@ ryansoh3 he wants to charge 26650’s as well.

I would actually advise never to charge any type of cells in series without proper balancing cables attached. Not worth it when parallel charging is so much easier.

I haven’t seen 26650 parallel cradles though, I usually charge my individual cells with a magnet with wires soldered to it.

[pinkpanda3310 (Pinky)]

@ryansoh3

I would actually advise never to charge any type of cells in series without proper balancing cables attached. Not worth it when parallel charging is so much easier.

Used to do it all the time with my RC lipo’s

[ryansoh3]

@pinkpanda3310

Used to do it all the time with my RC lipo’s

I’d rather have a lipo pack catch on fire in a RC instead of a 18650 in a flashlight.

[tatasal]

@ryansoh3

@pinkpanda3310

Used to do it all the time with my RC lipo’s

I’d rather have a lipo pack catch on fire in a RC instead of a 18650 in a flashlight.

I think you guys meant the same thing, as I believe most(?) RC lipo packs are in series and with balancing cable as standard.

[pinkpanda3310 (Pinky)]

After a while you get a feel for the battery. How hard you push them affects how soon/often you need to balance them. Of course, there are horror stories of batteries blowing up (literally) but there are thousands more that die more peacefully. I’m not worried about any of my batteries blowing up.

[LSX]

What are you talking about when you say balance the batteries?

So is there a safe way to charge 4 18650s together?

[pinkpanda3310 (Pinky)]

If you don’t understand much about balancing then best to start with parallel charging like suggested.

The small battery in the pic is a single cell so it doesn’t need a balance tap but the others are more than one cell so have balance taps.

Lithium batteries are more prone to different discharge rates (when in a pack) than nimhs. These small differences means you have cells with different voltages when the pack has run flat. If you were to charge them as a pack without balancing then the differences would magnify as the higher voltage cells would be over charged while the lower ones wouldn’t reach full charge. The balance tap has a wire running from the + and - of every cell in a pack so the charger can see which ones are higher voltage than the others and will drain from that cell through the balance tap while the pack is still being charged as a whole.

I hope I was clear enough but not to basic for you

[LSX]

That’s great thanks for the info. I am keen to have as much info thrown at me as you can. I don’t fully understand it all at the moment which is why I am asking questions and reading some things.

So I take it the iCharger is the one everyone would recommend given it is within my budget?

[ryansoh3]

I have the iCharger 106B,but as lefteye said, the clone may be of better choice. It has the performance of the 206B at the price of 106B.Radio Control Planes, Drones, Cars, FPV, Quadcopters and more - Hobbyking_54860Turnigy_Reaktor_300W_20A_6S_Balance_Charger_AU_Warehouse.html

[pinkpanda3310 (Pinky)]

You’re at a stage of learning so go with the charger with the most bells and whistles so you don’t out grow it.

Here’s some info about batteries for you http://www.fortbendrc.com/tips/LithiumBatterySecrets.pdf

[dangerous]

I recommend the BT-C3100. It will do 4*1A or 2*2A charging and it has the bonus of being able to discharge test your cells.

[flydiver]

If you just want to charge and discharge and know what’s happening with minimal fuss > Opus
If you want more power, more options (storage, multiple chemistries), and potentially more control > hobby charger……BUT be aware this comes with a higher degree of complexity, ESPECIALLY when you are trying to mess with multiple individual cells.

The hobby chargers will do single cells easily with a made up holder.
They will do parallel charging without too much trouble, in a made up holder.
If you want to do multiple cells (up to 6 for the most part) AND balance (necessary!) AND know what is going on you will need to make up more sophisticated holders with balance taps on them. You will essentially be making RC type series packs.

You can see how this balance wiring is done HERE.

I HAVE a hobby charger, I DO RC charging with packs having balance taps > so I do balance charging all the time.
I have not bothered to make up a balance tap supplied holder to charge Li-on though I actually have the supplies to do so. Too much bother. I do 1 cell at a time to check capacity.
To simply charge and ignore I use a Nitecore i2.
But, I don’t have 70 of them.