Hello all, thanks for taking the time to read and reply if inclined.
I am in the process of collecting several tools for a future venture I’m looking at creating. I have got to the point that I need to decide on what charger to get. I have already purchased a yr-1035+ and the 60w electronic load tester to allow discharging at 1c.
I would love to have the ability to have adjustable charge max voltage (mc3000 or s8000) but that is a bit more than I’m looking to spend this early in the venture as I’m going to be getting 3 units. I have reviewed the sticky post of the chargers reviewed and have found 2 that will fit the bill. The vapcell s4+ ($45) and the miboxer c4-12 ($43). I chose those 2 as I am looking for something that will charge at 2A minimum on all ports to allow charging at 0.5c for 4000mah cells. I noticed that both are rated as good. I guess the question is, is there a reason to pick one over the other.
It’s nice of you to join us, ptremb3043!
My charger of choice is the Vapcell S4+.
It can charge four cells at 3A each.
Just don’t try to use it as a power bank, or else it will self-destruct.
(I don’t know much about the MiBoxer charger.)
I have the Vapcell S4 Plus V3 and im very pleased with it !
I don’t know much about the miboxer c4-12 !
I think that the Vapcell is a little better, i like the display layout, the three buttons, the side auto / manual current switch, and on the power bank mode you can put / use 4 batteries in the 4 slots, the charger automatically will start with the higher charged batteries and then when all the batteries will be in the same level will continue to give power from all the batteries… ! ( With the miboxer c4-12 you can only use the power bank mod with only one battery in the 4th slot… ! )
I have less powerfull Miboxer C4-V4. Downsides are:
Discharge function works at 4th port only with max current 0.4A (I failed to spot that info in the description of C4-12).
You can’t see voltage, current and resistance at the same time. They are displayed in the same place on the screen and you have to wait till the charger cycle through these params with pauses of about 2s.
The good thing is that Miboxer can work with LiFePo4.
Even though you already have a capacity tester with 1A current for a single cell, discharge (capacity test) option should not be ignored. Running capacity test for multiple cells in parallel will come in handy. According to the description S4+ can discharge batteries with current 1A at least in two slots.
I have Vapcell s4+ v3 and it’s excellent. Auto/Manual mode. In auto mode it changes charging current automatically based on the battery and it’s temperature. Very pleased with it.
Thank you all for the reply’s. I suppose in hind sight I should have added that the charger will be for charging only. My plan is to create a small scale production line if you will being able to charge/discharge and match batteries all at the same time. IE 12 cells charging while the first 12 are discharging and ir tested. This way I can more readily match large quantity of cells in a day instead of spending a day waiting to just do 12 cells.
From the sounds of things the vapcell s4+ is the one to get.
EDIT… I should have included this one last bit of info earlier as well. The cells I will be using exclusively are flat top, unprotected.
Yeah i think the Vapcell S4 Plus V3 is the best choice possible (value / money), is quite good, “cheap” and quite new model !
[About the power bank function, i never needed to use it so far… ! But someone posted (with a photo) that his charger blow up a chip on the board in power bank mode, so we have to undress it ! But the question is, why, when, and what type of use was doing, so to blow up the chip… etc… !?]
The Sky RC MC3000 is a very good charger too, it has its own app, and even plug it on a PC… ! But is quite expensive, older model and probably can’t take 21700 protected button top batteries… (if i remember correctly…!?) !
Either way do your own research and check out some reviews, to see what is the best fit for your applications… !
Thank you all for the input and time spent to reply. I think with the direction I have decided to take for this venture the s4+ should fit the bill just fine. I had done quite a bit of research prior to posting my question here and got hung up on the comparison of the finalist.
This just leaves the remaining part needed being the holders for discharge/ir testing.
Make sure to take the V3, has the new function “Storage” , it charge the batteries up to 50% - 3.7V so you can storage them for long periods of time, and has the “Mute” function so you can turn off the display when is working, and doesn’t make the “beep sound”, when the charging is complete… !
In the “capacity mode”, it charge the batteries full, then discharge them to make the measurements, and then it charge them full again !
If you have full charged batteries, you can make a quick measurement test on the “discharge mode” !
You can make the “discharge mode” in all slots, but in the 1st and 4th you can do it up to 1A !
It’s nice to see you, CaptainCant!
I don’t think I’ve ever had much trouble removing 21700 (or smaller) cells from the Vapcell S4+.
That said, I don’t use 26650 cells.
Oh definitely, I’ll get the v3, thanks for the update. I didn’t know it did the storage charge protocol and have mute selectable. I didn’t see that on the review here, even in the update posts. I suppose I may have just missed it as well.
