Help me to choose a good charger

Ok, my Xtar wp2 just died…got flashing red lights and a horrible smell from… after 4 years of charging almost every day, I think it just got tired. Now I am using my Miller ML-102 as backup.

Back in the days, it was very easy to choose a good 18650 charger, few brands, exclude brands that dont have “fire” in the name and see prices and the few reviews here :slight_smile:

Now…theres just too many brands, and fewer that can fulfill what they advertise. So I need some help from you guys, in order to find a cheap, reliable, silent, safety with at least two slots that can charge my imr 18650 and 18500 batteries, without being worried went home and find it in flames with a good cc/cv charging.

By the reviews here, theres a few that can do what I want and I just select some few brands:

- Nitecore;

- LiitoKala;

  • XTAR.

As I said, it will be only for charging a few imr cells (18650 and 18500) and of course it helps having more functions.

So what you guys think? Fell free too say the brand/model or any deal (cant buy in US…customs house!! I am european).

Regards and thank you to you all.

I have the LiitoKala 260 and the Xtar SP2 so far - the Nitecore I4 is on it’s way.

All three are good chargers - the SP2 can charge with 0.5, 1 and 2 Amps (good for 26650), the Liitokala with 0.5 and 1A, the i4 with 2*750mA / 4*375mA - but if you charge over night that’s not a problem.

I have the LiitoKala primarely because of the discharge function, but it’s also a good charger (charges my batteries to 4.21-4.23V)

Any problems with the LiitoKala 260 (null or overheating problem)? I have seen some problems in the review thread saying sometimes the charger got the “null” text…dont know if charging or discharging function :S
It seems a very good charger indeed.

Xtar is the top brand for chargers, they has good charge curves and fairly precise voltage.

Nitecore is a bit slow to charge and use simulated CC/CV. The last generation of their chargers are very well build and for universal (LiIon+NiMH) chargers they are good.

LiitoKala is fairly new and the 260 has a problem with long batteries. It also looks like they have trimmed the charge voltage slightly above 4.20 volt, this is not a problem, except if it is above 4.25 volt. Generally this is also a good charger and the discharge function is interesting.

For just charging I would go with the Xtar, if you also want to analyze batteries, the LiitoKala is better, but use a voltmeter the first few times to check that the voltage is within range. For a family charger, i.e. everybody in the family is putting batteries in it, the Nitecore is the obvious choice.

I am in the same boat. I will take a look at the xtar and LiitoKala chargers.

I’m looking around to buy my first lithium-ion charger. The Xtar-SP1 looks like a versatile charger, but it only does one battery at a time. Do I really need a 2 or 4 bay charger if I’m only needing charger for a couple of flashlights that’d only be used 2 or 3 of times for a couple of hours each week? Welcome recommendations and any advice. Thanks.

http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20LiitoKala%20Lii-260%20UK.html

If the lights are single cell lights you can probably get away with a single bay charger.

If you are good at staying prepared, i.e. charge the lights a couple of days before you need them, a single bay charger may also be enough.

I have had good luck with the. Soshine SC-S2.

Thank you for your response HKJ. I checked your website link and found about all I’ll ever need to know about various chargers! Thank you.

You can't go wrong with Xtar. Good luck.

I might be a good idea to check once in a while. I have been adding a new charger nearly each week and I will do that for some time yet (Today I finished two charger reviews).

I cannot cover all chargers on the market, but I try to include the most interesting chargers and I am usual very open for suggestions.

Can you suggest an inline fuse/circuit breaker that would protect chargers lacking their own overload protection?
Something we could just splice into a cable? Or maybe someone makes a USB cable with some rated fuse/breaker built into it?

HKJ is the worlds best expert on chargers and batteries, listen to what he says and read his reviews. I bought several different models of Xtar chargers after reading his reviews, as he said they have good charge curves.