How to charge long batteries? 90mm and longer

Could you jury rig one like in the photos?

I’ve got a few ideas to post with pictures. Most 46xxx series chargers and batteries are top charge only.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256808108397715.html
In the Zeroair review it’s claimed that the 27,500mah battery was charged in nearly 7 hours. That’s not to shabby. The other links are to show different sizes and prices. 46120 has two options I see. Cut the bottom off and slip it over as a sleeve which might not provide enough contact pressure. Rubber bands and a couple of pens could solve that. 2nd 3d print a 46120 body.
ChibiM could you post a picture of this beast of a battery?

I saw those Lumintop chargers as well, but they still charge at a relatively low current. I actually saw some listings on Aliexpress already showed a 46120 battery adapter for that charger. https://aliexpress.com/item/1005008318355584.htm Onboard charging on my Astrolux MF05 v2 (which has the 46120) is max 22 watts, and I would like to get to 50 watts or more…

Here’s a picture of the 46120 next to other batteries:

46120 - 46950 - 21700 - 18650 - 14500 - 18350

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Fireflies sells a little battery charger on their accessories page that would do it.

I was hoping for a picture on the heads profile. To see if it charges from one end or both. Your link doesn’t work oh this end.

I’ve been thinking about designing/ 3D printing something that will adapt a charger that can do 18650 cells. So make an 18650 size dummy battery with terminals connected to wires, then run the wires to a printed external charging bay. Or use one of the previous posted battery holders. That would work if your current charger pumped out enough current.

Saying that, I went and purchased a VC8S charger to do 26800 batteries a couple of days back. My excuse was it was on special! Reviewers have posted it fits them- even thought that size isn’t listed. Some of the proper 26800 single/ dual bay chargers don’t get the best reviews…

I typically use a magnet and 18AWG wire, along with an adjustable DC power supply, to charge 46-series batteries. Generally, I give 20-25A Ichg or more. However, it’s worth noting that the positive electrode of many large 46-series batteries appears to be made of aluminum, which cannot be magnetized and must be externally fixed.

@texas_shooter : it has a single positive terminal on the front, and a negative terminal at the back… like most batteries. On the other hand, my Lumintop 46950 has both; positive, and negative in the front (like Olight batteries).

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They added it to Aliexpress… for a premium price :smiley:

Not even gonna bother ordering it…

€43.99 + €9.23 sending… lol…

I don’t see the Atorch ‘battery stand’ mentioned, which already support 46950 batteries and could be easily converted into a charger stand. You can find it for around € 15,- regularly. (It’s also sold by other brands or unbranded, so look around a bit.)

I haven’t checked/measured it, but there might be a possibilty that with some modding, you might get it to accept 46110 batteries also.

I recently decided to order a Lumintop Aurora powerbank (with a 46950 battery included), when it was on sale for €44,- and with a coupon it went down to € 39,-. An acceptable price for this combination.

This way I at least have a charger that is capable of charging my 46950 in a ‘reasonable time’ (20 or 22,5 wat I believe.)

I believe Lumintop has discontinued it, but it is still available in some places:

I previously already bought a 46950 powerbank enclosure on AE (the cheapest I could find), but it acts really weird in several ways, so I don’t trust it enough for charging any of my batteries.

I just checked on the 2 types/brands 46950’s that I have and damn, you’re completely right! I already bought some specific parts for the magnetic charging I had in mind and was about to solder everything together, but I will now scrap that ‘project’! :joy:

I should have picked up one of these a few months ago when I first saw them. They were close to the price you mention. The listing you linked now shows them at ~$77

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At the time I posted that link, it was listed for something like 54 to 55 euro, which according to Google would be around $ 64,- with the current exchange rate. Currently the same listing shows € 49,99 for me. (And with all the coupon codes floating around, you can get a bit more off.)
So quite a high price you would have to pay. I suppose (partially) tariff related?

I would instantly buy another Aurora if I could buy it without the included battery (and therefore cheaper). I currently have 8 46950 batteries altogether (1 Lumintop and 7 Liitokala) and I just have no need for another battery! :rofl:


Aliexpress does strange things with pricing depending on ones location, taxes, and I think other obscure criteria.

That Lumintop charger only charges at 20 watts or so… I’d prefer something at least 50 watts.

I actually bought a ToolKitRC with some extra wires, but haven’t bought a holder yet :slight_smile:

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These big batteries really need 50W charging. I don’t know why no one’s released a charging solution that can yet. You don’t even need to go with 12 volts or 20 volts. You can run a 5 volt 10 amp or even a 5 volt 8 amp circuit pretty easily. The battery can take it no problem.

The Astrolux MF06 charge time for the 46950 cell was 11h 20 min.

I did a full charge of the Lumintop 46950 in the Lumintop Aurora powerbank, from 3,091V (voltage when the LVP from the Aurora kicked in) up to 4,202V in just under 7h 30m. (See photo below from USB-C meter for exact time.)

By no means extremely fast, but seems to be a bit faster than the onboard charging of the MF06.

The Lumintops are the fastest-charging 46950 lights. The MF07 was fast as the Lumintops, but I’m not sure why the MF06 is slow. I watched it a big during charging and it starts slow, ramps up to about 17 watts, then back down to around 15 watts.

I initially planned to register the charging time with my Fnirsi FNB58, which didn’t want to work properly (I think I now know what my ‘mistake’ was), so I switched to a USB-C to C Hidance (Atorch?) meter as a back up, since my main interest was total charging time.
From the pre-charge measured 3.091V from my DMM, it almost instantly starting charging with a (almost constant ~20,5W, which more or less stayed consistent according to the USB meter, up until to getting last 0,10-0,15V up to 4,2V, which (in comparison) took quite a bit of time.

I was planning to use my Anker 67w GAN charger for this test, but after 5 minutes I realised grabbed the ‘wrong’ charger, a ‘cheaper’ Chinese/Essager 67w Gan charger, so I sticked with that. In the end it turned out te be an acceptable/decent job, althougn I’ve got no clue how that charger will hold up in the long term!

I now also have recieved a second Aurora with Lumintop 46950 battery and i look forward how consisted that one is in comparisson the first on.

I’m also still planning to do a full CC discharge test (down to 2,8V) with My Atorch DL24 on one (or both) of the Lumintop 46950, to get more accurate numbers on it’s stated numbers.

I would really like to see a hard diacharge on one of these, like 40 amp CC and see how it does. Has anyone really tested one of these batteries? I know they can run for hours and hours even at 5-10 amps from my testing.

I wish I had the equipment to test that, but with my budget Atorch DL24 I’m not able to do that, since that tops out at 20A. And from what I’ve read the mosfet in the DL24 isn’t the best quality, so even running it close or at the rated 150W, it might brake down sooner or later. (I’ve found a good replacement FET, mentioned on the EEVblog forum, that should be able to handle the power, but the price at a reputable seller like Mouser, is half the price of a brand new DL24.)

I could do a 20A discharge though, but that is hardly a challenge for a 46950…