About 3 years ago or so after just getting the Efest LUC V4, I noticed how long the last phase took and the length of time to terminate the charge, resulting in way too long of a time for the battery to be charged. I noticed this on all the batteries I used in it. So I decided to do my first comparison test.
I noticed that with the same battery, same exact starting voltage that the LUC V4 took Longer to charge a 26650 at 2 amps than the Fenix ARE-C2 at 1 Amp. :smiling_imp:
I know there are different ways these chargers terminate the charge, but I was still baffled and put the LUC V4 in storage for emergency use only.
Time is of the essence! Hey, 5, 10 15 minutes difference is no big deal. But that was far from the case today when I took the LUC V4 out of storage to compare it to the Folomov A4.
Again, using the exact same battery[Aspire 26650] with a start to charge voltage of 3.80V and charging them at 2 amps. The Folomov charged in 51 minutes and the voltage taken immediately after termination was 4.21V. Very satisfied with that.
My Opus BT-C3100 is also very consistent and expedient.
The Efest LUC V4 on the other hand was still trying to terminate after 3 hours when I stopped the test. The voltage was 4.17 when I took it off of the charger. Now, I am sure it was probably at or near that voltage for an hour, maybe 90 minutes? I do not know about you, I like a charger that is rather expedient and the ending voltage is at least 4.18v for new batteries.
I also know that battery chemistry, type of charger has a bearing on all the numbers.
It is nice that we have choices and it is nice to have chargers that do no struggle to terminate the voltage. Sure, when I saw the LUC V4 charger at 4.18V for close to an hour, it is a clue that it will not go much higher if any and just take it off.To me it is a waste of time waiting and wondering. Reality is chargers like Folomov and others that are newer technology are more versatile which I like also. 4 X 2Amp or 2X 3AMP and 2 X 1 amp[total 8 amps]. Of course there are some that can do 4 X 3 amp.
Anyway, a little bored so I thought I would share this, knowing that most people may know this and the posts are probably going to be overwhelming. :sunglasses: