HKJ, have you tried the Xtar 2600, does it fit in? Can this charger take 26650, I mean can they fit?
Thanks!
I do not have the Xtar 2600, the Xtar 2400 does fit, but there is not much space left.
I could not fit 4Sevens 26650, they where to long (They where from the first batch of 26650, maybe the new batch has another length).
I have some recent 4Sevens green wrapped (S12 spec high output cells, rather than the blue wrapped X10 cells) 26650s, so I'll let you know when my i4 arrives. I also have a couple of the Xtar 2600s.
Both the Xtar 2600MAH and the 2400MAH are 18700 batteries. So if one fits so should the other.
The Xtar 2400 cell I used is 69 mm long, the 26650 cell is 70 mm long.
This is A tight fit charger and every MM counts.
That naming doesn't matter, look at the 26650, it's 70mm not 65mm
The i4 arrived today.
I can get the Xtar 2600mAh in there, but there is no give in the sliders at all. The battery is literally wedged in there with no space left over. The problem with this is that when you pull the battery back out again, it pivots against the top of the slider, and you get a gouge in the end of the battery's PCB. Can't consider that a good thing.
As for the 26650, it won't fit in the outer bays, due to the side wings of the housing. Likewise, due to width, you can't really have two side by side in the middle slots, so you can only charge one at a time. That said, it only sits properly in one of those slots. In the other, the battery doesn't sit flat, and tries to lift out of the bay. Again, you have little to no space left in the bay, and the slider nicks the bottom of the battery when you lift it out.
Hey, Thanks for the news.
On CPF one guy could take contact on the positive using a Duracell C, I wonder the C NIMHs.
I believe the 26650s are able (it seems to be a ability not a function) to be charged because of the large positive contact, not like the alkalines.
To me it seems JETbeam/Nicore (Sysmax) have produced a charger unworthy of their names. Or maybe they want go cheap.
Yep, I've seen the pictures of the C-cell in the charger, and the positive button being a long way from the chargers contact. Like yourself, I surmised that the only reason people are able to charge 26xxx li-ion cells is due to the fact that they generally have large buttons or flat tops.
I have just received mine, and it does have room to fit 26650 on the side bays, and can fit a Hi Max 18650 2600 which is 69.4mm long, it fits a bit tight but fits, I think using sand papper would make it fit 18700 as the plates on the "-" are 1mm thick with a 0.5mm pin in the middle.
The problem some of you say 26650 do not fit on the side bays might be because yours are wider than 26mm?
I do not know how good it works yet, but it feels better than my TR001.
I thought it was going to be worse from what I had been reading here, but what I have checked in the first 5 minutes is not that bad.
I did not check C batteries yet (I do not have any), they might fit worse due to the top button as my IMR 26650 is flat top.
Here you got a pair of pictures I have just taken of it:
Yeah, that can happen, you have to be carefull to pick from the top carefully and follow the spring a bit till it is on its compressed position, I also found it with TR001, it is a problem all chargers with spring might have, it will depend on the spring tension how fast it kicks the battery if you don't do it propperly.
Looking at the picture above, your 26650 cell isn't straight in the charger. Obviously, the wider the cell, the worse the offset will be, but the fact that it is offset at all means that the bay isn't really wide enough.
With regards to the gouging in the base of the cells, I'm sure that the issue is down more to the fact that the negative contact cannot move away from the cell as you lift it out of the charger. Like I said, with long cells the negative contact is hard up against the rear wall of the bay - there's just no leeway for the slider to move away from the base of the cell. It's all dependent on just how long the cell is. With a shorter cell, it isn't an issue.
As it is flat top, it can seat straight too, but less room will be left for the next bay..
The thing is no more than two 26650 can be charged at the same time due to their size, which is not too bad for me as I only have two, and charging 26650´s at 500mA would take quite long.
By the way, I have just fully charged a 26650 and it is giving 4.16V, it is not too bad,but I would prefer 4.2V instead, they might have done it to be in the safe side.
I prefer 4.2V
4.16V is supposedly better for your battery life, which is again supposed to be 500 cycles. No way I make 500 cycles in 3 years on a 18650.
Yes it depends on many things, like if you have a direct drive flashlight, or maybe a different chemistry, are the cells protected or not...
But I have 2 protected cells that have only 15 cycles in one year, in this situation I really don't care about how many extra cycles I can get since I am far from 500; 4.2V is suiting those two batteries very well.
But if you have some batteries that you charge every day, 4.16V may be something good.
I agree with you Hikelite, I normally prefer 4.2V, my TR001 does the opposite, it overcharges them up to 4.22V and in most of my batteries the reduction on their battery life will not be noticeable as I do not use them than often.
I charged also some 18650, some of them TR flames, Hi-Max and a pair more, and they are giving 4.17V some of them and others 4.19V I am not that good on electric parameters, and I do not know why it charges a bit different the cells, it also happens with the TR001, it charges 4.22V the ones that charges the most, and others a bit less, I do not know if this is due to their age, model, Protection circuit, or chemestry, but it happens the same batteries are more or less charged on both chargers..
The ones both charge the least are the IMR 26650, giving about 4.16V on the Jetbeam charger, and 4.185 on the TR001.
A charger charging to 4.2 volt might not be a CC/CV charger. Look at my curve in post #150, the charger is charging to 4.2 volt, but when it turns of the voltage drops to about 4.15. How much the voltage drops depends on the cutoff current and the age of the battery.
Note: The i4 does not always charge to the same voltage, in my test it varies a little bit.
So when are we gonna see that review of this charger...? :D
Can I assume correctly that as things stand at the moment you would not recommend this charger...?
In a few days. Until now I have recorded 16 charge curves, some of them are strange and I did the same curve a couple of times.
It will definitely not get a recommendation. It can be used, I have not see anything directly unsafe with it and it does use something that is very close to a CC/CV algorithm.
The problem is way to many "minor" issues.
Hi mrbios, Can u provide the link of this charger? As I could't find it from DD. Thanks!