Years ago when I was a bike commuter I dad a variety of chargers and NiMh batteries before I made the switch to Lion. I’d seen the batteries gradually fail to hold a charge as well as fail to accept a full charge with time and use. Last summer I got a trail camera that uses 8 AA batteries so I bought 8 Eneloops to run it plus a Xtar VC4 charger. I’d only needed to recharge the new batteries a few times before I started noticing problems. Sometimes that charger would identify the NiMh batteries as Lion and try to charge them that way (glad I saw that in time to stop it) other times the red charging indicator would be lit when the ammeter showed 0 and the voltage was 1.3 tops. I’d be able to finish charging in my Nitecore D2 without any problem. When I contacted the Xtar distributor about this they tell me the batteries aren’t able to accept a full charge since they’re older as well as that the charger is working like it should.
I now realize I should have bought a D4 to begin with. Learn from my mistake as they say!
Vapcell S4 plus V3 > Xtar VC4
? What does that mean?
A sound reply there Brad 
I’ve had no problems with the VC2SL, but a friend of mine just got one to do a couple of 26650’s and he’s having problems with it charging only at 0.5A, never above that, and not filling the battery even after days. I’d recommended it because I thought they were good chargers.
That’s unfortunate…of the dozens of times I’ve used my newer vc4, (the old one got flood damaged) it has so far recognized the batteries properly.
The other chargers I have are NiMH specific, the Opus 3100 and the eneloop white brick, and I daresay the vc4 charges more consistently and fully than either of them. My blue eneloops from costco are still charging strong at an average of 1920-2100 mAh, 8 years later. Then again, I am kind of anal about that sort of thing, and only one cell has gone less than stellar, because I let someone else use/hold onto it for a couple years. That one charges to 1860mAh which is still great I guess.
When I charge my 26650 in the VC4, I can charge 2 at 1A each if I utilize ONLY the outer bays, and if I’m using a good power brick. At 500mA, a 26650 should be done in around 10 hours…if it’s charging for days, either the charge current has dropped very very low, or the battery is leaking charge somehow.
Or, more likely, does the VC2SL have a testing mode? If so, it’ll fully charge and discharge the cell a couple times to get a capacity rating, so it could appear to be charging for a few days.
You got a bad piece of electronics. Wont be the first or the last. That charger made in Japan or USA would cost $150.
I don’t think the V2 has a testing mode, the button on it changes display readouts. I do know he initially was using a laptop charging plug, which is PD. He changed that and tested with some other plugs and got an amp that quickly dropped to 0.5A again. Not too sure after that how it resolved.
I bought an XTAR plug and lead when I got mine. Not saying that’s the answer but I’ve been trouble free apart from the occasional cell that sits at 4.1V indefinitely. Same as I use the iPad plug and lead for the iPad if possible.
Yep. It’s more cheap Chinese junk sold on Amazon, it’s down to $18 now. I don’t want to use whatever they’d send me to replace it, I’ll spend the money and buy another Nitecore.
Funny you should mention nitecore…my i4 charger crapped out after a few months, as did its replacement…oddly enough it is also a chinese company lol.
I believe the 1A mode only applies when it is one cell. 2 × 26650 will charge at 500mA a piece.
A lot of Nitecore fakes on the market.
Been a problem for years.
The real ones usually work pretty good but lemons are out there with all the mass market stuff now.
World we live in.
Surely GG (from when Marshall was still around RIP) was selling authentic nitecore products…
The VC4 came with some stickers that were supposed to prove it was authentic, a lot of good that did me.
I bought my Nitecore charger from Battery Junction maybe 10 years ago or so and thought I’d buy the D4 from them. Are they still a good company to deal with?
I’m not familiar with them, who are they?
Goinggear. I haven’t purchased anything from Goinggear or batteryjunction in a while, so I couldn’t tell you lol. But from my past experience, Goinggear shipped quickly and accurately. Usually hit my doorstep in under a work week. They handled the faulty charger issue very well, and without going into specifics, it was taken care of.
I have no luck with XTAR charger either. I have personally owned at least 5 chargers, a mix of 2 to 4 bays. They are really well-built from outside, but they all broken within 3 years of occasional usage.
That’s helpful, thank you. That seems to be the behaviour of his charger. I think he’s expecting too much, too soon with those big cells.
I think I got maybe a half dozen uses out of mine before it started to fail.
Thanks. I got some good flashlights, a good charger and some so so NiMH batteries from Battery Junction in the past but that was years ago. I think I got the D2 charger and most of the Lion cells I still use there too. But I read some iffy reviews about them and made the mistake of buying from Amazon.