That is not a good idea, check the charge curves in the eneloop datasheet: http://www.eneloop.info/fileadmin/web_data/Data-Sheets/HR-3UWXB_data_sheet.PDF
The actual termination voltage depends on temperature!
Also, a modern charger terminates on DV, not on temperature. The temperature is one of 3 backup methodes, voltage and time are the others.
I asked makers of modern PSU's of today and they said that the limit is around 75Watts.
Any AC adapter smaller than that does not need PFC.
:)
i want a charger that can actually charge 6-12 cells at once ALL to 4.20 volts
not a charger like my xtar wp6 ii that charges 6 cells to 4.14 4.12 4.22 4.17 and 4.24 volts forcing me to baby sit it.
I think the perfect charger would be one that lets you choose the charging amps per channel or battery capacity and chemistry and let it figure it out. Before I understood the whole .5C to .8C for ICR batteries thing, I was charging my 16340’s at 750mA with my Nitecore Intellicharger i4. The most important feature for me is making sure the battery is charged at the correct current since I use a lot of 16340’s and 14500’s because I like really small EDC Lights.
I settled for this beast because I hate balance charging, external power supplies, and single channel chargers. It wasn’t cheap, but it is exactly what I wanted:
does the device get hot when you charge with 4 channels simultaneously?
do you have a cradle or battery holders for Protected 18650's?
It is usually luke-warm to the touch when it is plugged in. For some reason, the charger has some weird fan algorithm. Instead of just turning on the fans to 10% or so to keep it cool, it will just go full blast for like 2 seconds every few minutes. The fans are very loud at full speed. It is somewhat annoying, but not a deal breaker. It actually stays quieter when it is charging at high currents for some unknown reason. If I charge 4 MNKE IMR 3500 mAh 26650’s at 3.5A each, it will actually just run the fan very quietly and stays luke-warm, but not hot at all.
Currently, I am using alligator clips with rare earth magnets for each channel. I just took delivery of 4 of these single battery cradles with sliding negative posts, which I am going to remove the internal circuitry from, and make them compatible with my x4 charger. That is on the list of things to do this week…
Thanks for the helpful post, appreciated.
Yours has a smart loud fan but its cooling algorithm be weird, i see :) That's not too good then ;)
So a dream charger, to you, could be something like the x4 but with attached/integrated 4-bay cradle?
Basically, yes. It would need to be quieter too 
Most important basic quality? Honestly, looks of the charger are important too. I don’t like the way hobby chargers look with their “RC styling”. They might be great but it’s clear the intended market.
There, my 0.19 CNY worth. Salt; pinch.
Good point, thanks for the input Chloe!
Hobby chargers and their styling have 2 things in common:
1) the primitive block shape
2) the aluminum material, CNC milled
The truth is, because the shape is a primal block, manufacturers can build it with aluminum material so they do it. Aluminum is much more preferrable to ABS plastics.
A dream charger has a 4-bay cradle. While Sysmax roboter park could probably mill a 4-bay cradle from a block of aluminum without problems, I believe that no company would seriously consider building an universal charger out of milled aluminum. fwiw the c9000, the xp4 are made out of good quality plastic and nobody dares to complain.
Make the charger out of plastic and the RC-styling looks is naturally gone ;)
I think there is an autocorrect in your post! 
I don’t mind ABS casing. Milled aluminium can be nice too (look at Apple products) but it does add to the cost and weight.
The aluminium is much better at conducting heat than plastic, that is significant at the power level hobby chargers operates. Of course a noisy fan can easily compensate for that (Sometimes hobby chargers does also have to supplement the aluminium with a fan).
The body for hobby chargers is not milled from a block of aluminium, it is extruded and then the holes are milled.
Also, your poll method is very confusing. It said I had voted and I assumed an accidental extra click, so I cancelled my vote…and it looks like it cancelled the vote on the previous poll so I could vote on this one…?
Plus…what you actually mean by several of your choices is not clear: “very accurate” in which way: voltage termination, voltage reading lcd, battery type determination, timers, mAh detemination? “Otherwise flawless” means apart from what exactly, isn’t that accuracy? “Well-built, not cheap” kind of means your next choice to me: “Guaranteed long-lasting”, but to some its going to mean “made out of rare whale bone with emerald LED light covers”. Are “Extra fancy features” considered to be Voltages read on LCD? For some those aren’t “fancy features” but to others they are… just saying, I’m not sure what info you are after here, but its not going to give you much of any info.
I don’t mind a fan if needed for cooling, it can be changed for a quiet fan if they choose a large one (60x60mm min). But ABS/molded allows for adjustable battery bays which are a familiar design feature.
erh .. haha, that's what i meant!! my Engrish skills have gone down hill and i sometimes pick the wrong words from my longman dictionary, sorry. the text got auto-corrected, the board software rocks 
oh we h*te noisy fans, don't we?
assuming that the charger's case is made out of plastic, then the interior should have at least a smart fan (similar to the x4 charger) or even better, have a smart fan in combination with a patented heat sink:
In dinoboy's thread on cpu temperature and cooling fans there were also engineering solutions with copper heat pipes.
They could also add a aluminium heatsink on the back of the unit, but a fan is probably cheaper.
Often this kind of decisions depends on price and number of units you want to make. With the charger we are talking about here, it is difficult to avoid using plastic, due to the need for bays.
Heatpipes are useful for moving heat, not for cooling. With a cpu you want to move the a lot of heat from the small cpu square into the heatsink.
In a charger you have some heat from each channel, that is not nearly as intense and do usual not need to be moved to an outside heatsink, i.e. much less use for a heatpipe.
I was just thinking, maybe it could be really simple, plain white case, touch screen panel with well designed UI, graphs etc, SD card port for data logging, and a choice of clip-in charging bays, so a sort of modular design. This way it avoids charging tiny cells in enormous bays with super-long springs (effectively replacing banana leads and magnets).
Not a touch screen, but is a color LCD. Twirly/pushy knob supplemented by some buttons is the main UI.
yes yes, that's correct. one needs to cancel the vote and then re-vote :) Thanks for doing so!
"Otherwise flawless" refers to operation of all and every function of the charger, compare with Armytek Wizard Pro headlamp which is pumped with functionality. C9000 still has little bugs but is an accurate device to become a scene standard in taking and publishing measurements (voltage, mAh). The poll options are deliberately overlapping because that's part of the nature. Accuracy would refer to voltage reading and mAh measurement and also 4.2000V voltage termination. Battery type determination is totally unsafe and hobby chargers don't have that.
"Long-lasting" is warranty and wishful thinking, we cannot predict the future.
"well-built, not cheap" is a criterion which i heard often in XTAR's dream charger thread. The manufacturer can pick higher quality electronic components, materials, etc. with the intention to build something better from scratch than other manufacturers.
In the upcoming POLL3, i'd setup a list of fancy features which go beyond XTAR's functionality; the xp4 is a universal charger but still primitive tbh.
The very last poll (POLL4 or 5) would be on price. Just a feeler on what you guys are willing to pay once it has been established as fact (by independent reviewers, kreisl, HKJ, selfbuilt, ..) that the product does perform to your highest expectations.
Soshine has this kind of charger style :D
Do you enjoy the looks/design of Soshine white charger products?
Maybe a universal cradle charger does not really need a heatsink (outside or inside) but the cheap fan solution would not be my preferred design choice.
HKJ, do you mind a noisy fan in your charger? ;)