dont use cap test, just charge it normally. then choose discharge and long press on “current” button. you can reduce the discharge rate from there in manual or auto mode.
so just regular discharge mode will test the capacity?
yes, as you said yourself the capacity is calculated during discharge so just make sure it’s full to start and it’s the same thing. it just wont charge before or after.
hm…i guess i COULD do that…but i dont know if i want to, i already went thru it all, each battery can take like 7-8 hours for a full cycle of cap test, if i do this manually, i have to check in on it every few hours…ugh, whatever, if its shit its shit, i got good batteries to work with anyway. those can be my back ups lol
uh you dont have to check it. it fully discharges and stays on the screen??
one of the worst things about crappy batteries is unrelated to any of this. charge one to full then check on it with a multimeter after a few days or a week of sitting. they self discharge so high that they are worthless except right off the charger sometimes.
this is far too much discussion on this topic for me 
no i mean like i have to charge it, then when its full, i ahve to go discharge it, then when its done, i have to go charge it again, cuz i cant just leave it on empty. so thats 3 trips vs one lol
What else you going to do with them?
the shit batteries? since they all full charged, put them in my sc31 pro, and use them until its dead, and throw them out, lol…unless some proved to have a decent run time, then maybe keep and do some investigation with your method lol
Well, IMO that’s ‘backwards’.
You don’t really know what is going on with a light discharge unless they fail so quickly and badly it’s obvious.
Since they are charged, it you had put them on discharge at a low rate in the charger, you’d already be done and know the working capacity at that discharge rate.
eh, i tried them again, the test results are same as last time, so either they are just at that capacity, or they are so broken that the capacity cannot be tested, at least not by s4+, so i give up, whatever, i got new batteries on the way anyway, im gonna throw them out
i just got a whole bunch of 35Es, and i put them in to charge and do cap test, i noticed that the amperage at which s4+ automatically determines for them to charge at are all different, some are 1A, some 1.5A, some 2A, and this is just from the first batch of 4! how does the s4+ determine that? i know it automatically decreases gradually as the battery is charged full, but i dont think thats what this is, because they were all around 80-90% capacity
Recall those issues with internal resistance? It’s not just the battery, a lot of it is the mechanism and contacts. The IR reading is the primary determining factor (I think). IR also changes with temperature and state of charge. I guess I’m not surprised you get a lot of different levels.
IMO, if you want to do this with some semblance of control you’ll start using manual for cap tests.
Do whatever you want for just charging. I almost never use auto even for charging.
Note - depending on the charger, meaning the algorithm programmed in to it, the initial charge state, and the level the charger ‘decided’ to start charging, all determine how the charger will ramp down. Ramping can start as low as 80%.
80-90% charge for shipping seems awfully high to me. There’s a lot of power available at that level.
I thought new rules were going to lower that to below the ‘usual’ 50%?
ya i actually just added in the new thread i made
“i just wanna add that, the resistance measures were different too, not in same ball park like the sofirn 18650s that i got, they were all around 40-50, but these, at least the first 4 (i got 8), they were ranging from 30s to 80s. i mean i know some people said the resistance measurements on chargers isnt always accurate, but i just wanted to mention that in case s4+ takes that into consideration when deciding the charging amperage.”
so i guess i was right, it is determined in relation to the resistance readings, even if they are not accurate. cuz the highest resistance one was the 1A, and i THINK the lowest one was 2A, and other 2 were 1.5A.
but if i dont use auto, i dont know what type of battery should use how much amp to charge, is there like a general rule of thumb? and what do you mean by ramping can start as slow as 80%? what is ramping down, discharging?
and i dont know anything about that, i have heard it once or twice, but i guess not yet? or maybe going forward? im assuming these have already been packaged for a while just waiting to be picked for shipping, maybe the new ones coming out they stop at 50%.
Lithium shipping charge standards has been 50% for a good while. The problem has been stock that is SO old even that has slowly discharged. Higher charge provides more power for potential fire threats.
I have a Nissan Leaf electric. I tend to keep the charge down at 30-40% when not being used.
Look at some of HJK battery/charger postings. Test/Review of Samsung INR18650-35E 3500mAh (Pink)
At some point the charge will start to decrease working toward termination. That’s the ramping down. Discharging amps should not have any ramping (voltage does drop). It goes where it is set until it hits the cut-off, then just stops.
Manufacturers give specs on charging and discharging rates. (See specs on link above). For 18650 I personally tend to use 0.5A if I’m in no hurry. 1.0A is not a problem. 2.0A is acceptable if in a hurry and it’s a quality battery. You can go higher, but that’s pushing it a bit. Larger batteries can be charged at higher rates. Small batteries, older batteries, lower rates.
The higher the charge rate, the more heating it may have. Higher resistance adds to the heating problem. Heat is not good for any battery. Higher rates detract a bit from longevity.
so theoretically, slower the better? im assuming 35E falls under “quality battery”? lol
also, since you seem to know awful lot about batteries, what do you make of this
That’s a long’ish thread. Are you asking about the 0.2 discharge rate?
Some people think slower charge is better. There’s a practical lower limit on that. 
For 18650 I don’t go below 0.5A, UNLESS, it’s an unknown cell (say, a power pack pull), and I’m being careful about initial charging during analysis of it’s quality. Excessive heating during charging is a bad sign.
Note - NiMh may not work well with charge too low. I use 0.5-0.7, sometimes 1.0 for AA. Battery may not terminate properly if set too low. NiMh and li-on are completely different chemistries. They terminate differently. NiMh is actually more difficult.
yes, specifically that comment, the reply from sofirn that i found on amazon, talking about their 21700 batteries being 0.2C discharge rate, like wtf?
The manufacturers set a ‘standard’ LOW discharge rate for capacity rating purposes, what they will advertise (honestly….we hope). The lower the rate, the higher the capacity ends up being. There is supposed to be an industry standard for specific chemistries and sizes.
I understand that, but for personal purposes I ignore it. I want to know what the battery will do at the discharge rates I intend for it. HJK’s discharge graphs are great for that. He uses a broad range of discharges. Look at where the capacity comes out depending on rate.
right, i understand the first part, either high drain rate, or high capacity, but 0.2C is WAY too low isnt it? most batteries 18650, 21700, 26650, they should be 10-30A, no? this being a 4000mah, 0.2C would make it 0.8A, how can any flashlight run on that?
did they get confused as to what i mean? or is there two different discharge rates? are you saying i should check HJK’s other 21700 battery reviews, look for ones that are 4000mah, and see what their rate is, and that would be a decent estimate to what this one should be?
I emphasize, 0.2A discharge is a RATING standard, NOT a USE standard or recommendation. It’s purely for the industry to have a standard to determine how they will rate their battery capacity. It allows batteries to (hopefully) be compared with some reliability.
Decent AAA NiMh will easily pull more than 0.2A.