Aarrgghh….admittedly I’m a novice Li-ion battery guy, but why am I spending 2+ hours reading about chargers, reviews, and……most often….failures?
Seems most chargers have issues of one sort or another? Or is it just picky/intense/expert flashaholics ranting about very small issues?
Every manufacturer I study to buy comes up with negative comments at some point. I can’t pick one, LOL.
The only one I have currently is a freebie that came in a Sofirn bundle….generic, no name, no digital info, limited function, and unknown reliability/safety.
Is there 1, 2, or 3 that everybody is buying these days that covers all the basics and gives worry-free performance?
Well, you need to define worry-free since that’s an extremely ambiguous term with anything coming from China for cheap. A lot of folks like the SkyRC MC3000, but it’s $100+ and getting a bit long in the tooth. The Opus BT3100C v2.2 is nice f0r 1/3 the price of the MC3000, but again, an old design. Im5using the Vapcell s4+ v2 and it’s been great so far for like $40. Xtar makes some good budget chargers, but they don’t have the same capabilities or features of the S4+. The Gyrfalcon All-44 or 88 is a great charger if you just want to charge at low current (1 amp max).
OK, I was reading and earmarking the Vapcell S4+….and though some still have issues with it, seems popular….but seems no one has in stock unless ordered from China?
What makes the Opus “old”….I know many liked it….has battery tech changed that much, or what does it NOT do?
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I have two Vapcell S4+, two Fenix ARE-A4, and two SC1 Plus (26800) chargers, and I’ve had issues with none of them.
You will find negative reviews of any charger that you research, so unless you see an overwhelming amount of them, at some point you just need to pull the trigger on one.
Thanks for starting the thread. I almost started a thread with the title, Vapcell S4 are pieces of junk. I’m a detailed person and I don’t want to take/ waste my time because it would have been about 20 paragraphs!
This is a short version I’m not going to get into all of it. I’ve had five of them and every one of them have the same issues they seem to struggle with choosing a charge current doesn’t matter if the batteries are new, makes no difference.
I’ve had four batteries in there set at 2000/ 2500/3000 milliamps and I check it to make sure. one is 250Mah, the other 500 milliamp hours etc etc.
I have two that can no longer charge 12 amps in other words 4 slots times 3 amps. Screen flashes then USB is displayed and then everything is reset back to zero as far as charge currents.
John from Lion wholesale has been wonderful he’s replaced three of them for me. I brought issues up with Vapecell and they’re thinking is the contacts are dirty when I have trouble getting my charge current. I blew that out of the water when I told him if I unplug it, then plug back in one two or three times sometimes I can get the current so I guess unplugging it cleans the contacts!? That’s enough, for you who are enjoying it and have no issues, good for you.
On the other hand I love my opus. It’ll be 7 years old in March it’s modified with a more powerful and efficient fan and a much better and more powerful power supply.
I think you’re right, I’m just going to have to narrow down some choices and go with something. Ideally, of course, I’d like 100% great functions for cheap….but, in the end, as long as it charges and doesn’t catch fire it’s good enough for ME, lol. Guess I’ll learn about “discharging” and “internal resistance” the easy, or the hard, way.
E.g., many Vapcell supporters, but seems Cochise334ever has had miserable luck (above).
My go-to charger is a four year old Opus BT3100C v2.2. It does everything I need it to do so far.
One of the features I liker best is the hidden/undocumented switch on the PCB under the rear cover that sets LiIon charging voltage to terminate at a storage level 3.7v. I cut a small slot in the rear cover so I can move the switch slider with a small flat tool without having to remove the cover.
I've not had to replace the fan on mine. I always stand the charger on end with the fan up, so it doesn't have to fight against natural convection. Doing so seems to limit runtime on the fan pretty effectively.
I don't charge LiIon at higher currents in all four slots at once, so the OEM power adapter works fine for me.
Were the S4+ chargers originals or V2? (Or mix of both?) And I’m correct in understanding your problem was woth manually setting charge current, not the auto setting?
I’ve recently spotted mine over-reads the temperature by quite a lot, I wonder if yours were stepping down the current because they were too hot??
I haven’t had an issue with my S4+. I got it off Amazon. It’s supplementing a Zanflare C4 I had for a couple years, but with all the 21700s I have now (it was 18650 max size and 1 amp) I had to upgrade. The only malfunction I had was when I had it plugged in on standby for like a week. It refused to charge until I unplugged and rebooted it. Otherwise it’s been fine.
I'd say that if for some reason, someone doesn't want a Vapcell S4 Plus for a universal charger, a good alternative would be the Nitecore UM2/UMS2/UM4/UMS4.
In my limited, but exhaustive 2+ hour search, for this first Li-ion charger….that’s the order I came up with. I got the Vapcell S4+, and if it wasn’t that one I was going for the Nitecore UMS4….mainly for good reviews, known brand, and ease of finding. Nitecore’s many model lineup is confusing, though.
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