What cheap (and safe) single cell charger for a gift set?

Batteries and Chargers Chargers
16

Teacher, I’m assuming what he wrote describes the friends he wants to give gifts to:

With the LiitoKala 100, you can start people off with NiMH rechargeables.

The same charger will let the gift-giver move them up to the relatively safer LiFePO4 (that means: remembering to tap the button to select the 3.2v voltage setting, after putting the cell in the charger)

If they’re able to use those without screwing them up, the same charger will handle li-ions — safely iff they buy good ones from a reliable source, not bad ones cheap.

Starting from clueless, remember: “no idea what a Li-on cell is … the only way to make the gift work is ”

Yes, your friends may vary.
What’s the worst thing that could happen?
Never hurts to think about it.
I’m done on this subject here.

17

Hank, I am assuming what ‘patmurris’ wrote describes us all at one time or another; his friends included…. as well as both you and I.

And agreed, the LiitoKala 100 is a fine little charger at a very reasonable price.

As far as the “baby steps” you mention, I personally do not feel those need apply to everyone in a broad sweeping declaration…… whether they be “clueless” or not.

We could “split hairs” about the meaning of “clueless”, but why bother. I take it to mean “unaware of”, not “completely or hopelessly bewildered”.

We were all “clueless” about LiIon’s at one time or another no matter which ‘meaning’ applied to us. I am not saying or advocating abandoning safety……… far from it. I am simply saying that ‘everyone’ cannot be placed into the same box, so to speak.

Most any of us who would gift a light to a person would have a pretty good idea of that particular persons ability, intelligence and / or attention to detail. Then we could “gift” accordingly, simple as that.

Yeah, people do vary; whether they be friends or not.

It is always a wonderful idea for any and all of us to think…… “What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

But, and speaking just of Lithium Ion Batteries here; if we go with the worst case scenario of that question…. none of us would be using them.
And that train of thought could be applied to most anything in life…. driving a car, skydiving, flying in a plane and the list is endless. Honestly, there is risk in anything we do in life.

I agree wholeheartedly with what you said also…… “Never hurts to think about it.”
But after we think about it we then make informed decisions that apply to individual situations and people.

I think this is a wonderful discussion here. Hopefully it will help get more people involved with the safe use of Lithium Ion batteries as well as their benefits.

18

Thank you all for the suggestions and comments.

I just received five Lii 100 plus the same number of USB wall adapters - just in case.
They will go with a Convoy S2+ loaded with a Panasonic protected NCR18650B.
I’ll add an Astrolux A01 with a Ni-MH AAA too.
I think they’ll be happy with this.

…almost ready for Christmas! :slight_smile:

19

> USB wall adapters
Check HJK’s reviews of those. A few of them are safe
http://www.lygte-info.dk/info/indexUSB%20UK.html
(especially on 220v, which is harder to get right)

20

That sounds like a plan ‘patmurris’, I’m thinking they will be very happy with that gift package. :+1:

Your friends are fortunate to have you as a friend!!! :beer:

“Merry Christmas”…. in advance………… :wink:

21

@hank: thanks for the multiple warnings, I think it’ll be ok - we’re all grown up adults. I’ve done some research and will have one of those USB adapter plugged right at my bedside until end of year celebrations to see how it goes… If i’m not dead i will include it in my gift set, otherwise i’ll look for something else. :person_facepalming:

In case i haven’t decimated my family this year with a Li-Ion cell, i wish next year i’ll be able to gift them the upcoming BLF Q8 The Miller has been pushing forward for month. Four 18650 at once will be a challenge though. :partying_face:

22

Yup. Avoid the ones HKJ reviews with two skull-and-crossbones icons,
or sums up like this one
http://lygte-info.dk/review/USBpower%202A%20Dual%20port%20XHC10%20UK.html

23

That’s the one i got from GB:
http://www.gearbest.com/cables-adapter/pp_77158.html

It looks a lot like this one!
http://lygte-info.dk/review/USBpower%202A%20Dual%20EU%20USB%20Wall%20AC%20Adapter%20UK.html

… ok, i’ll look closer next time… :person_facepalming:

So my next question is: what cheap (and safe) USB wall adapter would you recommend?

24

Best recommendation I can make is to read HKJ’s reviews, closely.
http://lygte-info.dk/info/ChargerIndex%20UK.html

and watch the double-skull-and-crossbones symbols.

Are you/your friends using 220v AC or 110v AC? That, as he says in the reviews, makes a difference in what’s good enough.

There’s no way I can promise you anything I point to is even selling the same thing now as it was last week — except to say pick a reliable seller who will refund or exchange a bad product, and/or buy directly from a reiable manufacturer.

Cheap and safe aren’t overlapping much, as I read the reports about USB power supplies.

I go on at length about this because people come here later, often direct from a Google search, and read these threads without knowing any of the background that regular BLF readers would take for granted.

25

We have 220V here.

I’m currently going through HKJ usb adapter list… Apart from brand names, it’s difficult to tell what is what and whether something that looks the same from a vendor is really the same as what HKJ tested…

So far my best bet is Enercig Enerpower chargers - around 7 euro from germany for instance. I keep going through the list.

The usb adapter will end costing more then the battery charger itself. :person_facepalming:

26

I won’t give LiIon’s to anyone who I don’t believe will handle them properly, so I’ve gifted only a few. Those went with an XTAR MC-1 as it seems to be a safe, stable, simple, and reliable unit. There are other good choices as well.

I figure that if the giftee becomes more deeply immersed into LiIons, then will be the best time to point them toward more advanced equipment. Until then safety and the “KISS” principle is what I go by.

Phil

27

@ ‘patmurris’
7 euros……… that sucks. :person_facepalming:

THIS is the one I use with my Lii 100’s.
$1.45 USD. It is from Mountain Electronics & I figure since RMM sells them they must be OK. So far they have worked just fine.

I don’t know how much a USA to Europe plug adapter costs but maybe these might be a cheaper option… even with $14 or so shipping tacked on.

Just a thought. I see they are “Out of Stock” at the moment, be he usually restocks pretty fast.

Good luck, whichever direction you go. :slight_smile:

28

@teacher: the usb adapter you refer to from MTM looks a lot like a Apple charger knock off. I bought a few similar ones from FT last summer but wasn’t very pleased with them. My phone was charging quite fast but then would sort of lose charge very quickly after that… not sure why.They might be something totally different though.

Looking at HKJ tear down picts it looks like there is a very large range of build quality out there. An Apple 12W charger is fat and contains big components with extra insulation layers here and there, whereas some are so small you wonder how they can possibly compete on the same ground…

29

I have the liito 100 charger I use it as my travel charger and stays in the vehichle. But at one point when I first got into lithium batteries it was my only charger. I feel I could have started with lithium’s. I read so much about how dangerous they were I stuck with high powered aa lights. I was no stranger to NiMH charging. Then I figured if all these people that are telling me how dangerous they are and millions of laptops arnt blowing up daily they must not be nitroglycerin they are made out to be. Started with protected NCR b. Then quickly went to unprotected as I got lights that needed 5+ amps. And never went back to protected. But for a gift light I’d give protected cells. If they pursue it further. I’ll give them advice on safe handling but tell them to do their own research. But if nothing else stick with name brand batteries. With a higher amp rating than the light uses

As far as power supplies go I have a handful from old cellphones that work fine. Even use one on my vc2. The chargers will adjust charging current based on available power. The one I did purchase just went to Walmart and got a 2.1 amp wallbrick.

30

> I figure since RMM sells them they must be OK

But watch out, that particular shape and size are much copied — it’s what’s inside that matters.

Also, repetition on this —- HKJ points out that any specific power supply may be safe enough with 110v yet dangerous with 220v.
You need to know what country you’re using it in, if the internal separation between input and output conductors is marginal.
You could take one from the US to Europe, slap on a 110v to 220v adapter, and change good enough to unsafe.

It’s unfortunate these things require more thought than most manufacturers and sellers and customers are likely to bother with.

Here’s another clone that looks familiar, like one of the recommended power supplies — except for the name on it — but the clone shown in the video is dangerous.
This guy’s done a bunch of videos on dangerous power supplies — same basic points as HKJ’s reviews on this point, but in video — good for those who don’t read so much.

31

I could see it being a issue when ordering a power supply online. Or overseas but I’m sure France has millions of cell phones and tablets, etc. Any name brand store over there will have a safe power supply that can be walked into purchase and walk out with a perfectly safe power supply for said 220volt country. I don’t think your retail giants want major lawsuits and carry power supplies for their countries power use. Just like here in america you don’t go to the charger isle of Walmart Target or Costco and have 220 chargers and Europe plugs hanging there. Its safe 110 american plugs on the shelf. I suggest for the op to go to the local big box store and purchase 4-5 power supplies from there. Most likely the people recievinf the gift have old power supplies from cell phones or tablets. Safe and name brand already for 220 as that country uses

32

All good points and well taken. :+1:
Especially that first one for me…… I trust RMM & MTN to sell ‘good stuff’, but I sure need to do the “verify” part.
As in … “Trust, but verify”.
Good reminder ‘hank’, thank you. :slight_smile:
That was a very interesting video also, thank you for sharing it.

33

I agree brand name usb chargers from local phone stores are more likely to be safe… but will also likely cost the price of a decent two bay Li-Ion charger that does not need a usb adapter. The whole point of trying to find a good and cheap adapter from china is to save on all the middle men taking their share, not mentioning import taxes and such…

Right now and considering the cost of the Lii 100 plus a $8 usb wall adapter it’s getting close to what i would pay for a Nitecore I2 with an euro plug from FT - although it would be limited to .5A charging, but on two slots. Not sure i went in the right direction on this…

I may well skip the usb wall adapter in my gift set and tell them to use their phone charger or computer usb port.

34

> good, cheap, from China

Finding good safe electrical equipment is a process of elimination.

Bad electrical products may eliminate you.

Here’s another comparison of a superficially-real-dangerous fake and a blatantly-obvious-dangerous-fake adapter.

Both fakes, once he gets inside.

Another thorough writeup, with many links to examples of dangerous crap out there:

Ya know, it’s not just those greedy middlemen who add to the cost of these things.

There are some people out there in the supply chain that you can trust.
Some of them are regulators and product testers and resellers who know what they’re selling.

35

Sounds like a good idea. Especially after reading & seeing some of the info ‘hank’ posted. :slight_smile:

Oh my!! ……. :person_facepalming:

:+1: