A charger that displays MAH?

[conanthewarrior]

Hi everyone.

I currently use an Efest LUC4 charger, which was a replacement to my Nitecore D4 (Too slow when charging 4 batteries), and have realised that some chargers have the ability to display the capacity of the battery once charged.

A single bay charger would do, as it would only be for measuring capacity.

This would be very handy for me, as I am not the best judge when it is time to toss batteries (I have quite a lot of batteries, at least 30 18650's and a few other sizes), so actually seeing the capacity of my batteries would be ideal, and give me a idea when they are past it.

Now, which chargers are recommended that have this feature? I hear there is an Xtar model that has this feature, but have no experience with Xtar, would one of their chargers be a good choice?

Thanks everyone, Conan.

 

[Neunerball]

Hi everyone.

I currently use an Efest LUC4 charger, which was a replacement to my Nitecore D4 (Too slow when charging 4 batteries), and have realised that some chargers have the ability to display the capacity of the battery once charged.

A single bay charger would do, as it would only be for measuring capacity.

This would be very handy for me, as I am not the best judge when it is time to toss batteries (I have quite a lot of batteries, at least 30 18650's and a few other sizes), so actually seeing the capacity of my batteries would be ideal, and give me a idea when they are past it.

Now, which chargers are recommended that have this feature? I hear there is an Xtar model that has this feature, but have no experience with Xtar, would one of their chargers be a good choice?

Thanks everyone, Conan.

The Xtar charger I have, shows the voltage. I don't know of an Xtar charger, that does show the mAh. However, I think, the Opus charger does. It has several build in test, including internal resistance, and if I'm not mistaken the actual capacity of the battery. I recently bought the Opus BT-C3100 V2.2, but haven't used it yet.

 

[Zipslack]

The XTAR VC2 AND VCR show mAh, but it's based on how much they are charged and not necessarily full capacity. If you run the battery down and then do a full charge, I believe it should be close.

 

[Lost]

Now, which chargers are recommended that have this feature?

Zipslack posted that while I was looking for a pic of one that I remembered seeing:
http://vapingunderground.com/threads/40a-2600mah-battery.224699/#post-1078921

BUT...
You asked for a recommendation. Turns out it's a GPower charger, and GPower is tied to the Satan of 18650's (Tesiyi.) So can't recommend.

 

[Jon@LiionWholesale]

The Opus BT-C3100 does mAh.

 

[fq06]

A charger can't tell you what mah is in the battery, just what it has put into the battery.

Volt level is your best guess at how much mah is stored in the cell.

 

[Jon@LiionWholesale]

A charger can't tell you what mah is in the battery, just what it has put into the battery.

Volt level is your best guess at how much mah is stored in the cell.

Actually the Opus BT-3100C can tell you the mAh. You can either just put it in charge mode and it will tell you how much mAh it put in (basically how much you used the last time). Or, you can put it in refresh mode and it will discharge it fully to 3.0V and then charge it and see how many mAh goes in, which obviously takes longer but tells you the full mAh. Of course most batteries have a little bit of mAh below 3V but not much so that's a good estimate of usable mAh.

 

[Zamazam]

The Opus BT-C3100 does mAh.

It also figures out the internal resistance of your cell(s) which indicate that they need to be conditioned, or recycled if the resistance stays really high. I have one. Best charger I have bought.

 

[fq06]

Right, but you can't pop a cell in and have it tell you 1,937 mah is in the cell now.
It can only tell you what it has put in.

You can guestimate based on claimed mah capacity of the cell and voltage the charger reads.
Or like you said, discharge all the way and charge but that still is not telling you what the actual stored power in the cell is and it's not a pop a cell in on the way out the door to know what the cells power level is which is what conan is asking for if I'm not mistaken.

 

[fq06]

My Liitokala 2 cell measures MAH put in and resting voltage as well as IR. An IR reading is nice to have so you know when the cell is getting old and ready for the bin. Can't remove IR, that's the cell crystalizing from use (or abuse) over time.
That was $20 something shipped a few years ago and still going strong. They have a 4 cell now that I'm probably going to pick up for $25

 

[conanthewarrior]

Actually the Opus BT-3100C can tell you the mAh. You can either just put it in charge mode and it will tell you how much mAh it put in (basically how much you used the last time). Or, you can put it in refresh mode and it will discharge it fully to 3.0V and then charge it and see how many mAh goes in, which obviously takes longer but tells you the full mAh. Of course most batteries have a little bit of mAh below 3V but not much so that's a good estimate of usable mAh.

OK-this sounds perfect for my needs, I notice it is a 4 bay charger with many speeds which is good, but would you recommend it as a charger? As in, as safe to use as a Nitecore/Xtar/Efest Blu?

It also figures out the internal resistance of your cell(s) which indicate that they need to be conditioned, or recycled if the resistance stays really high. I have one. Best charger I have bought.

This is another fantastic feature, as I know internal resistance builds up over the life of a battery, and will be even more indication of when time to throw if I compare to a new cell of the same brand. The recondition mode sounds good too, I am sure I have heard the nitecores have this built in on some models, would my I2 or D4 have a recondition mode that I can use for now, just to give all of my cells a charge with?

Right, but you can't pop a cell in and have it tell you 1,937 mah is in the cell now.
It can only tell you what it has put in.

You can guestimate based on claimed mah capacity of the cell and voltage the charger reads.
Or like you said, discharge all the way and charge but that still is not telling you what the actual stored power in the cell is and it's not a pop a cell in on the way out the door to know what the cells power level is which is what conan is asking for if I'm not mistaken.

I understood it would be likely that it can only really tell you what it has put in capacity wise VS actual capacity through the full 2.5(depending on manufacturer) to 4.2V.

It will still be a great indicator though of my batteries condition-I have around 30 18650 batteries and more of other sizes, so knowing which ones are still good to use will be a big help, and also save some money in the process not tossing cells that are still OK.

It will be guesstimation like you said, but based on a new/newer cells capacity and IR, which will give me a good idea of the condition of the battery.

This seems like a good option, it is cheaper than the 4 bay Opus, and is not intended as a replacement charger, but if the Opus is a safer brand I will go with that, I really do not like to skimp when it comes to batteries and chargers.

Thank you all, Conan.

 

[Jon@LiionWholesale]

OK-this sounds perfect for my needs, I notice it is a 4 bay charger with many speeds which is good, but would you recommend it as a charger? As in, as safe to use as a Nitecore/Xtar/Efest Blu?

Yes, we've switched our testing labs completely over to these Opus chargers so I use them quite a bit and they are very good.

 

[fq06]

Couple years now and no fires in my house =)
It is actually safer than most chargers since it terminates the charge at ~4.19v not ~4.21v like most chargers but I wouldn't think you need to be worried about safety from most of the newer chargers anyway.

This is a true 1a per slot charger and uses constant current. It really is a great charger for the money. Opus has it's perks but it comes with a much higher price.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-Review-of-Charger-LiitoKala-Engineer-Lii-500

 

[Zamazam]

You get what you pay for with it at least.

 

[conanthewarrior]

Yes, we've switched our testing labs completely over to these Opus chargers so I use them quite a bit and they are very good.

OK, this sounds very promising.

Unfortunately, I can not get this charger in the UK, so it will have to be China, but I have used China a lot in the past with no issues at all.

However, if there are known copies of this charger that are hard to identify, I may go for the 2 bay charger recommended here.

Couple years now and no fires in my house =)
It is actually safer than most chargers since it terminates the charge at ~4.19v not ~4.21v like most chargers but I wouldn't think you need to be worried about safety from most of the newer chargers anyway.

This is a true 1a per slot charger and uses constant current. It really is a great charger for the money. Opus has it's perks but it comes with a much higher price.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-Review-of-Charger-LiitoKala-Engineer-Lii-500

This is also promising, but again, it would be China for ordering, it just seems the UK does not have either model.

Glad to know both are safe options though, I think if I get the Opus it will be my main charger, with the Efest and Nitecore as a back up, the 2 slot charger would be used alongside the Efest to check my cells conditions every few cycles.

Thank you all for your help, Conan.

 

[fq06]

I just saw the opus 2.2 for $32 at gear best so that's not too bad but it is still a pulse current charger which I am surprised that a known as the best doesn't use a constant current.
The only place you have ever been able to get a Liitokala from is China, the ebay seller I got my 2 cell charger from a few years ago was chinavally.

Opus probably has an easier to use interface with a screen per cell though.

 

[fq06]

OK, this sounds very promising.

Unfortunately, I can not get this charger in the UK, so it will have to be China, but I have used China a lot in the past with no issues at all.

However, if there are known copies of this charger that are hard to identify, I may go for the 2 bay charger recommended here.


This is also promising, but again, it would be China for ordering, it just seems the UK does not have either model.

Glad to know both are safe options though, I think if I get the Opus it will be my main charger, with the Efest and Nitecore as a back up, the 2 slot charger would be used alongside the Efest to check my cells conditions every few cycles.

Thank you all for your help, Conan.

The only time I would use any of those other chargers is if the opus or Liitokala was already being used. Either of them are better in every way including safety.