Become a Patron!

Battery charger recommendation please

Rhett1977

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
i currently have 4 Nitecore I4 Chargers and am in needed another charger. I keep seeing the Lucfest chargers and they're about 50% or so more. Are they any better? If so define better. My Nitecores have treated me well except one. One bay won't charge any more after 6 months of use. The light lights the first block and blinks nonstop. I have no idea why but it does. Are the Lucfest worth the extra money or is the Nitecore ok? I saw a Foxnovo on Amazon that is 8 bay which would be nice but some of the reviews turned me off. Just thinking the 8 bays on one plug would be nice. Anyways can anyone steer me the right way or am I ok just buying another Nitecore? And I don't have the smart chargers that show voltage as I figure that's a joke. Thank you!!
 

vap3r

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
If you plan on stepping up, I would consider an XTAR. Possibly an Opus if battery analysis features are useful to you.
 

suprtrkr

Bronze Contributor
Member For 3 Years
Member For 2 Years
ECF Refugee
I would not ever buy anything that says "Efest" on it, because I don't like the way they overrate their batteries, and berate people who point this out in public. That said, I have never heard of a problem with their chargers. I just won't give them my money.

If you have a I4, a D4 would be an upgrade, sort of. It's the same actual charger, but it has a better display. I also have and like the Xtar VC4 but, one caveat, it is very sensitive to input voltage flux, and it will "shut down" and stop charging if it sense a spike. You have to keep watching it and resetting it to make it charge. There are hobby grade chargers that are better still, but they're high dollar and come with features not too useful for vapers.
 

AlbyKortoona

VU Donator
Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
ECF Refugee
Somebody said that the efest luc chargers are made by xtar, don't know the veracity of that claim though.

Nitecores have been good for me, no issues. Picked up a digital 2 bay on a crazy low sale price and now wish the others were digital as well. It is useful for a quick check of remaining battery charge when using mech mods, and for married sets of batteries I like being able to see how close they are on full charge.
 

nightshard

It's VG/PG not PG/VG
VU Donator
Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Got an I4 for the last 2 years with no complaints.
If it broke down, I would probably get the D4
 

z man

Silver Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I have the Luc4 and the Nitecore d4 chargers and for speed of charge,the Luc4 wins hands down....It has 500 mAh,and 1000 mAh in four slots and 2000 mAh charge rate in the middle two,It can charge 26650 batteries in the center slots too...The Nitecore has 750 mAh if using only two slots and it goes down to 350 mAh if using all four slots...I bought the Nitecore because it has the ability to charge LiFePO4 batteries....Z
 

AlbyKortoona

VU Donator
Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
ECF Refugee
True that, the nitecore is slow as shit. But having multiple chargers and batteries I have not felt any urgency during charging, and some say that fast charging is hard on batteries. IDK, but it's probably not enough to really matter, good batteries can be had for ~$5 a pop if you keep your eyes out for sales and they last a long time. If fast charging is a priority, nitecore is not the best choice.
 

skt239

VU Donator
Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I've had the Efest LUC4 for a couple months now and its great. I think the way the usb is pretty stupid but everything else about it works fine.
 

Markw4mms

#Team Jimi Supporter
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Member For 4 Years
ECF Refugee
I have a Nitecore D-4, Efest LUC-4, and 2 Xtar's, all have functioned well. As stated before, the LUC-4 will charge faster than the Nitecore. My newest charger is a Xtar Rocket, that will charge Li-ion and Ni-MH batteries from .25A up to 2A, and can charge up to D size batteries. IMO, any of these are a good choice.
 

Zamazam

Evil Vulcan's do it with Logic
VU Donator
Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
My preference is for the Opus or Xtar's. The Opus can charge all 4 slots at 1 amp, or slots 1 and 4 at 2 Amps, plus it has a lot of reconditioning and testing software built in. The fan to cool the unit is a nice touch.
 

Markw4mms

#Team Jimi Supporter
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Member For 4 Years
ECF Refugee
My preference is for the Opus or Xtar's. The Opus can charge all 4 slots at 1 amp, or slots 1 and 4 at 2 Amps, plus it has a lot of reconditioning and testing software built in. The fan to cool the unit is a nice touch.
I've been looking at those. I might have to grab one next time I need to add another charger.
 

Zamazam

Evil Vulcan's do it with Logic
VU Donator
Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
I highly recommend it Mark. My i4 died 3 months ago, worked great for 5 years. So I bought the Opus to replace it.
 

Markw4mms

#Team Jimi Supporter
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Member For 4 Years
ECF Refugee
I highly recommend it Mark. My i4 died 3 months ago, worked great for 5 years. So I bought the Opus to replace it.
Thanks, Zam.I didn't know anyone who had one, and that's one reason I was hesitant to buy.
 

Neunerball

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
ECF Refugee
I recently ordered an Opus charger, especially for the testing features. I have mainly Sony VCT4 & 5, and occasionally, I need to think hard, which one I put in my charger. The Opus can tell me which capacity a battery has. In addition, you can also monitor the internal resistance of a battery.
 

Deucesjack

VU Donator
Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
ECF Refugee
Love my Efest Blu6 charger. Perfect if you have a triple battery mod as you can charge 2 sets at a time. With the Bluetooth app I don't have to get up off my fat ass to see if my batteries are charged. lol
 

Neunerball

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
ECF Refugee
Love my Efest Blu6 charger. Perfect if you have a triple battery mod as you can charge 2 sets at a time. With the Bluetooth app I don't have to get up off my fat ass to see if my batteries are charged. lol
Yes, that's right. However, it doesn't charge six 18650 at the full A possible for charging a 18650 in a decent amount of time, but rather to the limit of the overall A possible by the charger. A good charger needs to have the proper power, in order to provide the charging A needed. That's the reason, I got a power pack of a balance charger for my Lipo packs (for my other hobby). I can para charge six 3s 2600 mAh batteries within 30-35 Minutes.
 

Deucesjack

VU Donator
Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
ECF Refugee
Yes, that's right. However, it doesn't charge six 18650 at the full A possible for charging a 18650 in a decent amount of time, but rather to the limit of the overall A possible by the charger. A good charger needs to have the proper power, in order to provide the charging A needed. That's the reason, I got a power pack of a balance charger for my Lipo packs (for my other hobby). I can para charge six 3s 2600 mAh batteries within 30-35 Minutes.
Works for me. I have 2 sets of dedicated batteries for every mod I have. When one set discharges I replace it with the fully charged set and put the dead set on the charger.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using Tapatalk
 

Neunerball

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
ECF Refugee
Works for me. I have 2 sets of dedicated batteries for every mod I have. When one set discharges I replace it with the fully charged set and put the dead set on the charger.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using Tapatalk
Good for you! Whatever works to someone's expectations is the right thing to do!
 
Last edited:

Lost

Silver Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
Somebody said that the efest luc chargers are made by xtar, don't know the veracity of that claim though.

Wouldn't be surprising. And their headquarters are 19 miles apart. But I couldn't find anything solid.
Opus is right there in Shenzhen as well. And Nitecore is in the same province (Guangdong).


The Efest V4 is $28 on Amazon. The Nitecore D4 is $32. The Xtar VC4 is $30.
Are those prices good enough to impulse buy any of them and not feel guilty later? Or should I shop around?
 

Neunerball

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
ECF Refugee
Does it matter which opus charger?
Best to read the description and/or specifications of the charger! I recently bought the CT3100 V2.2, which is a four bay charger. I think this model is the most commonly bought charger of the Opus brand.
 

joeyboy

Gold Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Best to read the description and/or specifications of the charger! I recently bought the CT3100 V2.2, which is a four bay charger. I think this model is the most commonly bought charger of the Opus brand.
There's many. Mine didn't work than did. I don't think I had the cord pushed all the way in. Anyway, I bought a nitecore i4 and had it delivered the same day. This was before I found the problem. I have two now. I can use it.
 

outwest

VU Donator
Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
just thought I'd mention, ecig.com has the efest LUC Blu 6 (6 bay charger) for $30 and then with current coupon code MDAY20, it brings it down to $24 (only $2 more than lightningvapes.com price for the 4 bay charger after their LV15 code) That 20% off coupon code works for other stuff too. The downside is the shipping. You have to spend $75 to get free shipping. With the 20% off, though, if there's other items you've been eyeing. . .

I'm not keen on anything with efest in the name, but I ordered one plus some other stuff I've been wanting to get.
 

VU Sponsors

Top