Decent Battery Charger?

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#1450668 15-Dec-2015 10:54

I'd rather my 18650's took a little longer to charge and have a longer lifetime than quick charges and shorter life span

redherring

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#1450671 15-Dec-2015 11:02

5-6 hours with indication of charge level is a vast improvement over "will charge eventually in 14 hours or so, maybe?"

allio

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#1450674 15-Dec-2015 11:05

Athlonite: I'd rather my 18650's took a little longer to charge and have a longer lifetime than quick charges and shorter life span

For sure, and I usually charge my batteries at 0.5C or a little below (the default rate on the Maha is 1A). However it's good to have a higher rate available for those rare occasions you just need the things charged as soon as possible. I charged some batteries at 2A a few mornings ago so my partner could take them to work to use in some Christmas lights. Sure, I should have remembered to pop them on to charge the night before, but I didn't.

That said, this charger is more versatile than the Maha (which wouldn't even be charging 18650s in the first place) and a lot cheaper, so it's not unreasonable to give up fast-charging ability.

timmmay

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#1450680 15-Dec-2015 11:16

It's a fallacy that slow charge is better for batteries. Modern charges are heat regulated, if they get hot they stop for a while, or slow down. According to battery university NiMH cells charging should be at 0.5C because that way full detection is much easier - if it's slower the batteries could be overcharged. Here are some NiMH guidelines

The charge efficiency of nickel-based batteries is close to 100 percent up to 70 percent of charge. The pack remains cool but it begins to warm up towards full-charge.
Nickel-based batteries will cool down on trickle charge.
Consumer chargers do not always terminate the charge correctly. Remove the batteries when warm to the touch. Discontinue using a charger that “cooks” batteries.
Charge at room temperature. Do not charge when hot or at freezing temperatures. (See BU-410: Charging at High and Low Temperatures)
Nickel-based batteries are best fast charged; a lingering slow charge causes “memory.”
Nickel- and lithium-based batteries require different charge algorithms. NiMH chargers can charge NiCd, but not the other way. NiCd chargers would overcharge NiMH.
Do not leave a nickel-based battery in the charger for more than a few days. If possible, remove the packs and apply a brief charge before use.

Charging LiIon like the 18650s is different. They're simpler to charge and detect when they're full, but can't stay on trickle. This means a slower charge is fine for them.

RUKI

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#1451532 16-Dec-2015 12:50

try iMax B6 charger. Those are cheap and have about 10% accuracy - not so bad for the price.
You'll be able to charge 1 x NiMh at a time, if need to charge 4 x - try similar 4 channel RC chargers (numerous brands).

Those are used for quadcopters/RC cars and do not cost an arm and the leg when bought online.

P.S. - accuracy was measured when I was running my Professional Battery Analysers in parallel with 4 different RC chargers including 4-channel one to see how bad (or not) are those.

muppet

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#1481270 29-Jan-2016 15:19

Get an Eneloop fast charger.

Does a proper fast charge and terminates (stops charge) when batteries are full via a proper dv/dt termination method (this method relies on the fact that the voltage, after rising and rising, drops slightly when the batteries are full)

Beware there are some dumb Eneloop chargers that look exactly the same. Ensure it's a BQ-CC16 or you'll be sad.

Lias

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#1481276 29-Jan-2016 15:32

Having stumbled on this thread, any suggestions for a charger that can handle C and D batteries? I see some of the above can do C, but not D.

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muppet

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#1481436 29-Jan-2016 19:16

The maha http://www.mahaenergy.com/mh-c808m/ will do it.

Audiophiles are such twits! They buy such pointless stuff: Gold plated cables, $2000 power cords. Idiots.

OOOHHHH HYPERFIBRE!

littleheaven

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#1482062 31-Jan-2016 02:14

I have an Eneloop and it's not bad. Good fast charge and the little blue lights go off when the battery is full.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

neb

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#1602504 1-Aug-2016 20:36

Resurrecting a slightly old thread, when I researched this some time ago the recommended NiMH chargers were Maha and Opus. Used to have a Maha, what I like about the Opus ones is that they have extremely comprehensive displays that tell you pretty much everything there is to know about the batteries. They also come with adapters to do C and D alongside the usual AA and A.

Note that's for NiMH, for LiIon I'd use a completely different charger.

RUKI

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#1602692 2-Aug-2016 09:05

Talking about batteries - I have in the pipeline the AA Dry Cells Battery Race Competition Test/Video devoted to all game developers and players.

I can do the same with AA rechargeable batteries.

Goal - to do comparative simulataneous discharge test of popular brands sold in New Zealand to see which ones are better (last to drop below treshold).

In caase with rechargeable ones - there will be no waste - you can give me (to be returned after the test) fresh brand new just purchased ones - e.g. 10 different brands and we can run that "race" and nominate the winning brand/model.

I have already tested XBOX controller for the current it draws during playing GTA and the cut-off threshold for the AA batery voltage in it.

Have also prepared appropriate load for 10 AA batteries for that test. I can use one of my 14 or 20 channel Analysers for that test.

Next step - randomly select a pile of AA dry and AA rechargeable.

Thoughts? Sponsors?

timmmay

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#1602693 2-Aug-2016 09:10

neb: Resurrecting a slightly old thread, when I researched this some time ago the recommended NiMH chargers were Maha and Opus. Used to have a Maha, what I like about the Opus ones is that they have extremely comprehensive displays that tell you pretty much everything there is to know about the batteries. They also come with adapters to do C and D alongside the usual AA and A. Note that's for NiMH, for LiIon I'd use a completely different charger.

Interesting. What does it tell you that the Maha doesn't? Is there any practical value of the additional information - ie how does it help people wanting to charge batteries?

muppet

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#1602714 2-Aug-2016 09:52

For a comprehensive all-in-one charger, look at the Opus BT-3100

It tells you lots and can charge NiMH and Liion

There's also the SkyRC MC3000 which has upgradable firmware and is able to be controlled from a PC or via a Bluetooth app on your phone. It'll graph voltage, current, capacity, internal resistance and temperature.

timmmay

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#1602729 2-Aug-2016 09:59

Do they do a better job at charging standard NiHM batteries?

muppet

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#1602734 2-Aug-2016 10:18

timmmay:
Do they do a better job at charging standard NiHM batteries?

It depends :)

The MC3000 uses the dv/dt termination method. So it doesn't require a top-off charge like the c9000. The c9000 terminates on voltage and then says "DONE" but it actually keeps applying a 100ma current for 2 hours.

So the c9000 takes longer and it lies to you when it says done. The batteries are ~90℅ full but not 100℅ done until the two hour top-off. And it applies that extra 200mah to AAAs as well, whichyou can argue is an overcharge (but at such a low current it's probably doing no damage)

At the end of the day though, they all charge your batteries. Which does a better or worse job is very subjective. For the average person, even a c9000 is overkill.

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