Fenix ARE-c2 high cut off voltage is too high?

hello just Got my ARE-c2 charger when fully charge using my multimeter the voltage reading is 4.27? is this voltage is too high for the 18650?

4.25V is the highest a standard Li-ion should be charged. Generally, the charger should supply constant current until cell reaches 4.2V, then constant voltage 4.2V until the cell stops accepting charge.

It is possible, too, that your multimeter is incorrectly reporting the voltage.

Try letting the cell rest for a few hours. If it settles down to 4.2V and it is a good, fairly new cell, then your charger may be overcharging. If it stays at 4.27V, I would replace the 9V in your multimeter and see if that changes anything.

Getting a very good reference test voltage to test your DMM is not easy. I don't trust my (Cheap) meters to read within 0.05V of the true value. I once had a meter so bad that its internal converter calculator thing (Which 'translates' the measured current into voltage) only ticked 'up' every 0.07v. That is, I could read 1.33v and 1.40v on a NiCd float charger, but not 1.35 or whatever the true value was.

den331 said:

hello just Got my ARE-c2 charger when fully charge using my multimeter the voltage reading is 4.27? is this voltage is too high for the 18650?

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Mine terminates my batteries at 4.24 - 4.26volts as measured by my Fluke 87 so I'm not surprised by your readings. I use it only to charge my 4.30 and 4.35 voltage cells.

my meter read @ 4.26Volts at rest. i remembered my Nitecore i4 v2 charger terminates at 4.26 volts also. i have a dedicated 2 bay li ion charger xtar vp1 it terminates @ 4.22 volts.
would you suggest that i should stop using this charger for charging 18650 batteries? thank you

357mag1 said:

Mine terminates my batteries at 4.24 - 4.26volts as measured by my Fluke 87 so I'm not surprised by your readings. I use it only to charge my 4.30 and 4.35 voltage cells.

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den331 said:

my meter read @ 4.26Volts at rest. i remembered my Nitecore i4 v2 charger terminates at 4.26 volts also. i have a dedicated 2 bay li ion charger xtar vp1 it terminates @ 4.22 volts.
would you suggest that i should stop using this charger for charging 18650 batteries? thank you

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At best I believe it will shorten the life of your batteries so I would not use it for standard 4.2volt Li-Ions. If you have some of the 4.3 or 4.35volt Li-Ion I would save it for them.

i only have NCR18650B panasonic. what batteries do you suggest that are rated @ 4.3 volts?

den331 said:

i only have NCR18650B panasonic. what batteries do you suggest that are rated @ 4.3 volts?

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I'd get another meter with a fresh battery and test things out. I had the VP2 here and I have the WP2 II and never once, with multiple brands (LG, Panasonic, Sanyo) and sizes (10440, 16340, 14500, 16650, 18650) have I ever had a battery come off over 4.20v, on an Xtar charger.

I've got a Rat Shack and a Philips DMM which read (3.75, 3.50 counts) to .001v of each other, so either they're both off, or they're reading correctly.

Chris

den331 said:

i only have NCR18650B panasonic. what batteries do you suggest that are rated @ 4.3 volts?

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As Chris mentions below I've had great luck with the Xtar chargers.

I'm not sure if you are using protected batteries, I usually don't and consider the extra circuitry a waste. Buy quality batteries and use pay attention to your light you really don't need them. The reason I mention this is the 4.35volt batteries I'm familiar with aren't protected.

The LG, Sanyo and Samsung 3000mah batteries carried by Illumination Supply are 4.35volts.