Fenix CL30R vs. a battery charger?

armandor

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 6, 2017
Messages
3
Hi everyone,

I was looking to get some lights to prepare my house for power outtages, going to the backyard, working on the car and the such. I bought a flashlight that uses an 18650 battery and little did I know what I was getting myself into. After the flashlight (Thrunite TN12), a charger (Opus BT-3100), and a couple of good batteries (Orbtronic 3500mAh) I am in over a hundred $110 for a darn flashlight. Anyways, I kept looking for other stuff to buy since I now have 18650's and want to use them. I came across the Fenix CL30R lantern and noticed that it can charge 3x18650 at a time.

I want to return my battery charger and use the lantern as my battery charger and save myself $40 bucks. I think I'm gonna buy the lantern regardless of whether I return the charger or not. Has anyone tested the CL30R to see if it does a good job at charging the battery to full capacity, does it use CC/CV or pulse charging, does it overheat the batteries, does it overcharge the batteries if left charging overnight?

I like the Opus but I've read the pulse charging and high heat it creates is not good for the batteries.
 

terjee

Enlightened
Joined
Jul 24, 2016
Messages
729
Location
Bergen, Norway
Keep the charger, or swap it for a cheaper one.

You absolutely need a charger with individual charging channels, and I don't think the CL30R will give you that. If you have different charge levels on your cells (even by a bit), you'd then need to charge the batteries individually. At 8.5 hours pr. battery, that'd be painful to say the least.

The Opus (good charger btw) would let you charge four batteries, in a fraction of the time that the CL30R would charge one. As for heat, you can reduce charge current if you'd like.

You said this is for power outages, but are you also concerned about extended ones? If so, one thing those who have experienced valued, were the ability to rapidly "get power and bring it back home". You could use the Opus in an area with power for a much quicker charge.
 

armandor

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 6, 2017
Messages
3
I had not thought about the different battery levels and did not think the CL30R would take that long charging. I'll be keeping the charger for sure.

Thank you for the reply.
 
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