Let's talk chargers...

Looking for a 2 or 4 bay charger. I've narrowed it to 3 models that all seem pretty great: Xtar V4, Nitecore D4 and Liitokala has a similarly priced one as well.

Primarily I'll be charging AA/AAA and 18650.

Ideally I'd like to have the ability to get a rough idea of the mAh of the cell so I can be aware of its condition. Obviously safe, smart charging is paramount and a dependable product as well.

What you are looking for is an analyzing charger. Most chargers are not.

I just ordered a Zanfare C4. It analyzes capacity (mAh) and internal resistance (mOhm).

I decided based on HKJ's review here....
http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Zanflare C4 UK.html

Got it for $25 using the code in HKJ's linked view above.

Miboxer C4 is also not a bad choice, imo...

CuriousOne said:

Miboxer C4 is also not a bad choice, imo...

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I have that charger also, and it doesn't give consistent internal resistance readings; they are wildly variable. I'm not the only one who has reported this behavior. Also, only bay 4 can supposedly give internal resistance readout (which isn't accurate in many units).

MAD777 said:

What you are looking for is an analyzing charger. Most chargers are not.

I just ordered a Zanfare C4. It analyzes capacity (mAh) and internal resistance (mOhm).

I decided based on HKJ's review here....
http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Zanflare C4 UK.html

Got it for $25 using the code in HKJ's linked view above.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I must of missed that one; it looks really good.

If you want something that will show you battery capacity, cross the Xtar VP4, Xtar VC4 and Nitecore D4 off the list. If you meant the Xtar VP4 plus dragon, that's a very good choice but at 80 dollars or so it might be out of your price range. The Liitokala engineer Lii-500 is a very popular analyzing charger on this board. For between 25 and 30 dollars it's tuff to beat. The Opus BT-C3100/BT-C3400 falls in between the two price wise at about 40 dollars and gives you a few things that the Lii-500 does not like higher charge and discharge current choices, battery IR and LiFe support as well as a few other things.

If you have devices that use multiple batteries then IMHO an analyzing charger is a must.

fmc1 said:

If you want something that will show you battery capacity, cross the Xtar VP4, Xtar VC4 and Nitecore D4 off the list. If you meant the Xtar VP4 plus dragon, that's a very good choice but at 80 dollars or so it might be out of your price range. The Liitokala engineer Lii-500 is a very popular analyzing charger on this board. For between 25 and 30 dollars it's tuff to beat. The Opus BT-C3100/BT-C3400 falls in between the two price wise at about 40 dollars and gives you a few things that the Lii-500 does not like higher charge and discharge current choices, battery IR and LiFe support as well as a few other things.

If you have devices that use multiple batteries then IMHO an analyzing charger is a must.

Click to expand...

The Liitokala looked the most advanced of the 3 I found originally, however one of the reviews I looked over mentioned it seemed to struggle with properly filling NiMh cells to true capacity.

Can anyone chime in on that?

Working well with NiMh is a must for me.

The Lii-500 terminates NiMH on voltage with no top off so yes there are other chargers out there that will do a better job of fully charging a NiMH. The flip side to that is it is gentile on the batteries. The Opus BT-C3100/BT-c3400 also terminates on voltage but adds a top off charge. Most people prefer this method for non LSD cells me included. For new LSD cells in good condition –dv/dt termination is preferred by most also me included. The Xtar dragon terminates on –dv/dt.
If you want a multi chemistry 4 bay analyzer that will do –dv/dt termination on new NiMH cells or voltage termination with a trickle charge for older non LSD cells then the Skyrc mc3000 is the one to look at. I bought my second one about two months ago and despite being a little pricy I am very satisfied.

Thanks for all the good information. Based on that I just upgraded up to a Zanfare C4

sideline....Is there a master charger thread?
I have just the basic xtar wp6... looking for a good basic 4 bay for brother in law..
Also, what is the largest bay charger now? 8..10? I think the 8 bay ones charge at a low rate. I have run out of room on my wp6.. Maybe just another wp6 or something?

justanotherguy said:

sideline....Is there a master charger thread?
I have just the basic xtar wp6... looking for a good basic 4 bay for brother in law..
Also, what is the largest bay charger now? 8..10? I think the 8 bay ones charge at a low rate. I have run out of room on my wp6.. Maybe just another wp6 or something?

Click to expand...

Depends what chemistries you need. If it's NiMH only check out AccuManager. They have a 12 bay and a 16. Tenergy has one or more over 8 bays last I checked. For me it is difficult to justify buying one since I rarely need to charge more the 8 cells at the same time plus the big guys normally max out at 500mA per bay.

fmc1 said:

Depends what chemistries you need. If it's NiMH only check out AccuManager. They have a 12 bay and a 16. Tenergy has one or more over 8 bays last I checked. For me it is difficult to justify buying one since I rarely need to charge more the 8 cells at the same time plus the big guys normally max out at 500mA per bay.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I dropped the ball.. 18650

Google All-88. Eight bays at 1 Amp in all 8 bays simultaneously. Very versatile. I charge 10440 to 26650 and everything in between, all at the same time. Each bay has independent settings of voltage and amps.

I have a xtar vc4, d4, and recently purchased enova all-88.. they all working fine..