Xtar vc4 question

My first lithium charger and batteries. I picked up 2 Sony vtc6 off flea Bay. I'm used to using a maha 9000 for my eneloop batteries. When it finishes the mah read out gives me the total, typically 1600 to 1800 for my 2000 mah batteries. Now the xtar vc4 read 1600 mah for this Sony 3000 mah. Are they only charging to 1600 mah or is that what it took to get to full?

Without doing a discharge/charge test a charger can only tell you how much charge it has put into the cell. That's what your VC4 does. Good for making sure matched pairs are discharging at the same rate, though.
P

peter yetman said:

Without doing a discharge/charge test a charger can only tell you how much charge it has put into the cell. That's what your VC4 does. Good for making sure matched pairs are discharging at the same rate, though.
P

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I also noticed the cells remained cool to touch while charging. My eneloops get warm while charging.

Have a look at HKJs review here...
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?400085-Test-Review-of-Charger-Xtar-VC4
He'll let you know what to expect heatwise.
P

The true capacity of a cell/battery is mostly dependent on what rate of discharge you're throwing at it.

You might have a 2000mAh battery with discharge capacity of 1980mAh at a current/drain of 100mA. However, if you put a 1A drain on it, it might only yield 1875mAh of capacity.

You can't discuss battery capacity unless you're state the draw/current demand of the load.

That's why HKJ's graphs are important to understand.

Alkalines do well at current levels our synapses fire at, in our brains, but you put a 3A load on a D battery and it goes nipples up in short order.

Chris