Need a simple multi chemistry battery charger

I have searched and read a lot of posts and reviews. I'm confused. I don't need the best charger. I'm not looking for the most options right now. I'm not wanting the cheapest or most expensive. I'm fairly new to rechargeable. I have a goal zero solar charger I use to keep my phone and have emergency AA batteries available when camping. I also use this at home to keep the few AAs I have recharged using the USB power input.
I am looking at the Fenix LD12 and would like to use the 14500 batteries. I would like a charger that is simple to use, charges at least AA and AAA and the 14500, is plug and play without knowing about charge rates and voltage, and has 4 battery capacity. I also would like to be able to leave it plugged in and if I forget for a day or two it won't burn up the battery or down the house.
Does this exist or is it a unicorn.

Based on your requirements I will try and give some things to look for and things to watch out for. Ideally you want something that charges AA'a at 1A and AAA's at .5A. I recommend one that completely shuts off the current after the battery is full, no trickle charge at the end. Especially watch out for ones that trickle charges until you take the battery out. A typical 14500 is about 700mAh so ideal charge current for them is about .35A. There are lots of chargers out there that have a minimum single slot current of 1A or more. Stay away from those, that's too much current for a 14500.


Have you looked at HKJ's index?


https://lygte-info.dk/info/roundCellChargerIndex UK.html


What is your budget?


Do you want any analyzing capability?


Frank

Thanks for the reply Frank. I have looked at the index. It is way more information than I understand or want to sort through. My budget is pretty open under 50.00 would be nice but would spend more if it is well spent. Analysis is probably going give me more information than I would know what to do with. The speed is also not important to me. At some point I may get more involved with the details but for now I just need to charge batteries.

I mean it's not perfect but my Xtar VC4 works well, has for years. 4 slots, li ion or nimh, 1 amp charge rate for outer two slots, 500mA if the middle bays are in use. Nothing too fancy but it's worked well for years. Usb powered

get the opus bt-c3100/bt-c3400

I like the Fenix ARE-C2 so far.
Just stick the battery in there and wait,nothing more to do.

As far as I know no charger correctly sets the charge rates automatically. Most just charge at 1 amp by default. Some allow the charge rate to be set manually. Few have a 250 mA charge rate option. Even less charge and terminate charging correctly. My go to option is a Xtar SV2. It has 250/500/1000/2000 mA charge rates that are manually set. A single button changes the charge rate. Single clicks cycle through the charge rates. A double click sets the charger to 250 mA charge rate. Only possible downside is it's a 2 slot charger. I use my SV2 99% of the time. If I need to charge more than two cells at a time I use my Xtar VP4 Plus, no 250 mA charge rate though. That's were the SV2 comes in. IMO its never safe to leave batteries on any charger unattended as some day it will get you. YMMV

I use my Xtar VC4 for all of my LiIon and NiMH cells except the 10400 and 14500 LiIon cells. I could charge the 14500 in the VC4, but I would rather have a lower charge rate, and I definitely need a lower charge rate for the 10400 cells. For those I use my Xtar VP2. It is switch selectable for 250ma/500ma/1000ma, and also switch selectable for voltages of 3.6v/, 4.2v, and 4.35v. The only thing I miss is that it will not charge NiMH.

Timothybil said:

I use my Xtar VC4 for all of my LiIon and NiMH cells except the 10400 and 14500 LiIon cells. I could charge the 14500 in the VC4, but I would rather have a lower charge rate, and I definitely need a lower charge rate for the 10400 cells. For those I use my Xtar VP2. It is switch selectable for 250ma/500ma/1000ma, and also switch selectable for voltages of 3.6v/, 4.2v, and 4.35v. The only thing I miss is that it will not charge NiMH.

Click to expand...

I agree that the VC4 is basically plug n play. I've had some missed terminations on mine and without a solid 2.1A power brick, like my 12w Apple (legit) wall wart, it can be spotty on charging rates, but it works fairly well.

Chris

ChrisGarrett said:

I agree that the VC4 is basically plug n play. I've had some missed terminations on mine and without a solid 2.1A power brick, like my 12w Apple (legit) wall wart, it can be spotty on charging rates, but it works fairly well.

Click to expand...

I recently did a video review of the Xtar X4, which is an upgraded version of the VC4. It takes both USB input, as well as regular household current. I haven't got around to writing up a text review of it yet, but if you're interested in seeing the video, here it is:




Xtar is now using an algorithm called TC/CC/CV in their new chargers. Basically, it means that during the TC phase it starts slow and then selects the best charging speed for the cell. I've found that this is 0.5A for 14500 cells, and usually 2A for 18650. For NiMH, it seems to want to charge them all at 1A.