Any charger for Li-ion that stops below 4.20V?

[palomino77]

I am not one to try to get 3 years of use out of a cheap (low cost) cell. I like a 95-100% full charge each and every time I charge a cell. I don't want to have to roll, pull and reinsert or reset in order to get the charge I want.

Whenever you or I put two cells in a two-bay charger, we should get, on completion, two fully (or close) charged cells with matching voltages. Not one cell having 4.20v and the other with 4.12 or 4.16v. When this happens, you have to perform one of the above actions to get the voltage up to match the other cell. Good luck with that. It is a nuisance, a bother and a waste of time.

I have only had only one charger so far that would charge to 4.20v. per cell, 100% full charge each time. After about 10 charge cycles it burned out Just my luck.

The other chargers I have either overcharge or are inconsistant (uneven termination voltages).

It is important to always check the cells' voltage coming off any charger to be sure the cells are closely matched.:twothumbs Matching cells' capacities is another story altogether.......

I only have AA flashlights right now and I was thinking of buying an M1X and a jet III military,, but lately with so much hassle about using Li-ion batteries, with so many warnings about explosions, fires, keeping a eye on charging because your life depends on it, etc etc. and now your comments on two batteries having be the same voltage,,, is really killing the passion for wanting one. right now I'm thinking about just sticking to AA flashlights. With AA's I just charge (leave on charger for days), buy or get crap cells anywhere I want and the thing lights up. Can you imagine if AA's where the same as li-ions and owning a TK40 with eight batteries. Or maybe things aren't that bad and it is worth it, I'll just have to keep reading and think about it.

 

[KiwiMark]

I only have AA flashlights right now and I was thinking of buying an M1X and a jet III military,, but lately with so much hassle about using Li-ion batteries, with so many warnings about explosions, fires, keeping a eye on charging because your life depends on it, etc etc. and now your comments on two batteries having be the same voltage,,, is really killing the passion for wanting one. right now I'm thinking about just sticking to AA flashlights. With AA's I just charge (leave on charger for days), buy or get crap cells anywhere I want and the thing lights up. Can you imagine if AA's where the same as li-ions and owning a TK40 with eight batteries. Or maybe things aren't that bad and it is worth it, I'll just have to keep reading and think about it.

Personally I don't think that the problems/risks with Li-ion cells are that much of a hassle and IMO they are totally worth using. With protected cells the risks are even less. If you have 2 protected cells and one goes flat before the other then the protection circuit will trip to protect the lower voltage cell and the light will shut off - no risk or damage. If you run a singe 18650 in a Jet-IIIM the there is no issue with mismatched cells.

I usually take the Li-ion cells and put them in my WF-139 charger, when the light goes from from red to green I remove the cell from the charger and use it in whatever light. No hassles and I know a cell charged a couple of weeks ago can be put into a light and will still be practically fully charged.

The AW18650 with 2600mAh capacity has about 4 x the energy stored in it compared to an Eneloop AA cell - that is a big advantage for a high drain device like a good flashlight.

 

[palomino77]

Personally I don't think that the problems/risks with Li-ion cells are that much of a hassle and IMO they are totally worth using. With protected cells the risks are even less. If you have 2 protected cells and one goes flat before the other then the protection circuit will trip to protect the lower voltage cell and the light will shut off - no risk or damage. If you run a singe 18650 in a Jet-IIIM the there is no issue with mismatched cells.

I usually take the Li-ion cells and put them in my WF-139 charger, when the light goes from from red to green I remove the cell from the charger and use it in whatever light. No hassles and I know a cell charged a couple of weeks ago can be put into a light and will still be practically fully charged.

The AW18650 with 2600mAh capacity has about 4 x the energy stored in it compared to an Eneloop AA cell - that is a big advantage for a high drain device like a good flashlight.

Thank you very much.
I think I will try the M1X and JetIIIM :twothumbs
I will make protected pairs for M1X and take the proper precautions. You learn a lot from this forum, but some people make it sound like it is not to much fun to have Li-ion battery flashlights. :sigh:
Is the smoke from a LI-Ion battery fire poison so as to not charge indoors? :green:
There are millions of Li-ion batteries used everyday on all kinds of devices, and no one ever gets warnings from all this dangers. Or do they?, somewhere in the manual, but nobody ever thinks about overcharging there cell phone, ipod etc. Why is this?
Thanks again.

 

[tino_ale]

I don't think Apple, Sony or Nokia are willing to inform every customer that a perforated, shorted or overcharged li-ion/li-poly cell can explode, vent and/or burst in flames.

In their position you would also be tempted to push the enveloppe on high/low charge limits in order to suck the maximum from the cells and do your marketing thing on runtime, while shortening cells lifespan.

One thing I have learned from RC hobbyst who have a great deal of experience with li-poly cells is that the high/low charge limits have a huge impact on life span whereas pushing the cells pretty hard on discharge rates is less problematic (as long as you don't let them overheat).

How the cells are stored (at what temps and what state of charge) also has a great impact on their lifespan.

 

[SunFire900]

Palomino77, It was never my intent to try to scare you away from Li-ion batteries. They are the best thing going for high capacity and low weight. I have five lights that use Li-ion cells exclusively and have only had one incident with a cell venting while in use in my eagletac M2XC4. That was a bad cell. No lithium horror stories ever came from me, but you can find them in these forums if you search.

My problem is with chargers that fail to charge BOTH cells equally. That is why I recommend checking the voltages of the cells to be sure they match. To me, the cells should be within .02v of each other. I really prefer the two cells to be the same v. You cannot treat Li-ion in the same manner as NiMh as they are worlds apart in their chemistrys.

By the way, in case you didn't hear, there have been millions of laptop batteries (packs) recalled due to some of them catching fire. Recently in the UK, a person was injured when his cellphone battery exploded when he was using it in bed while it was charging. These mishaps are rare and almost meaningless unless they happen to you.

 

[palomino77]

Palomino77, It was never my intent to try to scare you away from Li-ion batteries. They are the best thing going for high capacity and low weight. I have five lights that use Li-ion cells exclusively and have only had one incident with a cell venting while in use in my eagletac M2XC4. That was a bad cell. No lithium horror stories ever came from me, but you can find them in these forums if you search.

My problem is with chargers that fail to charge BOTH cells equally. That is why I recommend checking the voltages of the cells to be sure they match. To me, the cells should be within .02v of each other. I really prefer the two cells to be the same v. You cannot treat Li-ion in the same manner as NiMh as they are worlds apart in their chemistrys.

By the way, in case you didn't hear, there have been millions of laptop batteries (packs) recalled due to some of them catching fire. Recently in the UK, a person was injured when his cellphone battery exploded when he was using it in bed while it was charging. These mishaps are rare and almost meaningless unless they happen to you.

THANKS,, it wasn't all you, you might say you where the drop that made the glass overflow, I had been reading all this stories about how careful you have to be with Li-ons to keep the house from burning down etc etc. I had gotten to the point of saying good grief this might not be worth it, and then I read your article on matched Li-ions, the M1X uses two cells. You know the rest. I'm OK now, and very enthusiastic about getting the two Jet's.
Thank you for your concern, I'm sorry for causing it.

 

[Billy Ram]

If anyone is interested my new WF-139 charger charges my AW 2600mah 18650s to 4.18v. Both sides.
Billy

 

[Cemoi]

new WF-139 charger charges my AW 2600mah 18650s to 4.18v

Where did you buy it, DX or AW or ?

 

[Billy Ram]

Where did you buy it, DX or AW or ?

I got them from Lighthound. If you place an order with them be sure to order waterproof storage tubes #LHSTTB $.99ea. These hold 2ea. 18650s with out any rattle. The smartest I've seen.
Billy

 

[sadtimes]

triton hobby charger stops at 4.09

 

[tino_ale]

About fully charge/discharge or not, this is the kind of advise you can often read on the internet :

first time, 2nd time, 100th time, it doesn't make a difference, you have to charge the battery until it is FULL. you will when its full by an indicator on the charger, usually a green light. the important thing for you to know about batteries is that you should ALWAYS use them in a full cycle in order for them to stay healthy. a full cycle means charging the battery to its full capacity, then using them until they completely de-charge, then recharge them again. for example, if you you use a fully charged battery to say 50% of it capacity, then charge for 30 minutes to 80%, then use it until 20% then again charge it to 50% and so on, you will wear out that battery in 4-6 months, but if you complete a full cycle EVERY time, I guarantee your battery will last at least 3 years. and remember, if you want to store your camera away and not use it for 1 month or more, de-charge the battery to about 20-30% of its capacity, not using a full battery for over a month will decrease its normal life.

As far as I could read and read about batteries, these statements are just at the exact opposite of what's true