Best charger for 10180 cells.

[De-Lux]

The 10180 for best reliability should be charged at one-half of rated C or about 45 mA. We have been looking at an IC that has user selectable current outputs that go down to 45 mA. The electronics provides the correct charging profile and has an overcharging limiter. The electronics is the simple part. Designing the mechanical and producing limited quantities in a cost effecent package is the hard part. Most chargers charge to 4.2 volts, however if charged to 4.1 volts the battery life as to number of charge/discharge cycles can be doubled. That is according to one of the battery manufacturers.

Curt

Is there a specific charger that you would recommend? If not, which of the following chargers would best accommodate charging 10180 cells in your opinion?

1. Belkin Charger
2. BiCha Dual lithium charger

The Belkin charges at 100 mA which according to what you stated would still be too high for 10180 cells? It is designed to charge RCR123's. Most RCR123 chargers seem to be around 450mA.

 

[DM51]

The 10180 for best reliability should be charged at one-half of rated C or about 45 mA. We have been looking at an IC that has user selectable current outputs that go down to 45 mA. The electronics provides the correct charging profile and has an overcharging limiter. The electronics is the simple part. Designing the mechanical and producing limited quantities in a cost effecent package is the hard part. Most chargers charge to 4.2 volts, however if charged to 4.1 volts the battery life as to number of charge/discharge cycles can be doubled. That is according to one of the battery manufacturers.

That is correct about the charging rates. 0.5C-1C is the right range to be looking at for all Li-Ion cells, with 0.7C the ideal. Exceeding 1.0C will risk over-heating and damage. Charging to 4.1V will extend the cycle life of a cell, as you say.

I have this one https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14885 and it seems perfect for 10180. I use it for everything from 10180 to 18650. For 10180 no adapters needed about 1 hour to charge from 3.01 volts. Slow with the bigger cells but really convenient to throw in a bag or pocket.

There are 2 things to look for in the charger. First, is it charging with the correct CC/CV algorithm? With most, this is unlikely, and with cheap chargers like this one, almost certainly not. If it is not using the correct algorithm, termination at the correct voltage could be a hit-and-miss affair. Second, and more important, look at the charge rate. On the back of the charger this should be stated in mA (milliamps). See what I say below about "C", and how it governs charging rates.

Is there a specific charger that you would recommend? If not, which of the following chargers would best accommodate charging 10180 cells in your opinion?

1. Belkin Charger
2. BiCha Dual lithium charger

The Belkin charges at 100 mA which according to what you stated would still be too high for 10180 cells? It is designed to charge RCR123's. Most RCR123 chargers seem to be around 450mA.

I don't know either of those chargers, but the rule is that if the charge rate exceeds 1C for the cell, it is not suitable.

For those who are not clear what "C" is, the long-winded version is that it is the current in miiliamps at which the cell will discharge from full to empty in 1 hour. The short version is very much simpler. Cells have a capacity rating, stated in mAh. For a 10180 cell, the figure is 90 mAh. That same figure expressed in mA (without the "h") is 1C for that cell. Therefore 1C for a 10180 is 90 mA, whereas 1C for a 18650 is 2,200-2,600 mA (depending on the rated capacity of the cell). This is why unless you get a hobby charger, you can't use the same charger for all cells. A charger that charged a 18650 at 1C would force-charge a 10180 at >20C, which would be very likely indeed to cause an explosion. At the other extreme, a charger suitable for a 10180 might take >24 hours to charge a 18650!

So – to see if a charger is OK for a particular size of Li-Ion cell, look at the charge rate (in mA) printed on the charger. If that figure is larger than the mAh capacity of your cell, it is NOT suitable.

To take your example here, the 100 mA stated for the Belkin is ~1.1C for a 10180, which is just over the recommended maximum limit. I'm not exactly going to tell you that it is OK to use it, but I would say that if you kept a careful eye on it during charging, watching and checking for any signs of the cell over-heating, it would be pretty unlikely to cause a problem in a healthy call that had never been over-discharged. As the cell aged, you would notice it heating up a bit more during charging, a sign that it was struggling a little.

 

[wapkil]

I have this one https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14885 and it seems perfect for 10180. I use it for everything from 10180 to 18650. For 10180 no adapters needed about 1 hour to charge from 3.01 volts. Slow with the bigger cells but really convenient to throw in a bag or pocket.

One hour is much too fast for a CC/CV charger - it should take around 2 hours to charge an empty cell with the 1C current and more time if the current is lower.

There are 2 things to look for in the charger. First, is it charging with the correct CC/CV algorithm? With most, this is unlikely, and with cheap chargers like this one, almost certainly not. If it is not using the correct algorithm, termination at the correct voltage could be a hit-and-miss affair. Second, and more important, look at the charge rate. On the back of the charger this should be stated in mA (milliamps).

Surprisingly this charger is using the CC/CV algorithm, although the CV phase is performed after the LED turns green. You can see here for details. The charge current is around 300mA so the cells smaller than AAA (like 10180 discussed here) shouldn't be charged with it.

EDIT: This charger can also charge NiMH batteries but obviously we are talking only about Li-Ion cells here.

 

[De-Lux]

That is correct about the charging rates. 0.5C-1C is the right range to be looking at for all Li-Ion cells, with 0.7C the ideal. Exceeding 1.0C will risk over-heating and damage. Charging to 4.1V will extend the cycle life of a cell, as you say.

There are 2 things to look for in the charger. First, is it charging with the correct CC/CV algorithm? With most, this is unlikely, and with cheap chargers like this one, almost certainly not. If it is not using the correct algorithm, termination at the correct voltage could be a hit-and-miss affair. Second, and more important, look at the charge rate. On the back of the charger this should be stated in mA (milliamps). See what I say below about "C", and how it governs charging rates.


I don't know either of those chargers, but the rule is that if the charge rate exceeds 1C for the cell, it is not suitable.

For those who are not clear what "C" is, the long-winded version is that it is the current in miiliamps at which the cell will discharge from full to empty in 1 hour. The short version is very much simpler. Cells have a capacity rating, stated in mAh. For a 10180 cell, the figure is 90 mAh. That same figure expressed in mA (without the "h") is 1C for that cell. Therefore 1C for a 10180 is 90 mA, whereas 1C for a 18650 is 2,200-2,600 mA (depending on the rated capacity of the cell). This is why unless you get a hobby charger, you can't use the same charger for all cells. A charger that charged a 18650 at 1C would force-charge a 10180 at >20C, which would be very likely indeed to cause an explosion. At the other extreme, a charger suitable for a 10180 might take >24 hours to charge a 18650!

So – to see if a charger is OK for a particular size of Li-Ion cell, look at the charge rate (in mA) printed on the charger. If that figure is larger than the mAh capacity of your cell, it is NOT suitable.

To take your example here, the 100 mA stated for the Belkin is ~1.1C for a 10180, which is just over the recommended maximum limit. I'm not exactly going to tell you that it is OK to use it, but I would say that if you kept a careful eye on it during charging, watching and checking for any signs of the cell over-heating, it would be pretty unlikely to cause a problem in a healthy call that had never been over-discharged. As the cell aged, you would notice it heating up a bit more during charging, a sign that it was struggling a little.

Thanks for the the clarification on chargers. I went ahead and ordered the Delkin. I will keep a watchful eye on it while in use. Seems that there really hasn't been a charger specifically designed for 10180 cells and people are just making due with what is already on the market. Thanks again

 

[hazna]

I found a coin cell charger on ebay. It looks similar to the powerstream coin cell charger, however I think it has a higher charging rate.

Here are the specs:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Functions[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] * Input voltage: AC 110V, 220V
* Worldwide use: 110-220V AC input
* Frequency: 60Hz
* Input Current: AC =< 60mA
* Unloaded Voltage: DC =< 12V
* Electrification Current: DC 150mA +/- 50mA
* Electrification Limited Voltage: DC 4.25V +/- 0.05V
* Lightweight: 2 oz.
[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Do you look at the input current or electrification current to determine whether it's suitable?[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Also what is the electrification limited voltage? Is this the voltage that it stops at? 4.25V +/- 0.5V seems a little high doesn't it?
[/FONT]

 

[DM51]

Do you look at the input current or electrification current to determine whether it's suitable?

Also what is the electrification limited voltage? Is this the voltage that it stops at? 4.25V +/- 0.5V seems a little high doesn't it?

What they call electrification current is the output current. At 150 mA, this is too high for a 10180 (reasons given in my posts above).

4.25V +/- 0.05V is also too high.

 

[rider]

Re: Best charger for 10180 cells?

Poking around the r/c forums..found this little gem.

The BiCha dual lithium charger.
10mah - 150mah

Manual ->
http://www.microflight.com/pdf/Bicha-Manual.pdf

This looked perfect until I read the manual; it says "The charger uses the LTC4054 charger circuits (charges at 1C up to 4.2V, maintain charge at 0.1C)."

I'd like something that actually terminates the charge instead of continuing to unnecessarily float charge the battery. It'd also be nice to have an option to terminate at 4.1 or 4.15V instead of 4.2V.

With Sabrewolf discontinuing his little USB chargers, there really aren't any great options out there, especially for 10180 cells. Some of the hobby chargers offer amazing flexibility, but they sure are expensive and bulky, and most require an external power supply making them completely non-portable.

For what the BiCha was intended (pretty much charging batteries out in the field), it's very convenient, but I can't help but wonder why so many LiPo and LiIon charger manufacturers seem to think that the batteries should be continually trickle charged - when they should not.