Does anyone make a fast charger for 18650 Li-Ion batteries?

[europium]

I enjoy the 'free' lumens from using the four 18650 Li-Ion batteries I have, but I am really getting tired of the long wait to charge them using the stock DSD charger that AW sells. I am not aware of all the many different chargers out there, but the ones I have seen mentioned on CPF most commonly with reference to charging 18650 cells all seem to have charge times that I consider unacceptably long.

Are there any chargers I can use with my protected 18650 cells that will charge them in less than 2 hours?

ADthanksVANCE,

Eu

 

[cy]

sure charge with triton at what ever max rate that particular cell will take.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Eu,

:devil: The Schulze will complete a 1C charge faster than the Triton... :devil:

Tom

 

[cy]

gotta step up to a schulze charger. but $200 yeoooo.... :green:

what's the best place to order? this place has
PART#SCHULZE-ISL6-330D 199.99

http://www.helihobby.com/html/chargers.html

 

[citizenal]

Tom,

Can I get a link to this Shulze charger?

 

[europium]

gotta step up to a schulze charger. but $225+ yeoooo.... :green:

Whoa! I am seriously considering getting an MH-808M for my growing arsenal of NiMH batteries, but $225 for a charger is a LOT of money. Well, if there were other, more affordable alternatives, Silverfox would know, so I guess I'm stuck with being frugal ... and patient ... for now.

Thanks for the quick answers. CPF is great!

Eu

 

[wptski]

Here's another: Schulze 330d

 

[cy]

$149... I'm ordering one!

schulze with PC interface is $195. is it worth extra $45?

Here's another: Schulze 330d

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Cy,

YES!!!

Tom

 

[cy]

OK.. just ordered model with PC interface :green:

triton will be up for sale when schulze arrives.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Cy,

You better hold on to the Triton until you figure out the Schulze. It does not have the most "user friendly" and "easily comprehended" instruction manual. Once you figure it out, it goes very smoothly, but there can be a few "snags" at first.

Also, keep in mind that the Triton has a higher discharge rate. The Schulze is limited to 1 amp maximum.

The strong point for the Schulze is charging. The PC interface will allow you to observe some of the "tricks" used to get a complete, full charge.

Tom

 

[cy]

silver, thanks for the headsup... just sent paypal for $204, $9 shipping via ground from canada.

another reason for wanting schulze is ability to charge new lithium-phosphate cells.

 

[Mike abcd]

There are lots of decent LiOn/LiPo chargers under $100 in the r/c world capable of charging up to 4 cells independently at selectable rates up to 2-3 amps. Take a look at the battery/charger forum at rcgroups.com.

Here's what I use most of the time for my LiOn flashlight batteries and the Lithium Polymer packs I use in my helis.
http://www.fmadirect.com/Detail.htm?item=2116&section=45

It was initially claimed to do independent charging but is really a balancing charger. Still far better IMHO than using a separate serial charger and balancing module since it monitors each cell voltage and will shut down the charge current if it runs into a situation where it can't maintain the cell balance when charging.

$60 and $65 for the new version that also handles cells from A123 systems that charge to a lower terminal voltage.

Just an example of what's out there. I wouldn't recommend this one to most folks as it requires different wiring based on the number of cells being charged. (One wire is dedicated to the "highest voltage" cell of multiple cells being charged.)

Mike

 

[Windscale]

UltraFire makes one. It is faster than the DSD and is very cheap in Hong Kong. I also found the DSD not charging the 18650s fully. I say this because the batteries get warmer than using the DSD! The UltraFire only charges 2x18650s (or 2x17670s) at a time, same as the DSD.

 

[Anders]

Hello Windscale wrote"The UltraFire only charges 2x18650s (or 2x17670s) at a time, same as the DSD."

It also charge 17500. RCR 123, 14500, CR2 with spacers and one by one if you want.

But the question was " Are there any chargers I can use with my protected 18650 cells that will charge them in less than 2 hours?"

The Ultrafire don't charge 18650 less than 2 hours.
- 2 to 4 hours for 18650 batteries.

Anders

 

[Windscale]

Yes, you are quite right. The UltraFire charger can charge all those 3.6v rechargebles provided you used little magnets as spacers.

This charger will normally charge protected 18650s in less than 2 hours. Charging new ones for the first time may take longer. But from the second time on the charging time will be considerably shorter as the batteries are rarely that run down which will require a long charge. I always recharge after use.

 

[cy]

cheapest is not always most economical way to charge li-ion cells.

seems most folks are not aware a large portion of dangers using li-ion cells comes from charging process. don't want to burn my house down, so I'm willing to spend $$ for a proven charger like triton and schulze.

here's a recent link to a so called smart charger overcharging single li-ion cell.
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=152013

this smart charger requires user to select proper voltage. user selected wrong setting leading to overcharging and venting with flames. extremely lucky house didn't burn down.

this is the charger named in venting with flame instance above. it's still being sold on cpf. IMHO it's an accident waiting to happen.
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=117653

 

[shoe]

After reading your question, the responses and the prices of some of the chargers, Occam's razor came to mind.
It states that:
"All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one."

Why not just buy 4 more batteries?

I enjoy the 'free' lumens from using the four 18650 Li-Ion batteries I have, but I am really getting tired of the long wait to charge them using the stock DSD charger that AW sells. I am not aware of all the many different chargers out there, but the ones I have seen mentioned on CPF most commonly with reference to charging 18650 cells all seem to have charge times that I consider unacceptably long.

Are there any chargers I can use with my protected 18650 cells that will charge them in less than 2 hours?

ADthanksVANCE,

Eu

 

[MrAl]

Hi there,

Keep in mind you can only charge Li-ions of any size at the rate at which
they were designed. If you go above that, you risk damaging the cell.
What this means in the long run is that there are no 15 minute Li-ion
chargers because in order to charge them in 15 minutes the charge
rate would have to be increased too much. An 18650 cell will charge in
roughly 2 or so hours at 1 amp, which is considered a safe rate. To charge
that same cell in 15 minutes would required a current of 8 amps, which would
be wayyy too high for the cell and would damage it, probably on the first charge.
I would even fear explosion.
Note you might be able to push the envelope to 2 amps and get the charge
down to a little over an hour, but it may take away some of the cycle life
or even damage it on the first charge. If anyone cares to try this, be my guest,
but use a blast shield and wait for the cell to cool down after the charge.
Perhaps a fan on the cell too.

 

[Brum]

Hi there,

Keep in mind you can only charge Li-ions of any size at the rate at which
they were designed. If you go above that, you risk damaging the cell.
What this means in the long run is that there are no 15 minute Li-ion
chargers because in order to charge them in 15 minutes the charge
rate would have to be increased too much. An 18650 cell will charge in
roughly 2 or so hours at 1 amp, which is considered a safe rate. To charge
that same cell in 15 minutes would required a current of 8 amps, which would
be wayyy too high for the cell and would damage it, probably on the first charge.
I would even fear explosion.
Note you might be able to push the envelope to 2 amps and get the charge
down to a little over an hour, but it may take away some of the cycle life
or even damage it on the first charge. If anyone cares to try this, be my guest,
but use a blast shield and wait for the cell to cool down after the charge.
Perhaps a fan on the cell too.

Uhh, I can be wrong on this but I thought I saw '0,7C' in a MFG specsheet for a 18650 (think it was Panasonic) as the advised charging current, which in the case of that cell would equate to 2400*0,7= ~1,7A.