Emoli & A123 Charger with Cold Weather Mode

[Bones]

The positive posts by LuxLuther and others on the 'safer' lithium chemistries is tempting me to foray into this branch of the rechargeable world, especially when it's coupled with the opportunity to dismantle something.

Mindful of SilverFox's warning that fully charging these chemistries in low temperatures can negatively effect their lifespan, I am considering the Cellpro 4s charger.

It claims to be capable of charging both the Emoli and A123 cells, and for those times when I tend to become completely absent minded, it also claims to have a cold weather mode:

A cold-weather mode kicks in at around 55 degrees F where the charger will not fully charge the battery to 4.2v but keeps it pinched back to 4.0v per cell.

In cold weather conditions, a 4.2v cell has shortened pack life to around 10 cycles. At 4.0v per cell in cold weather, the battery life is not affected.

The price doesn't seem that unreasonable either, with the charger and matching power supply available for just over a hundred dollars.

So, a good choice?

 

[SafetyBob]

Looks good, I hope others will respond here too.

Do you know exactly when it was introduced? Looks very promising. Just get one and let us know how it works. Appears to be quality unit.

Bob E.

 

[LuxLuthor]

Yeah, I think that is a good price for charger and power, and most will not need to do more than 4s charging. My next choice from a price standpoint would be the BC-6 which has the power supply contained.

 

[Bones]

Looks good, I hope others will respond here too.

Do you know exactly when it was introduced? Looks very promising. Just get one and let us know how it works. Appears to be quality unit.

It seems the Pila IBC does a very good job of charging the 18650 Emoli cells, so I've pretty well decided to start with it SafetyBob.

However, from LuxLuther's comment and the literally thousands of related posts on the RC forums, it does appear that the CellPro 4s is highly regarded though.

As a quick indicator, I only got 24 hits when I Googled it with the term 'hate' compared to the 672 hits I got when I Googled it with the term 'love'.

The date this thread was commenced indicates that it was likely introduced early in 2006.

 

[Bones]

Yeah, I think that is a good price for charger and power, and most will not need to do more than 4s charging. My next choice from a price standpoint would be the BC-6 which has the power supply contained.

Thanks LuxLuther.