Fast charger or steady charger?

[skiersl9]

This may be a stupid question but I have never purchased a rechargeable light before. I was wonering if someone could tell me if a fast charger is better that a steady charger. I would love the fast charger but is it going to harm the overall life of the battery? Thanks

 

[f22shift]

always better to slow charge. sometimes it charges more completely. someone did a test with fast and slow charge and lost something around 10%-15% of the battery life with the fast charger in comparison.
it's not too signficant as to not ever do it.
i say slow if you can, it'll be more gentle to the cells and more complete in fully charging it. fast is okay if you are short on time.

there's a battery forum here, check it out

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

always better to slow charge. sometimes it charges more completely. someone did a test with fast and slow charge and lost something around 10%-15% of the battery life with the fast charger in comparison.
it's not too signficant as to not ever do it.
i say slow if you can, it'll be more gentle to the cells and more complete in fully charging it. fast is okay if you are short on time.

there's a battery forum here, check it out

that depends very much on the type and quality of the charger you are using. A good professional grade R/C charger won't damage cells on quick charge.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Skiersl,

In order to discuss your question we need to define some terms...

A standard charge involves charging at 0.1C for 16 hours. This is usually considered a slow charge.

If your charger utilizes - delta V or dT/dt (temperature) termination, the battery manufacturers recommend charging in the 0.5C - 1.0C range. This is referred to as fast charging.

Now, if you are using a 15 minute charger, that is really fast charging.

Capacity is determined using the standard charge, and a 5 hour discharge. Cycle life testing can also be done utilizing the standard charge, but some companies (Sanyo and others) use an accelerated test method for cycle life. This involves charging at 1C.

So, which is better?

If you are looking for 500 cycles, I would suggest charging at 1C. If you are hoping for more than 500 cycles and can accurately determine the state of charge when you go to charge your cells, then you may want to consider the standard charge.

Tom

 

[vic2367]

slow charge i think is the best option,,,you get more run time out of your battery,

 

[skiersl9]

WOW! thanks for the fast response... The lights I have been looking at are the Streamlight Survivor LED and or the Streamlight Stinger LED. I am not sure about the technical details of the chargers.

 

[tarpon]

Newbie here, not even a Flashaholic ... longtime Maglite user, until I saw my first LED light.

I guess I made a big mistake, I just bought the Eveready 15 minute charger last week from Walmart. It seems to do a good job on the 2200 Mah cells that came in the kit, it sure charges fast.

Is this the road to disaster for my cells? I guess I can see why the manufacturer would package up the charger this way, sell more batteries I would assume.

Are any of the big box store chargers any good? We have a very slim selection locally.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Tarpon,

Welcome to CPF.

The Energizer 15 minute charger is a great charger. With 2200 mAh cells you may even get close to 500 cycles from them. Higher capacity cells charged on the 15 minute charger crap out after around 150 cycles.

Still, 150 cycles is not too bad considering the time you save in charging.

Tom

 

[tarponbill]

Something went wrong with my account, just re-registered. Have no idea what is wrong ...

Thanks Silverfox for the reply. I needed the charger for car use, so that is why I went with the Eveready 15 minute one, all parts in one box. After some testing with a resistor bank and a meter, I find the 2200 mah batteries charge up to around 1900-2000 mah, which seems about what most here say, fast chargers don't charge up as well. But the Eveready charger has a fan, so the batteries stay cool.

Is there anything such as a cheap slow charger?

 

[tarponbill]

Is there anything such as a cheap slow charger?

Found the answer on another thread, so much data so little time ...