Good RCR123A charger?

[bagman]

I use a new Pila charger for most of my Li_ion's but am looking for something simialr in quality for my RCR123A's.

I have tried the Pila with spacers but the results are not great, they terminate well before 4.2v and have connection problems when setting them up to charge.

As I've started to use my AW 123A's again a lot with a Malkoff for work I need to get a good charger for them. I have one of the horrible LED charges slowly from orange to green as they charge ones but am looking for better.

All sugestions appreciated.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Bagman,

The next step up from the Pila IBC charger is to go to the hobby chargers. Schulze makes a nice line of chargers, also check out the Bantam BC6. There are others as well.

Usually, when a good charger like the Pila IBC ends up charging a Li-Ion cell to a lower voltage, assuming your spacer material and connections are not adding too much resistance to the charging circuit, it means that the cell is worn out. When the resting voltage of the cell drops below 4.0 volts after a full charge, it is time to replace the cell.

When the internal resistance of the cell increases, the ending open circuit voltage of the cell will be lower. When the open circuit resting voltage of a fully charged cell drops much below 4.0 volts, then you run into the gray area where the cell may technically be trickle charged during the last part of the constant voltage portion of the charge. Trickle charging tends to plate out metal lithium on the electrodes and the cell then can become unstable.

If you have another size cell you can charge on the Pila, charge it up, let it rest for 15 minutes, then measure the voltage. If it is in the 4.2 volts range, then your charger is fine. From here, you can move on to check your spacer and connections, and finally your R-CR123 cell.

Tom

 

[bagman]

Thanks Tom, the cells are nearly new and the charger does fine on all my other li-ion's. I think it is the spacers I am using (the alu ones AW ships with the UF139 to charge RCR123A's), they are just a fraction too short with the Pila to give reliable connection.

Is there a charger of similar spec to the Pila designed for RCR123A's?