Is it my batteries or my charger?

[Miamicuse]

I originally bought an eBay flashlight of UltraFire brand that came with a 18650 battery and a charger...and the charger had no instructions and would blink red continuously even after charging for six hours. Which led me to this forum.

After consulting the experts here and read up on a number of threads, I decided to get rid of the 18650 battery and charger.

Instead I ordered a NITECORE i4 charger (2014 version whatever that means) and two new 18650 batteries by "FlePow". They came yesterday and I immediately charged up the new FlePow batteries and they seem to work fine with my flashlight. First question, I never did try the new batteries on my flashlight BEFORE I charged them with the i4 charger. May be I should have, to drain them totally before I charge them the first time? Didn't think of it at first but so I guess I am now wondering if it could have made a difference in their capacity or life?

Second one is puzzling to me. I understand the charger can charge a variety of batteries including AAA rechargeables. I have a Panasonic cordless phone system that has three handsets and each of them use two AAA batteries and I have been using eneloop (SANYO made in Japan HR-4UTGA 1,2V 750mAh). I have always charged these eneloops by plugging the handsets into the base unit when the low battery indicator comes on saying "CHARGE FOR 7 HOURS". So yesterday all three handsets were on low battery, instead of charging them in the handset plugging onto the base unit as usual, I removed the six eneloops and put them on the NITECORE charger. As it charges I can see the blinking yellow indicator 1 bar, 2 bar, 3 bar and eventually steady yellow light. I assumed it's fully charged took them out and put them back in the handset, and turned it on it says "CHARGE FOR 7 HOURS" with only ONE BAR. All six batteries, all three handsets. What's wrong? Why wouldn't the i4 charger not charge the eneloops for the Panasonic handsets? Then I plugged them into the base unit and this morning they are fully charged.

I also have six other rechargeable batteries called DIGIMAX Ni-MH 1100mAH Rechargeable 1,2V. How do these compare with the eneloops?

Finally I need a flashlight in my truck's toolbox. I am in South Florida with extreme heat in the summer it can go up to 100 degrees during the day and higher in a locked truck. What type of battery should this flashlight use to minimize the chance of overheating and leaking? Are eneloops my best bet?

Thanks in advance for the helpful comments and advice!

 

[HKJ]

... and turned it on it says "CHARGE FOR 7 HOURS" with only ONE BAR. All six batteries, all three handsets. What's wrong?

Maybe the phone remembers the battery state, try charging the phone for 5 minutes and see if it helps.

 

[Gauss163]

From the Panasonic FAQ:

I took the batteries out of the handset just for a second and when I put them back in, the low battery icon flashes and the screen displays "charge for 7h". Is this normal?

This is normal. When the batteries are taken out, the handset loses track of how much the batteries are charged. You may use the phone normally, but the battery indication will not be accurate until charged for about 7 hours.

 

[Miamicuse]

So basically that means if I fully charge the batteries on the charger then place them inside the phone handsets, they will not be able to give a true indication unless I put it in the base unit for 7 hours? That makes no sense...that means the battery indication after a 7 hoiur charge "resets" the indication to "FULL" and it uses some other methods to display the state of the battery but not really some measurement of the level of charge of the battery itself?

 

[magellan]

I realize you were discussing 18650 types, but as far as heat tolerance goes, check out Energizer Ultimate Lithiums. Good for -40 to 140 degrees F:

http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/l91.pdf

Standard Panasonic NCR18650 are only rated to 122 degrees F storage:

http://industrial.panasonic.com/lecs/www-data/pdf2/ACA4000/ACA4000CE240.pdf

If I remember right the IMR batteries (lithium manganese types in the red wrapper) from AW are rated at 140 F.

 

[Gauss163]

I'm not aware of any further details from Panasonic on the fuel gauge implementation. This is a common complaint about these phones.

Btw, it is better to ask unrelated questions in separate threads.

 

[RBWNY]

I realize you were discussing 18650 types,

Yes... your original question about the "FlePow" (strange name) 18650's seemed to get pushed aside.

Anyway, I had bought one of those Panasonic phones a few months ago, and had the same idea about charging the AAA's that came with it, in my Opus charger. This was for the initial charge after unboxing it. Anyway I thought that would quicker than letting them charge IN the phone. So, the Opus charged them quickly. I placed them in the phone and got the same result you did! ONE BAR! :shrug: What the---!! Since I figured something was just plain wonky, I ended up charging them in the phone...and that's now where they charge each and every time.