Need a new charger/analyzer. Reviews are helpful, BUT...need help.

[JasonJ]

I am looking at buying a "real" battery charger to handle my NimH and LiON batteries, mostly AAA/AA/18650 cells. I would very much prefer to have a batter tester/analyzer. So given that, I am considering heavily the Opus BT-C3400 after much research and comparison.

Is there a reason to stay away from this charger/analyzer, and to consider a different one? I also had looked carefully at the Nitecore D4. I like the price of the D4, however its low current charging abilities leaves something to be desired… the ability to charge at 1A or better is preferable.

I cant seem to find if there is a better charger/analyzer than the C3400 for a similar price. Cost isn't too much a factor, but I would prefer not to spend more than $55-$65. Less is better (because it frees up funds for more lights and accessories)!

Any suggestions or should I just pull the trigger on the BT-C3400 and run with it?

 

[NoNotAgain]

Unless you need an all in everything type of charger/analyzer, I'd look at the Maha C9000 for the NiMH batteries and an Xtar VP1, VP2 for the lithium batteries.

 

[RollerBoySE]

Nothing wrong with the Maha, but for the same price you also get the ability to charge LiIon with the Opus. Xstar make good chargers, but they don't have the same featureset as the Opus.



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[JasonJ]

I did look at the C9000 for a bit as well, before getting into 18650 powered lights. I dont have much of a need for additional NiMH only chargers, I already have 2. Plus, the buying the C9000 and VP2 is twice what I am allowing myself to spend, and really doesn't give me anything more.

 

[NoNotAgain]

I did look at the C9000 for a bit as well, before getting into 18650 powered lights. I dont have much of a need for additional NiMH only chargers, I already have 2. Plus, the buying the C9000 and VP2 is twice what I am allowing myself to spend, and really doesn't give me anything more.

I could have sworn that you stated in your first post that you had NiMH AA and AAA cells that you wanted to charger and analyze.

If I need to analyze lithium cells I'll use a hobby charger. None of the all in one charger/analyzers that I've seen get high reviews from what I recall.

When I get a new lot of batteries, they get charged on my D4's then I pull 3 or 4 to test on my Accucell 6 hobby charger. I figure that I don't have to analyze every cell provided they get treated the same. After 20 or so charging cycles I'll pull a few more cells to check the aging process. It's worked well for me.

 

[JasonJ]

Yeah, I did. It would be a plus to be able to do all types in one main charger. One of my NiMh chargers is an energizer 15 minute quick charger, and we all know how rough that is on a light. There are times when I certainly need to charge more than 4 or even 6 cells at once.

What makes a hobby charger different than any other charger? Is the accucell 6 or similar something I should be looking at instead?


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[curlysir]

I recently purchased the Opus BT-C3400 to replace the Nitecore D4 because of its lower charging rate. So far I am happy with it. Much quicker charging then the D4. The only possible downside to the Opus BT-C3400 is the fan on the charger. The fan is not silent but not really that loud, however you would not want to have it in a bedroom. The C3400 is the only charger I could find that would charge 4 18650 at 1000mA and still charge AA and AAA.

For the $ the Opus BT-C3400 is a good charger. It can be purchased for $45 delivered by searching Google for Opus BT-C3400. I got mine from the same vendor selling them on Amazon.

 

[NoNotAgain]

Yeah, I did. It would be a plus to be able to do all types in one main charger. What makes a hobby charger different than any other charger? Is the accucell 6 or similar something I should be looking at instead?

The main selling point of the hobby charger is that it can handle all current cell technologies and charge and discharge them at maximum rates as well as performing testing of the cells.

The negative thing is that you have to fabricate holders and charging circuits to monitor each cell you're charging. That's why I only perform random testing of my cells after charging on the Nitecore D4 charger.

The Opus BT-C3100v2.1 and BT-C3400 are the same charger, just renumbered as the 3400.

HKJ reviewed the 3100 version a while ago. Here is his summary; http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?389732-Test-Review-of-Charger-Opus-BT-C3100-V2-1

[SIZE=+2]Conclusion[/SIZE]

With this update to the battery analyzer many of the problems has been fixed.
Generally the peak charge and discharge current for LiIon are a bit high, I would have preferred constant current, instead of the pulsing.
The user interface is fairly easy to use, but it may take a some time to learn what the different modes do.

The conclusion must be that it is a good battery analyzer, but for normal charging I will still prefer a charger with non-pulsing CC/CV charging.

 

[InHisName]

I own both MaHa and Opus 3100.
I find I choose Opus first especially when its older NiMH cells needing charging. MaHa is so fussy, I see HIGH way too much. Most of my 'junk' cells that wont charge on MaHa will go on the Opus. The REALLY awful ones Opus wont charge either. So I am now tossing the worst into the recycle box.
I havent any 18650's yet, but I got a universal cell phone clamp/charger and wired a dummy AA to it to plug into the Opus. I now can charge / analyze the cell batteries.

I'd say if you had to choose ONLY one of above, Get the Opus first. Later when you can afford / need more capicity, then get the MaHa and a constant current LiON top line charger.

 

[Henrik]

If I read them correctly, the specs for the Opus BT-3400 indicate it uses CC/CV for Li-ion cells:

http://www.datalucis.com/fulldetails.php?prodid=29

Can anyone confirm?

 

[ChibiM]

agree... get the latest version of the Opus when possible.. its a great charger... and will help you "understand" the condition of your batteries better! recommended!

 

[Amelia]

I did a ton of research, then went with the Opus BT-C3400. I'm 100% happy with it - there's nothing I would change on that charger. I use it for NiMH and capacity (mAH) analysis. For LiIon, I mostly use my Xtar VP2 chargers - they are also about as perfect as I can see them getting. I could probably give up the VP2's, and charge everything on the Opus, but I like the simplicity and external voltage switch on the VP2 - it's just a really easy charger to use.

 

[magellan]

I have the Opus and Maha too but these days really like the SkyRC NC2500 for NiMH. If anyone here has tried it I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. I reviewed it on Amazon under my magellan name if anyone is interested.

 

[HKJ]

I have the Opus and Maha too but these days really like the SkyRC NC2500 for NiMH. If anyone here has tried it I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. I reviewed it on Amazon under my magellan name if anyone is interested.

The SkyRC is a good charger and I like the functions in it, I did also review it: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...Review-of-Analyzing-NiMH-Charger-SkyRC-NC2500

 

[magellan]

Great! I was eagerly awaiting your review.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

I'm in the market for a new charger also so this thread is very helpful. :thumbsup:

 

[curlysir]

Version 2.2 of the Opus BT-C3400 is available. I dropped something on my version 2.1 and ruined the display and when I went to order a replacement I found the new version was available. Don't know all the differences but 2.2 does allow you to set the display to on all the time or off at at a preset time of around 10 seconds, I like that feature. I was very satisfied with the performance of the previous charger, enough so that I did not hesitate to replace it with the same model.

 

[Henrik]

This is what I heard back from Robert at DataLucis wrt. CC/CV:
"It uses constant current - constant voltage charge protocols. The charge and discharge average current are maintained with PWM."

 

[JasonJ]

Henrik, I would tend to agree with that. I ultimately ended up with the BT-C3400. I really really like it. By switching display modes and watching the charging current and voltage, I can concur that it is indeed constant current for the first portion of the charging cycle, then at a certain voltage of the cell, it switches and maintains a higher charging voltage and the current decreases as the cell reaches 100%.

 

[Henrik]

Thanks for the confirmation Jason.