What are we going to use to CHARGE our new AW 'C' Cells

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PhantomPhoton

PhantomPhoton

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I've been looking around and haven't come up with a good answer yet.
I'm rather new to larger capacity Lithium Ion cells. I've been using RCR123's for over a year, and just have started using protected 14500 and protected 18650 cells with the Ultrafire 139 + multimeter. The AW C cells aren't going to fit in there.

So is there a reasonably priced charger for protected cells that I'm missing? The Multi-Level Universal Smart Charger is under scrutiny at the moment.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=157673

I am not very worried about fast charging. 4 hours is fine by me, but I am hesitant to run some wires off of my Ultrafire 139 to fit the C Cells.

Ideas, advice, etc would be great. I really want to avoid paying $100+ for a charger that I'll probibly only use once a month on two batteries. I don't plan on heavy use, just a fun 2C ROP LE. But I may be stuck choosing between safety and price, in which case I'll go with the former.

Thanks
 
The output of the WF-139 is not really enough at ~450mA. You ideally want 5x that current to charge one of AW's new C-size Li-Ions.

The AW 'C' Li-Ion (Sea-lion??!!) is 3300mAh. Charging should be between 0.5C (1.7A) and 1.0C (3.3A), with 0.7C (2.3A) being ideal. The WF-139 would only give 0.15C, which would take a long time and would be more like a trickle-charge.

Maybe AW could recommend a charger for his "Sea-lions". For a battery holder you could either make a clamp, or use wires with soldered magnets, or adapt a C-size battery holder from an old appliance that used C-cells.
 
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I like the Shultz 360, has software program with multi-programs for charging Ni-cd,Ni-MH, Li on , Lipo packs. Able to charge with Li batteries of 3.6v and 3.7v.

Auto charge, auto discharge, auto charge and discharge, auto discharge and charge. And conditioning programs and manual. Constant temp. measurement and adjusts volts accordingly.

Can find them new around $130-140, I paid about $120 shipped on Ebay. Manual extensive, requiring me anyway to go over it a few times.

Some people exalt the Titon but this is really my first charger beyond the basic level of plug and pop in.
 
you CAN slow charge large high capacity li-ion cells. might not be the best way to "cycle" them, but all the large high cap cells here and multiparellels get charged SLOW, and there is not a problem. (this has nothing to do with series)
if you got the time, IMO , take it, there have always been more problems with trying to blast the cells back into full charged.

there is no Vdrop termination that will be visualised by any "smart" charger for li-ion, they aint nimhy. there is no reason to REQUIRE a fast charge rate to aquire a termination by some computer.
any half descent li-ion charger will terminate based on voltage, and with protected , the protection should if the charger does not.
 
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LuxLuthor said:
I got the Hyperion 1210i and Pyramid 12V Power supply both shown on this site which will do it. Now you just need an effective charging cradle/clamp for multiple cell charging with tap balancing. I'm trying to get that setup here.
Click to expand...
Does your Hyperion depend on having a completely accurate 12v supply? Most 12v PSUs are not very accurate.
 
jimjones3630 said:
I like the Shultz 360, has software program with multi-programs for charging Ni-cd,Ni-MH, Li on , Lipo packs. Able to charge with Li batteries of 3.6v and 3.7v.

Auto charge, auto discharge, auto charge and discharge, auto discharge and charge. And conditioning programs and manual. Constant temp. measurement and adjusts volts accordingly.
Click to expand...

This Hyperion 1210i does all that too. There is a service upgrade that they will do on existing units for a few bucks that will add the new A123 cell charging support.

DM51 said:
Does your Hyperion depend on having a completely accurate 12v supply? Most 12v PSUs are not very accurate.
Click to expand...

No. It needs either a 12V car battery, or AC-DC PS in the range of 12V-15V output, with a minimum current rating of 8A. If you need to charge higher voltage batteries, a higher Amp output may be needed. I got the Pyramid PS which puts out 10 AMP Constant/12 AMP Surge @ 13.8V DC
 
Building a rudimentary charging cradle just for the C cells isn't much of a hassle, but I don't fancy using electrical tape and alligator clips to connect it to my UF 139. I'm just looking for a reliable, safe charger preferably in the $50- range.
AW stated he was looking for a recommended charger that would do ~2A but I haven't seen anything come thru yet.
Doing multiple cells at the same time appeals to me, but isn't necessary.
 
may not be possible to find a good/safe charger to fit your budget and charge C li-ion at 1C.

if you can stand extended charge times, new Pila charger is the only charger within price range that truly terminates charge. you will need to run wires to a charging clamp.

closest would be Triton Jr for $79, then add power supply (old PC power supply) and charging clamp (aprox. $10)

lately this question has been repeatably asked in several similar threads.

here's a good starting point...
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=157773
 
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exactly which charger are you referring to?

has this charger been independently tested that it truly terminates a charge. instead of going to trickle charge at end of charge?

can you control rate of charge? and at what point charge will terminate?

not trying to give you a hard time. these are basic questions that has to be answered to qualify as a good/safe charger.

triton jr at $79 is the closest I've seen that will charge C size li-ion at the recommended .5C to 1C and be reasonably priced. note this charger is really new so this is completely going by spec's and triton's reputation for putting out a quality charger.

edit: just found a charger for $79 that looks promising..

Tenergy Micro-Controlled Li-Po/Li-ion Balance Charger w/ LCD Display
Item#: LPC-1000
Availability: Usually ships the next business day.
Regular price: $149.95
Sale price: $79.95

http://www.batteryjunction.com/temilibachwl.html

Lightfantastic said:
http://www.b-p-p.com/proddetail.php?prod=h_DNCharger

One to four cells, up to 2a. Only $65 delivered.
Click to expand...
 
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That is a nice charger for the price...as long as you have the 12V power supply....one of those hidden costs...but many nice features.
 
Yes, I'd been looking at that one at batteryjunction earlier today and was going to ask about it.
I have a couple old computer power supplies laying about. Does anyone know if I am going to have to do some wire stripping, etc to get it powered? Or does it conveniently plug into a molex connector? Looks promising as the Triton Jr.
 
load balancing with four LDC to monitor output and a 5amp 12v power supply.... all for $89 looks too good to be true.

I've already got a Schulze, so I'm already covered. but for someone without a suitable charger for C li-ion. this could be the base for a multi-cell balanced charger mod.

really like the (almost) fool proof wire hookups. completely different output sockets for 4, 3, 2 and one cell config.

note: cradle below show different sizes for display only.

tenergy charger.JPG


li-ion cradle.JPG
 
cy said:
load balancing with four LDC to monitor output and a 5amp 12v power supply.... all for $89 looks too good to be true.

I've already got a Schulze, so I'm already covered. but for someone without a suitable charger for C li-ion. this could be the base for a multi-cell balanced charger mod.

really like the (almost) fool proof wire hookups. completely different output sockets for 4, 3, 2 and one cell config.

tenergy%20charger.JPG
Click to expand...
You can get the 12V version of this charger at b-p-p.com for $64.95 with free shipping worldwide!
 
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much prefer to deal with a US based company on li-ion chargers. companies here carry insurance for product liabilities vs most far east companies could care less about any liabilities.

Tronic said:
You can get the 12V version of this charger at b-p-p.com for $64.95 with free shipping to US!
Click to expand...
 
cy,

I understand you.
But if you life outside of the US its a little bit different.
Its almost the same price if I order 1 unit (shipped to Europe) from all-battery.com or 2 units from b-p-p.com! :grin2:
 
tronic... true enough, but companies based in US are so used to being under threat of litigation. legit companies have a tendency to select their products carefully and carry liability insurance. vs say a typical Chinese company knows that they cannot get sued for damages. say if something blows up.

please don't misunderstand me. there are some very good Chinese companies, but their motivation is very different. some like AW knows that if he doesn't take care of his customers. business will go away.

anyways back on topic... Silver has given me feedback on similar charger to Tenergy that has charged cells to 4.25V. which is not acceptable. however the Tenergy charger noted has not been tested yet.

some have placed longer wires adding resistance, resulting in correct 4.2V. those folks have been pleased with charger's performance.
 
cy, I agree that most US companies have a better customer service.

I will buy one of this Tenergy (DN-Power?) charger and report back how it perform.
 
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