charging 18650's

Hi guys

Just wondering if these are ok to charge protected cells

http://www.batteryspace.com/battery-holder-li-ion-18650-battery-holder-3s1p-with-2.6-long-20awg.aspx

and when charging a 1s1p 2400mah 18650 whats the c rate for charging ?

thanks

No, that won't work for one battery.
In fact, that holder is silly for charging individual cells in series; you should charge in parallel with li-ion.

There are two issues:
1) You need to connect some balancing leads, between cells
2) Protected 18650 cells can be up to 70 mm long and will probably not fit in the holder.

Edit:
Reading a bit more about the holder I see it includes a PCB, this will probably make it perfect for both 3 cells, also for charging.

You can buy them in many configurations this one is for charging/discharging 3 x 18650's at once, The holder has PCM (Protection Module Circuit) inside, it can protect the battery from overcharging, over discharging, short circuit, over heat and over current.

• Overcharge (>12.6V)
• Over discharge ( <7.5 V)
• Over drain ( >5.0 Amp)
• Short circuit
• Terminal
• 4 amp max charge
• 2.6" long 20AWG for charge/discharge terminal

My wife brought me a led torch that uses 3 x 18650 i thought it would be a quick way to charge 3 x 18650,s, There is a few sellers selling these on line and flea bay claiming they are for charging and discharging multiple cells at once, charged on a Concrete floor in a fire bag.

Second question from first post is how do you figure out the charge rate for 2400 mah 18650 batteries, i use lipo,s in rc and charge at 1 x capacity to 2 x capacity divided by 1000 = amp's charge rates and charge in series and parallel but I'm new to li-ion and not sure how to figure out the charge rates, ive read between 0.7 to 1c.

benckie said:

Second question from first post is how do you figure out the charge rate for 2400 mah 18650 batteries, i use lipo,s in rc and charge at 1 x capacity to 2 x capacity divided by 1000 = amp's charge rates and charge in series and parallel but I'm new to li-ion and not sure how to figure out the charge rates, ive read between 0.7 to 1c.

Click to expand...

It is best to use the charge rate from the data sheet, without that 0.7C is fine for 18650 cells, with small cells you can use 1C, with larger cells it might be a good idea to go down to 0.5C.
Using a lower charge rate will not damage a cell, but using to high charge rate might make fireworks of it (As long as the cell stays fairly cool, the charge rate is fine).