Fenix ARE-C2 charger issues I just found out about.

So here is the story. I own 4 of the C1's. I bought the new C2. The C2 did NOT come with the 12 volt car adapter as the C1's did.

Knowing I charge mostly from the vehicle, I immediately inquired to Fenix if they were universal with both the C1 and C2, no sense in buying something if I had 4 of them already. The answer was YES. I had not yet recieved the C2 and when I did, I tried the 12 volt plug and noticed (the 115 plug works fine in both of them) would not stay plugged in, it would pop out. In other words....it did NOT fit. Called Fenix again and was told AGAIN it DID fit the C2 and was Universal. So I assumed I had a bad charger....

Tried to get a replacement and the company I bought it from turned it over to Judy at Fenix repair. Judy contacted ME (impressive) and was VERY responsive and sent me out a new one faster than the speed of light and she also sent it WITH a new 12 volt adapter also. In hind sight, that was a BRILLIANT thing for her to do. Had she not thought of doing that, the saga would still be living on right now this very moment...

But guess what? My plugs didn't fit in the new charger she just sent, but the 12 volt adapter SHE sent DID fit both in the C1 and the C2. Hmmmm. Not a charger issue after all, but now a 12 volt plug / cord / adapeter issue, whatever you guys call it

Upon closer examination, I noticed that the adapter she sent had a longer, silver plug then the others that inserts into the charger end. Out of the 4 that came with the C1's, 3 had a short peg and one had a LONG peg. The one she sent had a LONG peg. As such, the LONG pegs work in both, the SHORT pegs only work in the C1, NOT the C2's.

Also worth mentioning, the LONG pegs will stick out and not fully seat inside the C1, but locks in all the same and it still works. The short pegs fit fully in the C1, but too short to stay locked in the C2.

This is all new and I just notified Judy at Fenix about what is going on with a voice mail, as we both could not figure out why on earth they would not fit, she too assumed it was the charger. Come to find out, it's not :0

Hope this helps others who are about to run into this problem!

Interesting. I too have the C1 and the C2. I was a bit disappointed the C2 did not have the 12V lead, but already have the C1's, so will use that. The C1's 12v lead is not what I would call long, at 8mm, but it does click into place for the last 1-2mm of travel and seems to stay put fine.

What are the plug lengths for the two types you have?

My understanding of using the C1's lead was that you could only charge two li-ion cells at 1A (as it is rated at 12V 1A, so can manage 2x 5V at 1A or the charging circuit). Have you been charging 4x18650 using the C1's lead?

I can't tell you, as the plugs didn't work, so I don't know if you can charge 4 at once yet. Just got it all figured out today and haven't charged yet. But I can tell you I would have no problem trying to charge all 4 with the 12 volt, as they did say it was universal. For a couple mins at a time, I did HOLD the short peg in place for the C2 and it worked no issues. But long term I cannot say.

if your plug stayed in, then you are good to go. You would know right off if it didn't work

My gut tells me that if it FITS the C2 and Fenix says it is universal, then I can ONLY assume it would handle 4 batteries at once. But ya know, that and $1 gets you a cup of coffee. But i would use it and give it no more thought. WORSE case is it takes longer to charge them, or I guess in theory it COULD blow a fuse, but again, my gut tells me it's good to go to use for all 4.

What happened to my pic? Was there for days prior? I do something wrong?

You cannot aim an image link at your email account or anybother image storage if that requires a login.

inetdog said:

You cannot aim an image link at your email account or anybother image storage if that requires a login.

Click to expand...

LMAO. I wish I had a CLUE what you just said.... I just copied and pasted it. MAINLY because I saw no option to "attach pic, then browse, then select" Like all other websites. I looked and looked and finally, just copy and paste.