Recommendation for battery charger for NCR18650GA batteries

Hello,
It seems my charger "UltraFire Rapid Charger for 3.7v Lithium batteries" is not adequate for charging my new NCR18650GA batteries purchased with my Zebralight SC600w Mk III HI 18650 Flashlight with Neutral White High Intensity XHP35. I've been having trouble with the light and Zebralight support says my charger won't fully charge the batteries is why I'm having trouble.

Recommendation appreciated.
Thanks,
John

jwill911 said:

Hello,
It seems my charger "UltraFire Rapid Charger for 3.7v Lithium batteries" is not adequate for charging my new NCR18650GA batteries purchased with my Zebralight SC600w Mk III HI 18650 Flashlight with Neutral White High Intensity XHP35. I've been having trouble with the light and Zebralight support says my charger won't fully charge the batteries is why I'm having trouble.

Recommendation appreciated.
Thanks,
John

Click to expand...

Depending on your budget and if you want a single, double, or 4 cell charger and/or analyzer there is a lot of choices out there. I didn't have a lot of money and for awhile I was using an ebay power bank to charge 18650s then I bought an Opus BT-C100 online for about $11 and am using it now. If your budget allows and you have a use for a 4 cell charger that will also charge Nimh batteries too (AA,AAA etc) I recommend the ~$40 Opus BT-C3100 v2.2 charger/analyzer that is what I will be getting when my budget allows it.

I agree with Lynx_Arc, the Opus BT-C3100 v2.2 is quite good. It'll also give you a hand if you want to check out remaining capacity/lifetime of a cell as well. If you're okay with the price, go for it!
(disclaimer; No personal experience with it yet, I opted for something else)

If you want something in a lower price range, then the Nitecore chargers are a common recommendation as well. They go from things like D4 (slow, 4 batteries) and SC2 (fast), down to cheaper models like the UM10, which can be had for less than $10, and charges off of USB.

LiitoKala Li-500. I bought it over the opus due to it having a better charging curve, nearly the same feature set and it is cheaper.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-Review-of-Charger-LiitoKala-Engineer-Lii-500

There are a few different options depending on what you want in a charger. Going from cheapest upwards:
-Liitokala Lii 100. Single bay, portable, power bank function, 1A charging, not bad but not perfect. Very affordable.
-Nitecore D2. Two bays, effective, a bit slow, more information than the Lii 100.
-Xtar VC4. 4 bay multicharger with a few extra features and nice display.
-Nitecore SC2. It's fast, which can be useful but can also wear batteries faster.
-Opus Charger/analyzer: I'm not familiar with the various models but these are frequently used and appear to be excellent.

Ive got the VC4 and two VP2's. The VC4 is multi chem and has a great digital readout. With the right USB wall wart to plug it into it charges about as fast as any charger safely can. I like it so much I am going to order another one. I would get one of the charger/analyzers but their analyzing is sketchy most of the time. The VP2's are good cause you can change from .25,.50 and 1.0 amp in both channels. Got two so I can charge 4 18650's at a full amp at once. Xtar is awesome.

+1 CelticCross74. I own one of each and love them. I also used a Nitecore i4, which is basically the D4 without the display.