New universal charger for ~$60

[JBS]

I need a new charger for rechargeable AA, AAA, C, D, and 18650 batteries for around $60 max. I think I've narrowed my choices to the Opus BT-3400, Xtar VC4, Xtar VC2 Plus, and Nitecore D4 (+D adapters) but I can't decide. Which charger is the most durable, reliable, and well made and can charge these batteries best?

 

[filibuster]

I've used the xtar VC4, and VC2 Plus and prefer the VC4 over the the VC2 Plus charger. With the VC4 I'd purchase the XTAR 2.1A USB wall adapter as it outputs just a tad bit higher USB voltage output that helps the charger charge at 1 amp on it's two outside bays when desired. The meter on the VC4 shows the relevant info that I'd like to see for the cells, voltage mAh etc. The VC2 works fine as a charger but the meter is designed for the novice user.

 

[snakyjake]

I'd pick the one that is the simplest to operate. Unfortunately none of them are simple. I don't like configuring a charge for each slot. I just want to drop in my batteries, select the chemistry (or default to the safest), soft charge, and leave them in the charger until I'm ready to take them out. The charger also needs to remember the settings between power outage. I always carry multiple sets of batteries, so I don't need a fast charge, and would rather prolong the life of the battery cells with a soft charge. I also don't want to deal with switching amps between AA and AAA.

I'm not going to remember the slot patterns for the VC4, so that's eliminated.
The VC2 Plus is limited to 2 slots. Battery bank option (though amps are pretty low). No LFP. A bunch of stuff I don't care about.
Since none of them hit the mark, I buy the cheapest I can find, and save up for the competitor that can deliver.

 

[snakyjake]

The meter on the VC4 shows the relevant info that I'd like to see for the cells, voltage mAh etc.

I have several with a meter. It never shows me anything relevant. When I put the battery in, the meter shows the voltage as I expected..."dead" battery, and I didn't need the meter to tell me that. I then charge the battery and ignore the charger until the next day. And the meter shows me the voltage as expected, again, I didn't need the meter to show me that. I don't waste my time looking at the charger between charges. I just look for the "charge" light and the "done" light.

The meters come in handy when not using the battery (RV, boat, trolling, phone, laptop, etc).

I also don't need to analyze the battery with a charger either. I can pretty much figure out when the batteries are old.

 

[KeepingItLight]

I have the Nitecore Digicharger D4. It's not the best charger in the world. It's not even the one I wanted when I was a walk-in customer at Illumn in San Jose. It was, however, the best that Illumn had in stock that day.

I check the voltage readout on the D4 every time I charge a battery, both at the start and finish of charging. Here is an example of how the voltage readout saved me from potential trouble recently.

When a new protected 16340 battery (made by a respected manufacturer) arrived in the mail, I opened the package, and dropped it in the charger. Much to my surprise the voltage readout said 1.6 volts. I removed the battery, and reinserted it, this time making sure the physical contact was tight. This was necessary because the 16340 is a short battery. Sometimes the springs in the charger don't hold it tightly enough to make a good connection. On the second try, the voltage fluctuated a bit, and then settled at around 2.7 volts. Hmm...

What would you have done at this point?

If you are one who ignores the voltage readout, you might have simply charged the battery. Most of the time, that would not have gotten you into trouble. I am aware, however, that Li-ion batteries are shipped from the factory with about a 40% charge on them. That translates into a voltage around 3.6 volts. When a battery arrives with only 2.7 volts, something has gone wrong. Perhaps the battery lost its charge while sitting in inventory, and may have been stored in a fully discharged state for an extended period. 2.7 volts is not exactly an over-discharge, but it is not good for a Li-ion battery to sit around for a long time at that level. That's when those pesky dendrites can form inside a battery. The battery may also have been defective in the first place, unable to hold a charge.

So here is what I did.

First, I cleaned both ends of the battery using cotton swabs dipped in isopropyl alcohol. Then I did the same thing to the contacts in all four slots of my charger. Next, I tried the battery in several different slots of the charger. They were all reading 2.7 volts. Darn! I had done my best to give this battery a chance to show me 3.6 volts. As a final double check of the charger, I put in a couple of batteries that I knew were good. The voltage reported by the charger for them was in the range I expected.

Okay, I was done. I set the new battery aside, and later made arrangements with the seller to get a free replacement.

As I said above, there was every likelihood that charging the battery would have been safe. In a small number of cases, however, charging the battery could have been dangerous. The risk/reward ratio on a battery that only cost me $4 USD was not in my favor. If I had not checked the voltage, I would never have known that my new battery was completely dead.

I don't know about you, but I plan to keep checking the voltage every time I charge a battery.

 

[ChrisGarrett]

I need a new charger for rechargeable AA, AAA, C, D, and 18650 batteries for around $60 max. I think I've narrowed my choices to the Opus BT-3400, Xtar VC4, Xtar VC2 Plus, and Nitecore D4 (+D adapters) but I can't decide. Which charger is the most durable, reliable, and well made and can charge these batteries best?

Two of those chargers run on 5v USB and need a very good wall wart. The other two are 12v and come with 120vac adapters.

You can get the VC4 for $30 bucks and if you already have a 2.4A+ wall wart, you're good there. It's somewhat on par with the D4 and will show you charged up capacity, which is nice, I guess? It'll do 2x1A and 4x500mA, but that's only if you have that good power supply.

I rarely get that and I'm using an Apple 2.4A OEM WW. It ultimately charges about as fast (most of the time,) as my NiteCore i4 v.2.

The VC2+ Master is decent enough, if you can get by with 4 bays.

I've been fiddling with the my Opus BT-3400 v. 2.2 and if you drill the hole in the bottom of the housing, over the slider switch, you can charge up all three li-ion chemistries, all three voltages, it does some analyzing and conditioning it does 2x2A/1.5A (li-ions,) or 4x1A and it does NiMH in decent fashion, all for <$50 shipped WITH a 12v car adapter.

I just bought two of C/D adapters for it and while they actually don't fit perfectly in my 3400, they look like they're going to work when I finally get some D batteries and they definitely fit my Maha C9000, which is a bonus, as some have fitment issues.

Throw in another $7 shipped for two of those and you're under $57 to your door.

Chris

 

[CuriousOne]

iMax B6 mini, Turnigy Accucell, Reaktor, etc. + Breakout board, will provide much better quality of charge and more service functions, than any "standalone" charger.

 

[HKJ]

iMax B6 mini, Turnigy Accucell, Reaktor, etc. + Breakout board, will provide much better quality of charge and more service functions, than any "standalone" charger.

Not correct, the MC3000 can surpass these chargers in functions and precision. Any standalone charger will also surpass these chargers in user friendliness for round cells.

 

[CuriousOne]

And it costs under $60?
I doubt it does not

 

[HKJ]

And it costs under $60?
I doubt it does not

No, it is around $100, but then it also does the same as four hobby chargers with accessories (Usual DIY) when talking about advanced functions and round cells.
With chargers like the MC3000, C3100/C3400 and Lii-500 a hobby charger is not really that interesting anymore if you only have round cells.

 

[andrewnewman]

No, it is around $100, but then it also does the same as four hobby chargers with accessories (Usual DIY) when talking about advanced functions and round cells.
With chargers like the MC3000, C3100/C3400 and Lii-500 a hobby charger is not really that interesting anymore if you only have round cells.

Yes! This! Years ago when it was really hard to find a good LiIon charger that did proper CCCV I got a low end hobby charger (single channel with balance leads). It was a total PITA to jury rig the cradles needed to properly charge multiple round cells safely. With the wealth of good multi-channel mult-bay chargers available today for loose round cells, I would be hard pressed to go back to that nice but cumbersome hobby charger.

 

[Chicken Drumstick]

I need a new charger for rechargeable AA, AAA, C, D, and 18650 batteries for around $60 max. I think I've narrowed my choices to the Opus BT-3400, Xtar VC4, Xtar VC2 Plus, and Nitecore D4 (+D adapters) but I can't decide. Which charger is the most durable, reliable, and well made and can charge these batteries best?

Why do you need a single charger to do all that?? Jack of all trades master of none. Might be better off with a couple of chargers.

 

[CuriousOne]

Say I have 6 pcs LG HE2 cells, and I want to charge them fast - with 1.6amp current, as in datasheet. Any <$30 hobby charger with 60W or more capacity will do this with ease. Now please tell me, which one from yours list can do the same trick?

 

[HKJ]

Say I have 6 pcs LG HE2 cells, and I want to charge them fast - with 1.6amp current, as in datasheet. Any <$30 hobby charger with 60W or more capacity will do this with ease. Now please tell me, which one from yours list can do the same trick?

A hobby charger can only do it on some conditions:
1) Same charge state, you have to verify with a voltmeter for parallel charging, with serial charging it will just slow the charging down.
2) You have a rig for handling 6 18650 cells, you also need rigs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 cells of all the sizes you want to charger and these rigs are DIY.
3) For parallel charging you do not get charging data for each cell.

With any of the above you can just put 4 cell into them, press start and they will be charged.

For NiMH neither serial or parallel charging works, you have to charge one cell at a time on a hobby charger, I believe this is rather annoying.

 

[snakyjake]

@KeepingItLight: That's why I only use safe lithium-ion.

The batteries and charger must be completely "user friendly" and safe. A truly "smart" charger wouldn't permit charging if the battery voltage was unsafe (but allow override if the user wishes).

 

[CuriousOne]

HKJ, you keep ignoring reading my posts completely, and keeping introducing fancy terms, to bias opinion to your side, so unfortunately, I can't discuss anything with you about it any more.

I will just mention, that saying that hobby chargers can only do single NiMH is quite non-professional.

 

[snakyjake]

Wow. That SKYRC MC3000 Smart Bluetooth Charger is impressive.

 

[HKJ]

HKJ, you keep ignoring reading my posts completely, and keeping introducing fancy terms, to bias opinion to your side, so unfortunately, I can't discuss anything with you about it any more.

As long as you post half truths I have to add the missing parts (I am not that obsessed: https://xkcd.com/386/ )

I will just mention, that saying that hobby chargers can only do single NiMH is quite non-professional.

Yes, you can make a pack, slow charge it to balance it, after that you can (for some time) fast charge it on a hobby charger. I do not see how that affect this discussion.

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

I trust HKJ`s guesses more than other people facts, he has never lead me wrong and he has most likely forgotten more than you'll ever know about chargers.

John.

HKJ, you keep ignoring reading my posts completely, and keeping introducing fancy terms, to bias opinion to your side, so unfortunately, I can't discuss anything with you about it any more.

I will just mention, that saying that hobby chargers can only do single NiMH is quite non-professional.

 

[HKJ]

It is not that I am against hobby chargers, they are very useful for battery packs and before I got the MC3000 I did use them for discharging my LiIon test cells. I did also try doing battery test on them, but they where not good enough for me.