New Nitecore Superb Charger - SC4

Mr Baz

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I'll probably buy one to review on my channel, looking as the specs it would appear to be closer to a D4 replacement in terms of functionality. Could be a while before it's available to buy, let's hope they've sorted out their termination issues and heat problems. The last batch of chargers new i2/i4 were not as good as they should have been. Price might be a problem the SC2 is relatively expensive it also lacks any testing capabilities which probably won't fly if it's priced too high - if so it won't be the new D4 because it will be at a different price point.
Far as most buyers are concerned there won't be a lot of demand for an expensive charger if it can't test cells
 
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tripplec

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I would be interested to see any review or evaluation report on this:

http://charger.nitecore.com/CHARGER/SC/SC4/


Looks good and seems to do it all. I am not sure if the default charge current is adjustable or not. I expect this is a 4 channel charger but I could not be certain. Looks quite good and a top candidate to buy once some questions are answered. I have an I4 and other than speed or rather lower current rate for more than two cells its an excellent charger. Now with a useful display and significant charge rate increase it has to be a top contender if they got it engineered right.

I'll be watching for more on this one.
 

Xiphex

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Got my SC4 in the mailbox today. It charges my NL189 batteries very fast, silent and cool. I'm not sure why the unit buzzes on standby so i can't leave the unit plugged in 24/7
 
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terjee

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I'm happy with mine so far, but like Xiphex mentioned, it buzzes on standby.
That buzzing can be from vibration in a coil or similar, and more mechanical stress means shorter life, so I'm suspecting it's not a "buy it for life"-type of thing.

Would I recommend it? Probably not to a newbie, default charge current on an 18650 is 2A, while I'd want a configurable default, factory-set to 1A or less.

If you know what you're buying, have had a few Nitecore chargers before, and reasonable expectations, then it's not a bad purchase

If charging at 2A is fine for your cells, I'd rather buy this than a D4 charger for example.
 

vadimax

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I've got one. Sure -- the buzz on idle. And UI is not even close to intuitive. Starting at 2A is an issue as well: in case of wall socket voltage drop you may find your 16350 in a very dangerous condition. Or does it manage to reidentify a cell?
 

terjee

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Starting at 2A is an issue as well: in case of wall socket voltage drop you may find your 16350 in a very dangerous condition. Or does it manage to reidentify a cell?

Just tested two 18490 cells, and it started charging them at 500mA, so there seems to be some kind of smart choice involved, but not even all 18650s should be charged at 2A, even though most can take it.

Would have been cool with a charger that automatically took IR/voltage rise into account, as well as temperature, and automatically adjusted charge current. Dual sensors, perhaps at top and center, with a safety cutoff as well, and things would be very interesting. Might be just about possible with the hardware of the MC3000, if they added support in software.
 

vadimax

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Just tested two 18490 cells, and it started charging them at 500mA, so there seems to be some kind of smart choice involved, but not even all 18650s should be charged at 2A, even though most can take it.

Would have been cool with a charger that automatically took IR/voltage rise into account, as well as temperature, and automatically adjusted charge current. Dual sensors, perhaps at top and center, with a safety cutoff as well, and things would be very interesting. Might be just about possible with the hardware of the MC3000, if they added support in software.

I guess there might be some size measurements involved. Have no idea how might they evaluate expected capacity otherwise.
 

HKJ

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I guess there might be some size measurements involved. Have no idea how might they evaluate expected capacity otherwise.

Nitecore started selecting current depending on length some time ago.

The user interface is not that bad, but then I did not read the manual, I just tried (I am testing on it at the current time).
 

terjee

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The user interface is not that bad, but then I did not read the manual, I just tried (I am testing on it at the current time).

Having giving it some thought, I'll second this. It's not bad.
But it's not good either. Too much work if you're regularly charging a bunch of 18650s at 1A for example. I'm using mine at 2A for cells that are happy there's so it's not a huge issue for some users, just something to be aware of when making a buying decision.
 

terjee

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Addition: The SC4 has a button to select which channel you're configuring. Having a fifth channel called default, that was the active channel for configuration when no batteries are in, would solve this. Set it to 1A, and any batteries you insert (that isn't too short) starts out at that voltage, until you change the default. Have default be remembered between power cycles, and things are good.
Would take no extra buttons, one extra field on the display, which is already custom, and a few non volatile bits, which are likely available already, and cents if not.
 

david57strat

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I have two of the new SC4s, and two more on the way :) (I liked them so much). I picked them up, for a fantastic price, through a Group Buy on Budget Light Forums.

nNrhDLn.jpg

These two SC4s have replaced my D4s (which I used for three years), and those D4s replaced my i4 V2s. Pretty drastic improvements have been made, from model to model. These SC4s are the nicest, most elaborate Nitecore chargers I've ever owned.

I still have sixteen XTAR chargers (I'm a charging fanatic), but Nitecore have really stepped up their game with this SC4, or I wouldn't have even considered this new model. As it was, my D4s pretty much ended up being relegated to strictly AA Nimh charging duties.

gxgrbbC.jpg

A pair of D4s, pictured next to the retired i4 V2 (which was my very first lithium ion charger purchase.

Looks good and seems to do it all. I am not sure if the default charge current is adjustable or not. I expect this is a 4 channel charger but I could not be certain. Looks quite good and a top candidate to buy once some questions are answered. I have an I4 and other than speed or rather lower current rate for more than two cells its an excellent charger. Now with a useful display and significant charge rate increase it has to be a top contender if they got it engineered right.

I'll be watching for more on this one.

It is a four-channel charger, and the charge rate can be adjusted, for each of the four channels (from 300 mA to 3000 mA, not to exceed 6 Amps, in total, for all channels, combined). You can even set priority for the first two channels to remain at what you've set, and the other channels will re-adjust themselves automatically, based on how much amperage is left (if that makes sense). You can't exceed 6 Amps, total output, between the four channels - a nice safety feature.

g7iYbGn.jpg

The display is super clean, and gives a lot of extremely useful information.

tTQH2rB.jpg

Not the greatest color picture I've taken of these, and it does not do justice to the clarity of the display.

AhrS4Pi.jpg

The heat sinking on these units is substantial. They're also physically larger than the D4s, but it's worth it, for the far superior heat sinking.

I'm happy with mine so far, but like Xiphex mentioned, it buzzes on standby.
That buzzing can be from vibration in a coil or similar, and more mechanical stress means shorter life, so I'm suspecting it's not a "buy it for life"-type of thing.

Would I recommend it? Probably not to a newbie, default charge current on an 18650 is 2A, while I'd want a configurable default, factory-set to 1A or less.

If you know what you're buying, have had a few Nitecore chargers before, and reasonable expectations, then it's not a bad purchase

If charging at 2A is fine for your cells, I'd rather buy this than a D4 charger for example.

I'm in total agreement with you, about choosing the SC4, over the D4. I never liked how slow the D4 (or, the i4 V2, before that) charge rates were (375 mA x 4 was pretty awful). It was like watching the grass grow. Trying to charge 18650 batteries on that charger was a painful process.

One of my two units has that barely audible (and only when no batteries are installed; or the batteries, fully charged)..more like a whining sound, than a buzzing. It's really hard to notice, and the charger seems to be functionally as good as the other one, which has no whine (It's dead silent).

Edit - 09-19-17 - The additional chargers arrived in yesterdays mail. I went ahead and fired them up, then threw some batteries in them. Good deal. The whine is actually now on all four chargers; but, to me, at least, it's a negligible amount of sound.

I guess there might be some size measurements involved. Have no idea how might they evaluate expected capacity otherwise.

They do assume a certain battery capacity, based on size.

According to the manual, batteries less than 60mm (2.4") are assumed to have a capacity of less than 1200 mA, and the default charge rate for those is 500 mA. You can override any setting, at any time, though, which is nice.

Also, if your battery just barely needs a top off charge, the 2000 mA default won't be set; but it'll adjust itself down to a more reasonable (lower) charge rate, which is very nice (easier on the battery). I figured all good smart chargers do this, now days, but I'm not sure. It's definitely a welcome feature, though.

So far, no complaints. Charging has terminated reliably, no matter what batteries I've placed in the chargers (AA and D NiMh, 14500, 16340, 17650, 18650, 26650. I've put protected and unprotected batteries in these, and have had zero termination problems.

The i4s were known to have termination issues, which was one reason I was prompted to pick up the D4s. Both were dog slow, to charge anything, though.
 
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david57strat

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I've got one. Sure -- the buzz on idle. And UI is not even close to intuitive. Starting at 2A is an issue as well: in case of wall socket voltage drop you may find your 16350 in a very dangerous condition. Or does it manage to reidentify a cell?

I found the opposite to be true. I feel it's very intuitive; but I've been using the D4s, prior to this, for three years, so I guess the learning curve wasn't an issue for me. The instructions seem to be clear, though, which is a plus. Some instruction manuals are terrible.

When you say wall socket voltage drop...are you talking about a power failure? Why would the voltage drop, from a wall outlet?

When the unit is plugged (or power, restored), it re-initializes, and re-assesses the batteries. But, if you've set the charge rate to a lower one, it won't remember that, so smaller batteries would automatically be reset to a 500 mAh charge rate - if that's what you're asking...?
 

david57strat

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Nitecore started selecting current depending on length some time ago.

The user interface is not that bad, but then I did not read the manual, I just tried (I am testing on it at the current time).
I am, very much, looking forward to reading your review, HKJ!
 

david57strat

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This can always be discussed. You could also call it a four slot charger with two charge channels. This is the same system Nitecore uses in the i4 and D4, here the current is just higher.

I'm confused. I've always thought slots and channels were one in the same. Would you please elaborate?

In both, the i4 V2, and the D4, the charge rate drops in half (from 750 mAh, to 375 mAh), within moments after I stick a third battery in the charger, regardless of which slots are used.

With the SC4, for the first three batteries (assuming they're larger batteries, like a 18650), the charge rate stays at 2000 mAh (well...1998, oddly). Once the fourth battery is installed, the charge rates starts re-adjusting. It takes considerably longer, on this unit, than on the D4s, but it does happen; and it doesn't just chop the charge rates in half.

Just for clarity's sake, how is the new SC4 a two channel charger?
 
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HKJ

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I'm confused. I've always thought slots and channels were one in the same. Would you please elaborate?

Depends on how you interpret the word channel. I look at it as number of charge circuits and the 4 channel charges SC4, i4 and D4 all has two charge circuits that timeshares on four slots, on the SC4 you can disable the time-sharing by selecting priority on a slot, then it will do it in sequence instead.
 

terjee

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Depends on how you interpret the word channel. I look at it as number of charge circuits and the 4 channel charges SC4, i4 and D4 all has two charge circuits that timeshares on four slots, on the SC4 you can disable the time-sharing by selecting priority on a slot, then it will do it in sequence instead.

I would think number of circuits to be irrelevant, in itself?

I mean, I see no problem with a concept like a dual-channel circuit?

I've always seen the distinguishing thing between one and two channels to be if the channels are operated independently, and fed independently, as a matter decoupled from how that is accomplished.

As an example:

If you set a charger for 2A, and insert a full and a nearly empty battery, a dual channel would charge the empty at 2A, and the nearly full at a reduced rate, while a single-channel would have to feed either the same current or voltage to either cell.

And thus the dual channel are operated as independent channels, and the single is operated as one single channel, both cells getting the same electrical treatment.

How many circuits are used to drive it, would then become just an implementation detail, and not a defining characteristic in terms of number of channels.

Obviously some bits would have to be pr. channel, but that'd be the case with most single-channel chargers as well.

Not trying to complain or be difficult here, the terminology is just interesting in itself. Am I off here?
 
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