Anyone with experience with LIR2032 and .....

This sort of charger for them?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CR2032-...601853?hash=item1a4bc8d1fd:g:SvkAAOSwGXpa0yOX

They are only really useful when used at an extremely shallow depth of discharge. And for that they need to be in a device with built in charging so it is easy to be frequently topped off.

If you run them dead and then recharge them they wear out very fast. It is actually cheaper to use disposables in that scenario.

In a general sense I don't see a use for that style of charger. What is your application?

Thanks parametrak. I use them (two) in a loupe with LEDs and the loupe is mainly used/designed to inspect the sensor of a DSLR for cleaning.

The loupe can and is also used for other magnifying purposes but runs CR2032s down quickly - hence LIR2032 which of course also work at ~4.0V rather than ~3.0V and means the LEDs shine brighter which is somewhat better for this kind of use.

parametrek said:

They are only really useful when used at an extremely shallow depth of discharge. And for that they need to be in a device with built in charging so it is easy to be frequently topped off.

If you run them dead and then recharge them they wear out very fast. It is actually cheaper to use disposables in that scenario.

In a general sense I don't see a use for that style of charger. What is your application?

Click to expand...

7histology said:

Thanks parametrak. I use them (two) in a loupe with LEDs and the loupe is mainly used/designed to inspect the sensor of a DSLR for cleaning.

The loupe can and is also used for other magnifying purposes but runs CR2032s down quickly - hence LIR2032 which of course also work at ~4.0V rather than ~3.0V and means the LEDs shine brighter which is somewhat better for this kind of use.

Click to expand...

Are you sure that the 2 batteries aren't in series giving you ~6v to the LEDs? This is quite common practice in LED lights and if so it could be brighter than a 4V lithium ion type battery initially. If there are 2 in series they will sag in voltage under load to less than 6v while 2 rechargeables at 4v would not sag nearly as much giving you probably more then 2v more to the LEDs (8v vs 6v).

parametrek said:

They are only really useful when used at an extremely shallow depth of discharge. And for that they need to be in a device with built in charging so it is easy to be frequently topped off. If you run them dead and then recharge them they wear out very fast. [...]

Click to expand...

Not true for LIR2032. Maybe you are thinking of ML2032 (Lithium Manganese dioxide). LIR2032 are usually good for 500 full cycles before they degrade to 80%-70% of nominal capacity, e.g. see this datasheet or this or this.

Be careful with cheap generic chargers. I recall reading that many charge at too high current, and the reviews generally are not good.

Note also that an LIR2032 has about 4x less energy than a CR2032.

The two batteries are just stuck on top of each other in the loupe so I would be pretty sure the LED circuit anyway is getting ~8V which fits with the increased brightness I see. I would be very doubtful about any regulatory mechanism in this sort of (loupe) device and from the behaviour of the device I would put my money on direct drive.

Gauss163 - where do you see non-generic chargers for LIR2032? I only find the sort of generic charger seen in my OP link.

In any case so far so good: the charger does seem to cut off when it should and the batteries uniformly charge to 4.17 when I take them off the charger. Four of them hold that charge apparently indefinitely while two drop to around 3.8 in a day or so. I figured that one or two might be less good than others so for AUD20 it did not seem too bad a bet.

Alas, I've never researched them, so I don't know what charger is best. What current is yours charging at, and what capacity are your cells?