I want to get a decent charger but do not have the budget for the top end models.
It seems to me that before deciding I need to decide what is optimum charge and discharge rate?
The safe bet would be 0.5amps for both charge and discharge but takes ages and makes one lean to a build your own, but you do not get display of mAh.
1A seems OK and even 1.5A, 2A seems to bit risky, however, from what I have seen this is only used to begin with and then drops all the way to 0.01A
Currently I use an IMAX clone, charge a cell, then discharge it then charge it. I keep those that hold their voltage and "review" those that don't
So you have the 4 unit chargers, these seem to go up to 1.5A, on Amazon you have 8 unit models but although they say they can do 1.5A I there seems to be a lot of doubt about whether they could do 8 at 1.5A at a time.
Most seem to lack a discharge capability, again I guess I could build a discharge setup, but it adds more complexity if I have to move and keep track of what stage they are at.
The top end charges have discharge but price is OTT
Am I missing something, because this far seems very hard to find a reasonably priced charger with discharge and at least 1A per bay and able to do 4 x 18650 at once, 1.5A would be a nice to have although I am sure some would say best to stick to 1A.
Your recommendations would be appreciated.
It seems to me that before deciding I need to decide what is optimum charge and discharge rate?
The safe bet would be 0.5amps for both charge and discharge but takes ages and makes one lean to a build your own, but you do not get display of mAh.
1A seems OK and even 1.5A, 2A seems to bit risky, however, from what I have seen this is only used to begin with and then drops all the way to 0.01A
Currently I use an IMAX clone, charge a cell, then discharge it then charge it. I keep those that hold their voltage and "review" those that don't
So you have the 4 unit chargers, these seem to go up to 1.5A, on Amazon you have 8 unit models but although they say they can do 1.5A I there seems to be a lot of doubt about whether they could do 8 at 1.5A at a time.
Most seem to lack a discharge capability, again I guess I could build a discharge setup, but it adds more complexity if I have to move and keep track of what stage they are at.
The top end charges have discharge but price is OTT
Am I missing something, because this far seems very hard to find a reasonably priced charger with discharge and at least 1A per bay and able to do 4 x 18650 at once, 1.5A would be a nice to have although I am sure some would say best to stick to 1A.
Your recommendations would be appreciated.