Cells. Charger with discharging

18650

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Jun 19, 2019
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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.
 
Could you tell us what you are trying to achieve?
Many people use cheap tp4056 modules for charging, which leaves thier (more expensive) devices to only do discharge/capacity testing.
It also seems that most people use 1A current during testing. There is a fair amount of discussion about heat and testers, so 1.5A might be an issue for heat?
 
I don't see how you can really get that much cheaper than a liitokala lii-500... ordered from China I paid $78.26 for 6 units shipped. That's $13 per charger/discharged. I won't even bother to try and build one for less using TP4056 and separate discharges.

That said, hobby chargers (like the iCharger units) are great too, really my tool of choice, they are just terrible at high volume processing. That said, I use them to test completed modules or packs which is where its strengths are.
 
I don't know where you are from but i sell mine.
Maybe its what you want.
Best
 
You can always charge cells in parallel with the IMAX. I use 2x 4 cell holders. I write the voltage on cells before I charge them, and add them as the voltage comes close enough. You shouldn't put two cells in parallel if they are more than 0.1v or so different. Would suggest putting fuses on such a setup, as putting a cell in backwards could be very hazardous. Also, using a piece of strap, or string under the cells makes for easy removal.

Buy a multi cell discharger such as the Liitokala or the Opus for testing. They often work out cheaper than buying the ZB2L3. However, the ZB2L3 can be used with higher current. As mentioned above these things can be had fairly cheaply. Just beware of clones and fakes.

Charging with a device other than your tester comes with a few advantages. If a cell leaks, it only damages a cheap cell holder. You can weed out self discharging cells, so as not to waste time testing them with your discharger.
 
I really like using a hobby charger with cell trays I generally use it as apre-charge with it before it even hits the discharge tester. At least if I am processing a large amount of similar cells. I typically mark the voltages and just keep hot-adding cells in parallel as the voltage increases when charging. I also increase charge current when doing.


image_goxksn.jpg
 
Oz18650 said:
Could you tell us what you are trying to achieve?
Many people use cheap tp4056 modules for charging, which leaves thier (more expensive) devices to only do discharge/capacity testing.
It also seems that most people use 1A current during testing. There is a fair amount of discussion about heat and testers, so 1.5A might be an issue for heat?

What I am trying to achieve is to buy a charger

I have some TP4056 but they do not tell me the mAh capacity of the cells
 
18650 said:
Oz18650 said:
Could you tell us what you are trying to achieve?
Many people use cheap tp4056 modules for charging, which leaves thier (more expensive) devices to only do discharge/capacity testing.
It also seems that most people use 1A current during testing. There is a fair amount of discussion about heat and testers, so 1.5A might be an issue for heat?

What I am trying to achieve is to buy a charger

I have some TP4056 but they do not tell me the mAh capacity of the cells

As I stated above you need an Opus or similar.

If you haven't bought a charger/discharger yet, I would opt for the SkyRC MC 3000. It costs more than the others, but if I knew about it before I started with an Opus, I would have definitely bought one.

You really want something to charge your cells, separate to your tester. As stated above.
 
CrimpDaddy said:
I don't see how you can really get that much cheaper than a liitokala lii-500... ordered from China I paid $78.26 for 6 units shipped. That's $13 per charger/discharged. I won't even bother to try and build one for less using TP4056 and separate discharges.

That said, hobby chargers (like the iCharger units) are great too, really my tool of choice, they are just terrible at high volume processing. That said, I use them to test completed modules or packs which is where its strengths are.

That seems to suit my needs exactly, I might have preferred more bays for the money or a lower price (based on Amazon) but I checked this review on YouTube


and it seems to have two discharge functions, although I think it is important to full discharge a cell then charge it fully to determine capacity.

I would have liked 1.5A but I can live with it. Whenever I look at these chargers I am never sure if they are capable of charging the max bay capacity concurrently. For example 4 bays with 2A input would suggest 2 / 4 so 0.5A per bay if 4 cells or 1A per cell per bay if 2 cells, HOWEVER, it is 2A at 12v so if it is charging at around 4.2v per cell that might suggest it can do more concurrently?
 
Geek said:
You can always charge cells in parallel with the IMAX. I use 2x 4 cell holders. I write the voltage on cells before I charge them, and add them as the voltage comes close enough. You shouldn't put two cells in parallel if they are more than 0.1v or so different. Would suggest putting fuses on such a setup, as putting a cell in backwards could be very hazardous. Also, using a piece of strap, or string under the cells makes for easy removal.

Buy a multi cell discharger such as the Liitokala or the Opus for testing. They often work out cheaper than buying the ZB2L3. However, the ZB2L3 can be used with higher current. As mentioned above these things can be had fairly cheaply. Just beware of clones and fakes.

Charging with a device other than your tester comes with a few advantages. If a cell leaks, it only damages a cheap cell holder. You can weed out self discharging cells, so as not to waste time testing them with your discharger.

Thanks, I have done 4 in my Imax but it does not tell me the mAh of each cell and as you say potentially risky.

It surprises me that there is not a bigger bay version of the Litokala, it seems that they have a new s version but no resistence reading.


CrimpDaddy said:
I don't see how you can really get that much cheaper than a liitokala lii-500... ordered from China I paid $78.26 for 6 units shipped. That's $13 per charger/discharged. I won't even bother to try and build one for less using TP4056 and separate discharges.

That said, hobby chargers (like the iCharger units) are great too, really my tool of choice, they are just terrible at high volume processing. That said, I use them to test completed modules or packs which is where its strengths are.

BTW do you have a supplier to recommend in China, Banggood charge more that $13
 
18650 said:
It surprises me that there is not a bigger bay version of the Litokala, it seems that they have a new s version but no resistence reading.

18650,

Any of the charger /discharger /testers IR readings are not to be trusted anyway so why even bother.
If you want IR readings that are accurate go with a YR-1030.
If you want some detailed info on chargers check out my post herehttps://secondlifestorage.com/t-Skyrc-MC-3000?pid=52356#pid52356


Wolf
 
18650 said:


CrimpDaddy said:
I don't see how you can really get that much cheaper than a liitokala lii-500... ordered from China I paid $78.26 for 6 units shipped. That's $13 per charger/discharged. I won't even bother to try and build one for less using TP4056 and separate discharges.

That said, hobby chargers (like the iCharger units) are great too, really my tool of choice, they are just terrible at high volume processing. That said, I use them to test completed modules or packs which is where its strengths are.

BTW do you have a supplier to recommend in China, Banggood charge more that $13



I purchased mine ataliexpress. Keep an eye out of volume deals or perhaps coupons. Also, I did NOTpurchase it with the power adapters... you can buy barrel jacks cheapand wire upyour own power distribution using a PC power supply or anything else that can deliver 12v.






Wolf said:
18650 said:
It surprises me that there is not a bigger bay version of the Litokala, it seems that they have a new s version but no resistence reading.

18650,

Any of the charger /discharger /testers IR readings are not to be trusted anyway so why even bother.
If you want IR readings that are accurate go with a YR-1030.
If you want some detailed info on chargers check out my post herehttps://secondlifestorage.com/t-Skyrc-MC-3000?pid=52356#pid52356


Wolf


I agree... I don't use the multi-bay chargers like the Litokala, Opus, or other similar units for IR readings. If I want to do IR, I default to my RC hobby chargers which from my experience appear to do this reliably in my limited testing.

It does help to make a little cell holder tool with leads which have given my pretty consistent results when randomly testing the same cell. My more expensive hobby charger does the same task but even better. My 206B can't read very low resistance EV cells reliably where the 4010 Duo can.


image_mkxino.jpg



image_pzfwhk.jpg
 
Thanks Guys

I have an Imax clone and the reason I want a charger for testing other than being able to charge/discharge 4 concurrently is that I get different mAh readings on the same batteries charged in the same way on the same device. Rather than write on them I print a label. I had some that came out at 2874 and then a few weeks later came out at 1780. I might understand a small difference but this is huge.

I figured the Imax can introduce a lot of variables, so getting a charger will give me something that may be wrong but it will be consistently wrong within a range.

I know the chargers are not perfect but what was interesting in Average Joe video I posted above was he measured the resistence multiple times across 3 different chargers and the Lii was similar to the xTar but way different from the Opus.

I think resistence coupled with a poor charge is a confirmation that cell can only be used in limited projects. I get rid of cells that show any physical defects, leaks etc.
 
Lii is max 1a Charge and 0.5 a discharge doing 4 cells. Opus is 1a discharge
 
For charging, I would just get TP5100s.
 
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