Source
r/flashlight•
Hovsky

Can I use 2 different single-cell chargers to charge a set of married 18650s?

I have a Klarus CH1 and some no-name Chinese charger and a set of 4x married 30Qs for my BLF Q8. I have a 4-cell Liitokala in the mail, but that'll probably be a few weeks.

Obviously I can charge them all one after the other in the CH1, but that takes more than a full day, since I'm not always there to swap cell when one finishes. Would the 2 different chargers charge equally to max capacity, or is there a risk that they measure that differently, so I should just charge them one-by-one until the new charger gets here?

Posted Nov 21, 2017, 3:27 AM UTC

37
Virisenox_•

Hey, that looks like a different version of this charger, which was so bad, HKJ didn't even give it an official rating, he just said "STAY AWAY".

4
HovskyOP•

Whew. Gonna stop using that then. Glad I haven't used it on any of my nicer cells, just an old Ultrafire (I think) that came with my HD2010.

3
Natanael_L•

Yay, bad multiplied by bad (untrustworthy charger + untrustworthy battery).

4
BlueSwordM•

First off, do not use that generic charger. It may be overcharging cells, and killing them from the inside.

Second, if that charger worked like it is supposed to, it wouldn't matter much, as both charge to a 4.2V full charge voltage. There would probably be a 0.01-0.02V difference, but it wouldn't make a difference, if any.

2
HovskyOP•

Gotcha, so different chargers is fine for married cells, but this charger isn't worth the risk for any cells.

I'll just use the CH1 until the Liitokala arrives then. Thanks!

1
Natanael_L•

If the charging speed isn't drastically different, then yes. Higher charging rates does slightly reduce total lifetime of the cell, and increase internal resistance as a result of the wear. It's not something you'll notice right away, but after several dozen charges you'll be able to measure a difference.

You want your battery pair to always be close in capacity and internal resistance (even if not identical). The more power your flashlight uses, the more important it is that the batteries are matched.

3
BlueSwordM•

Yes. It's not that bad for the Q8, as cells are in parallel and balance each other out to a degree.

However, in series, it is imperative to have matched cells.

1