18650 Cell charge times?

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This topic has 16 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 13 years ago by lightman.

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18650 Cell charge times?
FunkyDunc
Free Member

I’m charging some 18650 cells for the first time and so far they have been on for 5 1/2 hours.

From peoples experience, how long roughly does it take to charge 18650 3.7v 2400 mah batteries on a normal DX type charger?

At this rate its going to take me 3 days to charge the 6 cells I need 🙂

Ta

Posted 13 years ago

jimmyjames
Free Member

A few hours, not over 6 I don’t think.

James

Posted 13 years ago

z1ppy
Full Member

It’s been a while, but I don’t remember it being 6 hrs – again a couple, maybe 3hrs at most… I try letting them finish, use them & see how long they take to re-charge before sending them back though.

Posted 13 years ago

lightman
Free Member

What charger is it?
You should get a Multi-meter and test the voltage coming out of it, as it could be faulty.
I am about to send back 11 faulty chargers!!

Posted 13 years ago

FunkyDunc
Free Member

Its this charger

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/digital-li-ion-18650-battery-charger-6105

and these batteries

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/trustfire-protected-18650-3-7v-true-2400mah-rechargeable-lithium-batteries-2-pack-20392

The only thing I am now thinking is that the charger is faulty and the protection circuit on the cells has kicked in, and therefore the charger still thinks it needs to charge?

It did all 6 cells yesterday without problem.

Posted 13 years ago

lightman
Free Member

Yep, that’s the faulty batch!!
As i said, i have got 11 to send back, 6 off which were replacements for previous faulty ones i got!
Faulty thread.
I got Janmee to look into it and he has now said the issue has been fixed by the supplier.
If you cant wait for a replacement, you can get the same one on ebay for about £10.

Posted 13 years ago

FunkyDunc
Free Member

Lightman, it only arrived about 4 days ago though from DX ?!?

Unfortunately I dont have a multimeter to check whats going on…

Posted 13 years ago

momentum_2000
Free Member

FunkyDunc.

Maybe a silly Q.

But WTF don’t you just get your stuff from Smudge ?.

He doesn’t seem to charge much more than DX.

< 6 quid for two cell charger from DX
<10 quid for two cell charger from Smudge.

Seems to me that you’re buying lots of hassle for very little money.
Is that a bargain ?.

❓

Posted 13 years ago

SiB
Free Member

HAvent charged mine since the light nights but I would say 6 – 7 hours recharges mine

Posted 13 years ago

lightman
Free Member

FunkyDunc, i got my faulty replacement 6 a couple of weeks ago.
These chargers are generally very reliable, but as with most things, sometimes they make a faulty batch.
These are the only ones i buy and i have probably bought close to 300 over the years with very few faulty.
See if you can borrow a MM to check and take a picture to show DX, as they will need a picture so they can send a replacement, you probably wont even need to send it back because it’ll be to expensive.

Those chargers will take 3-4 hours to charge a battery @500mA.

Posted 13 years ago

FunkyDunc
Free Member

momentum – I must admit I am thinking I should have bought one of smudges battery packs in the first place for a lot less hassle, however I have enjoyed tinkering!

Lightman thanks for your advise, I was thinking that I cant see them asking me to send it back. Will try and borrow a MM and send pics.

Posted 13 years ago

lightman
Free Member

No probs.
If you can’t get a MM, just copy the picture from the thread i linked too, that’s what i did as i was a bit fed up taking pics of faulty chargers!
You can see the DX Return Policy in my sig in that thread if you wanted to glance over it.

Posted 13 years ago

FunkyDunc
Free Member

I actually bought a cheap MM last night… I guess a useful thing to have anyhow.

1 cell did charge yesterday (according to the charger) but it took about 8 1/2 hours. The other LED remained red, even when I put the charged cell in to that chamber..

Checked bother batteries with the MM and they both showed approx 4.18v so I reckon fully charged !?!?!

I checked the charger itself and both sides were producing give or take 4.2v so that is correct…

I’ve mailed DX as it must be a faulty charger, and in fact other people have had similar issues, but back in 2009! Oh well will just have to wait for another. Good job my cells are protected or this could have been big trouble….

Should I be asking them to replace the batteries as well, would it have damaged them?

Posted 13 years ago

julianwilson
Free Member

About 10 hours from empty here, always have done and i get my expected 3 hours from each charged cell afterwards (confirmed they still do this on three painfully slow laps at 24/12 the other week). …so i guess its just a slow trickle charge not anything wrong with charger or batteries. They have been doing alright for a couple of years. (I have two chargers and six cells and its the same with either charger). They were so cheap i figured it was worth it being able to do four batteries in one day by investing about four quid in a second charger.

[edit] oh but i too went for protected cells for dischgarge protection and not catching on fire if i forget to switch charger off! 😯

Posted 13 years ago

FunkyDunc
Free Member

Julian – I’m gessing both your LED’s turn green though when fully charged? Mine dont, even though a meter has confirmed both batteries are charged.

As lightman suggests though it should really only take about 4hrs to charge the batteries.

Unless protection circuits extend this some what…

Posted 13 years ago

julianwilson
Free Member

Dunc, yes, mine turn green but only after 10ish hours if empty. Both chargers (slightly different versions to each other but i suspect the same gubbins inside) do the same. But I have realised they are not the same model as yours. (multi-size version with sprung sliding ‘negative’ terminal). My batteries are the blue protected 2500ma ones too. So I’ll stop muddying the waters now 😳

Posted 13 years ago

lightman
Free Member

It all sounds good.
It sounds like the charger is working fine and its just the leds that are not working properly.
When you put battery/s in that is around 3.5v it should take 3-4hrs to charge, just have a check after that time and don’t bother waiting for the leds to change to green.

Posted 13 years ago