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Not the cheapest price on the D4, but only a couple of dollars off it with free delivery and AU stock from Heidelberg.
Nitecore D4 Smart Charger $31.12 Delivered @ Lan Plus eBay
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Superdaws on 09/07/2019 - 23:50 ebay.com.au (1506 clicks)
Last edited 09/07/2019 - 23:58 by 1 other user
Last edited 09/07/2019 - 23:58 by 1 other user
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I tried reading these Lygte reviews for the answer, but I'm too stupid.
Maybe you might have better luck. Nitecore D4 vs LiitoKala Lii-402
I have the LiitoKala and a Nitecore D2 (2 slot version). Not that I know much about chargers, but the only small things that stand out to me is that the LiitoKala makes a noticeable whine when charging, and the Nitecore is much better build quality and has a nicer display imo (LCD vs light up LEDs). In terms of performance though, there doesn’t seem to be a dramatic difference but the Nitecore is probably a little slower.
Plus USB vs 240v supply
+1 for Nitecore.
I prefer the Zanflare C4, but that is currently more expensive as there are no sales.
For that price I think better to buy a Lii-500 with the adaptor.
I have both a D4 and Li-500 and both are great, but prefer the Lii-500 (like if buying your first smart charger) so that you can do a proper cycle and test of any new batteries you buy to test they aren't duds.
Great smart-charger. We have been using this regularly for more than a year or so now.
Only thing I wish switching it to slow charge was a bit easier, you insert each battery then you hold down the button on the side to have it switch to slow-charge.
A simple press would be easier than holding down the button for each battery.Why do you want to charge them slower than the default speed? The default current is pretty much optimal for getting the longest life out of your batteries, charging slower is actually more likely to overcharge the batteries, which shortens their life.
The only time the default current is inappropriate is when charging AAA batteries, and you are charging less then four of them. Then one or more could be charging at 750mA, which is too high.
Some standard AA eneloops I have purchased state a lower max charging rate on the battery (most batteries have this written on them in small print). And the default rate of the D4 is too high so I set it to the lower charge rate.
Interestingly the higher capacity AA batteries of many brands seem to support higher charging rates.
While I have Nitecore Arlo batteries which are even smaller in capacity but can charge at the faster rate.max charging rate on the battery (most batteries have this written on them in small print)
I've never seen that. I just checked four brands of rechargeables that I have sitting in my spare battery tray (eneloop, EniTime, powertech, GP Recyko) and none of them mention a maximum charging rate.
Two of them do say "Standard charge: xxx mA for 16 hours", but that's the very definition of "dumb" charging: pushing the same amount of energy into a battery, irrespective of how flat it is. If that's what is written on your batteries, you shouldn't follow that advice.
Smart chargers sense when the battery is full, and stop at that point, preventing overcharge, which would damage the batteries. But for the smart charging to work correctly and stop when the battery is full, you cannot slow charge the batteries. Quoting BatteryUniversity:
"At a C rate of 0.1C to 0.3C, the voltage and temperature profiles do not exhibit defined characteristics to trigger full-charge detection, and the charger must depend on a timer. Harmful overcharge can occur when charging partially or fully charged batteries, even if the battery remains cold."
Ref: https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_nickel_…So if your battery charging takes longer than about 4 hours (0.3C=3.3 hours plus a bit extra for charging inefficiency) in a conventional smart charger, it's likely you are overcharging the batteries and damaging them. This is slightly different for NiteCore chargers, which are "unconventional" smart chargers - the NiteCore D2/D4/I2/I4 chargers continuously swap one charging circuit between every two batteries, so the maximum safe time is doubled to 8 hours on these chargers (and during that eight hours, each battery gets four hours of charging).
@Russ: Thanks for the info.
Just had a look at the 3 different brand AA’s I have, and all have ‘xx hours / xxx mah’ written on them, except 1 of them has another ‘xx hours / xxx mah’ (at a higher rate and less time) and 1 has ‘quick charging possible’ written on it instead of the faster rate.
So I am confident both are fine charging at the higher rate setting on the Nitecore charger.
The last one only has the low rate ‘xx hours / xxx mah’ so I reduce the charge rate on that that one.I am sure what you say about over-charging happening at a slow-rate of charge is correct. I am just saying I charge the odd battery at the rate which is written on it just to be safe.
Also the rate of charge stays quite constant (on the D4’s charge rate mah view), only towards the end do I see it fall a bit.
I've used one of these for more than a year. I used AA, AAA and 18650 batteries and never had any issues. Definitely recommend this.
How does it compare to this https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/469335
Which is 1/3 the cost