Liitokala Lii-500S Battery Charger A$34/US$25 (Inc GST) Delivered from Banggood

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Russ on 09/12/2020 - 00:57 banggood.com (1025 clicks)
Last edited 10/12/2020 - 03:02

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Edit: no longer says "flash sale" and price has jumped to AU$51.59, so I'm marking this deal as expired. The older model (Lii-500, not Lii-500S) is still on sale for A$34: https://www.banggood.com/LiitoKala-Lii-500-LCD-Screen-Displa…

This is the updated version of the Lii-500, one of the best smart chargers available. The main difference that I can see is that it has a more informative display than the older model, and has touch buttons instead of pushbuttons. Neither model can charge LiFePO4 (3.2V lithium) batteries, if you use those.

Product page at Liitokala: http://www.liito-kala.com/page92?product_id=20&brd=1

Excellent review with technical details:
https://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20LiitoKala%20…

Banggood price, including GST, is cheaper than AliExpress at the moment ~US$27:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32562854812.html?spm=a2g0o.s…

I have the Lii-500, it's my favourite charger (I have several), and the Lii-500S looks even better. From the review, the batteries stay much cooler than many other chargers. Review has thermal images and temperatures for both NiMh and Li-ion charging.

Note that the Lii-500S doesn't seem to have the option of charging from a car cigarette-lighter socket, like the older Lii-500 did.

Note also that you can only choose between EU and US plug options, so you'll need a mains plug adapter. Bunnings sell a good-looking one for $5: https://www.bunnings.com.au/jackson-inbound-usa-europe-trave…

On Banggood's webpage, the prices don't include GST. That will be added as you go through checkout.

Cashback sites are offering ~5% at the moment, don't forget to use them for additional savings!

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• 

  Russ on 09/12/2020 - 01:19

  +7

  Officeworks have the same mains plug adapter, but more expensive. Use price-beat to get the price down:
  https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/jackson-vi…

  • 

    StarvingOat on 12/12/2020 - 09:09

    Hi Russ, I saw your past deal for the LiitoKala charger. I am planning to buy a lot of Ladda AA batteries for use around the house. Should I get the IKEA 4 cell charger or wait for a deal on this again? There is also a new model of the LiitoKala 600 which says has better thermals.

    I am using the stock Panasonic White 4 cell charger that came with my Chinese Eneloop pack of 8 AA and 4 AAA. This charger has a green light which turns on when you insert 2 cells into it.

    I am looking to spend around 50-60$ max for a good charger. Read some can charge/discharge batteries as well to extend life or something? Didn't understand that so much

    • 

      Russ on 14/12/2020 - 04:01

      +2

      Should I get the IKEA 4 cell charger

      No. See this comment I made in another deal: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/9584353/redir

      Read some can charge/discharge batteries as well to extend life or something? Didn't understand that so much

      The ability to test batteries, by discharging them and measuring the discharge, is useful. Batteries will sometimes go bad, caused by a number of things, of which poor charging is one. If you can't measure the battery capacity, you won't know which batteries are good and which are failing, you'll just see your devices lose power more quickly than expected.

      There are ways to measure battery capacity with a charger that doesn't have a test mode:
      - discharge each battery INDIVIDUALLY in a torch that takes a single battery
      - put a single battery in the charger and start charging it
      - check the charger every ten minutes, to estimate how long the charge took
      - once charged, note the charging time, write it on the battery, and move on to the next battery you are testing

      This will let you judge if any batteries have gone low-capacity, they will have a noticeably shorter charging time. Or, you could spend a little more on the charger, and buy one that has a test mode.

      extend life or something?

      I find that when I use NiMh batteries in clocks and remote controls, their capacity drops quite a lot. When they go flat, I "exercise" them a bit, by discharging them and re-charging them, usually once or twice, until they regain most of their capacity. If a charger could do that automatically, it would be nice. But some chargers with cyclic modes (e.g. Maha MH-C9000) disable the "smart" sensing when these modes are in use, so they risk damaging the batteries by overcharging them.

      There is also a new model of the LiitoKala 600 which says has better thermals.

      I haven't seen any reviews yet, so I can't judge that. See this post: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/589070

      I recommend you buy the Lii-500 while it's on special, which I added to the post above. It's not as "pretty" as the Lii-500S, but still perfectly functional, and slightly better because it can charge at 300mA - perfect for AAA batteries.

      I am planning to buy a lot of Ladda AA batteries

      Beware, Ikea sell two types of LADDA battery, low-capacity tan-coloured ones and high-capacity white-coloured ones. You should get the high capacity LADDAs (AAA >= 800mAh, AA >= 1900mAh).

  • 

    StarvingOat on 12/12/2020 - 09:10

    Also, the IKEA charger is like 14$ but no display or features. It just says it charges individually.

• 

  suchis on 09/12/2020 - 05:56

  +1

  Thanks Russ, great info.

• 

  [Deactivated] on 09/12/2020 - 06:20

  +2

  Another difference is that the minimum charge current is 500mA for the s500, 300mA for the 500.

  • 

    Russ on 09/12/2020 - 12:08

    Good catch, I didn't see that.

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  Elyxar on 09/12/2020 - 07:54

  I’m looking for a charger that will kick start batteries that my La Crosse doesn’t recognise. I’ve been looking at some semi dumb chargers. Will this do the job and replace my La Crosse?

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 09/12/2020 - 08:22

    I have the old Lii-500 and La Crosse BC700. I don't think the 500s can revive dead batteries. Other than that the 500s can do more than BC700 as it also charges Li ion and size C batteries. In terms of refreshing old AA/AAA batteries the BC700 is better.

  • 

    adr8 on 09/12/2020 - 09:35

    As xiangtan mentioned, the Lii-500 can't kickstart dead batteries. I also tried the Panasonic dumb charger which couldn't either. Have successfully kickstarted a few dead NiMH batteries with the Lii-202, so that may be worth getting.

  • 

    Thrifty McGifty on 09/12/2020 - 09:48

    +2

    Just give it a kickstart charge by connecting it up to another charged battery for a few seconds. Then the Li500 will recognise it.

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  daft009 on 09/12/2020 - 07:56

  Can it handle cr123a from Arlo cameras?

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  Elyxar on 09/12/2020 - 07:58

  +1

  Price is for EU plug from China only. Price is a lot more for the US plug.

• 

  [Deactivated] on 09/12/2020 - 08:50

  There's a US$20 coupon for new users.

• 

  syousef on 09/12/2020 - 10:04

  Note: Doesn't do LiFe if you need that.

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  swampson on 09/12/2020 - 10:05

  i have a bunch of rechargables .. Ladda, Enerloop, Coles .. i make sure to only use same brand / type batteries in devices, which i believe is the 'recommended' thing to do. When i find the device needs a battery change, i usually test them all (habit), and usually find only 1 has greater reduced charge, the other(s) have a lot more left. Is that normal? Should battery charge reduce uniformly across multiple batteries in a single device? Then when i charge them in my dumb Enerloop charger (included in battery purchases packages), i assume the difference in charge levels is not going to result in uniform recharging either, have i understood that correctly? (so this is not good for the batteries.
  So, then these smarter chargers will charge the battery only as much as it needs, not just a standard "x hrs" regardless - right?
  Thanks for any info you can share here!

  • 

    Russ on 09/12/2020 - 12:27

    +3

    Should battery charge reduce uniformly across multiple batteries in a single device?

    What you are seeing is typical, when a device uses multiple batteries. There will always be slight differences in battery capacity due to manufacturing tolerances. What happens when multiple batteries are used, is that the battery with the lowest capacity goes flat first. If you keep using the device after that happens, the non-flat batteries still supply power, but they are effectively reverse-charging the flat battery. This damages the flat battery so it will have even lower capacity. Next time you use those batteries, the lower-capacity battery will go flat even faster, and be reverse-charged for longer.

    The solution is to stop using the device as soon as you think a battery goes flat, don't continue to use it when the performance degrades. Unfortunately, with some devices, you can't tell if a battery has gone flat.

    So, then these smarter chargers will charge the battery only as much as it needs, not just a standard "x hrs" regardless - right?

    Usually correct, although there are a few chargers that claim to be smart chargers, but charge the battery too slowly, so the "smart" sensing bit doesn't work. Here's an example of a bad charger: https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/tjugo-battery-charger-with-stor…
    Although it claims to be a smart charger, using -dV/dT detection, the charge is so slow (10+ hours) that -dV/dT detection won't work. The charge needs to take less than four hours for -dV/dT detection to work reliably.

    when i charge them in my dumb Enerloop charger

    That will damage your batteries, but I expect you'd still get maybe 20 to 100 charges before the batteries die. Smart chargers will let you get the maximum number of charge cycles from your batteries.