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Liitokala Lii-500S Battery Charger US$27.51 (~A$43) Delivered @ FastTech

50
TREAT15

Original Coupon Deal

Obligatory: this is Fasttech not Techfast.

A good charger for a good price, about $8 lower than Liitokala official store on AliExpress. Note that AliExpress add GST to the price, Fasttech don't. Free but slow delivery from Fasttech because it exceeds 20USD order value, but there are also faster shipping options at small extra cost, e.g. Epacket costs about $1.50 extra.

Note that this charger has a UK power plug. Liitokala don't sell this charger with an AU plug, so you'll need a mains plug adapter. The charger is also available with EU and US plugs if the UK ones run out, see the pull-down menu to the right of Fasttech's webpage.

If you want the additional ability to charge from your car's cigarette lighter, it'll cost you about $1 extra, again see the pull-down menu to the right of Fasttech's webpage.

The AUD price in the title assumes you don't let PayPal do currency exchange for you (adds about 4% to the price), and whatever is linked to your PayPal doesn't charge you "currency conversion fee" or "overseas purchase fee" as many credit cards do.

This is a proper smart charger, with battery test capability, and will let you know the capacity of your batteries so you can easily tell when one is failing. The charger will charge 1-4 batteries simultaneously, unless you select 2A charging (which is only available when lithium batteries are detected). You do not need to charge batteries in pairs like some cheaper chargers.

From Fasttech's description:

Output current:

Lithium battery charging current: 500mA x4 /700mA x4/1000mA x4/2000mA x2
Ni-MH battery charging current: 500mA x4/700mA x4/1000mA x4

Compatible batteries

Li-ion: 26650, 22650, 26500, 18650, 18490, 17670, 17500, 17355, 16340, 14500, 10440, 21700, 20700
Ni-MH/Ni-Cd: AA, AAA, A, SC sizes

Discharge current: 250mA / 500mA
USB output: 5V—-1000mA
Termination method: intelligent voltage monitoring

A good technical review of the charger is here: https://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20LiitoKala%20…

I recommend charging AAA eneloops at 500mA, AA eneloops at 700mA, and AA Eneloop Pros at 1A. This will give a long life to your batteries.

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closed Comments

  • -1

    Expensive in my opinion

    • Do you know of a lower-priced charger with the same or better capabilities?

      • I have a sky nc1500 which I got for around $30 two years ago. The price has increased.

        😨😨 i didnt realise that all these charges have increased with inflation.

        • +1

          charges have increased with inflation.

          It's been pretty bad. We're also not used to seeing "normal" prices. I think a lot of the previous charger deals made no profit for the sellers, and a lot of those sellers went out of business. Off the top of my head, Tmart, Buyincoins, Zapals all went bust.

  • Is it that much better than Eneloop Smart & Quick Charger? Also comes with 4 x AA batteries for $36.

    Free access to TGG Commercial here

    • +1

      Way better, which I would have thought was obvious. Your charger doesn't have a numeric display of battery capacity, test mode, nor the ability to charge lithium-ion batteries.

      It's not for everyone, in the same way that some people are happy with a cheap wifi router, while others want a tri-band wifi 6 router.

  • +1

    I just bought an Xtar VC2S for $27 with eBay plus. They had the VC4 for 29. These seem to rate quite well too. I need it for 18650 batteries.

    • Neither of those chargers are mains powered, which accounts for the lower price. I don't think those ones have battery test capability either.

      • battery test capability
        I need a good one of these. any deals now?

    • Link?

  • It's OK I guess. 2.5hrs for 4x ladda charging
    I still can't find a replacement for my 4x2A charger. And no my batteries haven't died from under 1C charging rate in 10yrs yet.

    • I still can't find a replacement for my 4x2A charger.

      It's difficult to charge AA batteries at that rate without damaging them, which is probably why you are having difficulty finding one. According to the review I linked in the deal, charging 2000mAh eneloops at 1A causes a 15-degree temperature rise. Charging the same way at 2A would likely push the battery temperature into "danger of battery damage" and "danger of skin burns" territory, unless:
      - the batteries are cooled, perhaps by a fan; or
      - the charger cuts off significantly before full charge, and maybe uses trickle charge to reach full capacity.

      • That seems like the theory but I've been charging it for 10 years and they are fine. I mean for $10 set of laddas, whether is last 55 years or 50 years is really academic isn't it.
        Kinda like usb cable ratings, and how much power loss in them. Had a friend study all that, then we realised it cost about $1 a year in elect. used, so it made a potential difference of nothing.

        • Also, as an OzBaraginer bonus; NiMh (by way of heat, at any speed) waste a LOT of power during charging.

          Iirc,
          1-1.5C gets you back into the realms of 90% efficiency.

          Where as 0.5c or lower is closer to 60%.

          Cant "save the world" with rechargeable, if you're consuming excess power to charge them.

          I charge everything I own at 1C (except when I recharge disposable alkalines; they get 0.2c) and also have never had a problem.

    • You want a fast NiMH charger? Here ya go. Unfortunately you can't set charging current manually. 8000mA charging current for 1-2 AA batteries (4000mA for 3-4)

      https://www.jaycar.com.au/varta-fast-ni-mh-battery-charger-w…

      • Wow that's weird. 8A that's like 20min. I wonder if things will blow up.

        ETA maybe it did blow up. OOS everywhere.

        • If charging batteries that fast was safe, you'd thing that companies who specialize in making chargers (Liitokala, Nitecore etc) would offer the same feature.

          It's not so surprising when you think about the company motives. Companies who only make chargers want a reputation for safety and reliability. Companies who make chargers and batteries, well they want to sell lots of batteries, so it's in their interests to sell chargers that destroy batteries, but not so quickly that the average person will realize that the charger is deliberately designed to do that.

  • -1

    I presume this includes a figure 8 au adapter? 12v?

    • No, come with a 12v wall power adapter with a barrel connector on the charger

    • Liitokala don't sell this charger with an AU plug, so you'll need a mains plug adapter.

      It has a mains adaptor with UK plug. I don't know what you mean by "figure 8". There's no figure-8 plug in this charger or its mains adaptor, but there is in the Lii-600, which is more expensive.

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