NITECORE NEW i4 Intellicharger

Product Information

Naturally, Vapers are not the only people that need battery chargers, but Nitecore knows that of all the various batteries that are rechargeable, the “Vape Battery” (18650, 18500, 18350, 26650) are a big part of their client base. Designing a new and improved i4, the engineers at Nitecore had Vapers in the forefront of their ideas for upgrades and improvements. Because of the nature of the chemistry in Lithium Manganese batteries, once they drain completely they become useless, unable to be charged again successfully. If you’ve been a Vaper for a while no doubt you’ve allowed a battery to drain out and when you placed it in a battery charger it just sat there. You probably thought that 3-month-old battery died an early death, and with just about every charger, you’d be right. But not anymore.

The problem is that most battery chargers won’t alert the user to the improper insertion. The Nitecore i4 does, and it does so immediately. All the LED lights above the battery slot light up and blink when the battery was inserted upside down. This won’t prevent every incident, sometimes people are in such a hurry the battery will go in the wrong way and the user walks away without even looking. But, at least now if the user hangs around for even a second, the chances of noticing the blinking lights are greater. Lisa loves this feature by the way, and has caught herself 4 times since she began using her i4. Physically, there is a little more space to accommodate wider batteries in the i2 (e.g. 26650) – but the i4 is still serviceable in this regard, if you use the outside wells. Both models are still tight for length with protected cells - I would prefer to see Nitecore add an extra mm or two to well height on both models. The second generation XX came out in Jan 2013, with a raised capacity of 50mAh (i.e., 2550 nominal, 2450mAh min), and improved discharge rate (although I don't know the exact number). From the underside of the board we can immediately see that they're different boards. This in itself isn't hugely unusual, manufacturers do make occasional changes however given how close together these were supposedly manufactured, it's an unlikely coincidence. As mentioned above, the quality of the soldering is very poor. It's functional, but not as tidy as you would expect.Today, all the cells in use here are either the Nitecore 3100mAh 35A cells, or the Sony VTC5+, or the LG H2 cells. The 3100mAh 35A Nitecore cells are used more often than any of the others. Li-ion/IMR/LiFePO4: 10340, 10350, 10440, 10500, 12340, 12500, 12650, 13450, 13500, 13650, 14350, 14430, 14500, 14650, 16500, 16340(RCR123), 16650, 17350, 17500, 17650, 17670, 18350, 18490, 18500,18650, 22500, 22650, 25500, 26500, 26650 Bear in mind, none of these products returned to us exhibited any signs of imminent danger and the customers were only alerted to the potential danger and stopped using them due to the power of social media. The marks you can see on the board on the left are not burn marks from operation. They would have been caused in the component soldering process which at its very best is unbelievably shabby. I would be highly skeptical of anyone who tried to tell me these were done by machine in the same way the genuine ones are. The connections are barely passable, scruffy, and many of the legs of components have had to be manually snipped off, likely to get the board to fit in the casing. None of this is evident on the genuine product and would indicate to me a very manual production/assembly process. The Nitecore Intellicharger line has been popular here since their initial release – likely due to their dual support of both Li-ions and NiMH batteries. Physically, I can only see the improved battery rail in each well, but I can infer internal circuit changes as well. The new rail is definitely an improvement over the older springs – I found the slide action noticeably smoother now. :thumbsup: Unfortunately, Nitecore still does not identify which of the four wells are paired in this fashion on the i4. As before, I determined from my testing that the paired wells are #1 & #3 and #2 & #4 (i.e., paired wells are separated by an independent well in between).

As before, the cabling and overall build of the units seem good (i.e., good length on the cables, solid base unit).The New i4 can charge up to 1.5A in one slot, making the maximum output 1500mA, double the output of the old i4 at 750mA. Compatible with 1.2V, 3.7V, 4.2V and 4.35V batteries, the Nitecore charger can be set using the 'V' button to select the desired voltage in each bay.

side note, for camping and hiking trips, can any of these hook up to some sort of solar charger? That is probably next thing to buy, so just thinking a bit in advance.Overall, the Nitecore Intellicharger i4 is a must-have for all your rechargeable batteries. It is simple to use and charge. Compatible with 18650 vaping mod batteries. Also compatible with 26650, 22650, 22500, 21700, 20700, 18500, 18490, 17670, 17500, 18350, 16340, 14500, 10440, AA, AAA, and C type rechargeable cells.