On Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at 2:15:26 PM UTC-4, jfitch wrote:
... If you specify a LiIon charger you have no idea what you are going to get.

- not so in the real world. The lithium polymer (and similar) batteries that everybody now seems to have in their cellphone, laptop, etc etc, all have cells with a nominal voltage of 3.6 or 3.7, are universally referred to as "lithium ion", and can generally use any charger with that same label. (If charging one cell at a time - of course cells of unusual size or shape, and multi-cell packs, need special chargers.) A charger specific for LFP (cell voltage about 3.2) is NEVER labeled as "lithium ion".

I do have at least one charger (for small cylindrical cells) that has a switch so you can choose 3.2V or 3.7V. That's dangerous, so I've glued it on the 3.2V setting since for cylindrical cells I only use LFP, never "lithium ion". That charger is not labeled at all, only a brand name...

And that's still living dangerously, since I need to make sure not to put alkaline (1.5V) and NiMH (1.2V) cells in that charger, and not to put LFP cells in a device designed for 1.2-1.5V cells unless paired with "dummy batteries".

Modern life is way too complicated.