thanks for the video, very detailed. Are these chargers trustable as for example panasonic c55. I want to buy a charger. i have options ; nitecore d4 nitecore sc4, nitecore ums4, nitecore um4, xtar vc4sl, xtar dragon vp4 plus
Hi there! Thank you for watching the video and your nice comment! I have been using the Nitcore UMS4 and DLYFULL A4 a lot lately, and they work great (most of the time). There are reviews of some chargers on my channel as well DLYFULL A4: ruclips.net/video/HcqUjFKKqZo/видео.html XTAR VC4: ruclips.net/video/aY4pYl9AmZc/видео.html Nitecore UMS4: ruclips.net/video/HrN62GAsq7M/видео.html The Nitecore D4 I have as well, but no video of it yet. It is similar to the UMS4 charger, but I noticed I got some issues trying to chage 16340 cells (Nitecore cells) that aged 5 years or so. They would constantly stop and start charging. If I charge the cells in any of the other chargers mentioned above, it works fine. Apart from that the D4 is a really nice charger. But do have a look at the videos above - I hope those videos will help you out a bit on some of the options at least. The other chargers you mention I haven't had a chance yet to try out, but the xtar dragon vp4 plus I have wanted to buy and have a look at as well - it seems to be an upgrade to the vc4. Thank you and have a nice day!
I think you’d need to confirm with a USB meter that there is no current flowing into the Powerbank (although the display might be using the power via the cable and not the cells) to confirm that there is a current cutoff (typically datasheets say 0.05C but I’ve seen 50mA or 100mA standard for most cylindrical cell chargers) Not only would any continuing current affect the voltage reading there’s also going to be some voltage drop once it’s removed from the charger or any amount of time after the current has cut off. Most 3.6V cells (yes, 3.7v is a misnomer the vast majority of cells have a nominal voltage of 3.60 to 3.65, yes there are higher voltage 3.70, 3.80, 3.85 volt nominal cells) I heard you mention cutoff at the start of the Miboxer but I assume you’re talking about voltage. I think my Xtars cut off at 100mA but I’m not certain.
Thank you for yourn informative comment! Yes you are right, and i realized a bit later that the difference between the cell voltages were so small that the only real conclusion would be that all chargers did end the charge at a reasonable voltage level at around 4.2V. No charger overchargrd or undercharged the cells, which is good. But as you say, to get the accuracy needed, it would require some more measurements and also test all cells after the same amount of time after the charger days full, since i believe the cell voltage drops a bit after charge cutoff. Thanks for stopping by, watching the video and applying your great comment!
Very interesting. I've noticed that because charging a li-ion cell doesn't have a float charge say like a NiMH. I've noticed when I was testing my OPUS BT-C3100 I had to immediately take it off the charger like within seconds to get that consistent 4.2v every time. As soon as the li-ion charging cycle ends, the CV or constant voltage will be cut. This will naturally make the voltage drop ever so slightly on the cells. All the chargers are within specs really. What I would do is discharge the cells to 2.8v exactly which is the low voltage cutoff and see how many milliamps gets put in there. That also might be a good test. All the chargers here are still very good. My Opus is a very good charger with up to 2 amps of charging and a bunch of testing and refresh function, etc. However it was very pricey at the time for a charger. When I bought it at the time a few years ago it was the only one I found that had a 3.7v cutoff for LiFePo4 batteries which were pretty rare back then, there were only a few around in the AAA size. Since LiFePo4 and li-ion have the same charging profiles just having that magical 3.7v cutoff was great. Now I don't think it was designed specifically for LiFePo4. It was probably more of a feature where you could charge a li-ion battery to nominal voltage for long term storage but it charges LiFePo4's great with no problems. I've noticed that Nitecore has a LiFePo4 charge function on it so that's great it's gotten a bit more mainstream. I can see why with my Soshine LiFePo4's it came with 2 dummy connectors so you can use it in anything that requires 3 volts which is 2 AAA's in series. Which really is about 3.2v as they are usually around 1.6 fully charged. Including making your eardrums bleed from the beeping on that timer.
Thanks! I see, yes there is a lot of testing that can be done as there are a lot of variables: like you mention, the time after fully charged to when you take the cells out of the charger for instance. usually, unless one is constantly monitoring a charge, I suspect the cells can stay in the charger for a while until removed. But yeah, considering the results I got, I too believe all chargers are good and within spec. They are only off with a very slight voltage drop from each other, and were probably even closer together the seconds after a full charge. Oh, yes, those Soshine LiFePo4 batteries that came with dummy cells, I have to look for those :)
@@DrMBalmer I made a short video on USB-C ebike charging I'll post the link to the Soshine AAA battery kit I bought. I believe it was pretty reasonable. You get 4 AAA batteries and 2 Dummies. I paid $19 for it on Amazon so it's wasn't too crazy. It would be interesting to see that Nitecore in action charging it. Do you have a AAA flashlight or does the nitecore have a discharge function to test? Terminal discharge voltage should be around 2.4v. These Soshine ones say that 2.0 is the full discharge voltage cutoff which I believe is a little low and they market them as "recommended for T.V. Remotes" I'm assuming because with a slight overvoltage they will throw the signal farther? It doesn't matter really what you put them in. I used them to boost an EDC01 AAA flashlight to like triple the brightness while staying within the voltage rating of the LED. However a AAA 10440 works with it as well but it gets super hot fast.
@@chrissinclair8705Oh great, I will have a look during the weekend! Yes, I am pretty keen on those LiFePO4 cells. If you have a link, that would be great. I must have some three cell AAA flashlight... yeah, at least an IKEA one and probably more. I know that I do have a charger with discharge functionality - will have to check if it is the Nitecore or not though. Overvolting flashlights is nice - would love to try it on old incandescent flashlights too, singe then there is only a simple resistive load, and see how it affects the brightness (and build longevity :)) I've found however that you can get dummy AA and AAA cells by searching for "battery AA replacement adapter" for instance. Then you get a power adapter that puts out 4.5V, connected to a dummy AA or AAA cell. You also get two dummy cells for devices that take three, and one special with a resistor inside I guess, for when using with devices using two cells and 3V. That's pretty handy and also you can take the dummy cells for use with LiFePO4 :)
Xtar (and now Vapcell with the S4 Plus V3 and only the V3) have storage modes. It’ll charge or discharge a cell to 3.65’ish kinda depending on whether it’s going up or down. I think it does try to compensate by allowing a charging cell to go up to 3.7X and a discharging cell to go to 3.6X so when the current is removed (for discharge I know it’s a measly 300mA) the cells will all be roughly in the upper 3.6X range. So you can kinda use the Xtar for LFP but be careful. If you have it plugged into a USB adapter that renegotiates it’s going to cause the charger to restart into its normal 4.20V charging mode. Not dangerous though since LFP can technically safely charge that high but you’re just beating the hell out of the cell. Nothing to gain past 3.55 or 3.60 really. That’s why A123 despite being 3.3V nominal instead of the normal 3.2V states max charge voltage of 3.60V. They got it right. Not sure how the Vapcell functions but it’s a beast of a charger just by specs
thanks for the video, very detailed. Are these chargers trustable as for example panasonic c55. I want to buy a charger. i have options ; nitecore d4
nitecore sc4, nitecore ums4, nitecore um4, xtar vc4sl, xtar dragon vp4 plus
Hi there!
Thank you for watching the video and your nice comment!
I have been using the Nitcore UMS4 and DLYFULL A4 a lot lately, and they work great (most of the time).
There are reviews of some chargers on my channel as well
DLYFULL A4: ruclips.net/video/HcqUjFKKqZo/видео.html
XTAR VC4: ruclips.net/video/aY4pYl9AmZc/видео.html
Nitecore UMS4: ruclips.net/video/HrN62GAsq7M/видео.html
The Nitecore D4 I have as well, but no video of it yet. It is similar to the UMS4 charger, but I noticed I got some issues trying to chage 16340 cells (Nitecore cells) that aged 5 years or so. They would constantly stop and start charging. If I charge the cells in any of the other chargers mentioned above, it works fine. Apart from that the D4 is a really nice charger. But do have a look at the videos above - I hope those videos will help you out a bit on some of the options at least.
The other chargers you mention I haven't had a chance yet to try out, but the xtar dragon vp4 plus I have wanted to buy and have a look at as well - it seems to be an upgrade to the vc4.
Thank you and have a nice day!
@@DrMBalmer Thanks very much for your answer, i will watch the video reviews you mentioned now.
I think you’d need to confirm with a USB meter that there is no current flowing into the Powerbank (although the display might be using the power via the cable and not the cells) to confirm that there is a current cutoff (typically datasheets say 0.05C but I’ve seen 50mA or 100mA standard for most cylindrical cell chargers)
Not only would any continuing current affect the voltage reading there’s also going to be some voltage drop once it’s removed from the charger or any amount of time after the current has cut off. Most 3.6V cells (yes, 3.7v is a misnomer the vast majority of cells have a nominal voltage of 3.60 to 3.65, yes there are higher voltage 3.70, 3.80, 3.85 volt nominal cells)
I heard you mention cutoff at the start of the Miboxer but I assume you’re talking about voltage. I think my Xtars cut off at 100mA but I’m not certain.
Thank you for yourn informative comment!
Yes you are right, and i realized a bit later that the difference between the cell voltages were so small that the only real conclusion would be that all chargers did end the charge at a reasonable voltage level at around 4.2V. No charger overchargrd or undercharged the cells, which is good. But as you say, to get the accuracy needed, it would require some more measurements and also test all cells after the same amount of time after the charger days full, since i believe the cell voltage drops a bit after charge cutoff.
Thanks for stopping by, watching the video and applying your great comment!
Very interesting. I've noticed that because charging a li-ion cell doesn't have a float charge say like a NiMH. I've noticed when I was testing my OPUS BT-C3100 I had to immediately take it off the charger like within seconds to get that consistent 4.2v every time. As soon as the li-ion charging cycle ends, the CV or constant voltage will be cut. This will naturally make the voltage drop ever so slightly on the cells. All the chargers are within specs really. What I would do is discharge the cells to 2.8v exactly which is the low voltage cutoff and see how many milliamps gets put in there. That also might be a good test. All the chargers here are still very good. My Opus is a very good charger with up to 2 amps of charging and a bunch of testing and refresh function, etc. However it was very pricey at the time for a charger. When I bought it at the time a few years ago it was the only one I found that had a 3.7v cutoff for LiFePo4 batteries which were pretty rare back then, there were only a few around in the AAA size. Since LiFePo4 and li-ion have the same charging profiles just having that magical 3.7v cutoff was great. Now I don't think it was designed specifically for LiFePo4. It was probably more of a feature where you could charge a li-ion battery to nominal voltage for long term storage but it charges LiFePo4's great with no problems. I've noticed that Nitecore has a LiFePo4 charge function on it so that's great it's gotten a bit more mainstream. I can see why with my Soshine LiFePo4's it came with 2 dummy connectors so you can use it in anything that requires 3 volts which is 2 AAA's in series. Which really is about 3.2v as they are usually around 1.6 fully charged. Including making your eardrums bleed from the beeping on that timer.
Thanks! I see, yes there is a lot of testing that can be done as there are a lot of variables: like you mention, the time after fully charged to when you take the cells out of the charger for instance. usually, unless one is constantly monitoring a charge, I suspect the cells can stay in the charger for a while until removed.
But yeah, considering the results I got, I too believe all chargers are good and within spec. They are only off with a very slight voltage drop from each other, and were probably even closer together the seconds after a full charge.
Oh, yes, those Soshine LiFePo4 batteries that came with dummy cells, I have to look for those :)
@@DrMBalmer I made a short video on USB-C ebike charging I'll post the link to the Soshine AAA battery kit I bought. I believe it was pretty reasonable. You get 4 AAA batteries and 2 Dummies. I paid $19 for it on Amazon so it's wasn't too crazy. It would be interesting to see that Nitecore in action charging it. Do you have a AAA flashlight or does the nitecore have a discharge function to test? Terminal discharge voltage should be around 2.4v. These Soshine ones say that 2.0 is the full discharge voltage cutoff which I believe is a little low and they market them as "recommended for T.V. Remotes" I'm assuming because with a slight overvoltage they will throw the signal farther? It doesn't matter really what you put them in. I used them to boost an EDC01 AAA flashlight to like triple the brightness while staying within the voltage rating of the LED. However a AAA 10440 works with it as well but it gets super hot fast.
@@chrissinclair8705Oh great, I will have a look during the weekend! Yes, I am pretty keen on those LiFePO4 cells. If you have a link, that would be great. I must have some three cell AAA flashlight... yeah, at least an IKEA one and probably more. I know that I do have a charger with discharge functionality - will have to check if it is the Nitecore or not though.
Overvolting flashlights is nice - would love to try it on old incandescent flashlights too, singe then there is only a simple resistive load, and see how it affects the brightness (and build longevity :))
I've found however that you can get dummy AA and AAA cells by searching for "battery AA replacement adapter" for instance. Then you get a power adapter that puts out 4.5V, connected to a dummy AA or AAA cell. You also get two dummy cells for devices that take three, and one special with a resistor inside I guess, for when using with devices using two cells and 3V. That's pretty handy and also you can take the dummy cells for use with LiFePO4 :)
Xtar (and now Vapcell with the S4 Plus V3 and only the V3) have storage modes. It’ll charge or discharge a cell to 3.65’ish kinda depending on whether it’s going up or down. I think it does try to compensate by allowing a charging cell to go up to 3.7X and a discharging cell to go to 3.6X so when the current is removed (for discharge I know it’s a measly 300mA) the cells will all be roughly in the upper 3.6X range.
So you can kinda use the Xtar for LFP but be careful. If you have it plugged into a USB adapter that renegotiates it’s going to cause the charger to restart into its normal 4.20V charging mode. Not dangerous though since LFP can technically safely charge that high but you’re just beating the hell out of the cell. Nothing to gain past 3.55 or 3.60 really. That’s why A123 despite being 3.3V nominal instead of the normal 3.2V states max charge voltage of 3.60V. They got it right.
Not sure how the Vapcell functions but it’s a beast of a charger just by specs
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