18650 Cell Phone Charger

[kokoskokou]

Yeah, but heat means wasted energy, you want the circuit to waste efficient as possible.

John.

I agree with you.
where did you buy yours from?

btw are you in Newcastle ?

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

Close South Shields, 10 miles from Newcastle, are you from Newcastle?

I bought my charger from the link below, but the seller is away on vacation.

The problem with the charger i bought is that you need a 5v charger with an 5.5mm x 2.1mm connector to charge it, i bought an old zip drive 2amp power supply for £2 and it works great.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271073382...l?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=271073382603&_rdc=1

John.

I agree with you.
where did you buy yours from?

btw are you in Newcastle ?

 

[kokoskokou]

Close South Shields, 10 miles from Newcastle, are you from Newcastle?

I bought my charger from the link below, but the seller is away on vacation.

The problem with the charger i bought is that you need a 5v charger with an 5.5mm x 2.1mm connector to charge it, i bought an old zip drive 2amp power supply for £2 and it works great.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271073382603?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D271073382603%26_rdc%3D1

John.

you can always change the connector to whatever you like. I mostly change them to USB.
I do have some solar cells and i think i can charge the batteries in the unit with solar power.

I am not in the UK. I visited Newcastle 25 years ago but, still remember metro going to North Shields and South Shields.
I still have the routes map and some old metro tickets.

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

So how do you do that, the case and pcb is not designed for a usb type connector, or am i wrong, never taken the pcb out????

John.

you can always change the connector to whatever you like. I mostly change them to USB.
I do have some solar cells and i think i can charge the batteries in the unit with solar power.

I am not in the UK. I visited Newcastle 25 years ago but, still remember metro going to North Shields and South Shields.
I still have the routes map and some old metro tickets.

 

[kokoskokou]

So how do you do that, the case and pcb is not designed for a usb type connector, or am i wrong, never taken the pcb out????

John.

well, in this case I could cut a usb extension cord in the middle and solder the part with the female usb adaptor to the 5.5mm adaptor so that the cable will hang out of the box.

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

Already bought a usb charging cable for it, i have charged it from usb adapters, but i have not tried charging from a notebooks usb port yet, i used a dmm it seems to pull around 900ma , so it`s on the edge of usb 3.0 power rating, dont want to blow my usb port.

John.

well, in this case I could cut a usb extension cord in the middle and solder the part with the female usb adaptor to the 5.5mm adaptor so that the cable will hang out of the box.

 

[roadkill1109]

Any of you guys try the ML102? I too have been searching around for the best possbile USB mobile device, and it ended with this one. It's not only a USB mobile device charger, but also can charge 18650's.

 

[gravelmonkey]

Any of you guys try the ML102? I too have been searching around for the best possbile USB mobile device, and it ended with this one. It's not only a USB mobile device charger, but also can charge 18650's.

Yup, I've been using 2 for about 6-8 months now - Charges cells fine and my Samsung Galaxy with no real problems; if its in 'flight mode' I can get a whole charge out of a 2900 AmpMax cell.

I think they can also charge 26650's.

I suppose you could also use it to charge 2 USB devices from 1 port by daisy-chaining- Ie Power > Charger > phone/camera/etc. My setup is usually running a cottonpickers charger on 90ma setting for 10440's.

HJK gives them a fairly good write up here.

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

I got one myself a couple of days ago, not used it much, the led`s seem a bit weird, did you not buy the two spacers, i can charge an rcr123/16340

John.

Yup, I've been using 2 for about 6-8 months now - Charges cells fine and my Samsung Galaxy with no real problems; if its in 'flight mode' I can get a whole charge out of a 2900 AmpMax cell.

I think they can also charge 26650's.

I suppose you could also use it to charge 2 USB devices from 1 port by daisy-chaining- Ie Power > Charger > phone/camera/etc. My setup is usually running a cottonpickers charger on 90ma setting for 10440's.

HJK gives them a fairly good write up here.

 

[gravelmonkey]

I got one myself a couple of days ago, not used it much, the led`s seem a bit weird, did you not buy the two spacers, i can charge an rcr123/16340

John.

LED's a bit weird? If I don't have a cell charging I get a sort of weird orange/green colour, if I connect it in order (Cell in cradle -> Plug USB in) it works perfectly. If I insert a cell a couple of times I think the low-voltage protection kicks in and it refuses to output anything on USB OUT. Leaving it 10 seconds remedies the problem.

I didn't get the spacers, I don't have any 16340's (yet...). I would guess that a magnet and a stack of 5p coins would work though, my 14500 and 17500 cells charge fine in this arrangement in my cottonpickers 18650 cradle.

Biggest drawback I've found is that the whole set-up when plugged into a phone looks suspicious- Not something I would really want to use in an airport departure lounge!

Edit: Just noticed you have a load of solar chargers, I've not had a chance to extensively test it but the ML-102 seems to be able to handle the usual intermittent sunshine we get in the UK.

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

Yeah, i know sunshine in the UK , i have a streak of survivalist in me, so i had to get them

John.

LED's a bit weird? If I don't have a cell charging I get a sort of weird orange/green colour, if I connect it in order (Cell in cradle -> Plug USB in) it works perfectly. If I insert a cell a couple of times I think the low-voltage protection kicks in and it refuses to output anything on USB OUT. Leaving it 10 seconds remedies the problem.

I didn't get the spacers, I don't have any 16340's (yet...). I would guess that a magnet and a stack of 5p coins would work though, my 14500 and 17500 cells charge fine in this arrangement in my cottonpickers 18650 cradle.

Biggest drawback I've found is that the whole set-up when plugged into a phone looks suspicious- Not something I would really want to use in an airport departure lounge!

Edit: Just noticed you have a load of solar chargers, I've not had a chance to extensively test it but the ML-102 seems to be able to handle the usual intermittent sunshine we get in the UK.

 

[alex21]

My single 18650 USB charger is still going strong! I use it a lot too- even the little USB flashlight head. I can get about one full charge on my iPhone 5 with the phone being on while charging. Good stuff!

I especially love the usb flashlight attachment, wish I could just buy that seperately.

 

[alex21]

Is it worth getting a solar panel? I have a pretty intense amount of sunlight coming near my front door (especially now in the middle of summer + daylight savings).

 

[mcbrat]

kinda makes me wonder what's inside my Zagg SPARQ 2.0 ...

but not curious enough to open it up....

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

I was looking for some 18650`s in the UK , somebody mention a website called cloud9vaping.co.uk, so i went there and got the message below.

We are temporarily closed for a medical emergency
We apologise for any inconvenience caused during this closure.

John

 

[Aquanaut]

I just received an EZO power backup charger that claims 6600 mAh. How would one measure its actual capacity? I have a hobby charger, but I haven't any idea how to hook it up to measure the USB output capacity.

I will post the charger's specs, if this info is useful to anyone.

Thanks.

 

[rickypanecatyl]

Does anyone know if these chargers can be opened easily to put your own 18650 batteries in or are they sealed?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006ZTMEZ4/?tag=cpf0b6-20

 

[Aquanaut]

I just received an EZO power backup charger that claims 6600 mAh. How would one measure its actual capacity?

Well, I had no answers so I devised my own test.

I discharged my old iPad2, which has a 6944 mAh capacity battery, down to 10% charge and then hooked it up to my EZO backup charger. After the charger ceased to charge, my iPad absorbed 5139 mAh according to my calculations. Considering losses during charge, this seems to be admirable performance from my (made in China) charger which is powered by 18650s.

 

[rickypanecatyl]

Aquanaut is this the EZO you have:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0097EHRDI/?tag=cpf0b6-20

Does it have the ability to open the case and put your own 18650's in easily? Both to charge them, and to use them to charge other things if your away from power for a while but bring extra charged 18650's with you?

 

[Trevtrain]

Any of you guys try the ML102? I too have been searching around for the best possbile USB mobile device, and it ended with this one. It's not only a USB mobile device charger, but also can charge 18650's.

I got a couple from Intl-Outdoor last year.

I have been using them quite a bit with a Cottonpickers solar panel and also with some 400mA panels sold by Intl-Outdoor. They seem to trickle a charge into the 18650s I put in them no matter whether the sun is constant or interrupted by passing clouds. In fact, I sometimes use them as a "buffer" between my solar panels and other devices on days with intermittent sunshine.

I got spacers to take 16340s but prefer to do these on my Cottonpickers chargers at a lower curent than the ML-102.

I have used them to power eneloop USB chargers, and to charge several mobile phones, a Jabra bluetooth hands-free speakerphone, older generation iPod, PocketWifi, etc. So far no real problems.

It shows "Not Charging" when connected to my iPad 4 but the wall charger for that is rated at 2.1A and the ML-102 only puts out about 600mA so it isn't really surprising. I have another 4x18650box I can use for that anyway.
I haven't left it connected to the iPad for any length of time to see if it would actually put any charge in. (Yes, I know this may sound dumb but I have read in other threads that the iPad may still charge with a low current input, even if it says it isn't.)

The only thing that bugs me a bit is that both of mine terminate the charge at 4.24V which I think is a bit high. For that reason, I like to keep checking my cells periodically and maybe pulling them at around 4.18 or so. I only use protected panasonic cells (Blazars) but still.......

For about $8-$10 they are a pretty good buy IMO.