SheKor Charger for 18650/17670/18500/17500/14500/16340/

[rollcage]

Thanks a lot for posting this thread, i was looking something like this, didnt want to buy the sku.13820, so I guess this is the one, I have already placed the order, though KD site is a bit unfriendly than DX one, and customer support & forum is next to nil. I hope I get it in 2 weeks time ince its in packaging state.

Shekor charger looks good since it can charger 16340 from my RC-C6 as well, along with 18650 I use on other lights e.g. SkyRay R5. i dont mind that its cut off little below then 4.2v the higher limit.. to be honest it will prolong the battery life by limiting the capacity a bit.

and by seeing this graph image it denotes that it goes bak a bit after reaching close to 4.2v.

Regards
roll

 

[mdocod]

and by seeing this graph image it denotes that it goes bak a bit after reaching close to 4.2v.

Regards
roll

Hi Roll,

The part where the voltage "drops off" after the 4.20V is reached, is suggestive of true termination, as that would be the cell settling down to a lower voltage and finding a happy resting voltage.

I hope it's true!

Eric

 

[PolarBearX]

Im liking this charger...I tried it originally after reading this review.....thanks.....it charges my unprotected 18650s to 4.124 and 4.125 consistently as measured on my dmm....if I inplug it a couple of times I can get up around 4.131....its pretty quick overall too.

PBXl

 

[Rod911]

Thanks for the review old4570. On the back of this review, I wanted to get a charger that fully terminated once it finished charging the cells. I may have got it with this charger...sort of.

I've only used this charger on two sets of 18650s. The first, SoShine 2800mAh and the second set, TrustFire (red/black) 2400mAh. The SoShines both had a starting voltage of 3.69v. After they've been charged up by the SheKor, the final voltage were 4.14v from bay 1 and 4.17v from bay 2. Next were the TrustFires. They started off at 3.96v and 3.99v. After inserting them in bay 1 and bay 2 respectively, the charge terminated at 4.10v and 4.17v.

I know it's early stages, but the second bay seems to be charging the cell more than the first bay. Oddly enough, if I were to swap a cell from bay 1 to bay 2 after the charger says it is finished charging it, it won't continue the charge. This is a total guess, but it may not charge cells where their starting voltage is more than 4.10v. :thinking: If I need more charge, I top it up with my TrustFire All-in-One-Charger.

Overall, I do like this charger. I may have found a charger to give to the parents to charge up 18650s safely.

 

[old4570]

Thanks for the review old4570. On the back of this review, I wanted to get a charger that fully terminated once it finished charging the cells. I may have got it with this charger...sort of.

I've only used this charger on two sets of 18650s. The first, SoShine 2800mAh and the second set, TrustFire (red/black) 2400mAh. The SoShines both had a starting voltage of 3.69v. After they've been charged up by the SheKor, the final voltage were 4.14v from bay 1 and 4.17v from bay 2. Next were the TrustFires. They started off at 3.96v and 3.99v. After inserting them in bay 1 and bay 2 respectively, the charge terminated at 4.10v and 4.17v.

I know it's early stages, but the second bay seems to be charging the cell more than the first bay. Oddly enough, if I were to swap a cell from bay 1 to bay 2 after the charger says it is finished charging it, it won't continue the charge. This is a total guess, but it may not charge cells where their starting voltage is more than 4.10v. :thinking: If I need more charge, I top it up with my TrustFire All-in-One-Charger.

Overall, I do like this charger. I may have found a charger to give to the parents to charge up 18650s safely.

Leave the batteries in the charger and pull the power cord , and put the cord back and see if it continues to charge ..

Mine seems to act like a two stage charger , but to restart I need to pull the cord and put it back or it will not continue to charge .

 

[mfm]

So how long time to charge a TrustFire red/black 2400 mAh from 3.6V until green light?

 

[blinkjr]

Where are you purchasing this charger? I see it at kaidomain. It was at a site e-lectronics.net, but they have taken it off as an offering.

Anyplace else?

 

[Tally-ho]

Where are you purchasing this charger?

I bought mine at kaidomain.
1st bay terminate 18650 at 4,18 V, a little less in the 2nd bay.
1st bay terminate 16340 at 4,15 V, 2nd terminate 16340 at 4,13 V.

When I pull and put back the cord, 1 time and 2 times, it went not over 4,185V (1st bay).
A really appreciate that it cuts power once terminated. It is the charger that I could offer to a friend or family without fearing that they return to ashes prematurely with their batteries.
And no need to offer spacers and voltmeter with the charger.

Thank you old4570 !

 

[Rod911]

Leave the batteries in the charger and pull the power cord , and put the cord back and see if it continues to charge ..

Tried this whilst charging a single TrustFire (red/black) on bay 1 and it terminated at 4.13v and did not want to continue charging. On the other hand, it did continue charging in bay 2 after it had been reset. But my findings continue to be the same, and the same cell terminated at 4.17v.

So how long time to charge a TrustFire red/black 2400 mAh from 3.6V until green light?

I was doing a discharge test using the above cell and drained it down to 3.21v. I could probably say it takes around 12 hours to charge it fully*. I say probably because I fell asleep mid-way during the charge and I woke up to find the charger had stopped charging the cell. At 3.6v, I would have to guesstimate around 7 hours.

Despite my charger not charging both cells at the same voltage, that negative is outweighed by the fact it terminates at the end of the charging cycle.

*Until the charger itself decides to terminate the charge which can be either 4.13v or 4.17v in bay 1 or bay 2 respectively.

 

[jcw122]

This sound like a very interesting charger, what kind of loss in runtime will these voltages below 4.20v create?

 

[old4570]

This sound like a very interesting charger, what kind of loss in runtime will these voltages below 4.20v create?

Maybe 5 minutes in a 18650 SSC P7 ...

 

[mdocod]

Don't worry about not charging to 4.20V. The more important question IMO is "what loss of cell cycle life and what increase in safety risk may be associated with charging to 4.20V instead of 4.10V?"

 

[jcw122]

Exciting! I might finally have found a charger that will convince me to go Li-Ion.

 

[Midnight Oil]

Old4570

Does the Shekor charger use the recommended charing algorithm? Does it use CV? Thanks.

 

[old4570]

Old4570

Does the Shekor charger use the recommended charing algorithm? Does it use CV? Thanks.

CV = Constant voltage .. Y

 

[Meterman]

Stimulated by this thread I had ordered this charger - and after weeks of waiting impatiently I at last could do some measurements now.

The graph named "Shekor" clearly shows that the charger does not keep to the CC/CV algorithm correctly - there is only an approximation to it. (At the end, when finishing the charge, current in reality is cut off completely to 0mA. The graph shows a few mA to be left, but that's only due to a forgotten zero adjustment of the adapter. :shrug: Beg your pardon!)

The max. voltage reached is 4.203V - that's pretty safe. How much energy is filled in must be checked in additional measurements.

For comparison to a better CC/CV behaviour I've added a graph of the Pila IBC with correct CC and nearly correct CV phase.

Wulf

 

[vali]

Nice graphs.

Even taking in account that the algorithm is not perfect I think this charger is the "best" of budget ones. IIRC is the only one that completely cuts-off after the charge is done, dont overcharge the cells and, as it is a bit slow, can be used to charge the smaller li-ion cells.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

I tend to agree with vali on this. The biggest factor for me is safe cutoff to prevent "vent with flame." If this charger truly, absolutely, without-a-doubt does indeed stop current flow to the cell, then the fact it does not adhere to the ideal charging process is, to me, immaterial.

 

[Meterman]

Nice graphs.

Even taking in account that the algorithm is not perfect I think this charger is the "best" of budget ones. IIRC is the only one that completely cuts-off after the charge is done, dont overcharge the cells and, as it is a bit slow, can be used to charge the smaller li-ion cells.

Please take into account too, that only the current is cut off for the moment. The battery remains connected further on and it's voltage is monitored. If that sags below a certain amount (I registered 4.096V), the charger starts a new (minor? not yet checked) cycle to keep the battery in full condition.

To prove this, I've connected a programmable load - set to 250mA - in parallel to the battery during charge and started the discharge only when the charging current had stopped. The result can be seen in the graph.

BTW the Pila IBC shows the same behavior. I came across this when studying the data sheet of the IC employed in the Pila.

Wulf

 

[shadowjk]

The Shekor graph almost looked like a charger input power limited graph, but much more radical than that..