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

old4570

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

I have been looking at this charger for some time , what I found interesting and tempting , was the input voltage range . For some time now I have been thinking of a Solar Powered Charger , and the main stumbling block has been finding a host/charger suitable for such a project .

Im not going there today , but will rather evaluate the charger as is , for anyone contemplating owning this charger .

To the pictures :












Now in all fairness they make a lot of claims on the side of the box , and it would be real nice if it was all true , real nice .
Im draining a battery as I type this so as to start testing the charger .
:wave:

Ok some results :

Open current = Bay1 or left side as pictured was 4.13 to 4.14v Bay2 or the right side was 4.16 to 4.18v , voltage for both was the same as open voltage with a 18650 in place .
Current :
Bay1 18650 @ 4v = 0.16A
Bay2 18650 @ 4v = 0.17A [ Now the second bay did hunt around a little with the amps going up and down but then stabilized at 0.17A ]

Bay1 18650 @ 4.17v = 0.0A
Bay2 18650 @ 4.17v = 0.0A - 0.01A , again hunted around a little between 0 and 0.01A and then settled on 0.0A

18650 @ 3.84v = 0.33A for both bays .

So looks like constant voltage and variable Amp's , so the closer you get to termination , the less Amps . And it does look like it will shut down when its done .
I will charge some batteries , and test as we go along , I only just fully charged all my batts recently so I have none that are run down unfortunately .
So just waiting for a RCR123A to run down ATM .

RCR123A : [ One bay only being used at a time , I will do dual bay testing shortly ]
RCR123A @ 3.75v both bays charged at 0.37A
RCR123A @ 3.57v Both bays = 0.44A
[ I would just like to say the over discharge protection works on my Trustfire Red and black RCR123A ]
RCR123A @ 3.22v , both bays are charging at 0.47A

Dual channel Charging [ 2 Batteries ]

With the 18650 occupying one channel/bay the RCR123A was getting 0.46A in either bay , which means its a true dual channel charger .
With the 18650 @ 3.86v and charging at 0.32A on its own , with the RCR123A occupying the opposite bay it was doing 0.31A to 0.30A , again dare I say true dual channel charger .

I had the RCR123A in Bay1 which had an open voltage of 4.13-4.14v and as I thought it terminated @ 4.13v there was 0 charge at termination [ No trickle charge ] , and it is independent from the other channel .
The open voltage was higher on Bay2 so I wait to see if the 18650 comes in at 4.16v .
Ok the 18650 has finished charging and came in also at 4.13v , and the charger again shut the charging channel off .
This could be a safe charger , I say could as you should never leave a charger charging for too long or you just may burn your house down , I guess they just cant be trusted . But this is the first one that I have actually seen that shuts down each charging channel on completion . Its certainly not an expensive charger , and for my intended purpose of hooking it up to some solar panels and just placing it outside to leave it to do its work , it looks like it just might be a good choice .

So in the coming months keep an eye out for a solar charger :
 
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alfreddajero

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Blackrose and I were talking about that charger.....would love to know how well it does as i would love to get it........
 

old4570

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I'm only waiting on termination now , Im charging one 18650 and a CR123A , to see how it works , will it try to balance charge or will each channel terminate on completion . :thinking:

Also what sort of voltage will we have when done etc .
So far its looking interesting .

It does look like each channel is acting independently , but I will have to check for this by using the same batteries at different states of charge . [ Later ]
 
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alfreddajero

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4.15 is my guess......its funny that your doing a review on this charger......when Blackrose and I were talking about it nothing really came up on cpf about the charger or members comments on it as well.
 

old4570

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4.15 is my guess......its funny that your doing a review on this charger......when Blackrose and I were talking about it nothing really came up on cpf about the charger or members comments on it as well.

Ive been Hoing and a-Humin over this charger for about 3 months .
Looks like it may be a good host for a solar powered charger project .

Just throw it outside , and the charger turns of the channel when the battery is charged , sounds good to me !
 

old4570

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Testing completed :

I was worried that the power supply [ which looks an awful lot like the DSD one ] was going to get seriously hot , it did warm up though but as the battery charge increases the charge rate diminishes , so it actually may start warm but as the batteries are charged it runs cooler .

The batteries terminated at 4.13v and this is just a little on the low side , but then the charger does actually turn of on completion , which sort of compensates , over all , looks like a safe charger .

This one is for a solar powered project , and I really like the input voltage range which will allow me some lee way with the solar panels .

In no way is there any buyer remorse with this one , a worth while charger to own , and have as part of my charger collection .

If your really worried about charging batteries over 4.2v then you may wish to give this charger some consideration .
 

alfreddajero

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I was close on cutoff.....On the positive part of the charging does the contact stick out so one would be able to charge flat top 18650's.
 

mdocod

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Any updates about this charger? Looks like it might be a good one.

With relatively low target voltages it can often be hard to detect if the charger is trickling to hold a voltage or truly shutting down.

Based on the chart on the sales page for this over at e-lectronics, I would say that this charger looks excellent and that it terminated properly. The problem is, I have such a bad taste in my mouth about so many chargers that I'll continue to say "guilty until proven innocent." In this case, maybe I'll settle for "Trust, but Verify." -R

The best way to detect trickle charging is to have a cell that likes to settle down to say, 4.10V or lower naturally. This means an older cell or a cell that has been used really heavily and is showing some signs of wear and tear. The older cell will require a higher trickle current to hold a CV in a charger that lacks true termination. With brand new cells, clamped voltage trickle charges ~4.20V will be so slow that it can be hard to detect on the multi-meter. Also, the higher resistance of the low-current test circuit on most DMMs can make it difficult to get a realistic reading. Often, I've found that to get a correct reading I had to use the 10A circuit (non-fused DMM). This of course results in less resolution which creates it's own set of problems. Look for a steady pattern of registering 0.01A in short bursts to identify a trickle charge after the charger has indicated that it is "done."

Eric
 

old4570

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Ok , first of , the charger turns off , does not trickle charge ..

I checked again , 10A 200mA and 20mA settings and nothing ...

I could not measure any current ..

18650 fit just fine .
 

mdocod

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Hello old4570,

Do you have any older "worn out" li-ion cells handy that you could use to do a little test for us with? Or some LiMn cells that like to rest down to ~4.1V like so many of them do?

The first time I tested the YOHO-122 I was confident that it did not trickle charge, it wasn't until I used a different cell chemistry and a different meter that I was able to create a scenario where there would be enough differential between what the battery was trying to settle to and the chargers output to get a reading.

The charge "terminated" based on the green lights going solid, but sure enough, it was trickling to hold 4.20V. Just took a lot of trickery to find it and prove it. I've since figured out this WAY easier method....

The "easy" way to know for sure, is to use a cell that you know would ordinarily settle down to a lower voltage a few hours after a charge. Compare leaving it on the charger to leaving it off the charger for those few hours and see if it holds the 4.20V if left on the charger, if it does, it's trickling.



Eric
 

old4570

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Bit of a catch 22 if the charger is able to note the voltage drop as the battery settles and starts charging again ...

I,ll throw in a older battery and see what happens , but I do know there is no charge , as to whether it checks periodically the state of the battery ??????
 

lebox97

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the posted info implies that it powers off all together - and has to be unplugged/plugged back into power to reset switch?

Kinda strange that you have to put cells in PRIOR to plugging it into power in order for it to detect cells in order to charge them :thinking:


Tod

from e-electronics site:
"Operational Notes: Power should be reset by unplugging power to cancel sleep mode at the end of each charge cycle. Batteries should be installed before applying power. If batteries are installed after power is applied the second battery may not be recognized. Simply unplug charger momentarily with batteries installed to reset and begin charging. "
 

mdocod

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Bit of a catch 22 if the charger is able to note the voltage drop as the battery settles and starts charging again ...

I,ll throw in a older battery and see what happens , but I do know there is no charge , as to whether it checks periodically the state of the battery ??????

Thank You for trying this!

If it were to resume charging after the cell settled a bit, that would be just about as bad as having the trickle charged clamped to ~4.20V. So lets hope it doesn't. (A proper charger should remain terminated until the circuit is interrupted in some way.)


Eric
 

VidPro

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the posted info implies that it powers off all together - and has to be unplugged/plugged back into power to reset switch?

"Operational Notes: Power should be reset by unplugging power to cancel sleep mode at the end of each charge cycle. "

cool, that goes right along with his testing. now if they would just put a power switch or reset switch on these and other type chargers so you can "boot" them and/or get them out of "hibernation" :laughing: well at least allow you to Log-Off
 

LEDAdd1ct

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I am guessing "sleep mode" translates to "Okay folks, the battery is all charged now. Nothin' to see here, move right along. We'll be sittin' pretty on this charged cell and [hopefully, pretty please with sugar on top] not touching it at all or tricklin' in the slightest..."

I really hope this charger pans out!
 

old4570

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I charged the battery to 4.13v and it turned of ...
Pulling the battery and replacing it did not restart the charge cycle .
But pulling the power cord does restart the charge cycle , and this time the battery was taken to 4.15v ...

I put in a second battery , and it stopped @ 4.13v , after pulling the plug it was taken to 4.15v , and it will not go past 4.15v .. After restarting the charge cycle it takes a few minutes , but then it shuts of .

Does not look like it restarts unless you pull the cord and re install it to start the charge cycle again .

I,ll leave it for a while , but looks like a good unit .
 
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