4Sevens Single Bay Charger V3

Today I received the 4Sevens Single Bay Charger I ordered from 4sevens.ca and noticed on the bottom sticker that it's version 3 (V3) of this charger.

I have no idea what the changes between the V2 and this one may be.

It came with the usual accessories.
The included wall wart adapter states it outputs 5.0V DC 1500 mA. Is this the same as V1/V2?

I'm already using it to top up some cells now.

EDIT: Just topped up two 2.5 year old AW 2200 mAh protected 18650 cells. Both came off the charger at 4.13v

Interesting. Is there a review up yet about this Version 3?

HKJ did a review of the V2 recently.

I know I'm stating the obvious, but V3 seems to be really new.

The V2 - and I believe the V1 - used a 12v 1A power pack.

Thanks for that tip Stephen.

Looking back on HKJs review of the V1 and V2, they both used 12.0v 1.0A inputs and the wall wart and car charger provided the same power.

The V3 charger uses 5.0V and 1.0A input. The wall wart and car charger have been updated to produce reduced voltage (5.0V 1.5A) for the new charger.

I guess the main thing here is that the wall warts and car chargers from V1 & V2 cannot be used with the V3 charger.

Both of mine are V3

Hmmm... I just got mine last week, from 4Sevens in US. I thought it was a V2, but just looked at it again after reading this- it's a V3.
oo:

Black Rose said:

The V3 charger uses 5.0V and 1.0A input.

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What's the benefit using 5.0V instead of 12.0V?

snakyjake said:

What's the benefit using 5.0V instead of 12.0V?

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It might make it possible to use a linear charger control IC in the charger, instead of a switching regulator with a microcontroller to control it (I do not know if it is changed that way).

is there a tutorial for using the V3? i'm not sure i am supposed to charge my AW 2900 18650's on 3.6 volts or 4.2 volts, nor am i sure about the 0.5 amp or 1 amp settings

Bushman5 said:

is there a tutorial for using the V3? i'm not sure i am supposed to charge my AW 2900 18650's on 3.6 volts or 4.2 volts, nor am i sure about the 0.5 amp or 1 amp settings

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The AW18650-29 is charged on the 4.2volt 1A setting. For batteries with less than 1000-1500mAh you uses the 0.5A setting.
The 4.2/3.6 depends on battery chemistry, I hope this illustration from my review can help you:

HKJ said:

The AW18650-29 is charged on the 4.2volt 1A setting. For batteries with less than 1000-1500mAh you uses the 0.5A setting.
The 4.2/3.6 depends on battery chemistry, I hope this illustration from my review can help you:

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awesome! thank you, that really sets my mind at ease........i was worried about the batts going boom.........so i have not used the V3 yet.........thanks again.

I recently received my 4Sevens V3 charger.
I am using it to charge 3.7V Soshine 700maH RCR123 protected cells.
I am using the 4.2V, 500mA settings.
I notice some strange behaviour at the end of the charging cycle:
The LED starts alternating between red and green. This goes on for some time and then the LED turns green.
The cells are working perfectly afterwards and when they come of the charger, I measure 4.1-4.2 Volt.
They are also not warm to the touch.
Not all the cells are doing this.

Does anyone know what the red/green flashing of the LED mean ?
Should I be concerned ?

I just got mine but haven't used it yet. It came with a USB plus as well as wall and car plugs. It did not come with a manual but there are instructions on 4 sevens website.

I paid more attention to the voltages this time.
The one read 4.08V and the other read 4.09V when the charger starts with the red/green blinking.
I left one on the charger for 8 hours in this blinking state and when I tested it, it was still 4.08V

My deduction therefore is that the protection circuit of the cells prevents the chargers from raising the voltage any further.
Looks like the charger starts this blinking when the protection circuit kicks in.

bokkertoff said:

I paid more attention to the voltages this time.
The one read 4.08V and the other read 4.09V when the charger starts with the red/green blinking.
I left one on the charger for 8 hours in this blinking state and when I tested it, it was still 4.08V

My deduction therefore is that the protection circuit of the cells prevents the chargers from raising the voltage any further.
Looks like the charger starts this blinking when the protection circuit kicks in.

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Just got my V3 in the other day and my AW 2900's are coming off the charger at 4.07 to 4.09 (confirmed with 2 multi meters) V. My question is... Isn't this 4 Seven's charger only giving me a 90% charge with my 18650 battery's? My Pila charges the same batteries to 4.15 to 4.18V.

Big Sam said:

Just got my V3 in the other day and my AW 2900's are coming off the charger at 4.07 to 4.09 (confirmed with 2 multi meters) V. My question is... Isn't this 4 Seven's charger only giving me a 90% charge with my 18650 battery's? My Pila charges the same batteries to 4.15 to 4.18V.

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That will probably depend on the battery, but yes it can be 90% of full charge. The advantage of this is longer battery lifetime.
When checking the voltage it is important how long after the charging you check it, it will drop significantly during the first few hours.
I did some test with capacity after different charge conditions: http://lygte-info.dk/info/BatteryChargeVoltageCurrent UK.html

HKJ,

Thanks very much for your reply. I understand better now. A small trade off in capacity is a nice bonus in battery life. Wish I could have both.

Thanks again.

has anyone tried USB charging on the V3? I'm trying it now because i can monitor the full charge cycle but it keeps throwing a USB error on windows... anyone know if this affects the charge cycle?

HKJ said:

That will probably depend on the battery, but yes it can be 90% of full charge.

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Do you plan test V3 ?