Xtar WP6 II 6-bay li-ion charger Review

subwoofer

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 5, 2010
Messages
2,501
Location
Hove, UK
More and more lights are taking multiple 18650 cells, and more are taking not just 2, but 3 or 4, and soon no doubt more. This means we now need to charge more cells to feed our light's hunger for power.

The Xtar S1 flashlight is one of these power houses and needs 3 cells at a time, so fully loaded, and with a spare set, that is 6 cells. There is an S1 currently on the test bench, and to help keep it fed, so is the Xtar 6-bay charger the WP6 II.

05WP6loaded-.jpg




Initial Impressions:

In keeping with the popular WP2 MK II charger, the Xtar is a simple dark graphite colour. A nice feature is that is comes with spacers provided allowing you to charge cells smaller than an 18650.

Up to this point most of the li-ion chargers I have used have been 1 or 2 bay chargers, and multi-cell lights need lots of charging time. To achieve consistency of cells, I prefer to use the same charger, well the WP6 is a refreshing sight, with 6 independent bays, it allows you to charge a mixture of any 6 size of li-ions all at once. Now you can get your power-fix quickly and consistently.



What is in the box:

The WP6's box.

01WP6box-.jpg


Sliding the plastic tray out of the box

02WP6boxcontents-.jpg


The WP6 II has a car adaptor, mains adaptor, the WP6 itself as well as the instruction manual.

03WP6boxcontents-.jpg


Looking at the top of the charger, the spacers are shown in place. They can be unscrewed and added together to achieve the length needed. Each bay has a single light, which can light up red or green.

04WP6detail-.jpg




Output Modes and User Interface:

The WP6 has two output modes, CC/CV and pulse charging.

Think of the WP6 as three groups of two bays, and each group, will use CC/CV if it has only a single cell. If two cells are placed into one group, then pulse charging is used.

Output current is 600mA per bay.

Measuring open circuit voltage (no cell inserted) reads 6.2V on the multi-meter. It is very difficult to measure the conditions as a cell is inserted as measurement with a terminated cell appears to be around 4.2V. This suggests that upon inserting a cell, this voltage will drop, and should reset any tripped protection circuits.

When powered, the lights for each bay show as green. On inserting a cell, the light will go red and remain so until the termination is triggered, when it will go back to green.



Using the Charger

Initial tests were run with a full complement of Xtar 3100mAh cells. These are one of the longer protected cells and fit easily.

06WP6charging-.jpg


As you should do, as the cells came off the charger, I tested their voltage. Disappointingly, the cells ranged in voltage from 3.87V – 4.18V, which is far from acceptable as mixing these would result in very unbalanced cells. However, I've come across a strange feature of Xtar high capacity cells, in that they appear initially reluctant to take charge and seem to under-charge on just about every charger for the first charge.

Unperturbed by this first result, after being re-inserted several times, and checked with a multi-meter, the Xtar cells were all at 4.19V and ready to power the S1.

In the mean time, several other cells were charged on the WP6 II. These were a mixture of cheap brands and AW's latest 3100mA and IMR cells.

All these other cells reliably came off the WP6 at 4.22V. This coupled with the second charging of the Xtar cells, which after a full discharge, then charged up to 4.2V without intervention.

The charger appears to function very well and even though the charging current is only 600mAh per cell, charging 6 at once still makes the a fast charger.

As with any charger, always check the final cell voltage yourself.

Xtar's chargers have proven well made, reliable, with good performance, and the WP6 II gives heavy users a great solution for charging lots of cells easily and quickly.


Anticipation rises as the indicator lights start to go green, meaning lots of light will soon be at hand!

07WP6nearlyready-.jpg




Review sample provided for review by TorchDirect.

I'll update post 2 of this thread once I have some more comments to add....
 

tobrien

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 16, 2005
Messages
4,861
Location
Georgia Highway 441
nice initial impressions, bud! That's strange your XTAR cells came fresh off the charger at such high voltages, I've never seen that with mine (measured mine with Fluke DMM) and they were, at most, 4.22 or so. hmmm
 

subwoofer

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 5, 2010
Messages
2,501
Location
Hove, UK
nice initial impressions, bud! That's strange your XTAR cells came fresh off the charger at such high voltages, I've never seen that with mine (measured mine with Fluke DMM) and they were, at most, 4.22 or so. hmmm

I'm not sure what high voltage you are referring to as the Xtar cells came off the charger at 4.2V. The only higher voltage quoted in the review was the charger's open circuit terminal voltage. Or did I miss something?
 

tobrien

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 16, 2005
Messages
4,861
Location
Georgia Highway 441
I'm not sure what high voltage you are referring to as the Xtar cells came off the charger at 4.2V. The only higher voltage quoted in the review was the charger's open circuit terminal voltage. Or did I miss something?

oh whoops. haha

i totally misread "Disappointingly, the cells ranged in voltage from 3.87V – 4.18V, which is far from acceptable as mixing these would result in very unbalanced cells."

as the bold portion saying "4.87 volts"

my bad lol
 

psychbeat

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 3, 2009
Messages
2,797
Location
SF norcal
Ive been using the cr@p outta mine & its been VERY consistent.
super happy with it.
 

dazed1

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 30, 2013
Messages
1,916
Sorry to bump this old thread, but does this charger offer more then 600ma per bay when charging less then 6 cells- 4?
 

Vortus

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 24, 2010
Messages
1,203
Location
TN
Have had this now for a couple weeks, and wish had purchased it over the intellicharger v2 I bought, maybe a couple years ago. Charge times seem about the same. Would time them together expect the intellicharger died. Most of my18650 lights are 4 cells, with a few 2 and 1 cell lights mixed in, so the 6 cells together is nice. So far the bays keep things even. Once in a while, one will read 4.19 or 4.21, but most come out at 4.20. It also doesn't get nearly as hot as the intellicharger v2. Time will tell though. The ultrafire wf-139 I bought mid 2010 still works fine, even if it undercharges a bit. Though it won't fit the 3400 cells. Hope the newer version of the intellicharger is better, but, not willing to trust it.
 

subwoofer

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 5, 2010
Messages
2,501
Location
Hove, UK
Have had this now for a couple weeks, and wish had purchased it over the intellicharger v2 I bought, maybe a couple years ago. Charge times seem about the same. Would time them together expect the intellicharger died. Most of my18650 lights are 4 cells, with a few 2 and 1 cell lights mixed in, so the 6 cells together is nice. So far the bays keep things even. Once in a while, one will read 4.19 or 4.21, but most come out at 4.20. It also doesn't get nearly as hot as the intellicharger v2. Time will tell though. The ultrafire wf-139 I bought mid 2010 still works fine, even if it undercharges a bit. Though it won't fit the 3400 cells. Hope the newer version of the intellicharger is better, but, not willing to trust it.

Despite all the chargers I have, the WP6 is still my default charger for 18650s. It gives full capacity and reliable results. I like the multi-function chargers (or should I say multi-chemistry), but dedicated ones are still better. Even though 600mA is not that high, with 6 on the go at once, overall it is fast enough for me.
 

RI Chevy

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 9, 2011
Messages
3,600
Location
Ocean State
It would be nice if XTAR updated and incorporated some of the newer technology (1A or higher charging amperage and multi-voltage charging switches 3v 4.2v 4.35v ) used in their current chargers. Like a VP6 or along those lines. :thumbsup:
 

tobrien

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 16, 2005
Messages
4,861
Location
Georgia Highway 441
It would be nice if XTAR updated and incorporated some of the newer technology (1A or higher charging amperage and multi-voltage charging switches 3v 4.2v 4.35v ) used in their current chargers. Like a VP6 or along those lines. :thumbsup:

i definitely agree with you on that! six bays, maybe four current settings (e.g., .25A, .5A, 1A, 2A) selectable on a per bay basis, sliding contacts (I've since been converted by XTAR away from their "old" screw post design), LCD, different voltages (per bay selection), etc.

I'd buy that
 

ven

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 17, 2013
Messages
22,533
Location
Manchester UK
+2 ^^^^^^^^^^^^ for sure a vp6 :thumbsup:

Still use my wp6 II,does exactly what it says on the tin,dependable,simple and very useful :)
 
Top