Got my Xtar WP2 II charger and 18650 battery! Pics and Question

[LightCrazy]

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Well, I found an e-bay seller in Georgia who was willing to sell me the Xtar WP2 II charger and an Xtar 18650 3100 mAH battery for a good price. He packaged the items up Tuesday evening, and I had them first class mail on Friday!! Great seller!!
I a posting pics for one of the first times. The charger I received appears to be an UPDATED model? Insted of the switch being labelled "0" "1" "2", it is labelled "0" "0.5A" "1A". Also, the power supply has a power indicator light in it. The charger also came with the D/C power cord.
The battery arrived just like the pics, and measured 4.13 volts on my meter. When I put it in the charger, the light in the charger stayed green.
QUESTION: Does this mean the battery/charger circuits found the battery to have a high enough charge already? When I checked the charger for proper checks when it received power, and when I placed the battery in it to charge a USB device, the lights always indicated exactly what the directions stated they would.
I hope these pics come through. Now I just need to exchange my LD22 for a PD32, and I'll be in business :-)
Looks like I have to edit the post to add pics. I cant switch between this forum and photobucket without closing this web page completely.









Sorry, each time i copy a new IMG code to put a different pic up, the original pic keeps appearing.

[ChrisGarrett]

Yours looks just like mine, which is a good four months old. USB: Do not plug the unit into AC power. Set switch to 0/zero, place charged up cell into bay one and plug in your USB device. Since the WP2 II only outputs 500mA, you probably won't be able to charge up your iPhone 4S, or iPad 2, or anyother USB devices that require more current than 500mA. If they need 1A, then you might get them to charge, if the device is turned OFF, but if the device needs 2.0A, like some of them, you might be out of luck.

Also, for charging up cells, the Xtar will realize that the battery is topped off and cease charging. I plug my wall wart into the AC socket and wait for its green light to come on, ususally taking a couple of seconds. I then plug the cord into the charger and the two LEDs come on green. I insert a depleted cell into bays one/two and the LED turn from green to red, as a cell is inserted in each bay. Once the cell is charged up, the red LEDs will turn green.

If I insert a fully charged cell, the green LED might go red first, then quickly turn to green, show me that no charging was needed.

Don't do what I was doing and reinsert a charged cell, which might come off at 4.20v, 4.18v, or even 4.13v depending on the particular cell, just to get it to bump up the voltage. This isn't good for the life span of the cell, although I could get a cell that initially read 4.14v, up to 4.19ish volts, by repeatedly reinserting it.

For the USB device, move the slider switch to 0, insert charged cell and the center red LED lights up to show you that the charger has Li-Ion power to send to its USB socket.

Chris

[LightCrazy]

Thanks Chris. When powered up, the charge lights turn red first for a second or so, then turn green. When I insert the new cell the lights stay green. I measured the new cell first and got the 4.13 volts. I thought new cells were shipped with a 40% charge, that's why I wondered about the battery already being topped off and not needing an Initial charge.

[ChrisGarrett]

Thanks Chris. When powered up, the charge lights turn red first for a second or so, then turn green. When I insert the new cell the lights stay green. I measured the new cell first and got the 4.13 volts. I thought new cells were shipped with a 40% charge, that's why I wondered about the battery already being topped off and not needing an Initial charge.

Sanyo Eneloops are supposedly shipped with a 70% charge, but Li-Ions can be all over the map. I got a pair of Soshine 16340s and one of the protection circuits had been tripped. I recently got 18650s that showed ~3.650v, another pair that was closer to 4.0v, so things aren't uniform regarding state of charge (SOC).

I just tested it again and my WP2 II does go red first, for a brief monent, before turning green and staying that way until you insert a depleted cell, when it then goes back to red until the cells are charged up, turning the LEDs green.

Just run your cells in a light for 20 minutes and then reinsert them to test. Measure open voltage after removing them from the light and after a 30 min. rest and note that, before charging.

Trust, but verify...and all that.

Chris