Now VC4 released, looks very interesting, nimh support etc. Waiting for HKJ review 
http://xtarlight.com/05-chanpin/p-001-1.asp?styleid=340
http://xtarlight.com/05-chanpin/p-001-1.asp?styleid=340
XTAR VC4
- Thread starter gopajti
- Start date
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Davekan
Newly Enlightened
I do like their stuff. Nice find.
dave
dave
Javora
Enlightened
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2014
- Messages
- 224
I'm interested in the review as well. Being able to charge NiMH as well as Li-ion is the reason I picked up a Nitecore D2. This might be my next charger.
smooth2o
Newly Enlightened
I have the Nitecore D2 on order as my second charger (2nd home) and I'm considering changing only for the NiMH reconditioning feature that the D2 doesn't have (AFAIK). What really gets me is why they don't show all four channels at once with Capacity, Voltage, Current, and Time. I mean, they already have an LCD screen so they can put anything on it. There may be a few more descrete parts required which are dirt cheap but certainly no more ICs. I think they already provide pulse charging so those components are multiplexed anyway, so the screen readouts could be too. I think that would make a killer charger.
BTW, is it really necessary to recondition NiMHs? I would be of the mind that after a couple of hundred uses and recharges, these batteries are going to be looking in pretty bad shape (cosmetically). My inclination would be to buy new ones and toss the old. I mean, they more than paid for themselves....
BTW, is it really necessary to recondition NiMHs? I would be of the mind that after a couple of hundred uses and recharges, these batteries are going to be looking in pretty bad shape (cosmetically). My inclination would be to buy new ones and toss the old. I mean, they more than paid for themselves....
I agree with Smooth2o about the display, it still looks good thou.
What I dont like is the last line: "●Max 0.5A*4 / 1.0A*2 charging current make sure your batteries can be fully and
quickly charged"
Does it mean that it can only charge 4 cells at 500mah max???
What I dont like is the last line: "●Max 0.5A*4 / 1.0A*2 charging current make sure your batteries can be fully and
quickly charged"
Does it mean that it can only charge 4 cells at 500mah max???
tandem
Enlightened
It's not just reconditioning which is useful; chargers that offer discharge reporting give you the scoop on what available capacity really is. Charge mAh "in" isn't the same.
We are an all season all weather biking family and I consider it a failure if our rear tail lights fail on a ride. It has happened a few times over the years; in every case it's been because I slacked off on monitoring and a weaker cell with less capacity got paired up with another. Fortunately this is totally preventable.
I do a reconditioning pass every once in a while (at least once a year for the AAs, a little more often with AAA format) to find cells that are under performing. Physically my oldest Eneloops (5 years) are holding up pretty well although some of the coating on the outer shell is wearing off on a few.
I use Refresh/Analyze on my Maha C9000 as a first step; those that come off > 750mAh capacity go straight back into the ready-to-use bin in our cell box, and most do - even the 5 year old cells. Yay!
Those that don't make the bar go through 4 Charge/Discharge Cycles; if they come up to par (most have) they go back into the ready-to-use bin. This morning 3 of four came right back up to ~750 -785mAh so they went into the box, the other turned in 695mAh - that one I put on Discharge and will run Break-in against it while I go on with the R-A cycling of another three. If it doesn't recover appreciably it'll be recycled.
Continue-until-done!
It's not cost avoidance that makes me want to have a good analysing charger, it's performance.
smooth2o
Newly Enlightened
Yes, that's how the other VPs work too. You can only charge at 1A on two cells, then it gets split for 4. The D2/4 operate the same way except it splits .75A. Most of this doesn't make as much of a difference as you'd think. After the main charge to 4.2, the charger then lowers the current to maintain 4.2V. This lower current is well below the charge current but the time at 4.2 is significant and therefore not the whole story with respect to total charge time.
HKJ
Flashaholic
The advantage with this is lower temperature in the charger and being usb it will not be able to get power enough to charge four cells at 1A each, 0.5A is already stretching it.
smooth2o
Newly Enlightened
Yeah, the D4/2 doesn't have that capability.
So to make it clear to me, you put a used battery in the charger and in the correct mode, the charger discharges the battery to a known low level, then charges it up while measuring the mAh that are going into the battery and reports to you at the end of charging, the capacity of the cell? That is to say that at or near EOL, the battery will hold less capacity (the charging characteristics change) but show the same top voltage?
I thought the Eneloops (don't have any, but considering) had like a 5 year life, this seems like some amount of work to go through (if you weren't interested in someone clobbering you from behind on a bike) on a normal basis. But I can see how you need to tell a good one from the bad ones. Thinking of trashing my order for the D2 and go with the VC4....
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Awesome news, thanks for the link.
MSRP is $29.95, also couple of more pics here:
http://www.xtardirect.com/collections/chargers/products/xtar-vc4-charger
I really like my VC2 so can't wait to buy the VC4 for the extra channels and NiMH support.
MSRP is $29.95, also couple of more pics here:
http://www.xtardirect.com/collections/chargers/products/xtar-vc4-charger
I really like my VC2 so can't wait to buy the VC4 for the extra channels and NiMH support.
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tandem
Enlightened
The C9000 has a number of functions that can be useful in recovering capacity. Break-in does a long slow 0.2C charge, discharge, slow 0.2C charge again. Refresh/Analyse lets you pick the charge and discharge rates. Cycle does the same, but multiple times. For programs where the C9000 does a discharge it reports that value at the end of the function.
I don't mean it to sound like work, because it really isn't much effort although when you have 100's of cells yes it does feel a bit like work.
The alternative... buying many thousands of non-rechargeable cells... isn't very appealing to me. dI find AAA cells require a little more supervision, probably not due to construction or chemistry but simply because they have less capacity. Also in tail lights you don't always notice they are out until at your destination where head lights are usually much more obvious. Typically in real life use it won't be chronological age or cycle age where you see the odd cell lose some capacity.Ultimately it comes down to low self discharge NiMH cells appreciating a full work out. Those that don't get such a work out regularly can give up some capacity, and working them out with an intelligent charger can restore a cell. The best thing about intelligent chargers that report discharge capacity is you'll know when you have a slightly misbehaving cell and can bring it back into line. Or recycle the cell if need be.
Has anybody ordered this charger yet? Are there any reviews? I think it's still on pre-order. I'm thinking of getting one, but I don't like to buy anything right out of the gate like this, unless there is a reliable review, etc....
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Sent from my iPad using Candlepowerforums
i preordered this a weeks ago and just got it in today. i don't think there are any reviews yet. i'm a complete noob, so I'm not even sure what to comment on. i just hope these are as good as the other chargers xtar puts out.
I received it yesterday. I'm not sure I understand this charger. I thought it would show how much the battery is currently charged, and then charge it to capacity and display that capacity.
Instead, every battery I put in starts at zero and slowly ticks up until "full". I had some Eneloop Pros, that charged up to 249 mah and said "full". I'm assuming that is the amount that was added to the battery? But that doesn't make sense to me...
Does anybody have some insight as to what it is I'm reading?
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Instead, every battery I put in starts at zero and slowly ticks up until "full". I had some Eneloop Pros, that charged up to 249 mah and said "full". I'm assuming that is the amount that was added to the battery? But that doesn't make sense to me...
Does anybody have some insight as to what it is I'm reading?
Sent from my iPad using Candlepowerforums
HKJ
Flashaholic
Why does that not make sense? It is the same as the VC2
I'm looking at this charger as well, just cancelled the Nitecore D4 I had on order, as I thought this would be better for the same money?
It does say on the website it displays charging Capacity but then displays "FuLL" when Full, so what is the, "charging capacity"? Is that the full capacity of the battery?
It also states on the website, "Foreknow the battery life - After discharge your batteries to the cut off voltage and recharge in VC4, if "0000mAh"shows 70% of the nominal capacity which means that your battery life is almost to an end."
It does say on the website it displays charging Capacity but then displays "FuLL" when Full, so what is the, "charging capacity"? Is that the full capacity of the battery?
It also states on the website, "Foreknow the battery life - After discharge your batteries to the cut off voltage and recharge in VC4, if "0000mAh"shows 70% of the nominal capacity which means that your battery life is almost to an end."
This is what it states for the VC2:
How to test your batteries mAh capacity:
Step 1: Insert your discharged battery (at a discharge cut-off voltage generally below 3.0V)
Step 2: Let the battery charge and notice the 0000mAh displayed on the screen. Do not remove the battery until the charge is complete.
Step 3: When the battery is fully charged, the screen will show "FULL" and the entire screen will flash 3 times every 10 seconds.
Step 4: The mAh on the screen should now give you the batteries actual capacity.
How to test your batteries mAh capacity:
Step 1: Insert your discharged battery (at a discharge cut-off voltage generally below 3.0V)
Step 2: Let the battery charge and notice the 0000mAh displayed on the screen. Do not remove the battery until the charge is complete.
Step 3: When the battery is fully charged, the screen will show "FULL" and the entire screen will flash 3 times every 10 seconds.
Step 4: The mAh on the screen should now give you the batteries actual capacity.
