Test/Review of Charger 1.5A 3.6-4.2V (TP5000)

[size=+3]Charger 1.5A 3.6-4.2V (TP5000)[/size]



This is a charger module from ebay, it is based on the TP5000 charge controller, depending on settings it can either charge with 4.2 volt or 3.6 volt.
The official specifications from the ebay page is:

• Charge module- Switch mode charging.
• Current- 1.5A. changing the charging current by changing the Rprog resistor
• Charge precision- 1.5%.
• Input voltage- 4.5V-9V.
• Full charge voltage- 4.2V/3.6V.
• Led indicator- when soldered with LED
• Input interface- 4.5-9V.
• Work temperature- -10°C to +85°C.
• Inversed polarity protection - NO.
• Size- small to 17X18X5mm.

I got it from ebay dealer: wkws20

The above specifications are not completely correct, the module I got was configured for 2A charging.



I got it in this bag without the led soldered in.



The regulator is a switcher with an inductor.








The supplied led is a 3 pin two color led that fits directly in the holes.



Default selection is 4.2 volt with 10% precharge current, to enable the other function a knife must be used to cut the trace between the two solder points.



The charge current can be anything from 0.1A to 2A, this table shows some of the possibilities. Without a heatsink it is best to keep the current at 1A or lower.





Charging LiFePO4 works, but is not ideal.



[size=+2]Measurements[/size]

• Power consumption when idle is 0.1 watt
• Discharge with 2uA when not connected to power.
• Discharge with 6uA when connected to power (5 volt supply).
• Will restart if battery voltage drops to 4 volt (4.2V setting).
• Will restart if battery voltage drops to 3.45 volt (3.6V setting).
• From 0 to 1 volt it will charge with 0.4A (1A setting).
• From 1 to 2.9 volt it will charge with 0.1A (4.2V/1A setting).
• From 1 to 2.4 volt it will charge with 0.1A (3.6V/1A setting).

[size=+1]Charging 4.2V LiIon[/size]



This looks like a very good CC/CV voltage charge curve with termination at 10% of charge current, here 200mA, the current is slightly below 2A due to heat.
Compared to linear regulators this regulator reduces current closer to 4.2V, this will make the charging a bit faster.



M1: 95,3°C, M2: 92,3°C, M3: 79,3°C, HS1: 117,5°C
The chip gets fairly hot and reduces the charge current.



With the higher input voltage the charge circuit could not maintain full charge current, it got too hot and regulated the current down.



M1: 113,7°C, M2: 92,6°C, M3: 81,0°C, HS1: 115,6°C
With 9V input the diode gets very hot, this make the circuit board hotter and the chip has to reduce the current even more.



At 1A charging current the CC/CV voltage charge curve also looks fine.



M1: 55,1°C, M2: 54,5°C, M3: 46,6°C, HS1: 57,9°C
1A current looks much more acceptable in temperature, nothing is really hot here (At least for electronic).



At 1A there is no heat problem with 9V input.



M1: 78,7°C, M2: 68,5°C, M3: 58,9°C, HS1: 79,9°C
With 9V input the diode gets warm again and increases the temperature of the chip, but it is still acceptable temperatures for electronic.





Both the new and old 2600mAh battery was charged perfectly.



Replacing the two 0.1ohm resistors with a single 1ohm resistor the current is down to 0.1A. I tested with a 14500 cell and it was charged perfectly to 4.2 volt, but with this low current ot took some time (0.1A is for smaller cells).




Simulating a long cable from a USB supply did not really affect the charger.



Adding more resistance between the 5V and the charger will slow down the charging, but the battery is filled.



Even with 5 ohm in series it works, but very slowly



[size=+1]Charging 3.6V LiIon[/size]



Breaking the 3.6 volt jumper I tried charging a LiFePO4 cell. The charge voltage is fine, but I do not like the automatic restart, it is placed at too high voltage.



[size=+2]Conclusion[/size]

It is a nice module for charging 4.2 volt LiIon batteries, even fairly small ones, the flexibilty in input voltage makes it useful for 6V unregulated solar panels.
I am not impressed with 2A performance, either a heatsink must be added or one of the resistors must be removed for best lifetime.



[size=+3]Notes[/size]

Here is an explanation on how I did the above charge curves: How do I test a charger

Nice review as always, but for the charger board, if you have to limit current to 1A, what benefits do user will get from using this module? LiFe support? and if I need 2A current, I usually take 3xTP4056 and run them in parallel.

CuriousOne said:

Nice review as always, but for the charger board, if you have to limit current to 1A, what benefits do user will get from using this module? LiFe support? and if I need 2A current, I usually take 3xTP4056 and run them in parallel.

Click to expand...

The main advantage overTP4056 is voltage range. It does not reduce current due to heat or voltage nearly as fast as the TP4056.

I'm a bit confused by these "hobby chargers", if in fact this falls into that category. These things look more like a piece of circuit board that someone ripped out of the inside of a DVD player or something! I'm surprised that they don't come installed in some sort of basic plastic case, like every other electronic device in existence. It's almost as if the charger itself IS the hobby, because you sort of have to finish assembling it..... But maybe I'm just not properly grasping whatever the concept is. I guess the advanced version of a hobby charger would consist of a naked Arduino board and a bunch of separate components that youd have to design and assemble yourself.....

HighlanderNorth said:

I'm a bit confused by these "hobby chargers", if in fact this falls into that category.

Click to expand...

It is not what is called a hobby charger, but it is for DIY. You can get a lot of electronic this way, this makes it possible to do a sort of advanced LEGO build to whatever you want to make.

@HKJ

In your 1st post on the TP5000 you stated that this device had no Inversed polarity protection. This is contrary to the data sheet, which indicates that it is protected from accidental battery reversal. Would post a copy of the pdf but I'm not sure its possible here.

Have ordered a couple of these boards and the LTC4001 versions to check out for a home made charger. Nice thing about the LTC4001 is that to change the current you are only altering a high value resister, whereas with the TP5000 you are changing fractions of an ohm, which would not lend itself to alteration with a selection switch.

Best Regards

picclock

Nice review. I would like to order some of these modules and different current setting resistors at the same time. What SMD size are the resistors? Thanks.

Topper23 said:

Nice review. I would like to order some of these modules and different current setting resistors at the same time. What SMD size are the resistors? Thanks.

Click to expand...

I used some 0805 when testing with other values, but they might have been smaller than the original resistors (I cannot remember that).

Would you recommend the 10% Pre-Charge current for a LiFePO4 cell? Is it needed?
Thanks,
Bill

ko4nrbs said:

Would you recommend the 10% Pre-Charge current for a LiFePO4 cell? Is it needed?

Click to expand...

I will always recommend the pre-charge current, it is used with over-discharged batteries to slowly bring them up in voltage.

HKJ said:

I will always recommend the pre-charge current, it is used with over-discharged batteries to slowly bring them up in voltage.

Click to expand...

Thanks again for your help!!
Bill

If using the board with a 3.2 volt LiFePO4 3500 maH battery how large of a Solar Panel would I need? Current draw from the battery would be low and intermittent (remote digital camera with flash off). Would a charge rate of 500ma be ok?

Bill

ko4nrbs said:

If using the board with a 3.2 volt LiFePO4 3500 maH battery how large of a Solar Panel would I need? Current draw from the battery would be low and intermittent (remote digital camera with flash off). Would a charge rate of 500ma be ok?

Bill

Click to expand...

I'll try this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lastest-5-2...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Bill

ko4nrbs said:

If using the board with a 3.2 volt LiFePO4 3500 maH battery how large of a Solar Panel would I need? Current draw from the battery would be low and intermittent (remote digital camera with flash off). Would a charge rate of 500ma be ok?

Bill

Click to expand...

I wouldn't want to use this charging module with LiFePO4​ cells because of the repeated restart problem HKJ identified in this graph:



It's likely to significantly shorten the service life of your cells.

Also, how are you getting 3500 mAh of LiFePO4​ capacity? I ask because it's remniscent of a 1x18650 figure, but no reputable manufacturer makes a LiFePO4​ 18650 with that much capacity.

Phlogiston said:

I wouldn't want to use this charging module with LiFePO4​ cells because of the repeated restart problem HKJ identified in this graph:

It's likely to significantly shorten the service life of your cells.

Also, how are you getting 3500 mAh of LiFePO4​ capacity? I ask because it's remniscent of a 1x18650 figure, but no reputable manufacturer makes a LiFePO4​ 18650 with that much capacity.

Click to expand...

I meant to say 2500 mAh A123 cells.
Bill

Restarts? Can anyone speak more to the restart issue? Will that really shorten cell life?

Better chip? Is there another chip of similar price that can handle LiFePO4 at 2A?

Overcharge problem? Has anyone seen this problem:
I was charging an A123 cell with this chip at 1A. Did 2 or 3 charge cycles, no problem. Then, the cell went past 3.6v. I stopped it at 3.8v.
What could cause that?

Thx!