S2K's CHARGER ...please read....

S2K\'s CHARGER ...please read....

This is very important to those using his cell phone charger that was offered with the Solitare. MAKE SURE YOU TEST THE VOLTAGE BEFORE USING THE CELL. I charged my cells one at a time. Both came off the charger at around + - 4 volts. So I put one in the Solitare. I unplugged the charger a put the extra battery back in the charger's battery holder and set it on the shelf.

Time for a new battery came around, so I pulled the extra one that was on the shelf out of the holder and made a quick test of the voltage (like I always do) and OH WOW! It read .678 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif What is going on? So I tested it again and had a friend do it just to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong. Well needless to say I threw that one out.

Is there some sort of current draw from the charger while it is unplugged? How would I test this with a volt meter?
BTW

Great light..... only if it it worked. It has a bad switch and I am getting no help from the maker.

Re: S2K\'s CHARGER ...please read....

The battery may have tried to power the charger backwards .I was told never to leave cells on a charger because of that very reason.
Chris

Re: S2K\'s CHARGER ...please read....

Ok... I have another cell phone charger from haveblue and left the AA cell in the holder on the shelf and that cell is fine sitting at 4.07 volts. I took it out of the holder as of now, but it still doesn't explain why it is a problem with S2K's charger.

Re: S2K\'s CHARGER ...please read....

poor circuit design /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

Re: S2K\'s CHARGER ...please read....

Is there a method to see if there is current draw? I guess I will not use it anymore until S2K gets around to reading my posts, on this threade and his own thread.

Re: S2K\'s CHARGER ...please read....

easy to test the draw.. just put some jumpers on the contacts and put the feed through your DMM on amps... easy way to do this is with a cylinder of wood or plastic the size of the battery and some wires stripped bare on the end.

Guess i'm glad i'm making my own chargers.. i 'knew' that a smart charger just sounded like.. well a 'smart' idea. I charged a LiPoly battery that the charger FOR IT refused to charge and was dead for months.. charged right up and i used it to put 3W into a Lux3.. amazing. (tiny cell phone battery).

Linear tech makes some great charger chips.

-awr

Re: S2K\'s CHARGER ...please read....

Thanks I'll try it....


S2K where are you? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dedhorse.gif

Re: S2K\'s CHARGER ...please read....

Another method is to measure voltage at the battery and see if it is dropping...

Or measure resistance of the charger without the battery in it and unplugged. This will show if it will allow current draw, unless it needs a break down voltage.