Sold/Expired DSD Charger Adaptor upgrade

[balazer]

I'd be leery of using a different power supply with the DSD. We don't really know how much of the charging "smarts" are in the charger and how much are in the adapter. If using a different power supply makes the batteries charge more quickly, it sounds like there is some current limiting going on in the power supply. You cannot rely on any old power supply to properly limit the current for the purpose of charging lithium ion cells. The charger was designed for some current level - higher currents may be outside the design criteria, giving unpredictable results. In my opinion the DSD charger should be treated as an immutable package, especially given the potential dangers of lithium ion cells.

 

[Lightoleum]

balazer,

I'd generally agree, but so far I'd have to say the DSD looks pretty flexible. I don't see much evidence of any smarts in the DSD PS itself, other than output voltage sag under load, which is possibly design behaviour.

I've ordered another set of 18650 cells. When I charge them, I'll make some actual charge current measurements with both PS and see whether there's really any useful difference. I'm guessing the charge controller is in the cradle, and as yet I have no hard evidence that it can or does make use of the higher current capacity of the generic PS, which nevertheless appears to work at least as well as the DSD PS.

I'd be leery of using a different power supply with the DSD. We don't really know how much of the charging "smarts" are in the charger and how much are in the adapter. If using a different power supply makes the batteries charge more quickly, it sounds like there is some current limiting going on in the power supply. You cannot rely on any old power supply to properly limit the current for the purpose of charging lithium ion cells. The charger was designed for some current level - higher currents may be outside the design criteria, giving unpredictable results. In my opinion the DSD charger should be treated as an immutable package, especially given the potential dangers of lithium ion cells.

 

[BrianChan]

I remembered seeing an adaptor which looked like AtomSphere's in a departmental store which outputs 1700mA and has multiple voltage adjustments,including a 5.5v option (if i remember correctly). I was eager to buy it just to charge 2 17670s together and no other cell/combination but AW mentioned sometime ago that the DSD can only safely take up to 800mA current...and ended up not buying it.

 

[BrianChan]

Any opinions on my find?

 

[changsn]

Lightoleum - Interested to find out how your experiment with the Nokia ACP 12u went. I got one, but when I plug it into the DSD with a battery (18650) in it, the led goes green right away! So now I'm wondering if it is the power supply or the DSD.

Sam

 

[lexina]

I have been using the Nokia ACP-12X (5.7V, 800mA) ever since the original adapter blew (after only a couple of days). It works great, charges much faster and I only need to carry one adapter for my mobile and the DSD when I travel.

 

[changsn]

OOOps, the Nokia ACP 12u works fine, the 18650 I first put in apparently was already charged which is why the led went green right away...

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

AW, you stated that a 5V charger won't work with dsd? I have a 1.5A 5V charger. is this safe to use for charging a single cell in a dsd (18650, never rcr123)? If you think so, I will try charging with this adapter and report the final V and the V after about an hour or 2 (is that enough time for voltage to come to a rest?)