How much time 2xAW ICR-123 suposed to charge at DSD charger?

[FredericoFreire]

I have several AW brand RCR-123 cells, and I'm trying to chage them using one DSD charger after some blackout blinks when using the cells with one 6P modded with Malkoff dropin. The light blinked some times probably because of a low charge cell protection circuit.

I tryed to charge but it takes too long and the red light still shows. How much time it should turn to green ?

 

[mdocod]

Assuming the cells and charger are both in perfect condition (no malfunctions), and the cells are installed in the proper direction in the charger, then a pair of RCR123s should take about 2-3 hours to charge up from a state of mostly discharged on a DSD using the stock power supply.

If you are on 220V service out there, then more than likely your DSDs power supply is already fried, they are known for almost 100% failure rate when used on 220V.

-Eric

 

[FredericoFreire]

My DSD is taking about 10 hours to charge a pair of RCR-123. I got 220v here, but when it fails, you're talking about the power supply or the charger itself? I tryed one Nokia power supply and got the same results.

I follow the charging time with one voltmeter, and it really charges the cell from 3v and a little all way to 4.2v, so I assume it is working, huh?

Thanks for any inputs.

 

[mdocod]

well, it is terminating properly, 4.20V is where the charge should complete, but 10 hours is way too long, something is wrong somewhere.

 

[FredericoFreire]

Yesterday, when I wrote the last message, I left another set of batterys charging, MP Brand this time, changed the power supply to a Nokia one, and now the cells shows 4.01v and still charging.

I seems to work fine, but is taking too long.

When you said that DSD is used to fail on 220v systems, you mean the power supply or the charger itself ?

 

[mdocod]

Here's a quote from back in 2006 by a fellow CPF member:

the resistor inside the DSD power supply is *not* a fuse resistor. It *should be* a fuse resistor.
Let me say that ANY 4.7 Ohm resistor you use instead of the stock one, will actually make the power supply SAFER.

The 4.7 Ohm resistor is required to limit the peak current to the diode bridge. It has to withstand up to 400 Volt peak voltage, especially when the output current changes abruptly.
I think it is specified for max 50 Volt. It blows out not for excessive power dissipation, but for a dielectric failure. Using it with 220-240 Volts main makes the difference...

The DSD power supply is designed with no safety in mind. From the design criteria to the components used, it is irresponsably made. There are no spark gaps, no respect area between "mains area" and "output area" of the PCB, no feedback optocoupler.
There are no RFI/EMI filters, no suppression caps. The plastic of the case is not self-estinguishing.

While the DSD charger itself is OK, I would replace the stock power supply with any mobile phone charger stabilized @ 5.5 Volt.

My interpretation of this is to say that the power supply itself is usually the problem, however, I don't think that there is any way to guarantee that a failed power supply couldn't cause damage to the DSD, it depends on the type of damage that occurs and what is allowed to pass out the other side.

Here's a link to the thread that the quote above is from, a great read:
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1585369

-Eric

 

[FredericoFreire]

Thanks a lot for your help, Eric.

I'll be reading the entire thread. I've changed the power supply of mine, as I said before, and it is working fine, except for the long time that it takes to full charge.

Thanks again,

Fred

 

[Fenris]

How many mA does the power supply put out at 5.5V?

 

[schiesz]

I think Fenris hit the real question here. If you changed to another power supply, it might be a much lower mA than the supplied PS.

 

[FredericoFreire]

I never measured, but the DSD one says 5.5V 450mAh and the Nokia one that I'm using says 5.7V 800mAh.

The current shown on the label is the maximum current that it handles, not the corrent that will flow when in use, this depends on the load wired to the power supply.

 

[mdocod]

I also use a nokia 800mA power supply on my DSD, I have actually put a DMM in-line with the charging into a single large cell and measured 810mA charge rate. So if everything in your setup is working properly, then you should be getting much more appropriate charge times.

The DSD charging algorithm is basically a Constant-Current to 4.25V followed by termination. The charge time is usually very close to cell capacity to be charged divided by charge rate. A pair of RCR123s that are drained down, would have a total capacity of around 1200mA in parallel (which is the way the DSD is wired up), so the charge time of a set of dead RCR123s would be 1200mAH/800mA=~1.5H. If the charge is taking longer than this with your 800mA power supply by a large margin, then something is malfunctioning.

-Eric

 

[FredericoFreire]

I understand. I'd like to figure what is wrong, maybe the charger itself. It is almost new, used only a few times :shakehead

And as far as I know, it had faster charges before.