Inside the Notorious DSD Charger

[kosPap]

well for what is worth...

seems there are no more parts on the other side of the board....

 

[lolzertank]

Could you take a larger picture of the board? It looks like one of those single chip charging circuits.

 

[bstrickler]

Since I couldn't find my camera, I had to use my eyes. I'm not 100% sure its CS213 for the label for the 6-pin, but I know the second row of text is C188


8-pin IC: 9926SS
0701

6-pin: CS213
C188

If I can find my camera, I'll post pics up of my board.

~Brian

 

[TSWrench]

KosPap,

I'm curious as to why you refer to it as the "Notorious DSD Charger?" The reason being, is that my DSD is as much a mystery as it is a charger. The power connector only goes in half way before it bottoms out, which is awkward. Sometimes 18650 batteries will produce a green light in one bay and red light in the other. Meaning one 18650 battery can test as both charged and uncharged depending on which bay you put it in. Sometimes batteries that have been charging for awhile show red, but if you log roll the cells, it changes to green. It's quite a light show, but it doesn't inspire confidence. Is that what you mean when you say "Notorious?"

 

[kramer5150]

KosPap,

I'm curious as to why you refer to it as the "Notorious DSD Charger?" The reason being, is that my DSD is as much a mystery as it is a charger. The power connector only goes in half way before it bottoms out, which is awkward. Sometimes 18650 batteries will produce a green light in one bay and red light in the other. Meaning one 18650 battery can test as both charged and uncharged depending on which bay you put it in. Sometimes batteries that have been charging for awhile show red, but if you log roll the cells, it changes to green. It's quite a light show, but it doesn't inspire confidence. Is that what you mean when you say "Notorious?"

x2... what is this charger notorious for?

never mind... I did a google CPF search and found my answer

 

[jtsgalaxy]

The cs213 is a lithium protection IC instead of a charging controller that sometimes you can find it on the protected lithium battery PCB include cell phones. the 9926s is a n-channel dual mos fet.

 

[kosPap]

well i canta ke another pic of the board....

Did a test today...stoped myself the charging when the AW 17500 reached 4.22

regarding the Notorius....

seems it was not the exact word...there is no negative meaning in this word...any suggestions?

 

[TSWrench]

... Well, notorious, might be an accurate word. I thought that perhaps I got a quirky one. Prior to this, I've just never heard much about the DSD, other than referrals. My batteries get charged, but I can't imagine that the DSD was designed to operate with all the oddities that mine has.

 

[kosPap]

well I did one more test...

With both the original power supply and a Nokia cell phone charger I get 4.2+ Volt termination but that was with DMM leads on the contacts while charging...

of the hook the batt showed 4.19...seems I am lucky (for now)

If it matters, open circuit voltage is 8.5V

and here are soem hi-rez pics of the boad 9on teh otehr side there is only the charge indication LED

http://www.mediafire.com/?nqxkz3mvm0z

 

[NutSAK]

KosPap,

I'm curious as to why you refer to it as the "Notorious DSD Charger?" The reason being, is that my DSD is as much a mystery as it is a charger. The power connector only goes in half way before it bottoms out, which is awkward. Sometimes 18650 batteries will produce a green light in one bay and red light in the other. Meaning one 18650 battery can test as both charged and uncharged depending on which bay you put it in. Sometimes batteries that have been charging for awhile show red, but if you log roll the cells, it changes to green. It's quite a light show, but it doesn't inspire confidence. Is that what you mean when you say "Notorious?"

Sounds to me that you may have some issues with some of the spring connections in the charger. As you can see from the pic, the circuit board should see the same thing regardless of what "bay" you are using. All bays are in parallel, with one set of connections to the circuit, so seeing different results from one bay to another is likely a problem with the battery connections themselves. A bit of oxidation or a poor connection at the battery could cause the issues you describe.

 

[T0RN4D0]

Mine does that too. Makes a green and a red light at once lol. I just charge them one by one now. And gather spare change for a real charger haha.

 

[Elliot]

Anyone know of a good place in there to solder a Pot so I can make my DSD charge up to 4.2 volts? Mine cuts out around 4.11. The open circuit reading on my unit is 7.05 volts.

 

[Justin Case]

kosPap's photos show that the DSD board basically just implements the application circuit shown in the CS213 datasheet. Based on that, the charging behavior one should expect from the DSD is constant current charging until the cells reach 4.30V +/-0.04V. The charger then shuts off (no constant voltage phase with the DSD), with a nominal 150ms detection delay upon reaching the overcharge voltage limit. If you leave the cells in the charger, when the cells drop below 4.10V +0.06V/-0.04V, the charger starts to charge again. Once the overcharge voltage limit is reached again, the charger shuts off. And the cycle continues. The charge current level is determined by the power supply that you plug into the DSD.

If you are getting charge termination at much less than 4.30V, then either you are "lucky" and the CS213 is way out of spec, or maybe you have a DSD with a CS213 with an overcharge voltage limit of 4.26V and perhaps your DMM's voltage measurement accuracy is off (e.g., you have an inexpensive 3 1/2 digit meter that has a relatively large VDC error spec of something like 1% + 5 digits). Or maybe by the time you measure the OCV of your cells, they have dropped down a little. Or some combination of the above.

 

[T0RN4D0]

I figured out that mine cuts out too fast. Im using a 15 AMP source, but i connect it to the car adapter so that shouldnt be a problem. Wonder what would happen if i plugged it directly into the unit :]

 

[Monocrom]

regarding the Notorius....

seems it was not the exact word...there is no negative meaning in this word...any suggestions?

Your use of the word "notorious" was spot-on. The DSD is a piece of crap. If you get one that works, and continues to work, count yourself lucky. (I found that out the hard way).

 

[kosPap]

well I will keep monitoring it each time...at the price sold i bought it just to try it and use it with another powersource....DX coomnets indicate it is usually a AC transformer issue...

If you are getting charge termination at much less than 4.30V, then either you are "lucky" and the CS213 is way out of spec, or maybe you have a DSD with a CS213 with an overcharge voltage limit of 4.26V and perhaps your DMM's voltage measurement accuracy is off (e.g., you have an inexpensive 3 1/2 digit meter that has a relatively large VDC error spec of something like 1% + 5 digits). Or maybe by the time you measure the OCV of your cells, they have dropped down a little. Or some combination of the above.

I really can't know...though my DMM measures AW batt voltage alright. Is there a chance that I get 4.2+ charging volatge due to power consumption by the DMM....the batts removed from the charger showed proper volatge....

 

[bstrickler]

Your use of the word "notorious" was spot-on. The DSD is a piece of crap. If you get one that works, and continues to work, count yourself lucky. (I found that out the hard way).

Mine works 100% fine, and terminates at a max of 4.18v on unprotected cells. On my protected cells, its always between 4.1 and 4.2.

The only "problem" I have is the power supply. The end of the cable is flaky, and only works when its flat (can't have the power supply hooked up to the wall, and the charger is on a desk or something)

~Brian

 

[PhantomPhoton]

Mine's an absolute POS. Carefully monitoring in a safe environment I tried an unprotected IMR cell in there. I pulled the plug on testing after the cell was at 4.5V. No more bargain chargers for me... ever. I'm going to try one of LiteMania's new chargers and see how it fares.

 

[NutSAK]

Mine works 100% fine, and terminates at a max of 4.18v on unprotected cells. On my protected cells, its always between 4.1 and 4.2.

I'm one of the lucky ones too. Mine works as described above, with no power supply flakyness.

 

[T0RN4D0]

My DSD charger is going to retirement soon, i finally ordered a hobby charger. (yay, wont have to wait 10 hrs for my NiMhs anymore either )

These chinese oversimplifications are kind of fun tho, how they can make things (kindof) work with so little.