Is my new WF-139 faulty?

[Black Rose]

Today I received the Ultrafire WF-139 + spacers I ordered from 4sevens.
It appears to be the latest revision of this model (back panel is the same as the one recently added on DX).

When I plug it in with no cells in the charger, the LED on the left bay is an amber colour while the LED in the right bay is green.

If I move the spring loaded slider of the right bay all the way back, the LED on the left bay turns green :thinking:

The open circuit voltge of the left bay is 5.3 volts while the right bay is 5.1 volts.

Seems like I got a wonky one.

 

[kramer5150]

I have two of these bought from DX. On mine the LEDs light up green when first plugged in. They stay green until a battery is loaded... then it turns red and blinks indicating a charge.

The LED stays green when I push the sliding contacts back/forth.

At no point does it light amber.

Open circuit voltage is pegged at 4.88 for all 4 channels.

 

[Black Rose]

What I perceived to be amber may have actually been the red "charging" colour.

If that's the case, then the left bay is charging even when a cell is not in the bay, which would also explain why that bay has a higher open circuit voltage than the right bay.

 

[Sprocketman]

I have one bought from AW about a month ago.

Same behavior exactly as Kramer5150, but only have the two long channels active. My AW LIMR cells are coming off at 4.15 to 4.16v. I am not using it for 16340's since it does not list them as batteries you should charge with it.

Randy

 

[Black Rose]

I've started the exchange process for this charger.

Kinda sucks though since I have cells that need to be charged and this is my only Li-Ion charger

 

[Black Rose]

OK, I was right the first time.
The LED in the left charge bay is indeed amber in colour.

No cells inserted (left amber, right green):

Right slider pulled all the way back (both green):

16340 with spacer in right bay but not far enough back to affect left bay (left amber, right red):

 

[GrAndAG]

IMO, the "amber" color is the combination of two: red and green. Actually, the left channel shows green, but somewhere there is a short, which prevents the red from turning off. When you pull right slider you make a pressure and the short is disconnected temporarily.

 

[cave dave]

Some members consider all WF-139 chargers to be faulty because of the charge algorithmic.

Read more here:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=205036

 

[Black Rose]

I know....it's what I can afford right now until I find a way to get a Pila without resorting to organ donations