Sold/Expired Sales Thread: USB Micro Charger for Li-Ion/Poly Cells

[Sabrewolf]

I got the next batch all packaged up and ready for the mailbox.

I will drop them off tonight :thumbsup:

Thanks!

I am also working on the next small batch.. So you folks keep checkin in 🙂

 

[slate]

🙁 I was hoping to make this batch going out...Oh well patience is a virtue right?

 

[Incidentalist]

Sweet!

 

[Sabrewolf]

🙁 I was hoping to make this batch going out...Oh well patience is a virtue right?

I ran out of alligator leads for the chargers with the last batch.
So i gotta grab some this week to make the remaining orders.
I didnt realize these chargers would be so popular lovecpf

 

[JB in SC]

A USB charger is compact and convenient, why wouldn't we beat a path to your door 🙂

 

[scout24]

Using mine right now to charge an 18650 for my mag here at work... 😀 Nothing like starting early!!! Robert- call incoming today about some stonewashing. :wave:

 

[Sabrewolf]

:twothumbs

 

[fasteddie]

C'mon mailman!!

 

[Sabrewolf]

Just picked up some more Alligator leads for the chargers..
And now i gotta place Another order for the charger I.C.'s
I guess the world WILL beat a path to my door for these little guys lovecpf

 

[Kremer]

Woo, mine arrived today.

The green light went off.. Battery at 4.0V, It looks like the light goes off at the end of the CC phase maybe ?

Edit: per maxim datasheet 50ma threshold.

 

[wapkil]

Woo, mine arrived today.

The green light went off.. Battery at 4.0V, It looks like the light goes off at the end of the CC phase maybe ?

It should go off when the current falls below 50mA. It's somewhere inside the CV phase (precisely where depends on the charger current and the battery capacity) and the battery voltage should be 4.20V, not 4.0V...

EDIT: I'm not sure if what I wrote above is correct with this charger, see my post #233

I just realized that I haven't informed that my charged arrived. It did, a long time ago 🙂 I planed to test it but haven't had time and then forgot about it. I'll see how it works and will post here.

I think I'll have to change the yellow/green cables I received to more traditional red/black ones. I'm sure that with yellow/green ones at some point I'll mess up the polarity. The only complaint I have now is that mine seams to be potted, instead of unpotted I asked for :mecry:

 

[Sabrewolf]

Woo, mine arrived today.

The green light went off.. Battery at 4.0V, It looks like the light goes off at the end of the CC phase maybe ?

what battery are you charging?
Its possible that your usb port or adapter isnt
supplying enough current and is throwing off
the charge cycle of the I.C.

Just for giggles, Try another adapter and see what happens.
You need at least 400mA for this charger to work properly 😗

 

[wapkil]

Woo, mine arrived today.

The green light went off.. Battery at 4.0V, It looks like the light goes off at the end of the CC phase maybe ?

I'll see how it works and will post here.

:thinking: I think my charger also works strange. I tried to charge a discharged 14500 TrustFire cell. For the first 20 minutes the charging was performed normally, then suddenly the current dropped from ~280mA to ~33mA, even though the voltage was only ~3.92V at this point:



I stopped charging, changed the USB adapter (I was using a 1A usb wall adapter, changed to a different 1A one), disconnected the DMM that was measuring the current - it was simply connected it in series @10A setting, I though it may interfere with charging, discharged the cell and tried once again, this time measuring only the voltage. The behavior was the same:



I'm not sure but I think that when the charger unexpectedly switched to the lower charging rate, it also started to emit an audible noise.

Robert, any idea what may be going on?

EDIT: I looked at the the data sheet. It seems that when the charger is set to the DC charge (pin4, as opposed to the USB charge - pin1) it is approximately how according to the specification it should behave (page 4 - dc charge current vs. battery voltage). Although it shouldn't immediately switch to ~33mA but stay above 150mA until well after 4.0V. On the other hand, if it switches to ~33mA @ ~3.9V, isn't the battery practically empty at this point (in my measurements charged by only ~100mAh)? Is charging a battery to the full capacity with diminishing current and starting from 33mA possible?
It's a strange animal this charger 🙂

 

[Sabrewolf]

I honestly dont know how you guys are getting these strange
charging rates? I have a charger that uses 2 of those very same
I.C.'s in it.. And the battery always ends at 4.2v every time.

Tell ya what.. Leave the battery connected overnight and tell
me what voltage it tests at


Just thought of something...
At what voltage is the battery when you start the charge?
I know for a fact that about 3.90v or higher, It will take longer
to top off the battery than if you had started a charge at 3.6v or below.

"Wapkil".. What do you mean about the charger being potted?
Did i completely forget about not doing that on your charger?:mecry:
If i did, I would be happy to replace it 🙂

 

[wapkil]

I honestly dont know how you guys are getting these strange
charging rates? I have a charger that uses 2 of those very same
I.C.'s in it.. And the battery always ends at 4.2v every time.

What is the battery capacity and with what current do you charge it?

Tell ya what.. Leave the battery connected overnight and tell
me what voltage it tests at

Yup, that's also what I thought about. I left it overnight, after ~7 hours the LED was off and the battery voltage is ~4.04V (I measured 4.04132V). It's only ~80%-85% charged :mecry:

Just thought of something...
At what voltage is the battery when you start the charge?

In the first two tests I started with completely discharged cells at ~3.5V. In the overnight charging the cell was already somehow charged during the previous test. I haven't measured it when started charging. The voltage certainly has dropped down from ~3.85V it was when I stopped the previous test, so it probably was around 3.7V-3.8V.

I know for a fact that about 3.90v or higher, It will take longer
to top off the battery than if you had started a charge at 3.6v or below.

:thinking: It seems to confirm that the charger works in the way I suspect, i.e. that above 3.9V it switches from 280mA to a much lower current. Has anyone else measured the final voltage of a 14500 cell charged with this charger (or maybe a 10440 - the voltage should be higher?)

"Wapkil".. What do you mean about the charger being potted?
Did i completely forget about not doing that on your charger?:mecry:
If i did, I would be happy to replace it 🙂

That's what I meant but I was wrong, I'm sorry. Somehow it looked to me that it's potted inside. I didn't want to disassemble it before testing but I did now and it turned out that it's not potted :thumbsup:

 

[Sabrewolf]

Wapkil,
I will be more than happy to send you a replacement
if it is not charging the battery all the way :twothumbs

 

[wapkil]

Wapkil,
I will be more than happy to send you a replacement
if it is not charging the battery all the way :twothumbs

Thank you for the offer. PM sent.

 

[Kremer]

I brought mine into work today to leave the 18650 connected and monitor it. It started out at ~8am at 4.00V. Now, nearly 6 hours later it has trickled up to 4.09V. I am using the included magnetic bb's with one clamped in the jaw of each lead, then that is stuck on the cell.

 

[fasteddie]

Anyone else from the third group received their's yet? I'm tired of waiting.

 

[Launch Mini]

Count me in for a 100mA USB charger.
Don't need any explosions happening.
Thanks