Tenergy TL-100 Charger Issue

[ladd76]

My first post, thanks for having me =)

I recently purchased my first real flashlight (Fenix TK-11 R5) off of Amazon and admittingly did not put in as much time researching chargers/batteries as I did on the light itself. I went with the sites recommended bundle of a 4-pack of Tenergy 18650 2600mAh 3.7 volt batteries and a Tenergy TL-100 charger.

While I am very happy with the Fenix, I have a question about the charger. There is a small status light on the charger itself that is, according the the instructions, supposed to show orange when charging and green when charge is complete. I thought the bulb was possably bad as the light does not illuminate when plugged into the ac adapter, but will illuminate when unplugged and batteries inserted i.e. like a battery tester? The instructions state the light will not illuminate with incompatable batteries and I am wondering of the 2600mAh batteries are incompatable with the charger as it only lists charge times up to 2200mAh. That or the introduction of the 2600mAh model battery was after the TL-100 was introduced? I read about the 2600mAh being a "flattop" design and perhaps the 2200mAh are not?

I havent tried charging the batteries yet to see if the status light is the problem as I dont want to damage them if the charger wont work with them. Any feedback would be appreciate, thanks =)

 

[VegasF6]

Hello Ladd and welcome to the forum.

I am not familiar with the Tenergy Tl-100 charger but from the looks of it, it may just be a re-branded DSD charger. A simple low current parallel charger. What is important is, while it certainly isn't the best charger, it is a li-ion charger, and will be fine to use with your 2600 mAh 18650 batteries you also purchased. Rest assured the capacity of the batteries have nothing to do with the problems you are having.

I am not exactly sure what is causing the issue however. It would help a lot if you have a digital multi meter and could measure some stuff for us.
Please check the voltage of your batteries. Also, please check the output voltage from the charger. You could do this open circuit, and also you could insert one known good battery into the charger and check voltage from the other 2 un-used pins of the charger. Finally, could you check the output voltage of the chargers power supply? Just insert one of your meter leads into the barrel connector, and one to the outside of it.

I no longer have a DSD charger to compare with yours, but I do recall that when unplugged, if I left the batteries in the charger, the indicator light would light up. A good reason not to leave them in the charger when unplugged. And certainly do not leave them in while plugged in either.

While you are here, I invite you to read some threads on Li-ion safety and charging methods. You may also like to read some tips at http://www.batteryuniversity.com/ you will learn quite a bit about the care and feeding of your lithium cells. While there are potential dangers involved, if used properly lithium batteries are quite good. At the very least taking care of them will allow you to get the most life out of them.

Also, you probably will want to contact your seller and explain you are having trouble. We will be more than happy to help you diagnose it here.

Finally, you may want to ditch that charger anyhow. Do a search here for DSD charger and you will see it isn't all that well thought of. (though some of the problems are the cheap power supply that comes with it, which you probably don't have)

Other chargers to consider might be the Ultrafie WF-137, Wf-139, most recomended will be the Pila IBC charger. Here is one of many threads you could reference for charger recomendations:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=191731

 

[ladd76]

Vegas,

Thank you for the informative reply. Much appreciated! I need to purchase a multi meter so I can perform some of those readings. After discharging a couple of my batteries in my TK-11, I placed them into the TL-100 charger for a few hours. The charger does indeed seem to be charging them as I placed each one in my flashlight and they had gained some charge. The problem is the status light on the charger that is supposed to tell me charging/complete does not light up and I don't know how long to leave the batteries in. Being such a cheapo charger with little documentation, I wasnt sure if it was ok to just leave em in a few days to make sure the batteries were done.

I finally decided to take the popular advice on these forums and ordered the Pila IBC charger. Making an investment on a good light/batteries, It is probably a good idea not to skimp on the charger either. I imagine I could contact the reseller about the TL-100 and the status light but for 12.95 I paid for it, I probably wont deal with the hassle to ship it back. Thanks again for the help and have a great day =)

*EDIT* Vegas I checked the DSD charger and it looks exactly the same as one I have. It appears it has an automatic shutoff to prevent overcharging so I should be ok to leave the batteries in a reasonable amount of time without fear of damaging them?

 

[VegasF6]

Hi Ladd. The problem with leaving your batteries in the charger for extended periods of time is they are not tolerant of trickle charging. Rather than absorbing the charge, plating actually takes place in the cell (I don't recall if it is the anode or cathode, but I don't suppose it matters) This plating increases resistance in the cell, hence causing heat while charging or discharging. Heat is bad with a lithium cell as too much can lead to thermal runaway and the cell can vent, with flames, quite violently. Eventually the plating will cause a short inside the battery.

For whatever reason most all of the budget chargers seem to have a hard time getting this right. I don't understand the challenge as ICs are available quite cheaply that should follow the proper algorithm, but that is neither here nor there. I can't guarantee the Tl-100 trickles, but it certainly may.

The bottom line is if you want to use it until you get your IBC I would limit charge times to 5 hours with 18650 cells, and try and be there to monitor the situation. If you can't, I would suggest you do it in a safe area, like perhaps in your garage and even inside a cinder block would be an excellent place.

I am not trying to scare you, millions of li-co batteries are in use every day safely, but it is important to be educated on there use.

 

[ladd76]

Thanks Vegas... I'm gonna hold off until I get my new charger... I appreciate the info =)