Your suggestions for developing a new 26800 charger?

[XTAR Light]

Recently, the new-fangled 26800 batteries were discussed by many people. And some xtar fans also asked if we had plans to develop a new charger to handle the newly-popular 26800 cells. We gave this idea to our engineers team, and it would be possible to build a new charger. Here, we'd like to get your kind suggestions about developing this new charger. Please comment freely below. Thanks!

For example, some features you may want as below.
* Slots: single slot, 2 slots, or 4 slots?
* Apply to battery types: specially designed for big size Li-ion batteries.
* Apply to battery sizes: 21700, 26800...up to 90mm cells supported (including protected 26800)?
* Input power: USB-C with PD or QC3.0 input?
* Charging current: at least 3A*1, is the selectable charging current necessary? Or other ideas?
* Basic charger or charger with more advanced functions? Do you prefer the charger with basic function, simple but budget, highly cost performance; or you need it with LCD screen to show the charging data, also with some advanced functions, such as grading, storage mode...

Welcome to share your views. Maybe your suggestions will be adopted.

 

[raggie33]

id love it to be able drain a battery at 5 amps .to check capacity on high loads

 

[KITROBASKIN]

How about working on a simple, sturdy, easily portable, powerbank capable, single charger first, then a feature rich 2-bay model next? Given that a battery of that size needs more amps, perhaps the simple single cell charger could be configured for 120 volts AC primarily without an outboard transformer? This is in keeping with maximum simplicity. Field charging can be accomplished with an inverter.

 

[xxo]

Make the slots at least 90 mm long to fit longer protected cells.

Design slider springs so they don't break off like some other Xtar chargers do.

3 Amp should be fine with settings for 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 Amp for smaller cells.

1 or 2 slots simple budget USB charger if you can get 3 charging Amps out of USB.

Support for NiMH, particularly D cells.

 

[bladesmith3]

simple dual cell charger could be configured for 120 volts AC primarily without an outboard transformer?

 

[KITROBASKIN]

simple dual cell charger could be configured for 120 volts AC primarily without an outboard transformer?

No doubt Xtar will release a feature rich unit if they decide to go 26800. I was asking for a charger where less can go wrong; where current would not be limited by what a USB connection can offer. Keeping with the simplicity concept would eliminate a 'wall wart' that converts AC power to some DC voltage for the charger (one less item to break or lose). Hopefully that makes more sense even if these parameters are not appealing to everyone.

 

[yazkaz]

No offence but I'd suggest Xtar to clean up its existing charger lineup first, before even considering producing new ones.

Also regarding the cylindrical 26800 form: it's is kind of new, and that most chargers out there aren't probably prepared for that. But looking at how Xtar has dealt with the 21700 cell form I think they should hold off the 26800 until later, not until they've straightened up with their existing charger lineup, to eliminate overlapped models and keep each charger lineup in a concise way.

Just look at the current VC lineup. If they knew protected 21700s would become the new norm then why didn't update their charger lineup a few years ago until now? Even competitor Nitecore has produced charger models 1-2 years ago that claim compatibility with protected 21700s.

It's easy to have an abundance of new ideas to be incorporated into newer products, but Xtar needs to consider each of such idea and prioritize it. For example, their insistence to incorporate USB-C ports is beyond understanding. Does the charger concerned require the best of USB-C connections? From what I've seen in some of their previous chargers, they didn't even make full use of QC3/PD specs with such connection. So why bother USB-C just for "trendy" reasons when a Micro-b connection would be more than suffice?

Now back to the prospective 26800-compatible charger: I don't think a USB-C only coonection could provide enough steady power for such hi-cap cells. In other words, a charger design with internal PSU (just like the X-series) would be necessary -- or simply revert to a stable DC power with a good 12V/3+A adapter.

 

[vicv]

You guys know USB-C pd can be up to 100w right? Or 20v 5A. It's just another power supply with a universal connector. Great idea

 

[yazkaz]

You guys know USB-C pd can be up to 100w right? Or 20v 5A. It's just another power supply with a universal connector. Great idea

I don't know the current upper limits of USB-C PD but I think only high-end multi-bay chargers (4-8 slots) should have USB-C connection standards considered, and only if such charger can make full use of such connection specs when performing high-load tasks (eg. charging of multiple large cells such as 8x21700 at 0.5-1A or even higher). That said, it would be safer to have a secondary power connection (either internal PSU or DC adapter) just in case.

But for other lighter-duty chargers (2-4 bay) I don't think USB-C would do much justice, as such power delivery capability is often redundant due to the charger's specs.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Having gone through the lockdown where elementary students were each given a Chromebook, the units with USB-C charging ports are most inclined to fail at the plug input as a result of lateral stress with rough handling. The Chromebooks with larger tip-positive cylindrical plugs have not failed as far as I know. (The stereo mini plugs will at times shear off, lodging themselves in the socket). Additionally, my former Samsung S9 USB-C port was sometimes reluctant to make a proper connection with some plugs at certain times (occasionally having to flip the plug). We have seen Apple go to USB-C; curious to see if the failure rate climbs compared to the previous standard.

 

[vicv]

Ya as much as I don't care for apple's continuing use of a proprietary connector, lightning really is a superior connector and generally the cable connector fails instead of the port unlike usb-c

 

[sidpost]

I am interested if there are any updates on this effort.

 

[WarriorOfLight]

A charger that accept all xx650 to xx680 cells. The Power input should be USB-C supporting PD with up to 20V. There are a lot great ans safe USB-C Power supplies that are able to provide 65-100W. That would give the possibility to Charge the big cells quite fast.

At least for me two slots are fine, a current selection for wach charging slot would be cool.

 

[yazkaz]

A charger that accept all xx650 to xx680 cells. The Power input should be USB-C supporting PD with up to 20V. There are a lot great ans safe USB-C Power supplies that are able to provide 65-100W. That would give the possibility to Charge the big cells quite fast.

At least for me two slots are fine, a current selection for wach charging slot would be cool.

The problem is that USB charging standards get updated from time to time. Say, today you have a charger that is QC3/PD3-compatible, sooner or later any new models would come with PD4 (or later) compatibility and such. It's more like a marking flick, and pressures the user into buying another charger just to benefit from the newer standard, while the older unit still works properly, albeit with slightly charging speeds.

I'd say, one single USB-C input receptacle for a charger is NOT adequate. An alternative charge method eg. direct AC charging (or DC charging with external adapter) needs to be implemented in case the USB connection goes awry.

 

[vicv]

While I agree that redundancy is good, a barrel plug could go awry. And while USB standards do get updated, they're backwards compatible. Something from the early 2000s will still charge on a brand new USB power block I buy today. So the fact that the specifications change is not a problem

 

[WarriorOfLight]

All USB standards are backward compatible, also the USB PD stuff, currently it is PD3.0. Actually with PD3.0 it is possible to provide up to 100W if I remember correctly, AND PD is part of the USB specification. QC is not part of it therefore I was not mentioning QC, since it is not part of the USB specification.

More and more Notebooks will be charged using USB-C plug with PD. Therefore also that USB-C power device could be used to supply a LiIon charger.

 

[vicv]

And there will be a new USB pd, that will provide I believe somewhere around 240w of power soon

 

[ormandj]

USB PD, high-end charger with more functionality/analytics/etc. I'd like to see something to compete with a SKYRC MC3000, but modern, with a better UI.