Another Xtar WP2 Mark2 Review [ 18650 Charger ]

old4570

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For review I have the WP2 Mark2 charger from Xtar , and after two days of testing I just might have some good news for the folks out there looking for a 18650 battery charger .


XTAR WP2 II 14500/ 14650/ 17670/ 18500/ 18650/ 18700/ 10440/16340 3.7V Li-ion battery charger
Charging qualifications and structures
Operation Temperature: 0~40℃
Input AC: 12V DC / 1000mA
500mA CC Current: 500m A±5%
1000 A CC Current: 1000m A±5%
Cut-Off Voltage: 4.2±0.05V
CV Cut-off Current: <100mA
Standby Current: <20.0m A
TC Current (Battery Volt 2.0~3.0V): 80±20m A
Auto Recharging Threshold Value Voltage: 3.9±0.15V
USB Discharging qualifications and structures
Operation Temperature: 0~40℃
USB Interface Output Floating Voltage: 5.0V
Output Floating Voltage Ripple: <120 mV
Reactive Current: <10m A
Maximum Output Current: 500mA
Battery Output Cut-off Voltage: 2.80±0.15V

ScreenShot001-1.jpg


The MK2 is very close in appearance to the first version but there are some minor changes , and the most obvious are the changes to the contact tabs , both positive and negative . They both look to have been beefed up and extended [ re-shaped ] to make better contact with the battery or simply to be stronger , Im not sure , maybe both , but I have to say I never found either an issue with the first one .

ScreenShot002-1.jpg


But what these minor changes do in the MK2 is is tighten up the fit of the 18700 batteries , from room to spare in the MK1 to a some what snug fit in the MK2 , now its not something to worry about , unless you own even longer batteries than the Xtar 18700 cells .


Now lets talk about the charger ..
On the front is a 3 position switch , if you dont want to use the USB feature [ 5volt power ] then you only need to concern yourself with position 1 and 2 [ position 0 is for the USB ] . Position 1 gives you 500mA charge rate , and position 2 gives you 1A charge rate . The first thing I tested for was if charging more than one cell affected charge current , and Im very glad to say that the case is No . Whether you charge one or two cells does not affect charge rate , nor does it seem to make the charger run any warmer , giving me the feeling it can handle 2 cells and 1A for each channel with little trouble .

Lets look at how the charger behaves : Lets start with the 1A setting
I was using two batteries Bat-1 @ 3.03v and Bat-2 @ 3.4v to start ... Both channels were doing 1A
I was monitoring the charge rate as the batteries charged , and at 3.84v the charge rate had dropped to 800mA
At 3.99v the charge rate was down to 500mA
At 4.07v it was down to 300mA
At 4.12v it was down to 140mA
And the charge terminated @ 4.14v [ tested battery voltage ]

Now lets see the 500mA results :

On the 500mA setting , the charge rate was 520mA , and it stayed there right up to 3.9v [ tested batt voltage ] and dropped to 400mA at 3.99v , 290mA at 4.07v and 160mA at 4.12v and the battery terminated at 4.14v ...

Battery termination :

I have charged over a dozen cells [ 18650 ] in two days and they all terminated at an average of 4.15v [ tested battery voltage ] .. Lowest was 4.14v and the highest was 4.16v .

Standby Current :

Now this charger does not fully turn of , but I did only measure some 0.11mA current when the charger completed the charge . Lets put that in perspective , that's 11% of one mA . So worrying about when you pull the battery should not be an issue ..

With termination voltage around 4.15v and a standby current of 0.11mA , it would take 10 hours to dump 1.1mA into the cell , and that leads one to call this a safe charger . [ based on this charger ]


Some pictures :

1003269e.jpg


1003272n.jpg


1003270h.jpg



Conclusion :

My charger came with the 12v cigarette power adapter , a adapter plug for the power supply [ for Australian outlets ] and the charger , and the user manual . I have to say this is a solid performing charger , with two charge current options , it really does help speed up the charge cycle [ 1A ] , it holds higher current longer [ again shortening charge time ] . The overall build quality looks to be excellent , and improved upon over the Mark 1 , which is nice to see [ A company try to make a better mouse trap ] . The charger still uses the pulse style charging [ similar to WF-139 , WF-188 ] where it charges and then stops to check the battery and then continues .. [ Hence the term pulse charging ]
The open voltage was 5.1v on one channel and 5.4v on the other [ if this makes any difference ] ...
With some chargers advertising 1A charge rate , they can only sustain it with one battery and as soon as a second cell goes in the charge rate halves , well not with the WP2 MK2 , with two cells , it not only maintains the charge rate , but also there is no sag from the load of the 2nd cell , now that's nice .
Termination is between 4.14v and 4.16v , and some covet such chargers as it may extend the service life of batteries by not pushing the very max charge possible into them . And for some one that uses there batteries hard , say a security person who may do night shift and use a flashlight a lot , and recharges daily putting a lot of cycles on a battery , extending a batteries service life can make good sense , and for the average Joe looking for as safe as possible a charger ? , the Xtar WP2 Mark2 makes the grade with room to spare .

5v USB

1003280z.jpg




Now I don't personally have much use for the 5v USB port , but then I thought , don't I have a USB AA charger ..
It took about an hour and fifteen minutes to charge a single AAA from 1.11v [ rested but fully depleted ] to 1.36v .. This could be a nice feature if you have a device you wish to keep powered [ VIA USB ] or in this case , charging a AAA battery ..
18650 was at 4.15v , AAA was 1.11v , on completion the AAA was 1.36v and the 18650 was 3.9v , this was a older Ultrafire 18650 with a capacity around 1500mAh

Only the left channel gives the USB port power , select 0 on the 3 position switch at the front of the charger and then plug in your device of choice , and the limiting factor here will be the battery capacity of the 18650 [ or battery chosen to power the USB port ] . This could be handy when out camping , especially as cell phones for example have become a very important life saving device , that no one should be without , when venturing out where help is hard to find . The USB function is handy , but lets not forget , this a a nice solid charger , and I ran it hard for 2 days , and I saw no reason not to recommend this charger , in fact , if this sample is the norm , then I would highly recommend it , especially to first time Li-ion users who may not own a Multimeter , or be aware of Li-ion procedures .

I will continue to use this charger as much as possible , ATM I have run out of batteries to charge , but if anything should change , I will do a update .
 
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NotBright1

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Thank you for another detailed review, old4570. Based on your review I just finished ordering the WP2 II as well as a UW 18650 2900 and a UW RCR123 750. I plan on using this charger for both of them with spacers for the RCR123. My question to you is...
Can I charge both batteries at the same time, and if so, which setting should I put the charger on. I'm assuming that #2 would be fine even though it may be a little fast for the RCR123 but would still be within it's safe zone of operation. I don't mind charging the 18650 slowly if position #1 is the safest for the RCR123. What do you think?
 

old4570

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Thank you for another detailed review, old4570. Based on your review I just finished ordering the WP2 II as well as a UW 18650 2900 and a UW RCR123 750. I plan on using this charger for both of them with spacers for the RCR123. My question to you is...
Can I charge both batteries at the same time, and if so, which setting should I put the charger on. I'm assuming that #2 would be fine even though it may be a little fast for the RCR123 but would still be within it's safe zone of operation. I don't mind charging the 18650 slowly if position #1 is the safest for the RCR123. What do you think?

Yes , you can charge both at the same time ... Id recommend the 500mA setting
 

Zenbaas

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Yes , you can charge both at the same time ... Id recommend the 500mA setting
I want to get a charger for my folks to use without them having to worry about not doing the charging correctly. Will this charger suffice in your opinion...? Also for the 14500 batteries, do they fit into the charger wihtout needing to place any spacers to make them fit...?

Thanks for the review :)
 

Bullzeyebill

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Question, will this charger charge unprotected, and protected cells to same capacity (voltage), and will it charge an older well used cell to same capacity as a new cell? A good cc/cv charger will usually not charge old well used cells to full capacity if I recall right. Thanks,

Bill
 

Be-Seen Triker

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The USB output makes this a interesting charger.
I have one on order to second the WF-188 for a quicker charge.
I cycle 4 cells almost daily.
Thanks for the excellent review.
 

old4570

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I charged up some [ 3 year old ] 18650 and they stopped at around 4.08volt if I remember correctly .. So it is sensitive to internal resistance , perhaps a little too sensitive ...

I took those older cells and put them in my Trustfire TR001 and they went to 4,18v

So from a safe charger perspective , I dont know if it can be any safer ?

14500 = Charging a pair right now !
 

RI Chevy

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Very nice review old4570! Thanks for all the hard work you do for us. :thumbsup: I see Xtar also makes a 6 gang charger. Any reviews on this one?
 

HKJ

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I see Xtar also makes a 6 gang charger. Any reviews on this one?

You can check my website, there are reviews on most XTAR chargers and also some other chargers.
Note the WP6 also exist in both a V1 and V2 and I have reviews of both of them.
 

RI Chevy

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Thank you HKJ! :thumbsup: As always, your reviews are very informative and interesting to read.
 
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45/70

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Nice review, old.:thumbsup:

One thing I would point out in your first post though, is that while XTAR claims that this charger will charge 10440 cells, I would not advise it. The highest capacity 10440 cells I'm aware of are about 350mAh, most are around 250mAh when new, regardless of what is printed on the side of the cell. This means that the 520mA rate that you report that your charger puts out, would be at least, a 1.6C charge rate. This would be far too high a rate for this size cell, and while I doubt if a "vent with flame" situation would occur, charging at a high rate such as this, would shorten cell life considerably.

I do not know what your relationship with XTAR is, maybe they won't approve of it, but I would at least mention that this charger really shouldn't be used for charging 10440 cells. It would be in everyone's best interest, including XTAR's, really.

Dave
 

old4570

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Nice review, old.:thumbsup:

One thing I would point out in your first post though, is that while XTAR claims that this charger will charge 10440 cells, I would not advise it. The highest capacity 10440 cells I'm aware of are about 350mAh, most are around 250mAh when new, regardless of what is printed on the side of the cell. This means that the 520mA rate that you report that your charger puts out, would be at least, a 1.6C charge rate. This would be far too high a rate for this size cell, and while I doubt if a "vent with flame" situation would occur, charging at a high rate such as this, would shorten cell life considerably.

I do not know what your relationship with XTAR is, maybe they won't approve of it, but I would at least mention that this charger really shouldn't be used for charging 10440 cells. It would be in everyone's best interest, including XTAR's, really.

Dave

Relationship ? :confused: with Xtar , hmmmmm , They were looking for people to review a charger , I sent them a Email , and they said , we will send you one ..
It was open to anyone over at the Marketplace .

On the 10440 , yeah , I agree ... Less is better , I myself use a WF-188 on the 300mAh setting ..

Unfortunately most chargers use the 500mAh charge rate .. Very few that dont .
And this was a Charger review , rather than a user guide , one would expect anyone using the 10440 to be aware [ Ok I might be asking a bit much there ] of what they are doing .

Also the same goes for the 1A setting , Charging 16340 to 14500 cells will be much like charging the 10440 @ 500mAh [ Possibly stressful = faster deterioration of the battery ]

Surely people know this already with all the information on CPF [ :shakehead maybe not ]

Might be a good time for some one to post a Battery User Guide !
 

don.gwapo

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So this version II charger is the next best thing on the side of Pila charger without the premium price?
 

45/70

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Relationship ? :confused: with Xtar , hmmmmm , They were looking for people to review a charger , I sent them a Email , and they said , we will send you one ..
It was open to anyone over at the Marketplace .

OK, old. I wasn't certain what "old4570 review......Sponsored by xtarlight" meant in the picture in your first post.

Surely people know this already with all the information on CPF [ :shakehead maybe not ]
Well, as often as questions like "Can I charge my 14500 LiCo cells in my BC-700?" come up on the Forum, I think you need to think more about how newcommers view the Forum. Many will read a review such as this one for example, and deduce, "Hey, I can charge my 10440 cells with this charger too!". And as I said, that really wouldn't be a good idea.

Especially, as of late, there are a lot of new members showing up that are pretty much clueless, as to how to care for and maintain Li-Ion cells. To many, I fear, they are just another type of rechargeable cell, similar to NiCd and NiMh "batteries", with a different name.

Dave
 
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Be-Seen Triker

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Today I received my XTAR WP2 II with the 12V car adapter from an ebay seller. Indeed, the instructions talk about spacers but none are included.
Instructions also recommends you register your product online in their VIP service section but the registration requires a serial number. Anyone else get a printed or stamped serial number with their charger? If so, where did you find it?
It is good to note that all my cells fit including XTAR 18700 2600mah and Callie's Kustoms 3100mah.
Looking forward to some depleted cells to charge :)

BTW... it states that it will try to regenerate over-discharged cells. Is this something new to chargers? Anyone know if it really works?
 

old4570

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Today I received my XTAR WP2 II with the 12V car adapter from an ebay seller. Indeed, the instructions talk about spacers but none are included.
Instructions also recommends you register your product online in their VIP service section but the registration requires a serial number. Anyone else get a printed or stamped serial number with their charger? If so, where did you find it?
It is good to note that all my cells fit including XTAR 18700 2600mah and Callie's Kustoms 3100mah.
Looking forward to some depleted cells to charge :)

BTW... it states that it will try to regenerate over-discharged cells. Is this something new to chargers? Anyone know if it really works?

Yeah , come school holidays , I will be giving that claim a work out ...
 
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