Status for 2016

Status for 2016







I have published many reviews this year, between 4 and 5 each week (Total around 230) and even with that many reviews I did not review everything I wanted to review. I have collected some highlights in this article.



To keep up to date on my reviews it is a good idea to check the “Last additions” section on my front page, it will list the last couple of reviews/test/articles I have done, just below it there might also be information about good offers, coupon codes, etc. for stuff I have just reviewed (When present it will be from the dealer that gave me the review item).







Batteries



At the start of the year I switches to full four terminal on my two LiIon test stations (In the comparators these cells are marked with an asterisk), this was not without problems, I melted about 10 battery holders, before I got a solution that was reliable.

I have reviewed about 140 batteries this year, this means I have more than 500 battery reviews on my website. Like last year I got many batteries for review from rewrappers.



The battery capacity did not increase this year, but high capacity, high current cells are now common.



High current cells from the major brands, they are all rated at 20A or more current (There may be time or temperature limits):



Samsung 3000mAh





Sanyo/Panasonic 2600mAh





LG 3000mAh





Sony 3000mAh







High capacity cells from the major brands:



Samsung 3500mAh





Sanyo/Panasonic 3500mAh





LG 3500mAh







Due to the many vapers rebranders has taken to the high current cells, always sold unprotected (Protection is not practical at high current). They are sometimes announced with very high current ratings:



Enercig 18650 2600mAh (Gray) 31A





Staring IMR18650 2500mAh (Green) 45A





AW IMR18650 3000mAh (Red) 2016 20A





Aucooma IMR18650 2800mAh (Purple-blue) 40A







I saw some cells with problems:



Gpower 18650 3000mAh (Yellow-black) 40A





UltraFire SZ18650 9900mAh (Yellow)





What technology is inside that super cell







There have been very few protected cell, one interesting type did show up, but they do not fit everywhere due to the length:



Lumintop 18650 3400mAh usb (White) LM34C









MecArmy 18650 U18-34 3400mAh (Black-red), usb rechargeable









I had to check how the above batteries where made







With larger cells (26650) there is more cells with around 5000mAh, due to vapers they are often marked with very high and optimistic current ratings.



Shockli IMR26650 5200mAh (Black) 30A/60A





Efest IMR26650 5200mAh (Purple) 2016







And as usual some manufacturers are way too optimistic in their markings:



BestFire IMR26650 6000mAh (Purple) 60A





BestFire IMR26650 4500mAh (Purple) 90A







The smaller cells are getting good at high current, these small cells can handle 10A:



Hibatt IMR14500 700mAh (Orange)





Keeppower IMR18350 (Black)







I have tested a few alkaline and NiMH AA/AAA cells and a single lithium cells:



HQ Alkaline Ultra Power AA





Eneloop AA BK-3MCCE 1900mAh (White)





Japcell Lithium AA







This year I got started on 9V batteries, the first couple of tests covers the many different ways to make them. The classic 6 cell alkaline, 7 or 8 cell NiMH, LiIon either two in series or one with boost converter:



9V battery index





A did a few articles about LiIon batteries:



My charger do not charge LiIon to 4.2V, is it faulty?





How far can LiIon be discharged?









Battery chargers



This year I have tested about 45 chargers for round cells, making the total about 190 chargers. I have listed a few of the more interesting chargers here, but there are many more. The total list of charger can be found on my website.



This charger can charge just about any round cell:



Charger GyrFalcon All-88 (Enova)





Charger GyrFalcon All-44 (Enova)







Xtar made a charger with external voltage/resistance probes, this is also their first analyzing charger:



Charger Xtar VP4 Plus Dragon







A new chip for charging LiIon is available, this chip is a switcher, this gives it some advantages compared to the TP4056.



Charger 1.5A 3.6-4.2V (TP5000)







A small fairly universal charger showed up from a couple of brands



Charger LiitoKala Lii-100







There is also a two cell version of it.



Charger LiitoKala Lii-202









USB chargers



I only tested a few power banks this year, but tested a bit over 40 usb chargers. For a complete list see my usb charger index (With skull ratings) or my usb index.



6 port charger with individual port protection and build in current meter:



Caseflex 50W 6 port CF-AZ01-Z038





Cannot get enough ports, maybe this is the solution:



Aukey 10 port wall charger QC3 PA-T8





QuickCharge 2.0+3.0 and a normal usb output, both with lots of power:



BlitzWolf 30W QC3.0 Dual-Port USB Adapter BW-S6





Very good car charger, with some extra functions:



Nonda ZUS, dual car usb charger and locator





A small power bank:



Blitzwolf Mini power bank 3350mAh BW-P2





Or a very large power bank with usb-c support:



Power bank Ravpower Turbo+ RP-PB043 (20100mAh)





And, of course, the usual collection of bad and dangerous chargers:



3.1A 3 port usb charger





I wrote two articles about usb chargers, both are a bit technical. The first one is about the different coding schemes and fast charging, the second one explains what the different parts inside an usb charger do.



USB power information





How does a usb charger work?









USB test equipment



I have tested some usb test equipment this year.



From a simple resistor that gets extremely hot (275°C):

USB Load resistor 1A-2A









To PC based measuring system:



Electronic load ZKE EBD-USB+







A universal load for testing usb chargers and power banks:



YZXStudio Load ZL1000







A device to trigger quick charge or MTK-PE voltages (This can also be used to destroy phones with):



USB meter: QC2-3-MTK-PE Trigger J7-t







I tested some YZX studio usb meters, they make some of the best:



YZXStudio USB meter ZY1270













Led drivers



I did not test any led drivers in 2016







Anything else



In this category I checked a a power supply and a load.



The power supply is only a frontend that needs a DC input voltage, then it supplies voltage regulation and adjustable current limit. This is a cheap way to get a fairly decent lab power supply:



Power supply frontend DPS5015 50V/15A











What to expect in 2017



I do not expect any major changed in 2017. At the current time I am nearly out of batteries, this may reduce my publishing frequency. I will continue testing 9V batteries, but this is rather slow, due to the low test current and there will be weeks between 9V reviews.

With usb chargers I need to upgrade my equipment to handle advanced usb-c, but I have not seen any good upgrades yet. This means for now I will only be testing old usb and usb-c with up to 5V 3A.

I have a few articles planned, but as usual only a few (I do not have time for more). There is now an index with all my articles.

I expect there will be a bit more stuff up in the “Anything else” category.



To discuss or ask questions about specific reviews they can usual be found on CPF, BLF and fonarevka (Not all reviews are posted everywhere).



Suggestions about what to test are welcome. When sending suggestion remember to include a link to a shop that ships to EU (Denmark). It is also possible to ask dealers/manufactures if they will send stuff for review.

Thank you so much for the hard work you put in! Most of my charger and LiIon purchase decisions are based on your test reviews and this is priceless.

Going forward I can’t wait to see what USB-C will bring in terms of consumer devices; next year I’ll buy a new Macbook Pro with USB-C and will upgrade all other devices to the new standard.

Also, DIY power banks would need a big revamp (bought a few on AE/ebay and was shocked how bad they are).

Wow, thanks for all your reviews.
How do you find time to do so many in a year?

Thanks a lot HKJ, I check almost every day your reviews (I have a bookmark to your BLF threads page!).
Getting ready for USB-C is a good idea I think. However your test equipment might need a big upgrade to handle the power.
I see many great cigarette lighter chargers that can charge your phone and laptop at the same time in the near future.

Battery requires a lot of automated testing, but not very much of my time. I usual have time to write between one and two real reviews each week and I do have a lot of reviews prepared for when I do not have time.

Not really, all my loads are rated at 300W and power supplies are 100W+, the largest one 1200W

Thanks for all those tests again HKJ

A truly independent and knowledgable tester like you, that also has your immense production rate, is very very important in this modern world. I think that you in your own have already had a significant contribution to a postive quality developement of several product industries in China.

I’m just curious where you get the motivation for all this hard work and money invested?

Thank you for your never-ending work for us!

i wish you a blessed 2017

Thank you very, very much for sharing your work!

I can't believe one person churns out all that data.

Great year of tons of valuable information!

Thanks a lot!!!

Thank you for all the effort you put in and creating such detailed reviews.

Thank you HKJ.
You are an important asset when looking up several items I was considering purchasing this past year.

Even your year end update thread is darn useful. Thanks!

Thank you HKJ!
Your work, reports, comments, & reviews are greatly appreciated!! :+1:

Happy New Year!!!
.
.

:slight_smile:

Always look forward to your reviews, HKJ. Thanks for your posts, must reading!

Impressive work indeed. Thanks for all the education you are providing to this community. You are a great contributer and we all benefited from your work. Please keep these reviews coming.

Thank you for all the work you put in, HKJ.

All of my good chargers were selected after reading your reviews of them, and I’ve learned a lot from articles you’ve written, too.

Many thanks for all your fine work! Wonderful resource very useful.

HKJ,

Many Thanks for this resume of 2016, and for all your efforts.

You are a Valuable Asset and a Very Busy Contributor to the Forum.

I have made several purchases on the basis of your testing, and avoided a few bad tested products too, thus saving money!

Keep Up the Good Work.

Cheers,
S-L :slight_smile:

Damn, you’re a busy little beaver, aintcha? :smiley:

Thanks for doing the dirty work for us, so we have an idea what we’re getting ourselves into without getting terribly screwed!

Hmmm… unless he’s got a team of elves in his workshop, maybe? :smiley: