Test/review of Zanflare C4

Zanflare C4











Zanflare is a new name in chargers and starts with an analyzing charger. It can handle LiIon and NiMH at a few different currents. The user interface is very simple and easy.







It arrived in a cardboard box with and image of the charger and not much more.







The box included the charger, a mains adapter, a car adapter and the instruction sheet.







The charger has a 12V input and a usb output connection, on the bottom of the charger it says the usb output is rated at 2A.







The user interface is a lcd display and 6 buttons.

The 4 round buttons select display for that slot (mA, Volt, mAh, mR(Internal resistance), Time)

The MODE button select between charge, fast test and NOR test.

The CURRENT button select the charger or discharge current depending on mode.









The display is simple and easy to read.







As usual there are specifications on the bottom, but they are not easy to read.







The slots uses the classical slider construction and it works fine.

The slots can work from 30.7 mm to 70.3mm. This means that it will not handle the longest 18650 and 26650















The charger can handle 70 mm long batteries including flat top cells.







Measurements

  • Discharge LiIon battery with 10mA when not connected to power.

  • When power is connected with a full battery, it will charge with about 1mA.

  • Between 0.0V and 2.1V the charger will assume NiMH

  • Above 2.1V the charger will assume LiIon.

  • Minimum voltage reading is about 0.79V

  • Voltmeter is within 0.02V

  • Voltmeter stops updating when charging is stopped

  • Charger will not restart when voltage drops.

  • It will restart charging on reinsertion of the battery or power cycling.

  • Power consumptions when idle without battery is 0.4 watt



Charging LiIon

It is possible to select 300, 500, 700 and 1A in charge current.



A nice CC/CV charge curve with termination around 200mA. It is probably a simulated CC/CV curve, i.e. the termination current will vary depending on cell.
Display shows 3263mAh 90mOhm 4:02 hours





The other channels works the same way.
Display shows 3328mAh 300mOhm 4:19 hours, 3352mAh 364mOhm 4:22 hours, 3327mAh 168mOhm 4:06 hours




The two other cells also charge as expected.



The old cell is handled very nicely.
Display shows 2316mAh 296mOhm 3:56 hours





Both 300mA and 700mA looks fine.
Display shows 3419mAh 208mOhm 13:18 hours, 3293mAh 108mOhm 5:29 hours



The charger stops a bit early with this old worn down cell.
Display shows 258mAh 494mOhm 0:50 hours



No problem with this cell.
Display shows 777mAh 288mOhm 1:57 hours



No problem charger 4 cells simultaneous.



Or is there, the power supply is rated for 1.5A, but the charger uses 1.7A. Obvious it works fine enough, but the power supply is at the limit for a short time during a charge.



M1: 36,5°C, M2: 38,7°C, M3: 39,2°C, M4: 37,3°C, M5: 39,6°C, M6: 43,3°C, HS1: 53,7°C


M1: 35,3°C, HS1: 43,1°C



The charger always do a internal resistance check when a battery is put into a slot or when powered on with a battery in it.
When no buttons are pressed it will start charging at 0.5A after about 9 seconds.



During charge there are pauses to measure voltage.



Fast test of LiIon

It is possible to select 300 or 500mA discharge and charge current.



The charge will discharge the battery and then measure how much current is needed to full charge the battery.
Display shows 3379mAh 180mOhm 14:50 hours



NOR test of LiIon

It is possible to select 300 or 500mA discharge and charge current.



The charge will first charge the battery, then discharge while measuring capacity and finally charge again.
It discharges to about 2.8V with constant current, i.e. no pwm.
Display shows 3369mAh 288mOhm 21:51 hours





The other channels looks the same.
Display shows 3537mAh 202mOhm 22:41 hours, 3335mAh 120mOhm 21:26 hours, 3403mAh 216mOhm 22:13 hours



The 300mA setting will reduce both charge and discharge current.
Display shows 3374mAh 572mOhm 37:38 hours



With 4 batteries the temperature will increase when discharging.



M1: 40,4, M2: 41,2, M3: 41,3, M4: 39,8, M5: 61,7, M6: 55,0, HS1: 65,3



M1: 43,6, HS1: 61,2



Measuring internal resistance of LiIon



The internal resistance measurement looks very stable in values and fairly precise. The resolution looks to be 2mOhm



Charging NiMH

It is possible to select 300, 500, 700 and 1000mA charge current.



With NiMH the charger will terminate on voltage or -dv/dt as can be seen on some of the other curves.
The termination is just about where the battery start developing heat.
Display shows 1904mAh 108mOhm 2:03 hours





The other 3 channels looks the same.
Display shows 1930mAh 284mOhm 2:03 hours, 1852mAh 180mOhm 2:00 hours, 1847mAh 136mOhm 1:59 hours



With the pro cell it uses -dv/dt termination.
Display shows 2761mAh 174mOhm 2:59 hours



This cell is old and worn down, but it do a very fine job on charging it.
Display shows 1229mAh 316mOhm 2:26 hours



This is also a good charge.
Display shows 2830mAh 566mOhm 0:04 hours



Even at 0.3A it can terminate a NiMH charge, it may use 0dv/dt termination for this.
Display shows 1982mAh 154mOhm 7:24 hours



No problems at 0.7A
Display shows 1901mAh 210mOhm 2:52 hours



The AAA cell is charged fine at 0.5A
Display shows 808mAh 400mOhm 1:45 hours



It is fast to detect a full cell, it only requires 5 minutes.
Display shows 31mAh 210mOhm 0:04 hours



The charge maintain full charge speed with 4 NiMH cells.
Display shows 2025mAh 150mOhm 2:10 hours, 2163mAh 106mOhm 2:20 hours, 2118mAh 96mOhm 2:17 hours, 2108mAh 88mOhm 2:17 hours



It needs about 0.9A from the power supply.



M1: 38,1°C, M2: 40,6°C, M3: 40,3°C, M4: 38,6°C, M5: 43,8°C, M6: 39,1°C, HS1: 53,2°C



M1: 36,0°C, HS1: 44,9°C



When the charger see a battery it will measure its internal resistance.
It will automatic start charging a NiMH cell about 10 seconds after power is applied. The default current is 0.5A.



The charger will pause at regular intervals to measure the voltage.



Fast test of NiMH

It is possible to select 300 or 500mA discharge and charge current.



With the fast test it will discharge the battery and then charge it while measuring the charged capacity.
Display shows 2054mAh 82mOhm 8:16 hours



NOR test of NiMH

It is possible to select 300 or 500mA discharge and charge current.



The normal test will first charge the battery, then discharge it while measuring capacity and finally charge it again.
The battery is discharged to about 1.05V
Display shows 2006mAh 330mOhm 12:16 hours





The other 3 slots looks the same.
Display shows 1984mAh 188mOhm 12:34 hours, 2023mAh 160mOhm 12:42 hours, 1988mAh 174mOhm 12:24 hours



The 0.3A setting will reduce both charge and discharge current.
Display shows 2077mAh 138mOhm 22:43 hours



With 4 cells there is not much heat during discharge.



M1: 35,4°C, M2: 37,0°C, M3: 36,6°C, M4: 35,5°C, M5: 39,9°C, M6: 38,5°C, HS1: 45,1°C



HS1: 41,3°C



The discharge is with constant current, this curve is rather boring.



Measuring internal resistance of NiMH



The NiMH internal resistance is also very stable and fairly good.



Power bank function
  • USB output is coded as usb charger (DCP).

  • USB output is turned when loaded, it cannot be turned on with a button press.

  • USB output will turn off 5 seconds after load is dropped below about 60mA.

  • USB output is turned off when charger is powered

  • Discharge LiIon battery with 10mA when not connected to power (Not very good).

  • When battery is down to 2V it will discharge with 7.5mA (Bad).





The usb output can deliver the rated 2A, but not much more. The output is slightly low at 2A.



More batteries in the charger do not change the output limit.



The output voltage is stable at 0.5A and with one battery I got about 4 hours. When the battery is empty the output turns off, but it do not remove all load from the battery, the above recording stopped at 2.4V, but a couple of hours later the battery was down to 2.2xV.



One cell did also handle 1A output fine.



At 2A with 4 cells the output was maintained for about 4 hours.



At 0.5A the noise is 5mV rms and 62Vpp



At about 1A the noise is 28mV rms and 134Vpp



At about 2A the noise is 28mV rms and 144mVpp, this is very good.



I decided to take a closer look at the battery drain with unloaded usb output. As can be seen the drain goes low at about 1.7V, this is rather low for a LiIon battery.
With the curve I started from 4.25V and over 20 minutes I slowly reduced the voltage.


Testing the power supply with 2830 volt and 4242 volt between mains and low volt side, did not show any safety problems.



Conclusion

The charger does a good job charging both LiIon and NiMH. I like that the test function uses a constant current and the IR function works fine. The mAh display is a bit on the high side.

The usb output can deliver the rated 2A, but it is slightly low in voltage and will discharge battery to a rather low voltage if they are left in the charger.

Generally the charger will drain batteries when it is unpowered, i.e. do never leave batteries in it.

As a charger and analyzer it is good, the usb output works fine, but it discharges batteries too much when used as power bank.



Notes

The charger was supplied by a Gearbest.com for review.

Here is an explanation on how I did the above charge curves: How do I test a charger

I think it’s a good charger , i have been using it and testing it for about a month , measurements are pretty close to my Opus bt-c3100 .

To me, this thing looks like a Lii-500 with a different Firmware.
I don’t see why this thing is 3 times as expensive as the Lii-500.

Thanks for review, I use it from some weeks ago, but I feel more secure after reading HKJ reviews.!

Hi L4M4:
This charger that include charge EU/US plug and charger 9V for car, is for 27,99 USD for sale….I do not think this is 3 times more expensive than Lii-500……

Lii-500 also has a car charger and charger for EU or US. I just looked at the price in the Zenflare Shop (48:money_mouth_face:
Lii-500 with code is <20$
Just sayin’ :smiley:

I have seen the Lii-500 at 30 USD in Tmart…but I do not think that the price of Lii-500 is 30 USD…. I know there are other prices, other sites…. than _Zenflare shop.
Reading complete review of this and of Lii-500, the Zanflare seems better with “resistance function”, one of my preferences for this. Without coupon the C4 is now in 27,99 USD.
Both seem a good option, perhaps for resistance reading better the zanflare and perhaps for charge at 2 Amp. (power bank function) better the Zanflare, …If I read more in depth maybe I will find some further advantage ….
I do not say that the Lii-500 is not a good charger, I do not pretend that. please, no one misunderstand me)

Thanks for the review. I’ve also been using mine for about a month and love it.

Good to see another option in the analysing charger market.

The C4 is showing up regularly at $24, putting it pretty much in the same price range as a complete Lii-500. It works almost identically. Got mine and been cycling/charging cells for a couple days now. Seems reliable, generally runs pretty cool, not having any problems with an assortment of battery chemistries of various ages.

One thing I REALLY like is the [Internal Resistance] DOES WORK! It is ‘stable’ and seems reliable. It tracks pretty close to the IR I get off my Opus. The IR with the Lii-500 is useless, and I’ve tried 3 different units so I know it’s not just a problem with a single charger.

As far as I’m concerned this charger could completely displace the Lii-500 as a bargain analyzing charger, and do it one better with working IR.

Yes and the C4 comes with a working power adapter so that needs to be considered in the cost equation as well. They are effectively the same price when you consider that unless you happen to already have a compatible adapter.

I’m pretty sure that’s what flydiver meant when he wrote “a complete Lii500.” :slight_smile:

Yes, this being BLF people get all excited when they see a Lii-500 for $13-15, and want to know HOW they can get that price.

  1. That is a bare charger, nothing else. So you’ll have to hassle with a decent power supply, and car charger if you care about that.
  2. You are likely dealing with Ali express, which can be it’s own pain depending on where you live. :frowning:
  3. You rarely see a complete Lii-500 for less than $20. $25-30 is not unusual for more accessible, faster, and more reliable shipping sources, depending on location.

From my perspective $24 for the Zanflare C4 is an easy choice. I consider IR to be an important piece of information on battery health and it’s just not available on the Lii-500.

I use from two month ago as principal charger the C4 and runs fine. I am happy. (For the price, perhaps the best option now. )

From the comments it sounds like this charger is becoming a favourite. I hope Gearbest decide to bring this out with an Australian plug so we dont have to use sub standard adaptors.

I bought this charger based on HKJ’s review. Particularly it’s ability to measure internal resistance with some accuracy.
I’ve now put it through the paces and like it very much as a straight forward, simple to use charger.
As to measuring internal resistance, I’ve tested banks of batteries by loading them multiple times in the same bays and then through rotating through all bays and recording the results. My unit measures IR consistently within a range of 6 mOhms, which is plenty good enough for my purposes.

+1, all of my chargers have to use US or EU to AU adapters.

Can anyone confirm if the Zanflare C4 can charge 18350 batteries? Most sites don’t list it in the description.

Yes it can charge 18350 :+1:

Ordered one from GB for 23$. The fact that the display shows all slots at the same time and the working analyzing functions, in addition to good NiMH charging makes it an ideal replacement for my Lii-400, that I’m going to give to my father.

I am using 2 of these and have a 3rd spare (they were cheap!). Thought I should probably do a test run on the spare, and just as well: Channel 1 turned out to be dead.

4 screws below the rubber feet, so easy to open…wrong. This thing is glued shut pretty well. Finally had to punch through the glued seam with a sharpened flat-blade screwdriver and work it open from there.

Problem turned out to be the soldering for the cell+ contact plate, there was none!

Could not find any online photos of the insides, so below are some for reference. Looks decent, but the hand-soldering quality (needed for awkward components) is mediocre at best. 2 or 3 production ‘patches’ are also visible. The culprit contact plate had a bent leg, so could not insert properly into the PCB.

Separating the PCB required the springs to be de-soldered. And it is tricky to put back together, so not recommended to do this unless really necessary. Ended up with some cosmetic damage along the seam, but it is still usable (and now also serviceable).

  • No solder on those two slots bottom right:

  • Springs de-soldered:

  • UI control board, unplugged:


  • Culprit:

  • Power circuit. Four TO-220 N-channel MOSFETs, probably used as active loads for the discharge tests. Two incognito controller chips:


  • Ugly patch from 3rd inductor to sense resistor:

  • 5 V output boost circuit:

  • Floating diode patch: