Test/review of Charger LiitoKala LiitoKala Lii-500S

Most likely not. The risk with a failed high voltage test is not the charger, but anyone touching the metal on the charger, but the high voltage test/requirement includes a lot of safety compare to normal domestic power. If you lives near some large factories or have a lot of lighting strikes in the area the risk is greater.

In 2020 I would say that this is not a good charger either for Lion or Nimh.

With so many good choices out there we have to start to be more critical of newer devices and this one based on HJK review should fall under the no buy category.

HJK work is important because most of us do not have equipment to see what the charger is actually doing.
In the end these chargers end up charging the batteries and they tell us what they charged but without the equipment we dont know if it handled the cells properly and/or actually charged the cells correctly.

Thanks for the review HKJ.
Very good work. :slight_smile:
I have this charger. Hhmm. But the good thing, i have another charger to use Xtar Sv2 Rocket :slight_smile:
Is there anyone who can recommend a power supply for the Liitokala 500S charger with eu plug.
Thanks in advance.

It’s probably a ‘standard size’ plug, at least the one on the older Lii-500 is. I’ve found 3-5A/12v PS in local computer/electronics recycle stores for like $2-3. Work great. Many of my chargers are now powered by these ‘upgrades’.
Just take the charger with you to check for sure and glasses if you need them to read the fine print for output.

I agree with @hammerJoe. There would seem to be better chargers available. It’s not awful, but after reading HKJ review I wouldn’t buy it.

Thanks for the answer flydiver. :wink:
I have your solution in my mind.
The solution for me was easier than I thought. Uses the Xtar power supply. The plug fits nicely and even if it only gives 2A it will work fine. I don’t charge the batteries so hard.

Excellent review as always, thanks for your hard work

@HKJ
Thanks for the review!
The display backlight turns off after 30 seconds but when you press one of the channel buttons for a few seconds it will stay on.
Perhaps you could add that to the list.

Thank You HKJ for that review. That was very deep/detailed, clear presentation.
I was going to buy this charger later this year.
But now I will get another Opus BT-C3100 2.2 instead. :+1:

You mention that there are better alternatives - would you mind giving an example of other chargers that have the same functionality - can charge 21700 Li-ion, as well as NiMH and act as a power bank.

Vapcell S4 Plus

As well as ScyRC MC3000, XTAR Dragon VP4 Plus.

HJK, isn’t it a concern that Lii-500S charges batteries above 4.2v? I have two of those and the batteries get off them with 4.23v - 4.25v (tested by DMM) while Lii-500S still displays it as “4.20v”. Doesn’t it damage the batteries in the long term if they are constantly charged above 4.2v?

from batteryuniversity.

Yeah, red that article in full already. There is a degradation but not before 200+ cycles. And with my usage, aging will take a heavier toll. Going to store them in fridge at +4C, at least the spare ones.

I’m mostly curious why HJK didn’t highlight it as a point of concern - they just state the fact that the voltage is a bit on a high side.

That is within charging spec, so not a ‘failure’. That is off by something like 1%. Voltage will drop a bit after it sits awhile. Some people would love getting a ‘full charge’, and bitch if they don’t. :wink:

That said I’m one of those people that make some effort to keep the charge below 4.0v unless I need it immediately.

Opps - correction. Bad at fractions.

Well, 0.05/4.20 ~= 0.012 = 1.2% That’s quite a lot in my book. Particularly considering that other at least nitecore and xtar charges stop at <4.21v.

Does anyone know any not-to-complex way to adjust it?

If you haven’t found them it’s worth reading these articles:
https://lygte-info.dk/info/BatteryCharge4.2V%20UK.html
https://lygte-info.dk/info/batteryChargeTerminationTest%20UK.html

Note from one of the articles:
The LiIon charge specifications usual says that they must be charged to 4.20V +/-0.05V with termination at some specific current

Like I said, within spec.
Probably no simple way to fix it. I suspect it would require some fine soldering and adding….something (resistor?).
If it really bugs you, replacement is one option of course. You could also just put the battery in discharge mode for a couple minutes after the charge. Slightly annoying, but free.

Thanks flydiver. Reading the articles I understand that Lii-500S made an opinionated decision (while staying within the spec) to pump in max amp-hours assuming that average consumer will prefer more more capacity now instead of greater durability sometime in the future. I now understand their decision and it doesn’t bug me anymore. Having MC3000 as an alternative I have now a choice to make how do I want to treat my batteries.

I doubt a resistor will do the job though - it causes a voltage drop which will only make charger to believe that the battery is even less than the actual one. Probably a topic for eevblog.com :slight_smile:

Since the Lii-500s original power supply was categorized as unsafe, I replaced it with the Lii-500 power supply as suggested. Guess what? The power supply blew up, phoff…, its lid was shoot into the air.

What power supply do you guys suggest, fit for the Lii-500S charger?
Or is there a better budget charger to replace the 500S?

We’ll, the older brick is rated 12v 2A while the new one is 3A. No wonder it blew up.
I had a 50/50 luck with mine - the second one still works though I use it only occasionally.

Any 12v brick capable of 3A and above with DC barrel connector will do the job.
Unless buying a grade “A” unit, I’d go a couple of amps higher to be on the safe side.

If you have 40W or more USB-C brick or pwerbank, you can buy a smart usb-c->DC barrel converter that’s rated 12v. This method opens a plethora of opportunities.
I use such cable to power my ATEM Mini from a powerbank when on the go.