TrustFire TR-006 Li-Ion battery charger

http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/trustfire-dual-channel-liion-battery-charger-for-2665025500267001865016340-tr006-us-plug-p-9985

http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=1625

So is anyone who will give feedback ready for a new Li-Ion charger? Is this basically a two-bay TR-005?

I ordered one from Manafont two days ago (edit: ordered Saturday, dispatched Monday).

European customers: MF advised that to get it with the EU plug you order the US SKU# and ask for the EU version during checkout.

From another site (?) I got the specs that state three current levels, depending on battery voltage (900, 700 and 500/550mA). Seems a clever solution for charge time and saturation.

I have no 26xxx batteries. I ordered this charger because some of my protected 18650s have a hard time to fit into the WF-139.

TR-005 is 1.5A, this one is 2 rails at 1A each. I am also thinking of getting this one, I don't mind the slower charge time, and anyway slower charging is healthier, not?

Not necessarily. Some of the seasoned members here with batteries/electronics have expressed there's sort of a sweet spot for charging. Too much or even too little can be unhealthy for the battery. Personally, I just try to get what's popular because I'm not ready to stress out about the health of my batteries. I've got my own health to worry about

According to what I've read, moderate current charging isn't actually that much slower.

Higher current (within the allowed range, up to 0.7C) during the first stage does bring up 4.2V sooner, but gives rise to a longer saturation phase (constant 4.2V until current drops to the 50mA termination level) for full capacity charge.

Although the above makes sense to me, I'm still just a messenger, so please refrain... Wink

Charging batteries at faster rates is healthier for your patience, it's way more important than couple extra months to lifetime of a $5 battery.

I wonder if TR-005 does the same… is this stepped charging better that constant current?

My take on this is that charging a well-discharged battery with a higher current for a limited initial time only, will somewhat shorten the time to reach 4.2V, without the negative counter-effect of the longer saturation time that would arise if the entire first phase (up to 4.2V) were done with high current.

Quoting the full specs:

- voltage under 3.4V, current 850-900mA

- voltage to 3.5-3.6V, current 650-700mA

  • voltage to 3.9-4.1V, current 500-550mA

Wut? Since when higher CC current slows down CV current drop-down? Theoretically higher CC current should make CV phase FASTER, as it heats up the cell resulting in lower internal resistance.

Quote:

Increasing the charge current does not hasten the full-charge state by much. Although the battery reaches the voltage peak quicker with a fast charge, the saturation charge will take longer accordingly. The amount of charge current applied simply alters the time required for each stage; Stage 1 will be shorter but the saturation Stage 2 will take longer. A high current charge will, however, quickly fill the battery to about 70 percent.

The “TR-005” charges up to 1.5 amps approx then ramps down as the voltage gets close to 4 volt and will keep ramping down till 4.2v with a very very slight charge once the light is green like most cheap chargers. In my very basic quick Review: Trustfire TR-005 26650 Charger from Manafont I called it a 26650 charger as a starting current of 1.5 amps in my opinion is to high for smaller cells and in my opening post i suggest only charging high end 18650,s nothing smaller.

Your not going to run into the problems mentioned on this thread when charging 26650,s with the TR-005 as 1.5 amps is about 0.3C charge rate (for king Kong’s and protected trustfire 26650’s), where on smaller cells like 16340’s its 1.8C witch is way to high, NCR18650A’s it is 0.50C.

When charging 26650 4000 + mAh cells there is a big difference in time of charging between 0.5 and 1.5 amps. I normally balance charge 3 x 26650 at once at 1.5 amps (0.3C) with my hobby charger and 2 to 6 18650’s at once 0.5 amps (0.2C) and it does not matter if they are sayno’s, panisonic’s or cheapies.

The hobby charger i uses the correct charging method CC/CV. And 0.3C charge rate or under is fine and safe for long life and keeping the internal Resistance low in the cells, it is a slow charger still but thats why i charge minimum of 2 cells to a maxim of 6 cells at once to save time and recomended the TR-005 for 26650 batteries.

Even the Trustfire TR-006 charger will charge a 26650 4000 + mAh at around 0.25C not a problem and a average 18650 2400 mAh at 0.4C but a 16340’s its 1.2C witch is still way to high to me, so i would only use it for good 18650’s and 26650 batteries.

To work out 1C = 1 x the capacity (mAh) % 1000

1 amp maxim IMO for an 18650 and i personally use 0.5 amp and a maxim of 1.5 amp for 26650’s and i personally use 1.5 amp for my 26650,s any thing under 1 amp for 26650,s is no good and will just take way to long to charge imo.

All figures and numbers are approx and is what Ive found works for me over the the years with just about all battery types and i could not recommend either charger for charging any battery smaller then 18650’s

Thanks for the info benckie. What is a charge rate, for example 0.3C as an example? So would I be right to say that if you have many different size batteries, the best thing is to have a hobby charger instead of multiple different chargers?

To work out 1C = 1 x the capacity (mAh) % 1000

Mine came in from MF today. My first impression is that TF brought the quality up a notch on this one. It came packed in retail clamshell packaging and included a product detail card with specs and instructions written in better English than I’m used to seeing from TF. The charger housing is kind of a rubberized plastic with the multicolored TF logo printed right on it. Overall, the look and feel is of higher quality than the UltraFire WF188, which I think is its closest competition. This one boasts a faster charge rate, but the UF-WF188 can accommodate 32mm wide cells (D-sized), so each has its advantage.

I dropped in a pair of LiMn 26650 cells that had open voltage of 4.09V and the lights went from red to green in just a few minutes. At first sign of green, the battery open voltage tested at 4.14V and 4.15V. Next test is on a pair of A123 18650 LiFePO4 cells. I notice that this charger shares the same complication as the TR005, which is that the negative contact protrusion is well placed for 26mm diameter cells, but for 18650 with narrow shrink wrap windows, the contact lands on the shrink wrap edge when the cell is laid flat. You must prop up the neg. end of the cell somewhat for it to make contact.

I am also observing that during charging of the A123 cells with the charger switch set to 3.0V, the red charge indicator lights are pulsing rapidly. I assume this is normal operation. Note that there was no pulsing observed when charging the IMR cells in 4.2V mode.

So for charging 26650 and 18650 we leave it on 4.2V right???
What is the 3.0V for?

26650 and 18650 are merely cell dimensions. The 4.2/3.0V switch allows you to specify what chemistry of cell you are charging. Use the 4.2V setting for conventional LiCo chemistry and IMR chem cells, and use the 3.0V setting for LiFePO4 chem cells, sometimes called “nano phosphate” cells. Both chemistries are available in both sizes.

I just received four of these chargers, and three of them were bad right out of the box! I e-mailed the seller on ebay and they said:

“hi,friend,
please don’t worry,we will do our best to help you.

we do check to it before sending out.
they are all on.
whether the line can not connect the power well?
please check it.

there were some chargers returned before,and we checked them again,it is ok.
if not work well,would you mind returning them back to us.
we will check and replace them to you,OK?

regards,

- rabbitword88”

I’ve tested everything. The one good charger, I unplug the cord from the back of it, try it in the other three, no juice. When I take any of the other three cords and plug them into the working charger, boom, lights right up!

I may just open them up and see WTF is going on. The cost to ship three of them back to china is $44USD :frowning:

-Jamie M.

>>>>>>>I just received four of these chargers, and three of them were bad right out of the box!

I just got one a couple weeks ago and it’s deader than a door nail. No lights. Nothing. Looks like this charger is an avoid.

I popped the covers and looked inside yesterday to see if it was something simple, an unsoldered connection or something. No such luck. Nothing obviously bad inside. In fact, I was quite surpised that there were so many components inside. Soldering was neat and well-done. Must be a bad component or two.

Here’re the innards of my DOA TR-006. Maybe someone will say: “See that cap numbered 897? A coat of nail polish will fix it.”

Red wires go to the charging rails. Nothing amiss that I can see, although the only thing that I could ID would be a disconnected wire or something equally obvious.

I’ve seen some REALLY sloppy and cheap Chinese PCBs, but this looks pretty neat and well done, although not well done enough to make the thing work. :wink:

Because of your nice work so far, I will disassemble my working AND non-working TR-006 and use my multimeter to determine where the two units start to differ :slight_smile:

Pics and info shortly.

-Jamie M.