What insulation material do you suggest to go between the back of the board and the alluminium heat sink ? … Presumeably it would have to transfer the heat through to the alluminium.
Would it be better to glue (somehow) a small (finned) heatsink directly to the top of the chip instead ? … This would not need any insulation material.
On the other hand , copper shims might glue on the back of the board OK.
Or maybe just leave the charger boards as they are , without heatsinks … I have not had any trouble so far … If they do get too hot , the chip will apparently automatically reduce the current as necessary … It’s only for the first part of the charge that the chip heats up anyway and mine were less than 65C at worst … Even holding my finger on the chip for a while reduced the temperature according to my infra-red thermometer.
I will use the double-sided tape to hold the aluminium heatsinks to the underside of the charger board … I hope this will give some reduction in chip temperature during the first part of the charge cycle … It certainly can’t do any harm.
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Ordered three of these for 1.60 each inc shipping on eBay. I already have 18650 sockets but they don’t give much space for protected cells. I guess I can make my own emergency packs with these.
Still, for standalone chargers, does anybody know a place for strong 18650 holders those can accept even an XTAR 18700 cell?
I found that the normally available battery holders won’t accept protected 18650’s (which are actually 18700’s) … The easiest way is to use short leads (4”) fitted with croc-clips … The croc-clips will easily clip onto magnets … The magnets will “stick” to the battery … Easy !
That’s the way I’m using my hobby charger. Magnets don’t stick to copper PCB’s at the bottom of protected batteries, I’m afraid. But still, you’re right. Attaching crocodiles to the output seems to be the best option for now. You can even charge cell phone batteries this way, through a clipper, a pin or another mating socket.
The general description stated by the two companies are almost the same except for this part that was stated on Linear Technology’s description;
“When the input supply (wall adapter or USB supply) is removed, the LTC4054 automatically enters a low current state, dropping the battery drain current to less than 2µA. The LTC4054 can be put into shutdown mode, reducing the supply current to 25µA.”
TP Micro’s description states;
“When the input supply (wall adapter or USB supply) is removed, the TP4056 automatically enters a low current state, dropping the battery drain current to less than 2μA. The TP4056 can be put into shutdown mode, reducing the supply current to 55μA. ”
The only difference is the 25µA stated by Linear Technology, and 55µA stated by TP Micro.
My question is, will there be significant difference, if ever, in performance with regards to the two chips?