My Vapcell S4+ Analyzing Charger photos and observations

I just got the vapcell as a companion to my original maha c9000. Love how clear the display is. Everything is going good so far but I was wondering if there is a chart somewhere which lists different sizes of li-ion batteries and what charge/discharge current to use? Something like this

This chart is for NiMH/NiCd batteries.

tia

I use these values:
10440 -> 250 mA
14500 -> 500 mA to 1A
18350 -> 500 mA to 1A
18650 -> 1A to 3A (best to read the data sheet for your cells)
21700 -> 1A to 3A (best to read the data sheet for your cells)

It depend on the cell.

So far the common, accepted safe max charging rate for li-ions is 1C and at least .33C for niMh.

For discharge, 500mA to 1A is acceptable for both.

Could it simply be the power adapter that is broken?
Have you tried another?

Just a quick question. I charged a Nitecore 21700 (NL2150) and the nitecore site says it's 3.6V but as you can see from the picture, Vapcell charged it to 4.2V. Is this an issue? Or am I mistaken some how?

The Vapecell charger works well. But I have noticed sometimes the readings are not consistant.And it has alot to do with how the batteries are put in the charging bay. I would recommend that when you place the batteries in charger that they are perfectly straight. Try running them again and see if
reading is different. If the readings are the same ask the battery manufacturer about them.

Dug a little deeper and found this. So it seems ok (Doh)

[quote=tcc]

Dug a little deeper and found this. So it seems ok (Doh)

:+1: :beer:

Ok thats good, keep in mind what I told you about the charger, its very sensitive to how batteries are put in bays

Will do.

Thanks for the tip.

All analyzing charger/discharger that has SLIDING RAILS to accomodate different battery lenghts has this inherent drawback, of which since the negative contacts of the rails are not fixed and are spring-loaded, it has this drawback of a very possible different IR readings depending on the physical contact on how the rails get in contact with the (-) side of the batteries, and even with the (+) side, though in a much lesser degree.

I mitigate this inherent drawback with the sliding rails by at first wiping the (+) and (-) ends of the charger AND the cell, then when the cell is already put its place, I push the sliding negative rail contact towards the the front AND at the same time rolling the cell in the bay, hoping for a more stable physical contact.

The lowest reading after two or more tries gets me more or less near the ball park of the correct IR, but nowhere near the correct reading of a laboratory-grade, hundred to a thousand dollar IR measuring tool.

Yes I agree, but the Vapecell charger seems to be much more sensitive than my eastshine or the xstar dragon

Just got an updated version. The voltage always shows 4.2V when charging regardless of capacity (percentage seems to work correctly). Is this a known bug/feature?

Check it again when you first put the cells in, if charging at higher current the charging load will increase cell voltage and read 4.2V for like… the top 1/4 of the charge cycle.

If working properly you’ll see voltage steady at 4.2V for quite a while but charging current progressively getting lower as the cell gets closer to fully charged.

Hmm, ok. I’ve only tried partially depleted cells and yes they do show a lower (actual) voltage on load but as soon as charging starts it jumps to 4.2V and charging current does get progressively lower (so in line with your comments). It’s not something I remember reading about and seems kinda odd, all the other chargers I’ve had report the actual cell voltage during charge, regardless of progress. Not a big deal, just an observation I haven’t seen mentioned.

I could be wrong, but from my understanding those other chargers are estimating/adjusting the voltage reading much like how the “charge percentage” works on most chargers, whereas the S4+ is reporting true voltage reading.

Thats probably true. But I can only comment on the charges I have had experience with. The xstar dragon plus which I don’t have anymore, And the eastshine charges are nowhere near as sensitive as my Vapcell. Don’t get me wrong I like the Vapcell but it is sensitive.

I received my S4+ last week and had been doing a number of capacity test. Also played around with the ‘Manual’ and ‘Auto’ mode. Personally, the ‘Manual’ mode give you better flexibility.

I noticed my unit that doing the capacity test, the display does not turn off, and remains lighted throughout the process.

Is this normal?

Also — someone commented that there are ‘updates’ since it’s first release. How do we know which version or date of manufacture for our unit?

If your display remains on, you got the updated revision. In order to turn off the display, hold the button "DISPLAY" pressed for 2-3 seconds.

Check here for some more information: ;-)

I think there’s no hardware limitation when discharging. All 4 slots should work at 1A.
This may be by-passable in manual mode.
Some additional cooling should compensate.