Good that the 26650 batteries you used allow charging in the middle slot with the 2 outer slots occupied.
I didn’t mention that possibility, because the 3rd 26650 battery in the Vapcell S4 Plus, may or may not be chargeable, depending on what kind of “top” design is the 26650 batteries. Some 26650 batteries with different top design will not make proper contact when sitted (improperly) in the middle slot of the Vapcell S4 Plus, but some 26650 will.
Also, physically there is no difference for Vapcell S4 Plus (initial batch) versus Vapcell S4 Plus (revised batch) - only some of the charger’s behavior has been tweaked a bit.
Yes, you are right. I have had some 26650 that would not make contact. I have magnets for that and now they will work. Although the high drains I’m using now make good contact with the positive end of the S4 Plus, I’ve had Chargers where I did have to use my magnets. Sometimes it’s a combination of the type of positive end on the battery and the positive end on the charger.
This charger is useless to me for discharge test.It specifies that slot #1 and #4 can Only diacharge at 1 amp.Thats bad enough.Mine will Not do that. Two times I had to put my VTC5A and 30Q in. Both times I set at 1000mAh discharge rate. Once it started to disharge Both batteries we’re only discharging at 500 milliamps.
EDIT:I tried 5 times with an array of batts. VTC5A,30Q,P26A and Vapcell G53.Everytime it could ONLY Discharge either slot 1 or 4 at 1000mAh.The other was always at 500mAh.I am taking it back tomorrow
I found out from Liionwholesale there’s a bug /electronic glitch in the device. All the devices. The only way to do a capacity test at 1 amp in Slots 1 and 4 is manually. Manually give a Full charge, then manually discharge it and write the numbers down then manually charge it and write the numbers down to compare and they should be the same.
If they ever come out with version 3 they need to fix that. And make it like the Opus where you can discharge all four slots at 1 amp. If they need to remove some of the other useless stuff on this display panel to accommodate that, then do it! Its a good charger for charging but they’re discharging technology sucks, Fred Flintstone like!
With regards to discharge current for Vapcell S4 Plus, I’ve also been curious how to set the discharge current (when using “Test” mode). I’ve addressed this question to Vapcell before, and their reply was that the charger automatically selects the discharge current, but according to what criteria, that isn’t exactly known… (unlike some chargers, where setting for example, charge current of 1A, results in 0.5A discharge current, setting 0.5A charge current, results in 0.25A discharge current.) On the Vapcell S4 Plus, it seems to automatically and erratically choosing the discharge current.
I have experienced the Vapcell S4 Plus discharging at 1A discharge current (slot #1 & #4) while in Test mode; but sometimes, it also auto-selects 0.5A discharge current while in Test mode. I have not yet been able to figure out the correlation as to when it discharges at 1A or 0.5A. To manually force 1A discharge current will require, as you mentioned, using “Discharge” mode though.
Regarding the Opus BT-C3100, based on certain feedbacks, discharging at 1A might (especially when all slots are being tested) result in overstated capacity result, due to the charger overheating and then pausing the test for awhile to cool-down, and then restarting the discharge operation (at least, that’s how I understand what’s happening). Unless install a separate fan so that the Opus does not overheat while discharging (maybe it does this less in a cooler climate; but in our tropical climate, sometimes the Opus charger fan automatically starts up even when not doing any testing, because our ambient temperature got too hot that the Opus fan automatically starts spinning…
There are screws under the rubber feet. The back of the case slides out. Unclip the springs to pull the main PCB out. Heatsinks at the top fit snugly but they slide out with the PCB.
The display PCB needs to be unplugged, unscrewed and carefully lifted up. The display easily falls off the PCB.
Thanks to HKJ for the initial review. I went and bought a Vapcell S4 plus in June 2020. It charged all my cells fairly fast, and I like the display quite a bit. The end of charge beep was annoying though, but I learned to live with it.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I put in my regular Samsung INR21700-50E cell in to the S4 plus (which I charged at least 50 times on the S4 plus), and immediately, I smell smoke from the S4 plus. I immediately took the INR21700-50E out, and double checked to make sure it’s put in the right way, and it was.
After I unplugged the power cord from the back of the S4 plus, I can smell the fried electrical pieces inside the charger. I thought it might be the INR21700-50E cell had gone bad, and charged it in my Miboxer M8, which was plugged into the same power strip, and the charging went normally on the M8.
I contacted Vapcell for support a couple of days ago to tell them about my problem and offer to send the S4 plus to them so they can inspect it, and they told me I’ll need to pay for the shipping to and from Shenzhen and repair cost, so I’m thinking Vapcell is not really interested in finding out the root cause of the issue.
I learned from this, and won’t be getting any Vapcell chargers in the future.
Hope you guys have better luck with your S4 plus charger, but do keep it away from flammable material.
I've ordered the new version recently but have yet to receive it.
Although this charger appears to be quite good, based on this review here and elsewhere, I almost didn't order this charger.
A minor issue is that there are not really enough low current settings available for charging low capacity cells (600 ~ 800 mAh). I prefer to slow charge cells ( at 0.1C to 0.3C ) to prolong cell life.
The present current selections are - 250 mA, 500 mA, 1000 mA, 1500 mA, 2000 mA, 2500 mA, and 3000 mA.
I would really prefer to see current selections something like - 100 mA, 200 mA, 300 mA, 400 mA, 500 mA, 700 mA, 1000 mA . . and the remaining higher current settings can remain the same.
Maybe if there is an upgraded version of this charger in the future the lower current settings could be expanded to include the above current settings?
I have it, and for most of my batteries (actually all) the 250 mah is fine. Cells needing a lower current won’t fit, and even though something like a AAA size battery says 90 mA max, you can still do 250 just fine on a NiMH. It’s the small li-ions that need the lower current.
Are you talking about NiMH? I’ve read Eneloop engineers recommend 0.5 to 1C because it makes delta-V detection easier. Charging slower risks overcharging, which is more damaging than charging quickly.
If you’re talking about LiIon, any cell 14500 or larger can easily take 250mAh.
