Review: Charger Soshine SC-S7 UK

Batteries and Chargers Chargers
4

Superb review, thanks HKJ!

5

For those who want to see the retail packing

Charge using the supplied adapter, Li-ion end voltage 4.19V, while on USB power end voltage was 4.14V, same battery, is it due to my USB power adapter cannot supply enough current ?

6

Thanks HKJ! What kind of retail price are we seeing on this? Is this charger worth using to measure capacity of Li-Ions? Is the capacity reported close enough to "true" capacity? I realize this won't give us capacity at high discharge currents (i.e. 3A or 5A), but would the stated capacity be similar to a 1A discharge rate capacity?

Thanks,
-Garry

7

Thanks for the review. But I miss something in the conclusion about 14500/16340/18350/10440 being charged at 1 A. Do you think that 1A is OK.

8


If you look at my curves, you will see the same, when using USB power the final voltage is slightly lower. My guess is that it is due to voltage, i.e. the difference 0.8 volt between 4.2 and 5 volt is just at the of the charge.



For price, try searching (DX is $17.40). For LiIon the measured is fairly good, for the AW18350-IMR the display showed 804mAh and for PA18650-34 on USB it showed 3325mAh, you can compare that to where the blue and yellow line crosses in my charts.

You cannot really compare it to the discharge rate, if you discharge at 5A and then charge the battery, the display will show how many mAh you did use (Within a few %).



I do have a table with supported battery sizes, the 14500/16340/18350/10440 are all to small for it, except IMR types.

9

> will always restart charging when a battery is put into it or after a power loss
> and for NiMH it might charge a significant amount of current.

So putting in a nearly-charged NiMH risks cooking the cell? or having a power flicker cause a reset when one is almost charged?

10

NiMH is fairly tolerant with over charging, i.e. I do not know how much damage it does and how this behaviour compares to other chargers.

11

Thanks alot, HKJ, for another quality review ;)!
Im looking at this as a cheap and portable, no clutter Li battery capacity tester, I know hobby charger would be more versatile and with better accuracy and option, but it will cost more and take up much more space with all the wires and caddies, so Im not sure why would someone who needs only simple testing to make sure their batteries are within manufacturers specifications choose something more complicated and expensive.

12

Do not expect it to show if a battery is 2500 or 2600 mAh, the actual reading will depend on how much you discharged the battery.

But it will be good to check if the battery has lost a lot of capacity or you got a fake cell.

13

Thanks very much! Frontpage’d and Sticky’d.

14

Could you use this charger to tell whether a NiMH cell is weak or damaged?

15

As long as you always run the cell empty, before charging, the mAh display is a good indicator of problems with the cell.

16

Would the Xtar WP2 II be a better option than this? Is it true Xtar will be releasing a new version with a display very soon?

17

That is difficult to say:

  • They uses the same style of charging algorithm.
  • The SC-7 does charge after reporting ready, but only for a limited time.
  • The SC-7 shows mAh, this is useful to see how far a battery has been run down and to see if a battery is nearing end of life.
  • The SC-7 will also handle NiMH
  • The WP2 does two batteries at a time and terminated completely, but are missing the display.

Personally I would prefer the WP2, but I can always use some other charger to check the capacity of a battery.

I have seen some rumors on CPF about it. If these rumors are true I would very much like to test it.

18

How can I measure the charging rate for my chargers with a DMM?

I want to charge My Trustfire 10440 blacks when they arrive.

My charger are the Trustfire TP 001 and Ultrafire WF 139

19

How can I measure the charging rate for my chargers with a DMM?

I want to charge My Trustfire 10440 blacks when they arrive.

My charger are the Trustfire TP 001 and Ultrafire WF 139

20

How can I measure the charging rate for my chargers with a DMM?

I want to charge My Trustfire 10440 blacks when they arrive.

My charger are the Trustfire TP 001 and Ultrafire WF 139

21

This way:

Check my DMM guide for more explanation.

22

HKJ, I have a question for you…

I dont know if you have tried, but…

You said that it needs 1A no matter you use USB or 12v.

What happens if you connect the charger to a USB port or a USB power supply capable only of delivering 500mA??

It will not charge? It will charge, but at 500mA? It will give error message?

Thanks!

PS: veeery good review. Thanks for sharing

23

I have not tried it, but I would guess that the current is reduced when the usb voltage goes down, i.e. it will simply charge with a lower current.