XTAR VP1 Dual Bay LCD Charger

Aaaahhhh, gotcha. Thanks for clarify about those bars, guyz. Much appreciated :slight_smile: :beer:

HKJ, do you have your sample for review already? :stuck_out_tongue:

The added value of the voltage and current (fixed = just replaces positional current selecting switch) display is close to zero and cannot justify the price. Doesn’t provide discharge function, capacity measurement, LiFePo support, USB input/output. I own MAHA, XTAR WP2 II + MP2 but this new VP1 is a kind of Mickey Mouse improvement and I would rather buy a nice hobby charger for the same price.

I’m sure distributors were asked for input. We suggested in this order:

Capacity count (charging)
LiFePO4 or NiMH support
USB output or input

I also have nearly every recent charger under the sun but this is a plus because it’s a step up from the Cottonpickers BUT the same cost Cottonpickers can do NiMH :confused:

Note we suggested a close price point to this contingent upon the features above. Note that at this price it’s still competitive for the voltage readouts (as compared to others like Cottonpickers).

Official info/web and some GIFs showing how the display works: http://www.xtarlight.com/en/05-chanpin/p-001-1.asp?styleid=232

What cottonpickers does Nimh?

Found in a thread in the charger section. Also, seems relatively inexpensive: Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com

Would appreciate your feedback as one of the cell gurus.

Yes, and I have already done a couple of charge cycles. It does a very fine CC/CV charge.

Why have a display without capacity measurement though? SIgh.

Xtar VP1 $49.99
0.25A
0.50A
1.00A
CC/CV
LCD display showing charging current and volt charge progress.

Xtar SP2 $34.99
0.50A
1.00A
2.00A
CC/CV
Led lights showing charging status and charging current indicators.

I’ll wait for HKJ’s review and decide if that LCD display is worth the higher price tag.

If it passes all the tests (I would expect it do, but I need to do some more measurements), then there are two things in favor of it:

The display, the obvious is that it can be used to see the charge state of the battery, but it can also be use to estimate the age of the battery (Not in years, but how word down the battery is).

If you are using 16340 and especially 10440 cells, the 0.25A range is very useful.

Generally I would expect it to be more expensive than the XP2, a custom made LCD display does cost more money than 3 leds.

Why is it that generally, charging a 16340 at 0.25A is preferred over 0.50A, while charging a 14500 at 0.50 is totally acceptable even though they are both 4.2V 750mAh cells?

They are not both 750mAh cells, the 14500 has higher capacity than 14500 cells.

A 16340 is usual between 500 and 600mAh.

A 14500 is usual between 600 and 800mAh.

Okay. Thanks. I was wondering if it was some sort of internal resistance thing that I didn’t understand.

I once contemplated between 16340 and 14500.
My mind automatically jumped to(assuming the same tech): h(πr^2) ie, more area=more power. :slight_smile:
16340= ~6832.64mm^3
14500= ~7693mm^3

For Li-Ions, cycling only wears them out, and doesn’t does anything good.

Why bothering with this one if you have an original i4 for the same price :slight_smile:

Jason, have you tried 26650?

Sorry, the 26650 doesn’t fit comfortably in there.

+1 on the i4. If it’s a LiION/NiMH, I’d much rather go with a “brand name” than a knock off for safety sake — even if many of the components are the same.

I have checked a few, with the help of tinfoil is they do connect: