Review / Measurement: Charger Xtar VP1

Well, I love this charger. I decided to keep it side by side with my SP2 so all my charging options are available.
Every cell I’ve charged so far on my VP1 completed its charge at 4.20 volts, and when left in the cradle to rest after charging, came off at 4.19 volts. To me, that’s perfect charging.

The Xtar website is pretty slipshod, and very poorly translated.
My VP1 is an official, legitimate Xtar product.

The scratch code must be entered into the four boxes like this:
5 digits…5 digits…5 digits…3 digits

…and don’t ask me how long I took figuring that out.

Is there an indication of price? I didn’t see it on their page, probably just missed it.

HKJ, the only other typo I saw that tripped me up a bit was “The slots has raised battery connections” ….with slots being plural has should be have. Nitpicking, I know….you did a great job! :slight_smile:

So where do I order this? And do I need to, with a Cottonpickers charger at 90/200 and another coming at 480/700? David’s voltmeter reads from 3-25V…nothings perfect is it? That could realistically be a little lower to see a highly discharged cell.

Really enjoy your reviews HKJ, always informative and laid out in an easy to understand manner. A Big Thumbs Up to ya on this one!

As far as I understand, they made a small run before the Chinese new year, they where sold at about $50. The next batch will probably be available sometime in March.

Thanks.

With two Cottonpickers you are covered, but there is some significantly differences:

A cradle charger is safer to use, there is no risk of magnets attracting stuff and make shorts.

A cradle charger is easier to use (As long a the batteries fit).

The voltmeter on VP1 uses much less current from the batteries, and it will not start discharge the batteries when charging is finished.

I did have an issue with the two leads being the same length on my initial cottonpickers charger. The battery somehow rolled off the desk and let the leads clamp together while on charge! Got it nearly immediately but it inspired me to cut one lead down so they can’t easily do that again. Ever since then this charger tops off to 4.21V instead of 4.2V.

Then I found that some cells don’t have magnetic bases, like the RediLast or the Ultrafire. So I found a tube that fit up to 18mm cells (I think it held an Epi-Pen) and cut some location holes in the sides. I put the negative lead into the hole at the bottom of the tube, slip the battery in on top of it, then put the positive lead in the hole at the appropriate location for the top of the cell, drop another cell on top of that to hold it in place, plug in the charger. The leads are isolated inside the tube so they can’t come in contact with anything else! :wink:

Will be on the look-out for this charger though, wish it held bigger cells. I have 6 32650’s at 5500mAh capacity, sure would be nice to be able to charge them at 1A! Might have to make some magnetic leads for those…

Great review! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks very much for the review! Frontpage’d and Sticky’d.

Just brought this charger today new to 18650 always been a double aa man thanks very much for this review been very reluctant to buy a 18650 type torch so I first took the plunge with a nitecore p25 with built in USB charge and was so impressed this charger is very good for a newbie like myself once again thanks hkj for your very good and easy to understand review. Regards Tony

This is not the charger, this charger uses the correct algorithm and the battery voltage will drop slightly below 4.20 volt when the charge is stopped.

I bought one of these after reading this review.
Well worth the money and every bit as good as the Pila I had been using with the added bonus of 3 different charging rates.
Thanks HKJ.

Just received mine today. As others have noted, just enter the 18 digits in a 5-5-5-3 configuration and it will work. Mine seems to be genuine. 8)

Does the VP1 come with both the AC and DC charging cords?

Mine came with the UK mains lead and a 12v car cord.

In my pack it did and I just bought it from a shop.

It depends on the set. XTAR makes a SET A and SET B. The difference is the inclusion of a DC charger. Set B with the charger is more expensive.

Thank you!

HKJ

Would it be possible to update this thread with a photo of the thermal imaging on the VP1 charger? It would be much appreciated.

I will try to get that done.

Thank you sir! :slight_smile:

Just ordered one of these from Fasttech for $31.25 using the BLF discount code. Looks like an awesome charger!

Oh I forgot to mention, great review HKJ! All your reviews are very informative. Thanks!!