I have supplied dozens of Miller ML-102s with Flashlights but with overcharging likely with the new version I had to find something else. I found the Xtar MC-1 for sale on Ebay for US$5.98
Edit - oops that is an auction - they are likely to go for US$8.00-9.00 ea
Slower .5 amp vs 1 amp but can take more battery sizes plus protected.
HKJs review:
AirSoftPeak, AirSoftPark, the Chinese really dont like to differentiate themselves do they?
What about the Xtar XP1? HKJ’s review suggests it is pretty good. On clearance from Torch Direct in the UK for £3.95, though shipping probably kills it if you only want one, or are outside the UK.
Only does batteries up to 50mm, can't do 18650
Woops, my bad. I didn’t read the spec from Torch Direct properly, and it’s been a while since I read HKJ’s review. Apologies.
I’ve made three of these and they work very well:
Side view showing the voltmeter:
I added a resistor to one to decrease the charging amperage for my 14500 cells. It fits nicely in an Altoids container:
The other two are used for 18650 cells.
The boards are plentiful on ebay for about $2.50 or even less, the two wire voltmeters are a similar price and the battery holders are less than $1. A bit of epoxy and some non conductive two sided tape and some wire and you have a nice little charger. It does take a small bit of soldering but it isn’t difficult.
I did mount the boards on a small piece of aluminium as a heat sink but this isn’t really necessary.
The last time I looked you can get the boards from Mountain electronics.
As I recall they were well reviewed by HKJ (but are not reverse polarity protected).
John.
http://www.xtardirect.com/collections/chargers ($2 USPS shipping, not bad if you’re looking for a reliable source)
but I agree this is well worth considering: DIY Micro USB TP4056 4.2V CC/CV Li-Ion Charger
I can tell you the MC1 can and will hold 18650 perfectly (it might even hold a 26650 just fine [there are no sides to get in the way])….just be VERY careful with the micro USB port
They work great…I love the slider ability, I broke mine and soldered on one of those TP4056 boards (I put on a 2.2k resistor and get approx 500~mA delivery) it works very well
Look for vaping shops, they sell them for under $6 or so
but non of these have the power bank feature …
Well hello, Mr. Wet Blanket!
Seriously, that’s a mission-critical feature for some of us. THANK YOU for pointing it out!
Maybe someone has a mod for that…?
Dim
Use the Miller as the power bank — it’s fine for delivering power. Tape over the mini-USB port.
Use something safe as the charger.
(until and unless someone can suggest how to mod the Miller board, which I don’t see happening)
I think I will add a small voltmeter it will use the tickle charge
A voltmeter only uses about 10mA. It should still be able to overcharge if allowed some time, better than nothing though.
HKJ do you prefer the LDO TP4056 charging pattern to the micro controlled buck type charging? (especially since it seems it doesn’t fully turn off charging)
You could always put one of these as an output
http://www.fasttech.com/products/1005/10002934/1851300
More or less a version of this below
Both TP4056 and a buck circuit can charge correctly.
With 5 volt input the TP4056 is a cheap and usual well working solution. The buck circuit will always be more complicated, but has better efficiency at higher voltages and is not limited to 1A charge current.
I had an order for one of these and its been in "restocking" for ages, but now I'm eyeing the Efest XSmart charger.
Here is what FT said.
During packaging, we discovered that the item SKU 1137904(1 pcs) we were about to ship you is lacked because that we had mistaken the stock. Please note that the status of shipment #2 in your order is displayed as packaging in the system, but actually it is not available now. It might not be restocked soon
Could this one be a worthy replacement for the Miller? I just found it @Banggood:
“Klarus CH1 Li-ion NI-MH Battery Function Indicator Power Bank Charger”
Interesting…
You can use even a 14500 to charge your phone (of course 14500 much much less capacity than 18650)
Also with A single AA or AAA?? WTF
However…
The miller ml102 does not need a replacement since we have the version 8.0 with the overcharging issue fixed.
And miller is 5.96$ vs klarus 9.5$
But the miller ml102 version 8.0 has not been throughly tested yet. Miller has proven they don’t even bother to do basic safety testing before shipping out a new version.