Test/review of 4 port multi charger

EDC Gear for Flashlight Carriers USB Power Devices
1

4 port multi charger







Official specifications:

  • Form Color: White + Black

  • Material: ABS

  • Indicator Light: No

  • Port Number: 4

  • Spacing: 0.5A / 1A / 2A

  • With Switch Control: No

  • Interface: USB 2.0

  • Transmission Rate: 480 Mbps (Data, from a charger?)

  • Powered By: AC Charger (No, directly from mains)

  • Other Features: Voltage: 110~250V; Output:5V

  • Dimensions: 3.15 in x 2.44 in x 1.02 in (8.0 cm x 6.2 cm x 2.6 cm)

  • Weight: 2.65 oz (75 g)


I got it from DX sku:844409927 (I do not believe they have it anymore).













Measurements

  • Power consumption when idle is 0.12 watt

  • Has a blue led behind the usb connectors

  • All Usb output is coded as Apple 2.1A

  • All usb outputs are in parallel.

  • Size: 80.3mm x 62.5mm x 26.2mm

  • Weight (Without accessories or mains cable): 75.4g





The 2A port can deliver about 2.3A, this looks fine enough.



The 0.5A port can also deliver 2.3A?



Running all port in parallel (Total marked current is 4A) can also deliver 2.3A, this is not very impressive.



First try is a 2A load test, it could do that for 12 minutes, hardly enough time to charge a single pad.



At 1.5A it works better, there I could run for one hour.
The temperature photos below are taken between 30 minutes and 60 minutes into the one hour test.



M1: 44,0°C, M2: 48,6°C, M3: 61,8°C, HS1: 82,0°C
HS1 is the transformer.



M1: 43,0°C, HS1: 56,9°C
HS1 is again the transformer, but probably with some help from the two rectifier diodes.



HS1: 46,2°C



HS1: 71,9°C
HS1 is the transformer.



HS1: 76,2°C




There is a lot of noise at 0.5A: 84mV rms and 670mVpp.



It is about the same at 1A: 81mV rms and 600mVpp.



And gets worse at 2A: 155mV rms and 820mVpp.



Tear down



This was fairly easy to open, I had to remove four screws and then one to get the circuit board away from the lid.



At the mains input there is a fuse and a bridge rectifier. The chip is a AP3970 12W switcher, this matches fairly well with 2A output.
Below the transformer there is two rectifier diodes in parallel. The blue safety capacitor is not a safety capacitor, but a 1kV standard capacitor (bad). Between the usb connectors is the blue led.



This side gives a better view to the two rectifier diodes.





Here the “safety” capacitor can be seen.



This side of the circuit board only has a few resistors. Notice all usb datapins are connected together, it is no accident they have the same coding.






The first image is from under the “safety” capacitor, as usual there is supposed to be over 6mm, but there below 1mm. This will protect the capacitor from overvoltage, but not the user.


The charger passed the 2500 volt test, but failed the 5000 volt test




Conclusion

Very bad safety with the low creapage distance, not very much output power for a 4 port device, lots of noise and silly marking of the connectors.
I will not recommend using this charger.



Notes

Index of all tested USB power supplies/chargers
Read more about how I test USB power supplies/charger
2

I just noticed that my total of published usb charger reviews is above 100 (This is #102), not including power banks and car chargers.
I do have some more in queue.

3

Thanks for another informative contribution.

I have a question with regards to these reviews of yours: is it 0K for me to presume you measure voltage output at the device's output (pins)?

Well, if this is the case, there's at least one more thing that I find to be valid enough reason to steer clear of devices like this one: too low output voltage (I prefer 5.1+V no-load). The USB spec dictated 5V ±5%, at least originally, and I find that any slippage in cable/plug resistances can be immediately noticed by non-philistine device operators because of current flow drop/throttling.

It would be very interesting for us to be provided with some kind of accurate data with regards to what kind of typical resistances do the female/male connections exhibit, at least for the more commonly used type A, micro-B and C pairs. At 2A of current flow, just 100mΩ in the connectors sounds harsh enough to me, and most muggles may treat their plugs/cables like sheesh.

Thanks again. :-)

Cheers ^:)

Originally posted on Sat, 11/19/2016 - 18:42. Added clarification.

4

As always, thanks for the honest review. I’ll stick with my Anker products. Never once had an issue with any of them.

5

Thanks HKJ.

6

+1
AUKEY and Orico go into the same bin - I have a couple AUKEY powerbanks that are working just great for years, Anker Lightning cables and car charger, and Orico car charger - all of them work reliably, and provide rated currents with no issues whatsoever. Build quality on all 3 brands in top notch, too.

7

Not exactly at the output pins, I have made a short cable that goes from usb to bananaplugs. It has a small voltage drop.
You can see it when looking at load sweep for a single port vs. load sweeps for all ports (Where I uses many connections in parallel). The last one has lower voltage drop at the same current.

Resistance will vary with the connector quality.

8

Why didn’t you check the transmission Rate?
A good charger should have at least 300Mbps :wink:

9

HKJ, thank you once again for your wonderful study and pleasant writeup. I greatly enjoy reading your work.

Regarding data claims on a charger, this is actually a red flag and a potential big deal. If you ever see a charger with the “USB-IF Certified” logo for data, the manufacturer can actually be sued and/or have their goods confiscated at the port of entry. You can even report such violations here: ( USB-IF Compliance Updates )

I made a disclaimer to that effect in one of my previous commentaries. The USB-IF take their logos very seriously, and you have to pay fees and pass testing to use them officially. A charger certification program has recently started too, and logos are coming soon to indicate power capabilities just like the current logos do data.

That said, I am having less and less faith in the USB-IF’s ability to do their job properly. They seem more concerned about their authority than their job. So I wouldn’t actually recommend anyone actually go through that process.