Hi, I'm new here, but have been reading posts on blf for a month or so now.I find this forum to be very down to the nitty gritty about the performance of these budget flashlights, as well as the chargers and batteries they use. I have found a great deal of information by reading this site and would like to add some information about the xtar wp6 II charger. Most that I've read about, has been about the xtar wp2 charger, which is very good, but could not find as much about the 6 cell version. So here goes my first impression on the Xtar wp6 II.
The 'Xtar wp6 II' arrived from an ebay seller who shipped from the U.S., but I believe is a China/Hong Kong based seller. The deal was advertised as including: the charger of course,the wall power plug, a car power adapter, and 6 screw-in spacers to accommodate various sized cells from 18650's to rcr123a's. It arrived as advertised, in a nice retail box, along with product manual and 'xtar guarantee card'. The unit is made of sturdy thick plastic, and the accessories seem to have been well thought out as well, they give an impression of high quality standards. The total cost was $35 shipped.($35.29 w/free shipping). This charger can charge up to 6 cells at a time. I have already posted some information about this unit on another thread, so I will copy and paste that info here:
I just received the xtar wp6 II charger that I had ordered from an ebay seller. You can get them for about $35 to $38 if you look around . Also, be sure to buy from a seller that has the kit with the car charger adapter with it, some do not have it. Also, make sure you get the 'xtar wp6- II' version with the screw in spacers, there are sellers on there trying to get rid of the old version and charge the same price, so be observant when you read the listing. I'll just say that this charger that I received is nice and solid, charges to proper voltage, and when the light turns green it doesn't sit there and charge your cells up, it's off. I've went back after a couple of hours and checked the finished cells and they stayed the same voltage as when it originally turned green(off). I've charged four cells, 2 Tenergy 2600mah 18650(with pcb), and 2 ultrafire 2400mah 18650(blue unprotected.) Fresh off the wp6-II voltage is 4.22v / 4.21v Tenergy, and 4.17v / 4.18v ultrafire. I'll let them rest a while off the charger and see what they are then. Also, there was absolutely no heat from the charger, the wall power pack, or the cells during the charging cycle...........(Update: there is only normal warmth during the charge cycle, around the chargers led areas. No heat from the batteries themselves, and when the charger is finishibg charge, no warmth at all.).......... This puppy seems to tick all the right boxes so far. I'll report back in an hour on the rested voltage. ( Hopefully I remember)
Update: 1 hour later... -Ok, so after the cells sat off the charger for about 45 minutes the voltages are still the same, Tenergy 2600mah w/pcb 4.22/4.21 and ultrafire 2400 blue unprotected 4.17/4.18v. I will put them all back on the charger and leave them there overnight while I sleep ( I know you shouldn't do that with any lithium battery/charger, but I now feel confident that this charger is safe and intelligent). I want to see how much, if any the voltage changes over night. I should mention, that even after you put the fully charged cells back on the charger, the indicator lights go red on each individual cell bay(as if charging) for a few minutes, then they all turn back to green in whatever order the charger determines to be correct. Now, since all the indicator lights are once again green, I'll just leave them on the wp6-II overnight and see what I get in the morning. Wish me luck
Update: one day later after waking up/coffee... -Alright, as i said I would do, I left all 4 cells on the charger overnight. These cells were fully charged by this very charger, and then placed back on the charger to sit overnight.(about 9 hours) After re-checking the voltage,the Tenergy 2600mah 18650's (protected) read 4.21/4.21 and the ultrafire 2400mah unprotected 18650's read 4.16/4.18v. So...there was no voltage increase, only a leveling off of the voltage as the cells rested. Excellent. There was no heat/funny smells anywhere to be found either. I should add, that the Tenergy cells I have are brand new, only charged twice before this on a different charger. The ultrafire cells are 'new' also, but how new can an ultrafire cell really be? Anyway, this is a good charger with 6 charging bays. The charging bays are grouped in two's, but each of the 6 bays is individually controlled. The charger pulse charges at 1200ma or cc/cv charges at 600ma. For example, if you want fastest results, you can charge 3 cells at cc/cv at a time with this charger(wp6 II),by using bays 1,3,and 5 or bays 2,4,and6. If you use both bays in a group, then that group will pulse charge at 1200ma. Once one cell in that group is finished, that group then goes from pulse charging at 1200ma to cc/cv charging at 600ma. I'm glad that a company finally came out with a reliable and safe charger for these lithium cells. Yes, you should take the cells off the charger and unplug the charger as soon as possible, but if you don't, with the 'xtar wp6 II' charger, you will be A.o.k. I hope this helps anyone interested in chargers, and I don't mean to sound like an advertisement, but I just want to be clear on the model number and the brand of charger. Don't get a wp6 'original' version, get the 'xtar wp6 II' version with the screw-in spacers. You should be able to find one with: the charger, 6 screw-in spacers, a car power adapter, and the wall power plug, for $38 or less(shipped). If you don't get all that in your deal, then you didn't get the best possible deal(as of November 2011). I got mine for $35 shipped. Thank you, hope this helps out.
December 2011: After using this charger over the course of 4-5 weeks, I can say that it still works like a champ. Just charged a set of Tenergy 18650's and got 4.2v right on the button. A day later, both at 4.19v. I will be receiving(on their way from China) some 14500's for a new light I bought, then I'll see how it behaves with that size cell. I don't expect any surprises though.
