Short Armytek's charger review. Long time trying to write this review, but it was worth waiting - it is really good charger. Enjoy!
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Table of Contents:
- General parameters
- Package content
- Appearance, parameters
- Control
- My experience
- Clinging
- Summary
Charger came in this box
What's included:
Charher (what a surprise), power cord, car adapter, and user's manual
It looks very nice - there is style and class. Two yellow buttons for separate control of two slots, on each side 4 LEDs indicating the level of charge and a LED indicating the charging current.
About parameters, I rather mean what batteries fit here. Or rather, which do not fit. It seems that 72.5mm in length is the limit. Liitokala 21700 with a length of 71mm will fit, and there is just a little space left.
A bit longer button top 73 mm doesn't fit the standard way- but you can fit it slightly tilted, and it works ^:)
But longer cells won't fit :((
It is a pity, but on the other hand it is much better than in Liitokala Lii-500, to which their own 21700 cells barely fit and I had to jammed it in, with no space left.
Forget about longer cells, 72mm, 73mm and longer.
Liitokala is sad and depressed
You may ask: Tom, why is Liitokala sad and depressed?
Liitokala is sad and depressed, because she can't fit 72mm or 73mm cells
Liitokala is very depressed, and begins to drink
Losing all reasons to live, she stabbed knife into her slots
Don't be like Liitokala. Fit longer cells.
Armytek is happy
You may ask: Tom, why is Armytek happy?
Armytek is happy, because he can fit 72mm and 73mm cells
That's it.
And now charging currents: 1A, 0.5A and 0.1A to choose. I like it very much, we have everything we need for healthy battery charging. 1A for fast charging, 0.5A is the optimum and is selected by default when inserting the battery, and 0.1A can be for small batteries. It can also be for large, you know:
Log:
Day 3: Armytek is still charging my Shockli 5500mAh
Worth to mention about low cut-off current: For 1A it's just 80mA, and for 0,5A i 0,1A - 40mA. Great!
After inserting the cell, the charger itself detects its type and inform us by a red LED next to the battery name. We have a few seconds to change the battery type (e.g. from Li-Ion 4.2V to LiFePO4 3.7V) by holding the yellow button - the red LED will start blinking and you can choose by clicking the same button. You can change the charging current at any time by clicking the yellow button - charging stops and you can click to choose from 3 charging currents.
The selected cell type (Li-Ion 4.2V; 4.35V; LiFePO4 3.7V) is remembered and selected by default on the next charge. It is worth mentioning about
storage function - cells can be charged to 3.7V after choosing the LiFePO4 battery type. This option will be remembered, so if you usually charge one cell, you can, for example, set LiFePO4 for charging on the left slot, and Li-Ion on the right. Great function that I actually use - a big plus for the ability to charge LiFePO4.
My experiences
Very good charger! It can be found for a price lower than the two-channel Lii-300. I assume that the Lii-300 also has a big problem fitting its own 21700 batteries, and forget about longer ones. Armytek has everything I need - it charges cells up to 73mm, has a wide range of currents, charge indicator, choice of Ni-MH and LiFePO4, storage function, adapter for charging in the car.
Probably the best proof that I like it (and I don't just say it that because I got it for free) is the fact that I use Armytek all the time, having Liitokala Lii-500 lying next to it.
I mean ... Liitokala is dead anyway
So everything about all the flaws.
Armytek is not perfect. What irritates me the most - after connecting it to the power supply and inserting the cell, I can not change any options. I have to wait several seconds (and maybe longer) to change the options. It's like the charger needs a moment to recover after waking up. The second thing - the springs in the sliders creak terribly when moving. If you have a Lii-500 - they go there silently compared to Uni C2. But this is a minor drawback - unless you take the charger for hunting and change cells in the bushes. Another thing is the charge indicator - I think something is wrong with the scale. Battery was 4.14V and the charger still shows that the charge level is from 50% to 75%, by 3rd LED blinking. Moreover, I get the impression that it heats up more than it should... It has all converters inside, not in the plug, like in Lii-500.
Summary
Armytek Uni C2 is a simple and well done charger. It has 2 slots for charging Ni-MH, Li-Ion 4.2V cells; 4,35V; LiFePO4 3.7V with a choice of charging currents: 1A, 0.5A, 0.1A. The storage function charging up to 3.7V for rarely used cells is great. It holds 72 and 73mm batteries, which the Lii-500 cannot. It is not an all-in-one charger, but for a price lower than the Lii-300 it is really worth recommending.
Pros:
+ charging current: 1A, 0.5A, 0.1A
+ low cut-off current
+ fits cells up to 73mm
+ simple operation
+ storage function
+ charges Ni-MH and LiFePO4
Cons:
- noisy and creaking spring
- the charging modes cannot be changed immediately after switching on
- charging level not indicated correctly
Score: 8.5 / 10
I hope you enjoyed!
