XTAR SC1 Plus Charger Review

XTAR held a contest and asked the community to name a new 26800 charger. I proposed the name “SC1 Plus” and XTAR selected that name. They kindly sent an XTAR SC1 Plus and XTAR USB-C PD 45W power supply with an AU adapter for free.

Here’s my review:

Thanks for your detailed review with useful performance graphs and data. Termination voltage seems to be all over the place with this particular model. Another reviewer quoted termination voltage from 4.20 to 4.22V. You recorded a consistent termination voltage of 4.15

While test methods and equipment have not been discussed, I feel fairly confident that the disparity exists with the charger. Have you asked Xtar why termination voltage varies so much between examples? Lets hope more users post their results and this gets sorted. IMO 4.15V is way to low. After the cells have rested several hours, voltage my drop even further.

I mentioned to XTAR that my sample terminated at 4.15V and Cheule’s sample terminated at 4.17V and said that 4.19V would be nice.

I also mentioned to XTAR that the SC1 Plus got uncomfortable warm when I stress tested the powerbank with a 5V 2A load. I did this before creating graphs while charging each cell so there’s a chance that I may have damaged something.

In the past I complained about the VC8 having some slots that consistently stop around 4.15V (one around 4.14V) but it didn’t get anywhere. XTAR clarified that it’s within the cut-off voltage range of 4.20 +/- 0.05V.

I’m keen to see if HKJ reviews the SC1 Plus.

I might get some inexpensive digital multimeters with Bluetooth to measure a cell directly. A USB Meter may not be the best tool for monitoring a charger.

HKJ hasn’t been very active this year, so we might not see much more from his continuous barge of excellent reviews. I hope all is well with him. As I recall, he reviewed a few data logging DMM’s that he felt were accurate and reasonably priced.

Many of us have observed several shills writing reviews on BLF in order to gain free products from manufacturers, yet they have virtually no knowledge of the products they review, the principles behind them, and pass on extremely bad advice to others asking questions… all in the hopes that they will be able to shill more free stuff by helping the mfgr sell their rubbish. Its nice to see you’re not one of them!

I suspect the voltage variance with the SC1 is attributable to low spec SMD components being used in order to build the charger as cheaply as possible. The high heat encountered during power bank function is definitively of major concern and I would avoid using it in that manner. Maybe email Xtar a link to this thread and ask them to send you 2 more samples to see if they behave the same. They are inexpensive enough so it shouldn’t be a problem. The response from their CS will prove whether or not they are concerned about the QC of their products and our safety, and should be voiced to all interested in purchasing their products. -I hope you read that, Xtar!

Interestingly, at least 1/2 of my personal chargers are Xtar and have none of these issues… all pre-Covid examples. I own several Fluke branded DMM’s and a few others. I have one professionally calibrated once a year and use it to calibrate the lower res DMM’s within their spec. When I used to buy for others, Ive noted many cheap DMM’s are out of calibration right out of the box and most of them drift as their cells become depleted… JUNK! Of the worst are the harbor freight cheapies and similar I see being used by countless BLF reviewers & users throughout the years.

If not for HKJ and batteryuniversity.com, I never would have gained interest to learn more and have been content owning unassuming potential fire hazards/fragmentation grenades residing within my home and garage. My best friend is a fire captain and has responded to hundreds of electrical fires caused by cheap malfunctioning electronics. That trend increases every year!

Anyway, I’m not really worried about 4.15V, since it just means the cutoff voltage during the CV phase it’s conservative.

You’ll barely lose any capacity that way. In fact, it’s negligible.

As for the heat, it just means the boost circuit is a bit innefficient. To push 10W at 85%, you’d need to drain about 11.5W from the battery pack, which means you need to dissipate quite a bit of heat, so the heat doesn’t really surprise me as well.

What I’d like to hear is something from XTAR’s department.