I bought it from Fasttech and it was shipped in the usual envelope.
Only contents of the box was the charger, nothing else.
Specifications on the back says universal voltage and 1A charge current.
At the + end is a + mark and the connections will work with flat top batteries.
I am missing some big letters saying 4.35 volt.
The - end has the usual springs and red/green leds. The charger can handle 70 mm long batteries.
The bottom of the slots is marked with battery size and orientation, but again without any warning about 4.35 volt.
Measurements
Discharge battery with 3.5mA when power is disconnected.
Charges battery when power is connected.
Charger will always charge.
Charger will charge with 1A when battery voltage is very low at higher voltage the current will be reduced.
Charger will change from red to green light at 4.28 volt.
The channels are independent and there are small variations between them.
The rated 1A charge current is difficult to see in the chart, because the charge current drops with voltage and with empty batteries it is dropped to about 700mA.
The led switches to green after about 6 to 7 hours, this is before the batteries are charged, wait about 3 more hours and the batteries are up to 4.35 volt. The charger does never turn the charge current off.
As usual the yellow line shows where the charger says the battery is charged, i.e. led changes from red to green.
The second channel is slight faster.
Running both channels at the same time, does not change the charge speed.
Testing with 2500 volt and 5000 volt between mains and low volt side, did not show any safety problems.
Conclusion
The charger will fill 4.35 volt batteries and as long as the batteries are removed when they are full, the charger is useable. But without any termination, misleading ready led and slow charging I would look for another charger.
I am missing a 4.35 volt marking on the top of the charger.
Nice review HKJ, thanks. Fasttech are offering this charger with Panasonic 3400mAh cells, which seems a little strange (not to mention unsafe). I didn’t think 4.35v Panasonic cells were available.
I don't have any 4.35v cells yet, but when I do I will use a hobby charger and wait for a better dedicated charger to become available. Thanks for the review.
I have the iCharger and the one think I have not tried is use Trickle Charging mode for LiPos after I have set the termination voltage to 4.3. I think that this might do the job and bring the batteries up to 4,35 if you wish so.
I also have the LGs and I think that the difference between charging to 4,35v vs 4,30v is not significant anyway while performance of the LGs is still higher than my Panasonic 3400s (Protected). I try not to charge my batteries 100% to prolong their life. With normal LiPos I charge up to 4,16-4,18.
I gave that a try with the one I received on a number of occasions, however after no amount of additional charging would the battery read beyond 4.29V. So I’m wondering if that means it no longer continued to product any charging current after the green light like yours did?
FT sent me another one and I didn’t do much with it other than check once and it seemed to charge a bit higher. I didn’t leave it charging for a few hours to see if it continued to raise the voltage, so I’ll have to give that a try and see what happens.
Sorry I was remiss in getting an update. The replacement was better, it seems to cut off around 4.32, I guess that’s better than overcharging. I have 2 of the 4.35V batteries that I use on a regular basis and that’s the charger that I use for them. I have not seen any other issues such as overheating, etc.
Given that it is about a buck and a half cheaper it seems unlikely that the components would be any better, don’t you think? I agree, it looks like the same charger anyway.
.png)
.png)
.png)
