Well I ordered the morning of the group buy, and paid $5 extra for expedited shipping. They sent it via DHL, and got it in 2 days flat from China to San Antonio, Texas. Wow! That is the fastest shipping I have ever seen, besides FedEx/UPS overnight.
Here are some pics in case you can't wait. I also verified it does show "2.0" on start-up for maybe 1 second, then goes to the normal screen.
My impressions so far..
Came with a US plug power adapter! Perfect
Fan turns on when temperature is above 40 degree celcius
It does not have a Nitecore i4 quality feel or build to it. The BT-3100 plastic feels a little cheaper, like the semi-brittle plastic that breaks when you drop it.
The LCD display is not evenly lit. It's like those old Casio watches I use to get as a kid, where only the corners would be bright, and the time in the middle would be slightly dimmer. The display is easy to read despite this shortcoming.
It's noisy. I put some Trustfire flames in it about 10 minutes ago. On start-up it made no noise, and now I just notice the fans blowing, which is making an audible noise I can hear, even though it is 10 feet away from me.
I really like the information it displays on the screen, which shows voltage of batteries when you put them in, then shows the charging rate that the batteries are being charged at. Pressing the display button cycles through that information, and also shows how much "mah" the battery has received, as well as the "time" its been on the charger.
I do like the fact that back-lit LCD turns off after exactly 30 seconds of inactivity.
Charges 4x18650 @ 1A each slot with no problem
Charges 2x18650 @ 2A each slot, but batteries must be in charging slot 1 and 4 to do so.
After exactly 1 hour of charging 4x18650 @ 1A each, the charger showed no signs of heat, the batteries were slighty warm, just barely.
Even though it seems like this charger doesn't scream high quality, I still like it. The display shows a lot of information, and now I don't have to use my DMM to check the voltage! Just a quick look at the screen and there you go. So far, this is all I have checked with this charger.
Ok, enough talking, now for some pics...
4x18650's @ 1A each slot
2x18650's @ 2A each slot, must be in charging slot 1 and 4 to do so.
After exactly 1 hours of charging time, these were the exact mah given to each battery
The biggest issue having it the last couple hours is the fan. The noise is very audible even 15-20ft away. I might have to disconnect it, or change it out for a low rpm fan that is not so LOUD while in use.
Part of the issue is the way that the board is controlling the fan. The problem will become immediately obvious after thinking about the way other high-heat electronics work.
Computers, for example, always keep the fan moving air across the processor heatsink. When the computer is under load, it slowly ramps up the voltage (if old) or adjusts the PWM frequency (if new) to mitigate the change in heat output.
This charger, on the other hand, turns on the fan to 100% once it crosses a certain temperature threshold, and then turns it off once it goes below it. So it’s pretty easy to see how it could end up “dancing” around that thermal cutoff point.
I may replace the fan on mine, or add a potentiometer to adjust the speed and have it run all the time. I also may add some vent holes at the front, and seal up the case and exhaust better so it truly pulls air both over the batteries and across the circuit board. Finally, I may put some tiny aluminum heatsinks meant for RAM chips or what have you on some of the components on the board—more surface area for the flowing air to wick heat away from.
Anyway, can you do me a favor and run a quick test for me? When charging 4x 18650’s, can you charge @ 4x 1A? I know there would be cooling issues in the stock form with that but if I make some thermal modifications it would be nice to know that I could get some extra oomph out of it.
SO from above, yeah it’s temp controlled, but in a very binary fashion!
Maybe with better features and everything but not good enough I guess, these are mass produced in china so one should never keep the hopes high. Good review btw very helpful.
After reading the instruction manual, it says the temperature controlled fan will run anytime the charger gets above 40 degree Celcius.
Just as you asked, I did 4x18650's @ 1A each slot and it charged it no problem. I also ran 2x18650 in the 1st and 4th slot, and charged it at 2A each with no problems as well. Pics of it charging at both currents are in the OP.
My wife’s HP laptop exhibits the same problem that this charger does. I don’t know what temperature it comes on but it all of a sudden goes full blast and then stays on until she finds the offending chrome tabs with the flash apps and closes them. Even then as the day wears on this doesn’t always fix it. It’s very loud and annoying so I think I’ll pass on another device that does this.
Actually, I have just moved the charger to where it will spend the rest of its days, and actually it's barely audible in general. When I initally got the charger, the house was dead quiet, which made it seem louder than it really is. After having it for the past 5-6 hours, I can barely hear anything. It seems only when the house is dead quiet will you be able to tell its on.
Also, its nowhere as LOUD as a laptop fan blowing at 100%, it sounds more-so like a laptop fan running at 25% or so.
All-in-all I actually feel like its pretty good, especially since it can charge my eneloops as well, and I just bought some Tenergy C cells for my sons new toy we got him, and I will see how that does a little later.
Edit: Man, this fan is loud, and yet its not. While watching TV at normal levels, or anything else going on in the house I can not hear it at all.
Once I turned the TV down some while my son takes a nap, I can hear it very noticeably! Eventually, I think I'm gonna have to change it out to a low RPM fan, as this thing seems too loud once again!
Usually HKJ reviews cover everything, but he just glossed over the internal voltage selection. How hard is it to get apart and is there anything that is going to fall out, spring up during dis-assembly, etc?
Anyone have it apart and can show the switch, that will be awesome.
I want to charge up some 4.35 volt batteries, So i need to get it open.
Why this switch is hidden is also a mystery.
