Good afternoon, everyone.
I bought a Nitecore UMS4 charger to be used with a QC 2.0 mainly to charge 3 Molicel P42A 21700.
I’ve read extensively reviews and tests to many different chargers and this one seemed like the best in this price range to charge these batteries.
The only thing that I haven’t fully understood is how does the timeshare work and what are the implications of it.
I read the manual available online and as far as I understood, the charger has 4 slots for charging the batteries but in reality 2 charging circuits - one for slots 1 and 3 and another for slots 2 and 4, efectively timesharing the charging between each slot.
As far as I understood, the charger charges at 2x2A (QC) / 2x1A (USB) alternating between each slot every 10s, ie., charges slot 1 at 2A during 10s and then charges slot 3 at 2A during 10s, efectively averaging 1A in each slot, and the same happens with the other slots. Is this correct?
Is the only drawback that instead of charging at 1A constant it charges at 2A every 10s and, once the charging phase switches from CC to CV, it actually reduces the average current? After all, once the charger begins charging at constant voltage, the current that the battery can take is reduced. And since it charges at, for example, 1,5A every 10s in each slot, the average current is 0,75A when it could be charged at 1A constantly without interruptions.
So, while the charger is at the CC phase, it is no different in charging time but once it reaches the CV, the charging time is actually increased. Am I thinking correctly?
Also, if one inserts two batteries at different charge levels in slots 1 and 3, for example, they can’t be charged at the same current. How does the charge handle this situation? When it switches slots it also changes the current?
What are the drawbacks and advantages of this charging method?
I’m sorry for the long post but this is kind of complicated and I’m hoping someone could explain this to me since this charging method is new to me.
Cheers!