Test/Review of Charger Xtar ANT - MC1Plus

Batteries and Chargers Chargers
1

Charger Xtar ANT - MC1Plus











Xtar has made a couple of versions of the MC1 (Original Plus) and now the ANT version. This version has two current settings that is selected based on battery size and it has a display showing charge progress. All versions of this charge have been usb powered and very small.











The cardboard box has a lot of specifications on it.







The box contains the charger, a usb cable, a pouch, a manual and a warranty card.







Charger and usb cable in the pouch.







The charger is powered from a micro usb connector.







The charger has 4 leds to show the charge status and leds for 0.5A and 1A current selection (Current is selected automatic depending on battery length).







The slots uses the usual construction. It can handle batteries from 31mm to 71.2mm long, that means just about any protected and unprotected LiIon cell.

Depending on the position of the slider the charge current will be 0.5A or 1A, the changeover is just above 54mm.











The minimum charge current is 0.5A and that is a bit high for 10440 cells.

The charger can handle 71mm long batteries, inclusive flat top cells.







Measurements

  • Just above 54mm battery length it will switch between 0.5A and 1A charging.

  • Below 2.9 volt the charger will charge with 90mA or 180mA depending on battery length.

  • Above 2.9 volt regular charge current it applied.

  • When not powered the charger will discharge with about 0.08mA

  • Charger usb current consumption when battery is full is 23mA

  • Charger usb current consumption without battery is 7ma

  • Charge will restart if battery drops below 4.1 volt.

  • Charge will restart charging after power loss or battery insertion.





The charge curve is a fairly good CC/CV curve, the slight current reduction at the start may be due to heat in the current controller.
Termination current is a bit below 100mA.



This cell has slightly higher voltage and the current stays constant at the start.



This cell starts with a low voltage and again the current drops slightly during the initial charging.



An older cell, here the voltage is fairly high during most of the charge and the charger changes to CV phase fairly early.




With the smaller cell the charger uses 0.5A charge current.



Adding a 0.5ohm resistor in series with the usb power to simulate a weak usb charger or a long cable means lower charge current, but the charging is done well enough.



M1: 38,5°C, M2: 38,2°C, HS1: 66,0°C
There is no doubt where the charge controller is placed in this charger.



At 0.5A the charger is very fast to start.



In the 1A setting the charger will start with 0.5A and then in about 1.5 second change to 1A.



Conclusion

As usual with Xtar they make good chargers. The automatic current selection makes it fairly safe to use with most battery sizes, but do not always provide the fastest charging.



Notes

The charger was supplied by a Xtar for review.

Here is an explanation on how I did the above charge curves: How do I test a charger
Read more about how I test USB power supplies and chargers
2

A charger for ant…just joking.
Thanks for your review HKJ,but i really like my MC1+.
Maybe i will buy one as a spare

3

I think that’s actually part of their slogan for this charger, small but powerful like an ant.

Thanks HKJ, for the review!

4

Thanks for the test!

The MC1+ is one of my favorite chargers, and from now on I will be getting the ANT version.

5

Thank you for the review. I have the previous version for use with my SunJack 14 watt portable solar charger and have been pleased with my results.

For bargain hunters, Mountain Electronics is selling the model I have for $5.99.

6

HKJ, do the charger display battery status when the battery is inserted and charger is not connected to the power supply? Essentially - could this work as simple battery tester?

7

It do not, you need the 5 volt usb supply connected for the charge state to work.

8

Sidecross, do you use the Sunjack with the battery that comes with it too? (looks like a flat LiPO)
Or do you use the solar panels directly to the Xtar charger with li-ions?

9

I did not buy the battery bank from SunJack, a 14 watt solar panel in my view is not meant to supply powerbanks in the 10,000 mAh range. I use mine to charge 18650 single and 26650 single batteries.

If you have good light and time a 10,000mAh powerbank could be charged, however.

10

I think, this single bay li-ion battery charger still deserves an applause, as I have read many other HKJ charger review, and no other single bay charger produced this good characteristics (neither being too conservative, nor overcharging the batteries). Current is not too big, and 14500 + 18350 gets lower current, so this is still the best choice as gift for non-flashaholics.

11

I would like to have this feature, even just as a rough estimate of the charge level of the battery, when the charger is not powered by USB. I wonder if that is easy enough to be implemented by the manufacturer at minimal added cost. (Xtar, you listening?)

The Nitecore F1 has this feature (it blinks out the battery voltage upon placing the battery), if the the F1 is not connected to USB power yet.
I think few other chargers have this behavior (when not yet powered, show an estimated battery capacity level of the inserted battery)

I notice there is no testing info about whether the MC1 Ant Plus is compatible with solar chargers or not?

(I’ve noted in other not-so-comprehensive tests on Youtube that many of the Xtar MC1 lineup are generally solar-compatible)…

13

What a bad charger. My charger overcharge the batteries: 21700 - 4.24v, 14500 -4.22v. I will return it to shop tomorrow. Maybe I got with defect or xtar don’t have any quality control. What a shame.

14

I believe +/-0.05V is considered “within specification”, so not necessarily a defect. Not saying it’s right, personally I’d prefer a charger that goes to 4.15v than 4.25V.

15

Same here 4.15-4.19. even sofirn if25a internal charging stops at 4.17.