XTAR VX4 Review

[TimMc]

Charge CH1 1.2V Ni-MH #1

CH1: LADDA AA Ni-MH 2450mAh (button top)

Voltage	CH1	CH2	CH3	CH4
Start	1.179
Finish	1.493

The VX4 applied 150mA initially and then the charging current went up to 500mA. Termination looks ok.

[Larry_B]

@TimMc

I’m trying to charge an XTAR 26650 in a Vapcell S4+.

Big Thank you for trying all this scenarios

Also the Vapcell have limits, TBH, never tried Automatic mode with the S4+ but it looks the minimum is twice the current of VX4 in Automatic, 3x with manual mode.

Still not impressed by the VX4, to many drawbacks for a new charger. It looks to be not a charger for experienced users in this forum, more for beginners.

[stephenk]

XTAR tend to aim more at the consumer market than experts, so I guess the product is suitable for its intended market. 1.5V Li-ion support in a basic analyzing charger is potentially quite an attractive feature set.

[Larry_B]

Agree for 1,5V LiIon, the VX4 and the Gyrfalcon S4000/S8000 are the only for testing this type.

But I doubt the normal customer knows fora like BLF and will trust more Amazon reviews than a advanced test here . Most will buy some very basic chargers in price range <20$, chargers with maybe one/some LED for state or charging in the flashlight itself.

And don´t think Xtar is more focused to these consumers, Xtar is in many features only many years behind the competitors

【New Product】XTAR Visible Mixer VX4 Charger

My thoughts: Display with many values All atm important chemistries supported all important cell sizes supported First for testing 1,5V LiIon USB-C (hope it´s not so oversensitive with Power Supplies like the VC4SL at charging NiMH, the much to early Termiantion-problem) NiMH only 0,5A charging is a shame for a new Universal charger, especially if it can charge C and D cells, waiting 20 hours for D-cells charging? No hints about the discharge current at Grading (I´m afraid…

Xtar asked in one topic about the discharge-feature so I guess they are interested in making a new charger that ppl like us would like, maybe they show I´m wrong with the classification of their chargers, but maybe not.

Time will tell

[stephenk]

My VX4 has now arrived for review. Testing underway…

[TimMc]

Grade CH1 1.5V Li-ion #2

CH1: XTAR AA 1.5V Li-ion 2500mAh (button top) (dark blue)

Measurement	CH1	CH2	CH3	CH4
Start Voltage	1.510
Finish Voltage	1.510
Capacity (mAh)	2478
Capacity (mWh)	3566

The capacity listed on the wrap of a XTAR AA 1.5V Li-ion 2500mAh (button top) (dark blue) cell is 2500mAh / 4150mWh.

2500mAh at 1.5V should be around 3750mWh.

[TimMc]

Charge CH1 3.6V Li-ion #6

CH1: XTAR 26650 3.6V Li-ion 6000mAh (flat top)

Voltage	CH1	CH2	CH3	CH4
Start	3.907
Finish	4.165

I selected 3000mA and the VX4 charged at 2000mA. The internal resistance might have been high.

[budgetlampenfan]

“GRADE” (= capacity test) of XTAR AA 1.5V Li-ion 2500mAh (button top) (dark blue)

yeah … I always wondered, when we finally will (NOT … ) see those magic “4150 mWh” in the display of this charger …

but this is the energy of the internal 3.6V Li-Ion cell … !

that is a 14430 3.6V Li-Ion 1150 mAh :

3.6V x 1150 mAh = 4140 mWh

but using the energy of the internal cell in advertising is a common practice at 1.5V Li-Ions …

the usable energy here should be 3550 mWh, that is because 80 % of the capacity is delivered at 1.5V and 20 % at 1.1V … (@ 500mA = 0.2C)

that is well matched by the measured 3566 mWh …

[TimMc]

Grade CH1 3.6V Li-ion #7

CH1: XTAR 26650 3.6V Li-ion 6000mAh (flat top)

Measurement	CH1	CH2	CH3	CH4
Start Voltage	4.102
Finish Voltage	4.175
Capacity (mAh)	6174

I selected 3000mA during Grade mode and the VX4 charged at a rate of 2000mA initially. It resumed charging at 2000mA during the second Charge stage of the Grade cycle (Charge-Discharge-Charge).

[stephenk]

Would you agree that the VX4 is using -dv/dt termination for NiMH?

[TimMc]

@stephenk

Would you agree that the VX4 is using -dv/dt termination for NiMH?

It is a bit difficult to see. I can’t tell if it’s 0dV/dt termination or -dV/-dt termination based on my graph.

It looks like -dV/dt termination when looking at @SammysHP graph:

[Review] XTAR VX4 "Visible Mixer"

XTAR seems to have focused on “1.5V Li-ion batteries” recently and has developed a new charger that can do more than just charge this type of battery. The XTAR VX4 supports Li-ion, NiMH, LiFePO₄ and 1.5V Li-ion batteries and can not only charge these types, but also test their capacity. You can find the German version of this review on my website: SammysHP Blog › XTAR VX4 „Visible Mixer“ The charger was provided by the manufacturer for this review. Thank you very much! [image] Overview The …

[SammysHP]

It’s really hard to say. Could be -dV/dt with a low threshold or just 0dV/dt. Both are perfectly fine, as long as it works reliable.

[TimMc]

XTAR VX4 measured 6174 mAh

Atorch DL24 measured 6163 mAh.

I discharged an XTAR 26650 3.6V Li-ion 6000mAh (flat top) with an A
torch DL24 at a rate of 0.28A to measure the capacity. It took 22 h
ours.

Measurement	CH1	CH2	CH3	CH4
Start Voltage	4.204
Finish Voltage	3.099
Capacity (mAh)	6163

[TimMc]

Updated with another Grade test for the XTAR 18650.

[TimMc]

Charge CH1 1.2V Ni-MH #2

CH1: LADDA AA Ni-MH 2450mAh (button top)

Voltage	CH1	CH2	CH3	CH4
Start	1.470
Finish	1.450

I charged a fully charged cell to see what would happen.

The VX4 applied a current of about 150mA for about 10 minutes and then it started pulsing (stopped).

Bluetooth connectivity dropped for about 30 minutes while measuring the current.

[SammysHP]

@TimMc

The VX4 applied a current of about 150mA for about 10 minutes and then it started pulsing (stopped).

So it’s the 10 minutes detection phase followed by two hours trickle charging.

[TimMc]

Grade CH1 3.6V Li-ion #8

CH1: XTAR 16340 3.6V Li-ion 850mAh (button top)

Measurement	CH1	CH2	CH3	CH4
Start Voltage	4.140
Finish Voltage	4.097
Capacity (mAh)	833

Grade mode worked normally when the initial voltage of the XTAR 16340 cell was 4.14V and the internal resistance was low.

[TimMc]

Thanks XTAR for the XTAR VX4 Anniversary Set + 16340/18650/26650 cells.

Here is a small video review (45 minutes cut down to 6 minutes 19 seconds):

XTAR VX4 Anniversary Set. Happy 18th Anniversary XTAR!

[Spartan16]

Just wondering… so you can adjust the current charge rate… I’m not a big battery aficionado… But would you just automatically set the charge rate to 3 amps and trust the charger to adjust accordingly to whatever battery you put in… or would you need to manually adjust for different battery sizes and types?

Specifically I’m charging some lithium ion 1.5 volt AA and AAA batteries… Would I just set the charge current to 3 amps and trust the charger to adjust accordingly or when I need to reduce the charge current (I understand that if you have more than one cell placed in the charger it won’t charge all of them at 3 amps anyway)

Many thanks

[SammysHP]

@Spartan16

Specifically I’m charging some lithium ion 1.5 volt AA and AAA batteries… Would I just set the charge current to 3 amps and trust the charger to adjust accordingly

1.5V Li-ion batteries come with their own integrated charging controller. NiMH batteries are always charged with 500mA with the VX4. So for both types you can’t select the current.

@Spartan16

But would you just automatically set the charge rate to 3 amps and trust the charger to adjust accordingly to whatever battery you put in… or would you need to manually adjust for different battery sizes and types?

I don’t trust automatic selection because there are other factors than the internal resistance (which the VX4 cannot measure precisely). So I would always like to choose the current myself. With the VX4 you can set the limit only for all four slots at once, which makes it less flexible if you want to charge very different batteries at the same time.