--> FS: Cottonpickers Chargers incl. Worlds smallest Li-ion charger with display

[cottonpickers]

Bradosaur: Fab :-) Delivery seems very variable over the Christmas period - glad yours was quick :-)

Wingman: Thanks! Its in the 'box

[Emu124]

Hi Cottonpickers,

I showed my WSLCWD to a friend.
In short... I need another one

This time it's a
Display with one current setting and standard IC $27 (Leftie, 400ma)
Let me know if this is aviable now.

Thanks

[jsholli]

I finally decided to bite the bullet and order up one of the 4 current models: Unique Transaction ID # 1TLxxxxxxx184384A
Please let me know if I didn't provide enough info or anything.

Thank you!

[cottonpickers]

Emu: LOL! Thanks! yes its available now and can have one posted out tonight. EDIT: POSTED
Jsholli: Thats all I need, will go out today (and I'll edit this reply to confirm when its gone) EDIT: Its gone :-)

[Emu124]

for

Display with one current setting and standard IC $27 (Leftie, 400ma)

Thanks Cottonpickers!

[jollyrogr]

This looks like one sweet little charger. Wished I would have seen this before I got an Ultrafire

[biker1]

You can always buy one of these, and put the Ultrafire up for sale
I had purchased a Pila IBC before purchasing one of these chargers. A few days after receiving cottonpicker's charger, I sold the Pila

[jollyrogr]

I could...not sure the ultrafire would sell as easy as the Pila IBC

[belstaff1464]

Package received. Thanks David.

[jollyrogr]

Paypal sent for lefty w/3 current settings

Transaction ID: 3PD65797C7140330H

Thanks!

[sassaquin]

Received my little charger today and it looks like it will suit my needs perfectly. Unfortunately, my batteries don't need charging right now (rats), so I can't try it out yet. Thank you for the great service.

Sassaquin

[jollyrogr]

You could always use it to measure the voltage

[cottonpickers]

Sassaquin, Belstaff: Great. Thanks for confirming. Looks like the Christmas delays are over now

All: double switches are back in stock if anyone prefers a double charger.

Jolly: It went in the post this morning

[Kapak]

Well, I think I fried one of my chargers yesterday. I plugged my single current charger in my powered usb hub to charge a 18650 and I saw that the charging light wasn't coming on. The battery was at 3.95V so the light should have come on. I let the battery plugged in and after maybe 5 minutes I realized the voltage actually dropped. I proceeded to unplug the charger and plug it back in, but when I took the charger it was quite hot to the touch and the glue was actually starting to melt. I unplugged the charger to let it cool and tried it again this morning and a big nothing. The voltmeter works fine, but charger is toast.

Now I can't seem to understand why it has done that. I always made sure the leads aren't touching each other when I plug the charger and always check that the leads are correctly placed on the battery. I have another charger with dual current and this one works fine. I'm guessing it could be the usb hub, but so far everything that has been plugged in has been fine.

Do you have any idea what might have caused this?

[inrealtime]

Sassaquin, Belstaff: Great. Thanks for confirming. Looks like the Christmas delays are over now

All: double switches are back in stock if anyone prefers a double charger.

Want a double charger for my 18650's. One of my lights has 6 of them in it. That would be alot easier to charge than 1 at a time.
Not sure what I need to order. I will be pluggin it into a USB adapter in the wall. Definitely want it for 18650's, possibly cr123's & enelopps.

[biker1]

Want a double charger for my 18650's. One of my lights has 6 of them in it. That would be alot easier to charge than 1 at a time.
Not sure what I need to order. I will be pluggin it into a USB adapter in the wall. Definitely want it for 18650's, possibly cr123's & enelopps.

Just for clarification, cottonpickers has the double switches back in stock. A 'double charger' as stated means that you can order a charger with 2 current settings, in addition to chargers available with 1,3 & 4 current settings.
For example, 320 & 620mAh, or whatever the 2 current option configurations cottonpickers is offering

See post #111 for further clarification regarding configurations.

[cottonpickers]

inrealtime: As Biker said, dual means dual current setting, still only one cell at a time -be aware they wont really charge eneloops unless you get creative.

kapak: Hmm I'm not sure. I have been able to fry mine by reversing the polarity or letting leads touch for a few mins when I've upgraded the chip, but not on the single chargers (with the std chips) I'd be happy to send a replacement if you pm me your addr and the charger details.

[jsholli]

nevermind, this was just stated above...

[inrealtime]

I get it now. I read to fast through all of the posts.
So since I am only going to charge 18650 2900mah & cr123, I only need the single led 700ma?

[7histology]

Hi Cottonpickers

Got mine (the mail takes a while to get to Oz over Christmas) and am very impressed. Thanks.

Is there any way you could make these able to read and charge 1.2v NiMH batteries as well? Such a device would be great for travel and replace a hole raft of 'travel' chargers.

[7histology]

inrealtime: As Biker said, dual means dual current setting, still only one cell at a time -be aware they wont really charge eneloops unless you get creative.

kapak: Hmm I'm not sure. I have been able to fry mine by reversing the polarity or letting leads touch for a few mins when I've upgraded the chip, but not on the single chargers (with the std chips) I'd be happy to send a replacement if you pm me your addr and the charger details.

Hi again Cottonpickers

I'm still impressed but it looks like I might have fried mine too - maybe by accidentally reversing the polarity (which end is which is not always immediately obvious if you don't actually look on some Li-ion batts). The voltmeter works fine but the voltage drops very slowly.

Do I take it from your quote above to kapak that accidentally reversing the polarity would NOT cause a problem in a single ma model?

[biker1]

@ inrealtime

If I may answer.......yes
As per your post, you are using an in wall usb charger. I am using one also from my HTC Diamond Smartphone.
As a note though....if you were using a usb port from your laptop, you would first have to make sure it could accept a 700mAh draw.
I have an Acer, and Acer has verified that it can accept an 800mAh draw, BUT 620mAh fried my port. I do have 2 usb ports left though. This may have been caused by the port not being able to handle a 620mAh draw, or it may be because I touched the + - leads of the charger together while plugged into the usb port. But I am unsure if that would have caused the port to blow.
Nevertheless, just verify, if using, your laptop usb port tolerances.

[cottonpickers]

Inrealtime: Single chargers are in 160ma or 400ma flavour (the standard IC inside will allow up to about 500ma charging, but I keep just these 2 currents for ease/effort/speed)

7histology: Understand, I've done it too (which is how I first discovered the upgraded ICs don't like reverse polarity) On the single chargers, reversing the polarity does not fry it. PM me details and I'll send you a direct replacement (or if you prefer to swap for a single current model that can take reverse polarity we can arrange something).

Biker1: Thanks.

[7histology]

7histology: Understand, I've done it too (which is how I first discovered the upgraded ICs don't like reverse polarity) On the single chargers, reversing the polarity does not fry it. PM me details and I'll send you a direct replacement (or if you prefer to swap for a single current model that can take reverse polarity we can arrange something)

Hi cottonpickers

Thanks - PM sent. Basically I would like a SINGLE 320ma model so I don't have to worry about frying the charger bit and can still do my 10440 to 18650 even though the latter will take a bit longer.

Cheers

[biker1]

Hi cottonpickers. Always glad to help out when I am able.
Can you explain the reverse polarity with upgraded chips?
I take that to include the true cc/cv algorithm chips, that replaced the original chips.

If the above is so,
- if the leads touch each other while plugged into a usb port >
1) would that fry the charger, and/or the usb port?
2) if the above is true, how long would contact have to be?

-if the - &/or + leads were connected incorrectly regarding the cell, do the answers in the above scenario also apply?

Thanks cottonpickers.

[jollyrogr]

ok I'm not great when it comes to electrical stuff...but the usb port on my dell monitor is rated at 2.5W max. At 5V, does that mean the most I can draw is 500mA?

[cottonpickers]

Biker1: I've never managed to damage a port so far. I've done some testing (reverse polarity; using high current on a port not capable of supplying current and allowing leads to touch whilst plugged in) From the test I've done, reverse polarity on the battery with the new upgraded IC (which includes true cc/cv) will break the charger. This occurs after just a few seconds (maybe 5?), irrespective of whether its plugged in to the usb port or not. My tests it did not damage the usb port or voltmeter piece but did stop the unit charging any more. To be clear for others reverse polarity means connecting the battery the wrong way around (+ to black instead of to Red where it should be)

In other tests again with the upgraded IC, if I plug in the charger and let the magnets touch each other after a while it can break the charger. In my tests this took maybe 30 seconds to a minute of leaving it plugged in and touching. Port and voltmeter piece keep working, but eventually the charger piece stops working.

In tests with high current used in a port incapable of supplying the current (eg setting it to 700ma and then plugging in to a port that can't supply that) I've found the charger supply a lower current (eg 530ma) but keeps working. As there are so many usb sockets out there others may behave differently if their current is exceeeded.

Jolly: Yes, exactly its a standard 500ma port

[jollyrogr]

So I should be able to plug it in on the 620 mA setting, and the port will just supply 500 mA instead? I plan on charging a 2900 mah 18650 with this....

[cottonpickers]

Jolly: I can't guarantee that. There's a risk that you are drawing more than that port was designed for. Having said that I have a dell 20inch monitor (2005fw or something like that) and in my testing when plugged in it works at the 620ma setting. But I can't say that all dell monitors will work the same. At the end of the day its going beyond the spec of the monitor.

[jollyrogr]

my monitor is a 1907FP. Have a dell latitude D630 laptop and couldnt find any specs on the USB ports.