Sonntag, 7. Juni 2015

Closer inspection of a few chargers

I've been busy measuring a few more charge cycles of some LiIon chargers.

LiitoKala Lii-260
Nitecore D2
Efest Bio V2
Xtar WP2.2
Soshine T2
Xtar MC0
TP4056
TP4057
LTC4054
SE9017
AP5056
MCP73831
ME4057D (4.35V!)
SE9016
It's funny that the single IC solution seem to give the most appropriate result as they properly deliver a CC-CV charging scheme, while the commercial chargers all implement some kind of trickle charging where they charge for a few seconds and then stop for measurements. This seems unnecessary as it prolongs the charge cycle and is all but constant current. This should be no problem as LiIon chemistry copes well with starts and stops during charging, but I prefer the "proper" implementation.
Update 30.06.2015: I finally received my first external ADCs with higher resolution. I'm replacing the graphs with their 16 bit ADC representation one by one. So far the ADS1115 has been used with the LiitoKala Lii-260 and the TP4057. Other (and more) chargers are in the pipeline.
Update 11.07.2015: Added the SE9017 charger IC. It is absolutely similar to the TP4057 from the datasheet and pinout, but can deliver higher charging current.
Also replaced the plot of the LTC4054 IC with a 16 bit ADC measurement.
Update 12.07.2015: Replaced the Xtar WP II graph with a 16 bit version. Also the TP4056 and the Xtar MC0 plot.
Update 13.07.2015: Replaced the Soshine T2 graph with a 16 bit version.
Update 15.07.2015: Added a new charger IC - the AP5056. Interesting charging curve!
Update 17.07.2015: Added the Nitecore D2 and the Efest Bio V2 chargers which Max (Discordian) sent over. The Nitecore looks like a charger to avoid.
Update 26.07.2015: New charger IC ME4057D arrived. It's a good charger for 4.35V LiIon batteries. Also added a charger from Microchip, the MCP73831. It's slow but very solid!
Update 26.09.2015: Added the SE9016-IC; it's supposed to be a LTC4054-replacement and beats that IC by far.