Do Not Use USB Charging On Reuleaux RX200

[robby]

Mine`s updated to Version 3.0 and it`s USB charging fine xs2man

[xs2man]

Yes, I immediately updated mine, and it is charging. But it's the whole controversy regarding charging through USB that is putting me off.

My batteries and RX just arrived this morning anyway. The batteries (25r's) are in the D4 just now, so they will get their first charge with that. I'll run them down, and see how even they were discharged with the D4 too. Then I'll pop them back in and recharge with the RX, then test them again with the D4 to see how evenly the recharged.

I don't want to "marry" a trio of 25r's (polygamy much?) only for them not to charge and discharge differently.

But I travel a lot for work, and would have liked a mod with epic battery life, and ability to charge over USB (so I don't have to take a charger).  So far my istick 50w has been doing the duties, but it has started having a few issues recently (to be fair, it has had a caning over the last 10 months).  That being said, I'm not convinced the RX will fit in the phone lockers in Norway, so might be a non starter, and have to look for something smaller anyway. 

[VapingBad]

Jan 15, 2016 12:58:03 GMT xs2man said:

But it's the whole controversy regarding charging through USB that is putting me off.

What controversy?  It is just slower that most dedicated chargers, like everything it needs to be implemented properly and you need a decent USB power supply and cable, but there is nothing inherently wrong or less safe with it.  It is just a matter of preference many people find it really useful to top up charge through the day which will also extend the life of your batteries in comparison the fully charging on a 4.2 V charger.  Personally I almost always charge my 18650s on a dedicated charger and I like to charge them faster so I never have to leave things charging unattended or while asleep.

[xs2man]

It was the very first post in this thread that has put me off. Granted, I should do more reading though.

That's fine then, I'll test this first cycle, and if I'm happy, then happy days. Sure, it takes longer, but I have plenty other mods to use while one is charging.

What's the deal with the 2A USB charging hubs? (One of my laptops has a high power outlet, but I was thinking of getting a powered USB hub anyway, which has a 2A output slot).  Would they be compatible? Or would that be too much? My D4 knocks charging down to 375mA when charging more than 2 batteries, so 2A through the USB, split over the 3 batteries would be 660mA, which would be faster than the dedicated charger. Or am I missing something here?

[VapingBad]

Jan 15, 2016 13:16:53 GMT xs2man said:

It was the very first post in this thread that has put me off. Granted, I should do more reading though.

That's fine then, I'll test this first cycle, and if I'm happy, then happy days. Sure, it takes longer, but I have plenty other mods to use while one is charging.

What's the deal with the 2A USB charging hubs? (One of my laptops has a high power outlet, but I was thinking of getting a powered USB hub anyway, which has a 2A output slot).  Would they be compatible? Or would that be too much? My D4 knocks charging down to 375mA when charging more than 2 batteries, so 2A through the USB, split over the 3 batteries would be 660mA, which would be faster than the dedicated charger. Or am I missing something here?

There is a USB section in The AAE-C Battery Safety & Charging Guide

With 2 A sockets the device needs to signal to the controller that it wants 2 A or it should just get <= 500 mA, but with computers the operating system may override this depending on the driver most people are only getting 500 mA USB current charging from PC later than Win 7.  Your USB example should be faster if it gets 2 A.

Charging multiple batteries via USB could be in series like the DNA200 or parallel like my  cheap 4 x 18650 powerbank.  Parallel is simpler, but should have well matched batteries, they are always connected to each other so will always settle at the same voltage.  For series you need separate cell monitoring & balancing, I posted a video that explains this well in an earlier page.

If you want to charge 18650 fast, and only good high drain batteries like VTCs, LG HEs & 25Rs I recommend 2 x Xtar SP2 chargers, I can do 4 VTC4s in 70 mins or 4 25Rs in 90 mins.

[robby]

I am the same as VapingBad . I wouldn`t charge any batteries by USB. My post above was just to check it out. To my way of thinking, you really dont know what the performance and quality of the inbuilt chargers is like and there have been many cases of mods going down due to charging issues, probably wont affect you xs2man but why take the unnecessary risk?

[VapingBad]

Jan 15, 2016 13:51:12 GMT robby said:

I am the same as VapingBad . I wouldn`t charge any batteries by USB. My post above was just to check it out. To my way of thinking, you really dont know what the performance and quality of the inbuilt chargers is like and there have been many cases of mods going down due to charging issues, probably wont affect you xs2man but why take the unnecessary risk?

I think everyone buys in dedicated controller chips to go on the boards, they can still mess it up, but the majority should be good. 

I made up some travel chargers lasts year from £1 charging boards that work great, though fried 2 because they don't have reverse protection.
These boards are widely available just add a battery cradle, u can also add V and A metres if you want.




With some battery heat shrink and polymorph


They are 1 A BTW, so much faster than a Nitecore, but the final voltage varies by about 150 mV between boards.

[robby]

I`ve got this one on the way, looks like a really good price and very versatile. 1 Amp charging each battery even with the 4 bays used.

[xs2man]

Thanks for the information. Much appreciated.

That looks great Robby.  Does it do normal AA charging too?  I've been looking to expand my charger set-up anyway since christmas saw a LOAD of eneloop AA and AAA batteries needing charged.

EDIT:  Just ordered one too.

[robby]

Jan 15, 2016 14:41:31 GMT xs2man said:

Thanks for the information. Much appreciated.

That looks great Robby.  Does it do normal AA charging too?  I've been looking to expand my charger set-up anyway since christmas saw a LOAD of eneloop AA and AAA batteries needing charged.

EDIT:  Just ordered one too.

Yes it does, also some very good tests on it for capacity etc when you batteries are getting a bit tired as well as internal resistance which goes up as the battery gets older.