AccuPower IQ-328 AA/AAA Charger -- Nice... and Smart!!

[3alfa3]

Charging 4AA Eneloops (5-6 years old, but in good condition) at 1000mA in test mode (500mA discharge). Fan is running under the charger. After 30 minutes, everything is OK, charger and cells are cold, but power adapter is warm. About 45 degrees Celsius if not higher (finger test). Ambient temperature is high - 28C (83F).
Will report how it finished.

btw, measuring voltage of power adapter with no load, im getting 3,13-3.14V


EDIT:

First charging cycle was perfect (took 45 minutes) cells barely warm at the end, maybe 40C (ambient temp is 29C), all cells terminated within 1 minute at 1,52V.
2,5h into discharging, all cells are at 1,18V.


EDIT2:
Discharging completed, second (last) cycle of charging started

 

[3alfa3]

Success.
All 4 AA Eneloops finished charging within 2 minutes at 1,52V. Last cycle of charging was finished in 127 minutes, so there was no interruptions or lowering current.Cells temperature arround 45C for the last 10 minutes. Before that - much lower, allmost at ambient temp which was 28-29 Celsius.
Charger "cold as ice" because of fan under, but power adapter was hot. I would say at least 50 degrees Celsius (20-25C higher than ambient temp).

Picture 1: total discharge time @ 500mAh
Picture 2: trickle charge after charging. To much for eneloops if im not mistaken, but if i unplug power and reconect it - basically, if i put fully charged cells in charger, trickle charge is 13-14mAh. Got to be in relation to charge current settings because default charging current is 200mAh.

 

[Etsu]

I have an older charger by Accupower, the Accumanager 2020. I think you can still find these for sale on line. I haven't had any problems with cells overheating, but perhaps that is because it's a much larger charger. (It also accepts C and D cells, so there's lots of space around AA cells inside the charger.)

It seems to be a very reliable charger, at least for AAA and AAs. I have noticed that it sometimes fails to detect the end-of-charge on D cells, but that is likely because the charging current is too low for a reliable dV termination with a D cell capacity. No problem with cells of "normal" capacity.

It maxes out at 700mA, so that may be another reason why cells never get too warm. The manual claims it automatically adjusts charging current based on cell resistance, etc., and I believe this to be the case. It certainly doesn't seem to apply a full 700mA charge to AAAs, and also normally takes 4 hours to charge AAs, so I don't think it uses the full 700mA even with AAs. I have no idea how it figures out what charging current to use (it's automatic).

Anyway, it might be an alternative to those worried about the IQ-328 performance.

 

[lowks]

Just want to hear what you guys think about the comment left by NLee Engineer on Amazon stating that there is a design flaw in terms of heating with the AccuPower IQ-328 ?

 

[tripplec]

Well I have plenty of fans here I could rig up. I'd get one if it were available in Canada or cost effective other sources. There is only one seller moving them on eBay and hundreds are sold when you look at the link. Landed cost it much higher than your Amazon USA sources. One day, I just got an I4 unit and its working fine.

 

[3alfa3]

Well I have plenty of fans here I could rig up.

With fan under charger, I used "Test" mode for 12 AA Eneloops @1000mAh charging current per Cell. This is 6 full cycles of charging so far with no problems and the charger remain cool, and Cells only warm for the last 10 minutes of charging.
Will use fan allways, even on smaller charging currents.

 

[mccririck]

I use 700mA for AA cells in this charger - than you dont need a fan under it.

 

[Etsu]

I use 700mA for AA cells in this charger - than you dont need a fan under it.

Sounds like Accupower messed up the heat dissipation when they went above 700mA. I'm surprised, since I except better from German design.

 

[3alfa3]

Found something interesting....

In the box, i've found manuals in english, german and separately in Croatian (my native language). The Croatian one stated charge current of 200, 500 and 700 mA. Thats it.
German and English are "generic" manuals without that "limitation"

 

[3alfa3]

So far, at least 10 charges at 4x 1000mAh with fan under charger and no problem. Charger remain cool, cells warm (maybe 40-45C) for last 10-20 minutes before they are fully charged. Room temperature 28C (82F).
Power supply adapter is hot, so i put charger close to it and fan manages to cool power supply. At least, plastic enclosure is not hot.
However, i did not tried without fan and i don't intend to do so (with charging current at 4 x 1000mAh)

All in all, i'm pleased with charger(+fan).

 

[BillMPL]

I just finished reading the whole thread and it sounds to me like there is no perfect smart charger, they all seem to have their pros and cons.

How would you say the IQ-328 compares to the La Crosse BC-700? I know the BC-700 can only go up to 700mA but it seems that to run the IQ-328 safely, it too should also be kept at that rate. Are there any other aspects where one is better or worse than the other?

 

[3alfa3]

Are there any other aspects where one is better or worse than the other?

When charging 1,2 (or 3?) cells, iq-328 offers higher currents with no problems. Faster discharging (but be careful when discharging 4 cells @ 500mAh - charging after will be @ 4x1000mAh)


With fan, there is no limit, but cool only the charger, not cells.

If the price is the same, iq-328 offers more. Btw, my charger cost arround 40$ in Croatia in local stores

 

[austinios]

Just came across the clone of the clone (since some consider the accupower a clone) ... unbranded BM110, identical specs, but I think no backlight.

The predecessor BM100.

The successor BM110. Just to make the clone more like the clone (see the LCD display).

 

[Mr Happy]

I am uncertain whether these are "clones" as such. I think it more likely that there is a standard reference design out there from an original unbranded source and this design can be licensed by OEMs to produce and sell under their own brand. Given the wide range of products LaCrosse sells it is highly unlikely that they have done the original design and development of the BC series of chargers in-house. I believe any company with sufficient capability could license and produce the same basic design (maybe with some variations) under their own brand name if they can locate and work with the original design holder.

 

[austinios]

It could be either way.

These OEMs may had been engaged to build a certain design and build a certain Qty as part of the contract. Once that qty is fulfilled, the OEM may just continue selling that similar design under a different brand. But they should not be able to sell something that look exactly the same as the "original".

On the other hand, more negatively, it could be the "original" was reverse engineered and a similar version is created.

In any case, it seemed this "clone" has now a model revision of BM200 and then BM210. The revision change is quite fast and frequent. Seemed like they are aspiring to be OEMs themselves. Releasing certain qty of their "prototypes" to the market to test. Correct the flaws discovered by users. And then fix and re-release new versions. When they finally find the stability that they defined as their design goal, they could re-market it under a different brand, or simply sell it to big brand names.

Well, these are all just speculations. The fact is, they look and perform similarly to the familiarly branded ones. They have similar strengths and flaws. However, this "clone" seemed to be still work in progress and the designer is still improving it and releasing improved versions (not sure if the branded one is going anywhere further at this moment).

 

[AnthonyMcEwen2014]

Right guys can you help me please!

I ordered the IQ328, but since then (its in the post) I found verndogs / lees review on amazone and this thread!

I read upto page 5 but I admit skipped the rest!

What is the end decision with this charger then? Is it keep it at 700ma and dont use the 1000ma on 4cells.

(And could I run 4 AA @ 1000ma WOTH cooling or best to stick to 700ma?

But on two cells you can still use the higher rates (I was hoping to use the higher rates but oh well!)


And lastly on termination, I read that below 0.3 cuases missed termination so that's why I wanted to use 1000ma as I dont want to miss terminations and like the faster charge rate!, will charging at 700ma causes termination issues?

I ask this because 700ma is only 0.28c not above the 0.30c minimum recommended? As I use Enloop XX 2500 cells so the C rate drops compered to 2000mah normal enloops were 700ma if a 0.35 charge rate.



SO TO SUMERIZE!

A) Can I charge at 1000ma * 4 Cells (will cooling make a diffrance?) Apprantly it gets to hot at this setting and starts thermal cutting out.

B) if I can't charge at 1000ma and have to do 700ma will the 700ma rate cuase termination issues as the C rate is to low (0.28c) on 2500mah batterys?

 

[AnthonyMcEwen2014]

Bump, anyone? The Red bit is what I want to know?

 

[idleprocess]

The power supply that came with mine is 3V DC * 4A, so it can hypothetically deliver 1000mA over 4 channels.

In reality, even at 700mA per channel it experiences heat problems so I generally limit charging current to 500mA. Cells are often warm coming out of the charger, but never hot like they would be at higher charge rates. The couple of times I've looked at the mAH ratings after completion of a charge, they're always reasonably close to the cell's rated capacity.

The one issue I've discovered so far seems to be long-term operation. Running the charger for more than 48 hours or so will result in it making a popping sound every few minutes when charging, which suggests some sort of heat problem.

 

[AnthonyMcEwen2014]

Right it looks like or better keep it at 700 or under then, just hope I dont get termination issues, as my highcap cells mean the C rate is very low.

I'll look into some kind of cooling as well then, proberly just a fan on or under it might help keep it fine.

 

[Mr Happy]

Unfortunately the charging rate guidelines for AA or AAA NiMH cells are theoretical, applied without reference to which charger is doing the charging. If the cell is charged in free air with wires connected to its terminals it is quite different from the cell being inside a small charger next to other cells and close to the charging electronics.

So the charge rate guidelines need to be adapted to the charger being used. In the case of the IQ-328 the charger is very compact with four cells in the slots all pressed close together and all close to electronic components inside the charger that get hot. It is a rule of thumb that power supply components should be fixed to a heat sink and/or have fan cooling and/or have good air circulation around them. The power supply components in the IQ-328 have none of these (a NiMH charger is a constant current power supply). Consequently the IQ-328 is not satisfactory when charging four AA cells at higher rates and limiting to 500 mA or 700 mA is best.