New - Nitecore UM20 and UM10 USB Chargers

[magellan]

And then there's the most advanced feature of all: the rear USB cable winder!

But seriously, looks like a decent charger. The single bay one is small enough to be portable and I might use it in my car. That job is currently filled by my Xtar MC0 mini charger.

 

[thegreatfixer]

i think i can answer the USB IN USB OUT
ITS NOT A POWER BANK (THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!!)
it just means that it can CHARGE a phone and/OR TRANSFER DATA

its on this Nitecore page (10th picture down) http://nitecore.com/productDetail.aspx?id=131


BTW from what it looks like the newer 4.35v Li-ion cells are growing in popularity
how will Nitecore address this with their 4.20v cutoff

 

[Bicycleflyer]

And then there's the most advanced feature of all: the rear USB cable winder!

lol..... That is actually a welcome feature.

 

[Bicycleflyer]

Ok folks,

Just got home yesterday and my UM10 was waiting in my mail pile.

First impressions...

Bigger than my older XTar MP1s. But not terribly so. Most of the extra height is in that cable winder/ stand. I am sure the extra length is for the extra electronics.

Digital display is nice. I can see exactly where the charge status is. Most of my travel sized chargers just have a red and green LED.

The digital display is not the blue backlight I see in the ad. It is more like the older LCD watches with lights located on both sides just under the edges. The lights. Are white. You can still read the display in the dark. The light is also very bright. I can see myself throwing a towel over it if I am trying to sleep. (Think hotel room).

It is nice not having to deal with those screw on spacers.

Uses micro USB port same as my cell phone. So no extra cables needed.

Now to answer the power-bank question. I sorta knew from the website that there was no power bank, but I decided to test that theory anyway. So I charged a battery in it last night and this morning I plugged the usb in the bottom portion and hooked my cell to it..... Nothing, so it is not a power bank folks.

 

[whtwalker]

Does anyone know, if you can use a small portable battery pack to charge cells through the USB?

 

[Timothybil]

Does anyone know, if you can use a small portable battery pack to charge cells through the USB?

Why not? USB voltage is USB voltage. The only question would be would the power bank have enough total capacity to fully charge the cell(s) in question. An auxiliary fact would be how fast can it provide that capacity? [ .5 amp, 1 amp, 2 amp, etc] That will have an effect on total charge time but not on ability to charge.

Part of my SHTF plan is to have some solar cells to charge up a 15,000 mAh power bank that I can then use to charge my tablet, phone, and Li-ion and NiMH cells. So far I haven't found a good NiMH charger that uses USB input. Anyone know of any?

 

[whtwalker]

Thanks! I just bought a 16000 mah, Anker battery pack for similar situations. I have a goal zero panel and charger for my eneloops. I needed a charger like the UM10/20 for my Lithium-ion batteries. I should be getting my new UM10 this week.

Why not? USB voltage is USB voltage. The only question would be would the power bank have enough total capacity to fully charge the cell(s) in question. An auxiliary fact would be how fast can it provide that capacity? [ .5 amp, 1 amp, 2 amp, etc] That will have an effect on total charge time but not on ability to charge.

Part of my SHTF plan is to have some solar cells to charge up a 15,000 mAh power bank that I can then use to charge my tablet, phone, and Li-ion and NiMH cells. So far I haven't found a good NiMH charger that uses USB input. Anyone know of any?

 

[subwoofer]

I've just got the UM10 and UM20 from Nitecore for testing.

So far the pass-through power function appears not to work in a usable way from either.

As li-ion chargers powered from the same USB cable as your phone (if it takes micro-USB), they are OK albeit termination voltages vary between 4.16V and 4.20V.

If you connect a device to the USB charging output when there is no li-ion in the UM10/20, that USB output goes on - off - on - off - on.....constantly, so the phone I have connected acts as if I'm pugging in then unplugging then plugging in... the charger. Not really much good for anything as the phone screen keeps coming on and off so draining more power that gets into the battery.

Only if there is a cell already fitted in the UM10/20 does it manage a reasonably stable set-up (I expect this to work with or without a li-ion fitted), but once the current draw on the secondary device drops low enough, the UM10/20 starts to turn the USB output on-off-on-off again resulting in that device thinking you are repeatedly plugging in and unplugging the charger. This is not a very healthy state to leave things.

Not impressed.

Does anyone find the same results from theirs?

 

[Bicycleflyer]

Hey Subwoofer,

read your post and I decided to try my UM10 out. Plugged my cell phone in series with the charger and with different discharge rates ( 50, 75, and 97% charged ). I also tried with, and without a cell in the charger. Unlike you, I have no issues. My phone charges constantly. Maybe you got a bad one.

BF

 

[subwoofer]

With further testing (and after a great deal of plugging and unplugging), things seem to be behaving better with both. Perhaps there was some contact corrosion which had been worn away.

Anyway, retesting now and waiting to see what happens when the phone finishes charging this time.

 

[UnderPar]

Any updates here? I have a UM-20 to be delivered today and would be glad to hear more feedbacks for this charger

 

[subwoofer]

I was sure I posted an update, but it seems I forgot :duh2:

So after much testing of these I've found they started to work as stated. With or without a cell to charge the second device would charge. The cell would charge with or without a second device.

I suspect the connectors were dirty/corroded and after a lot of plugging and unplugging the connections got cleaned up.

The issue for me is that when the second device draws only a tiny current the UM10/20 (I have both) decides to cut the USB output. It then senses a device plugged in and tries to power it. If the secondary device is fully charged, it then drops the current draw, and the UM10/20 cuts the USB power to it - and round and round we go. All the phones I have turn the screen on when connecting to a charger, so this means the phone, once fully charged, sits there flashing the screen on and off as the UM10/20 keeps turning on and off its USB output.

If you are there to catch it doing this, no harm will be done, but if you left it for a long period I would be concerned about bump topping up the battery and damaging it.

A note for iphone users, you can still use this as all you need to do is take your lightning cable (or whatever it is called), and plug this into the USB socket underneath the UM10/20 and the cable that comes with the UM10/20 between your usb charger and the UM10/20. This assumes you are using a charger which has a USB socket in it rather than a fixed cable type of charger.

 

[curlysir]

Upon further review and help from HJK and subwoofer I realized I had a senior moment. See corrections below.

 

[HKJ]

FYI -- I just received one of these today. One thing you need to be aware of is that the usb cable has a micro male connector on the end that you plug into the power source. Should not have been a surprise as that is what is shown on the Nitecore site, i just didn't pay any attention until the UM20 got here today. The only problem with that is that all my power sources require a USB A male connector. The connector on the UM20 itself is a regular USB A female connector. I didn't think it would be a problem as I have a lot of extra USB cables, but I could not find a USB A male to USB A male cable in all my junk. These cable are readily available and I ordered one and it will be here tomorrow.

The micro usb hole on the back is input power, the one on the bottom is usb output.

 

[subwoofer]

The micro usb hole on the back is input power, the one on the bottom is usb output.

HKJ beat me to it.

curlysir read HKJ's reply and the instruction manual.

 

[curlysir]

HKJ beat me to it.

curlysir read HKJ's reply and the instruction manual.

OOPS

Manual I don't need no stinking Manual.

Thanks, Been one of those days

 

[curlysir]

Now that I have the cable thing figured out I have tried charging some batteries. The left slot is acting strange, the battery will show capacity and the bars are going up and down but the charger is drawing no current according to an inline USB ampremeter. I just put a battery that I had discharged a little more then the previous 2 that I tried and it now appears to be working. The right slot appears to be working fine. Hopefully the charger has started working correctly and I don't have to return it.

Edit: Still acting up, the left slot will charge for a while then quit, I can take the battery out and put it in the right slot and it charges fine. Appears I am going to have to return it for replacement.

 

[curlysir]

Sending the charger back. I have determined that the left slot will not charge above 90%. At that point it stops charging, voltage is at 4.16 volts, I can take the same battery and put it in the right slot or in my other chargers and it will continue to charge. I like the size of the charger and hope the next one works correctly. I am primarily getting this charger for travel so I want a smaller charger. I already have a Nitecore D4 and a Xtar VP2 but they are a little bigger then I want to carry with me.

Thanks for the help and sorry about the OOPS, won't be my last.

Update: The right side charges to 94% and stops, battery is at 4.2 volts and it is fully charged. Put the battery in either the D4 or VP2 and they both show the battery to be fully charged. If I did not have the in-line monitor I would not know that the charger had stopped charging. I have left the battery in the left slot for 30 minutes after it stopped charging just to see if it would go to 100%, never restarted the charge or showed above 90%. Certainly hope this is an isolated problem just to this 1 charger, otherwise you would not know when it is charged if you just relied on the indicator on the charger.

 

[subwoofer]

Sending the charger back. I have determined that the left slot will not charge above 90%. At that point it stops charging, voltage is at 4.16 volts, I can take the same battery and put it in the right slot or in my other chargers and it will continue to charge. I like the size of the charger and hope the next one works correctly. I am primarily getting this charger for travel so I want a smaller charger. I already have a Nitecore D4 and a Xtar VP2 but they are a little bigger then I want to carry with me.

Thanks for the help and sorry about the OOPS, won't be my last.

Update: The right side charges to 94% and stops, battery is at 4.2 volts and it is fully charged. Put the battery in either the D4 or VP2 and they both show the battery to be fully charged. If I did not have the in-line monitor I would not know that the charger had stopped charging. I have left the battery in the left slot for 30 minutes after it stopped charging just to see if it would go to 100%, never restarted the charge or showed above 90%. Certainly hope this is an isolated problem just to this 1 charger, otherwise you would not know when it is charged if you just relied on the indicator on the charger.

I had a similar instance early on where the UM20 stopped at 94% and 98% and wouldn't go above this. After powering off the UM20 (unplugging it), and then plugging it back in again, it did finish the charge.

However, I have had cells show 100% and measure 4.16V, so it is not like the D2 and D4 that finish on a rock solid 4.20V

 

[curlysir]

I had a similar instance early on where the UM20 stopped at 94% and 98% and wouldn't go above this. After powering off the UM20 (unplugging it), and then plugging it back in again, it did finish the charge.

However, I have had cells show 100% and measure 4.16V, so it is not like the D2 and D4 that finish on a rock solid 4.20V

I could live with the charge voltage, the left slot stopped at 4.16 volts at 90% and the right slot stopped at 4.20 at 94%. I tried unplugging and unplugging and leaving a battery in the charger for over an hour to see if it would indicate 100% or the bars stop but they never did. I could take the battery from the left slot at 90% and 4.16 volts and put it in the right slot and it would charge to 94% and 4.20 volts before stopping. The main problem I had and the reason I returned the charger was that the charger (by the bars going up and down) and the % charge was indicting that the battery was still charging. If I did not have the amperemeter in line I would not have known the charger had stopped. If the bars would have stopped I might have kept the meter.

I haven't given up on the charger, I have another one on order and hopefully it will be OK.

Will update when I get the new one next week.