Xtar Dragon - better instructions

[jrgold]

a little user tip, although there is not a dedicated discharge for storage mode, you can just do a battery refresh and remove the batteries at around 40% recharged


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[Bullzeyebill]

What Loule said. Do some more posts and you will be good to go.

Bill

 

[thespider]

What Loule said. Do some more posts and you will be good to go.

Bill

Thanks Bill, I appreciate it

On the previous tip, though, can you clarify why you'd want to drop a battery to 40%? Does that prolong its life? I don't mean to hijack the topic, but I'm about to purchase this charger and to be honest, the sole reason I'm buying it is that I'll get my NIMH batteries a full cycle every time I perform a refresh since they can stay in the drawer for several weeks or months before I need to rotate them (I just like to have plenty spares in case I really need them some day or supplies of batteries are low, etc).

Thanks again!

 

[peter yetman]

There's a few threads that will help with your query. Here's one...
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?448095-Li-Ion-at-3-5v-when-in-storage
P

 

[jrgold]

Thanks Bill, I appreciate it

On the previous tip, though, can you clarify why you'd want to drop a battery to 40%? Does that prolong its life? I don't mean to hijack the topic, but I'm about to purchase this charger and to be honest, the sole reason I'm buying it is that I'll get my NIMH batteries a full cycle every time I perform a refresh since they can stay in the drawer for several weeks or months before I need to rotate them (I just like to have plenty spares in case I really need them some day or supplies of batteries are low, etc).

Thanks again!

this only applies to li-ion batteries, and is the reason cr123 batteries are still relevant imo. If you store li-ion batteries at 40% charge (about 3.7 volts) you can prolong their overall life by up to 50%. I don't do this with all my batteries, just the ones i use less often. I have quite a few 18650 and 18350 i leave fully charged so they're ready for use. They aren't so expensive that i worry about it too much. I don't know much about nimh batteries, but i don't believe storing them charged harms them, they just lose their charge over time.


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[louie]

I just try to keep a good supply of Eneloops around, and charge them every 6-12 months or so if unused or lightly used, like in a remote. I also keep an emergency supply of AA alkalines around, but in plastic ammo carriers where every cell is separate. Assume all alkalines will leak.

Yes, extra Li-Ions, too!

PM to spider.

 

[thespider]

this only applies to li-ion batteries, and is the reason cr123 batteries are still relevant imo. If you store li-ion batteries at 40% charge (about 3.7 volts) you can prolong their overall life by up to 50%. I don't do this with all my batteries, just the ones i use less often. I have quite a few 18650 and 18350 i leave fully charged so they're ready for use. They aren't so expensive that i worry about it too much. I don't know much about nimh batteries, but i don't believe storing them charged harms them, they just lose their charge over time.


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Thank you! Very helpful! I am also going to do some deep reading into the recommended topic when I'm off work later today for some more knowledge absorption.

I just try to keep a good supply of Eneloops around, and charge them every 6-12 months or so if unused or lightly used, like in a remote. I also keep an emergency supply of AA alkalines around, but in plastic ammo carriers where every cell is separate. Assume all alkalines will leak.

Yes, extra Li-Ions, too!

PM to spider.

Thank you so much! The link worked and I now have the PDF manual on my end.

I will read it thoroughly (planning on purchasing the charger tomorrow) and test the full cycle on my NiMH batteries.
I'll possibly just use a combination of my Nitecore SC4 for Li-IONs and the XTAR, but will make sure that I only ever charge the NiMH ones on the XTAR and not on the Nitecore anymore.

Thanks again!

 

[linekin bay]

I'm not sure new members can PM until they get a few posts.

I wanted to thank you for posting this thread. I've been a member for quite a while and call myself a "learner", instead of a "lurker", because there's so much here to read and learn about here but now I have some questions and would love to get a copy of your expanded xtar instructions. I recently purchased one and find the included instructions to be quite lacking. I would greatly appreciate if I could receive that and I will pm as soon as I have achieved posting status.

 

[louie]

Standing by!

 

[linekin bay]

Standing by!

appreciate that!

in the meantime, I am a little confused over the following event. I tried charging my Tenergy NI-MH D cells and get an error message. Are these cells beyond the scope of the Dragon?

 

[kashmir]

Pm sent, thanks louie

 

[louie]

I don't know. What was the condition of the Tenergy cells? What was the error message? What charge current? What slots?

appreciate that!

in the meantime, I am a little confused over the following event. I tried charging my Tenergy NI-MH D cells and get an error message. Are these cells beyond the scope of the Dragon?

 

[linekin bay]

I don't know. What was the condition of the Tenergy cells? What was the error message? What charge current? What slots?

The Tenergy cells were in serviceable condition. I tried each of four slots. Charge current of 2 amps. Error message only read "Er" (unless I missed any additional data).

 

[louie]

I don't know. I have no inside information, and have never seen XTAR explain anything about error messages.

I would check that the cell voltages are reasonable and maybe try other charge currents. Note that 2A charge current is only available on slots 1 & 4 IIRC.

PM answered.

The Tenergy cells were in serviceable condition. I tried each of four slots. Charge current of 2 amps. Error message only read "Er" (unless I missed any additional data).

 

[linekin bay]

Thank you for the manual, louie. Much appreciated!