# Olight UC (Universal Charger) Magnetic & USB input



## keithy (Sep 24, 2016)

Olight have a new USB single cell charger coming out. 











https://olightworld.com/store/flashlight/accessories/olight-uc-magnetic-usb-charger.html

It will be able to charge both lithium batteries as well as NiMH batteries. It is magnetic, and you don't have to worry about polarity.

Specs from the site:



USB powered with a charging current of 750mA.
Compatible with ① lithium batteries with a rated voltage between 3.6V and 3.7V. ② NiMH batteries.
Charging for dummies. There is no need for matching the polarities, as the charger can automatically
recognize them when in use.
All sizes compatible. It works perfectly on cylinder shaped batteries of variable diameters and lengths.
Tangle-free flat cable design. Easy for storing and organizing.
The charge rate might be on the high side for smaller batteries like AAAs or 14500s but I like this as a small portable option to use with my portable USB solar panels. 

Looks like Olight store has a current deal to try these out for $1 http://www.olightstore.com/batteries-and-chargers/olight-universal-magnetic-usb-charger

No good for me as I'm in Australia, but maybe someone else might try it out?


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## HKJ (Sep 24, 2016)

Looks like an interesting idea, but with 750mA charge current it is not very good for small cells.


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## keithy (Sep 24, 2016)

HKJ said:


> Looks like an interesting idea, but with 750mA charge current it is not very good for small cells.



That's what I think as well and mentioned above, but without a case to use a slide measure, I'm not sure how they can adjust for this - maybe a switch on the cable somewhere for a lower current?

I've not seen anyone else come up with a charger like this. Has anyone offered to send one of these to you to test?

I had a quick look at the $1 Deal from olightstore, but couldn't find info on international shipping.


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## HKJ (Sep 24, 2016)

keithy said:


> That's what I think as well and mentioned above, but without a case to use a slide measure, I'm not sure how they can adjust for this - maybe a switch on the cable somewhere for a lower current?
> 
> I've not seen anyone else come up with a charger like this. Has anyone offered to send one of these to you to test?
> 
> I had a quick look at the $1 Deal from olightstore, but couldn't find info on international shipping.



Long time ago CottonPicker was selling this type of charger, but they was more expensive.

Nobody has send me one of these and I have not bought one either (At least not yet).

One of the CottonPickers chargers:


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## eh4 (Sep 24, 2016)

Exciting design, for smaller batteries it might be practical to find an equally minimalist way to parallel charge 2 or more with this charger.
I went ahead and ordered one, 6$ total with shipping, lol.


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## keithy (Sep 24, 2016)

HKJ said:


> Long time ago CottonPicker was selling this type of charger, but they was more expensive.
> 
> Nobody has send me one of these and I have not bought one either (At least not yet).
> 
> One of the CottonPickers chargers:



Nice. I never saw the cottonpicker chargers. I have just looked up the thread now and it is well before I started lurking on CPF. 



> I went ahead and ordered one, 6$ total with shipping, lol.



Glad someone could take advantage of it. It looks like $5 to US, $10 to Canada, but no international options. 

Oh well, I will have to wait until it gets stocked elsewhere and see what the reviews are like. Looks ok for AA NiMH and 18650s though.


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## Overclocker (Sep 24, 2016)

i built something like this many many years ago using the Maxim 1811 i believe. it even had a switch to select between 4.1 and 4.2v

i can't find a pic


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## noboneshotdog (Sep 24, 2016)

I picked one up. $1.00 plus $5.00 shipping US. Cheap money for a spare USB charger when your on the go. :thumbsup:


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## krash610 (Sep 24, 2016)

Picked one up also, can't really go wrong for $6. I think it would be a good charger for my go bag.


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## markr6 (Sep 27, 2016)

krash610 said:


> Picked one up also, can't really go wrong for $6. I think it would be a good charger for my go bag.



Same here!


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## TinderBox (UK) (Sep 29, 2016)

Make your own, an micro-usb 1amp charger/pcb is only like $0.36 each, I have a couple on order.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1PC...le-Protection-Dual-Functions/32467578996.html

John


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## Glenn7 (Sep 29, 2016)

Hmmm only if you live in the US can you get one.....


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## brighterthanthesun (Sep 29, 2016)

If you were using a USB power source that only delivered .5mAh would that that reduce the charging current also? Not an expert by any means, but it makes sense to me.


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## dragosios (Sep 29, 2016)

Yes, the charger output will be limited for sure.


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## brighterthanthesun (Sep 29, 2016)

Hey everyone, I talked to Chris (I think) at Olight World this morning and was told that the charger is actually smart enough to identify the capacity of the cell being charged and adjust the output accordingly. Sounds like a very interesting travel/go bag charger.


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## Gauss163 (Sep 29, 2016)

brighterthanthesun said:


> Hey everyone, I talked to Chris (I think) at Olight World this morning and was told that the charger is actually smart enough to identify the capacity of the cell being charged and adjust the output accordingly. Sounds like a very interesting travel/go bag charger.



It is impossible for such a charger to be "smart enough to identify the capacity of the cell being charged". Pure snake oil.


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## noboneshotdog (Sep 29, 2016)

Gauss163 said:


> It is impossible for such a charger to be "smart enough to identify the capacity of the cell being charged". Pure snake oil.





My guess is that he mixed up its ability to distinguish between NIMH and Lithium batteries and NOT the capacity. Maybe I'm wrong.


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## StandardBattery (Oct 1, 2016)

Cool! I like that it has auto polarity.


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## archimedes (Oct 1, 2016)

Would very much like to see a full @HKJ review ....


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## RollerBoySE (Oct 1, 2016)

archimedes said:


> Would very much like to see a full @HKJ review ....



+1


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## Aggressor (Oct 1, 2016)

Gauss163 said:


> It is impossible for such a charger to be "smart enough to identify the capacity of the cell being charged". Pure snake oil.



Theoretically, charger could start at low current, see how fast cell voltage is rising, estimate capacity from there, then raise current if necessary.


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## Gauss163 (Oct 1, 2016)

Aggressor said:


> Theoretically, charger could start at low current, see how fast cell voltage is rising, estimate capacity from there, then raise current if necessary.



Such marketing hype has already been deconstructed in the thread on Nitecore's "Superb Charger SC2" with claims of "Active Charging with Infinite Intelligence ... that automatically detects battery capacities". 

It is sad that the culture of grossly exaggerated (capacity) claims is spreading to chargers too. It appears that Nitecore has recently scaled back their exaggerated claims a bit in their latest brochures. Maybe the critiques here (and elsewhere) are having some impact. If only the same were true for 10000mAh Ultraxxx cells.


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## Aggressor (Oct 1, 2016)

Gauss163 said:


> Such marketing hype has already been deconstructed in the thread on Nitecore's "Superb Charger SC2" with claims of ""Active Charging with Infinite Intelligence ... that automatically detects battery capacities".
> 
> It is sad that the culture of grossly exaggerated (capacity) claims is spreading to chargers too. It appears that Nitecore has recently scaled back their exaggerated claims a bit in their latest brochures. Maybe the critiques here (and elsewhere) are having some impact. If only the same were true for 10000mAh Ultraxxx cells.



I agree about marketing hype, I am just saying it's not impossible to make such a charger.


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## Gauss163 (Oct 1, 2016)

Aggressor said:


> I agree about marketing hype, I am just saying it's not impossible to make such a charger.



To successfully develop automatic optimum-charging current heuristics would require significant R&D - something very unlikely to come from a small consumer-level charger company. It would require access to extensive databases of chemistry parameters etc in order to be sure to achieve an effective balance of safety and performance across the entire spectrum. Such databases do exist (e.g. TI has large databases for configuring fuel gauges). Mining this data might yield some some decent heuristics. But I am not aware of any work along those lines that has percolated down to consumer-level devices.


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## Aggressor (Oct 1, 2016)

Gauss163 said:


> To successfully develop automatic optimum-charging current heuristics would require significant R&D - something very unlikely to come from a small consumer-level charger company. It would require access to extensive databases of chemistry parameters etc in order to be sure to achieve an effective balance of safety and performance across the entire spectrum. Such databases do exist (e.g. TI has large databases for configuring fuel gauges). Mining this data might yield some some decent heuristics. But I am now aware of any work along those lines that has percolated down to consumer-level devices.



You are over complicating it. Any charger that shows charged percentage is already estimating cell capacity.


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## Gauss163 (Oct 1, 2016)

Aggressor said:


> You are over complicating it. Any charger that shows charged percentage is already estimating cell capacity.



Not true. It is innately complex due to the very wide spectrum of chemistry, capacity, health, etc that a general charger must handle. Those "guesstimates" of capaciy that you refer to are generally so far off the mark that they are mostly useless (check the many complaints on chargers that do such guessing).

Such guesses are nowhere near accurate enough to universally automagically infer a safe _and _efficient charging current. If the guess is too conservative then it will yield painfully slow charges on some cells. If it's too agressive then it will damage some cells (and possibly be unsafe). To implement an appropriate balance that is reasonable for most all scenarios is much more tricky than it may seem at first glance.


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## Gauss163 (Oct 1, 2016)

Perhaps a little history will prove illuminating. There once was an RC hobby charger by a widely respected (American) manufacturer (Astroflight 109) that claimed to be able to automagically guess the number of cells in LiPo packs. This did not always work correctly, and led to _many _fires, e.g. see the RCGroups thread AstroFlight 109 Charger Fire, AGAIN! The designer initially refused to admit this was a design error, but eventually (after many requests, liability issues, etc) they issued a revised firmware chip (user swappable) that forced the user to confirm that it had guessed the correct number of cells before proceeding with the charge.

This specific problem only affects pack chargers (cells in series), but there are related safety problems for non-pack chargers. Namely, if the charger incorrectly guesses cell capacity then it may end up charging a very low capacity cell at very high charge rate, surely damaging the cell, and possibly leading to venting (with flames).

It is a nontrivial task to devise heuristics that are both safe _and _efficient. This is why such heuristics have yet to appear in such chargers (despite marketing snake-oil claims to the contrary). Advanced charging algorithms will likely percolate down to the consumer level in the not-too-distant future, but we are not quite there yet.


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## Aggressor (Oct 1, 2016)

Gauss163 said:


> Not true. It is innately complex due to the very wide spectrum of chemistry, capacity, health, etc that a general charger must handle. Those "guesstimates" of capaciy that you refer to are generally so far off the mark that they are mostly useless (check the many complaints on chargers that do such guessing).
> 
> Such guesses are nowhere near accurate enough to universally automagically infer a safe _and _efficient charging voltage. If the guess is too conservative then it will yield painfully slow charges on some cells. If it's too agressive then it will damage some cells (and possibly be unsafe). To implement an appropriate balance that is reasonable for most all scenarios is much more tricky than it may seem at first glance.



You keep talking about some mythical "safe and efficient charging voltage", while most Li-Ion chargers use CC/CV algorithm with predetermined voltage levels. Are you sure you sufficiently understand how a charger works to discuss this subject?

Many current chargers show charging percentage pretty accurately. There is nothing extraordinary about it - they just measure the speed of voltage rise in the cell.


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## Gauss163 (Oct 1, 2016)

Aggressor said:


> You keep talking about some mythical "safe and efficient charging voltage", while most Li-Ion chargers use CC/CV algorithm with predetermined voltage levels. Are you sure you sufficiently understand how a charger works to discuss this subject?



The above discussion concerns automatic selection of charging current. That goes beyond standard CC/CV algorithms. And, yes, I have expertise in such matters, having consulted on the design of some charging and fuel gauge algorithms used in professional chargers.



> Many current chargers show charging percentage pretty accurately. There is nothing extraordinary about it - they just measure the speed of voltage rise in the cell.



This is false. There are no consumer-level chargers that can quickly and accurately measure SOC in general, i.e. for arbitrary cells in arbitrary states. To do so requires requires access to information that is not accessible to the charger (precise chemistry, IR profiles, etc). Read the literature on fuel gauge algorithms if you desire to learn more about such matters, e.g. look up the TI impedance tracking algorithm for a start.


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## Aggressor (Oct 2, 2016)

Gauss163 said:


> This is false. There are no consumer-level chargers that can quickly and accurately measure SOC in general, i.e. for arbitrary cells in arbitrary states. To do so requires requires access to information that is not accessible to the charger (precise chemistry, IR profiles, etc). Read the literature on fuel gauge algorithms if you desire to learn more about such matters, e.g. look up the TI impedance tracking algorithm for a start.



No one is talking about measuring state of charge. That is complete unnecessary for the purpose of automatic charging current selection. Please re-read what I said from the very beginning. All that is required is to measure speed of cell voltage rise, once the charging starts. This allows to relatively accurately estimate remaining capacity until cell will be full and select appropriate current. It does not allow to accurately estimate total cell capacity, but that is completely unnecessary for the purpose.

Examples:
500mAh cell, with 50mAh remaining charge:
charger starts at 0.25A, by the speed of voltage rise in the cell estimates charging at 0.25A will take about two hours, stays at 0.25A, finishes in about two hours.

3500mAh cell, with 3000mAh remaining charge:
charger starts at 0.25A, by the speed of voltage rise in the cell estimates charging at 0.25A will take about two hours, stays at 0.25A, finishes in about two hours.

3500mAh cell, with 50mAh remaining charge:
charger starts at 0.25A, by the speed of voltage rise in the cell estimates charging at 0.25A will take about 14 hours, raises current to 2A, finishes in about two hours.


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## Gauss163 (Oct 2, 2016)

There are many ideas on how to implement automatic charge current selection - some simple, some very sophisticated. None of those ideas have yet to yield a safe and efficient algorithm that works under general conditions at the consumer level. If the problem had a simple solution then that feature would already be implemented in consumer level chargers.


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## brighterthanthesun (Oct 2, 2016)

Aggressor said:


> No one is talking about measuring state of charge. That is complete unnecessary for the purpose of automatic charging current selection. Please re-read what I said from the very beginning. All that is required is to measure speed of cell voltage rise, once the charging starts. This allows to relatively accurately estimate remaining capacity until cell will be full and select appropriate current. It does not allow to accurately estimate total cell capacity, but that is completely unnecessary for the purpose.
> 
> Examples:
> 500mAh cell, with 50mAh remaining charge:
> ...



For what it is worth, Aggressor's statement is pretty much what I was told when I contacted Olight. I have ordered one on the hopes that it works the way they told me it would. I will wait patiently for a review by HJK for final approval on this charger. But for $6, this would be a great portable and flexible charger.


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## Gauss163 (Oct 2, 2016)

brighterthanthesun said:


> For what it is worth, Aggressor's statement is pretty much what I was told when I contacted Olight..



It's snake oil marketing hype - just like Nitcore's claims to do the same.


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## Aggressor (Oct 2, 2016)

Gauss163 said:


> If the problem had a simple solution then that feature would already be implemented in consumer level chargers.



Beautiful argument! The statement is wrong, because if it were right, someone would have made it earlier 

Consumer level chargers for standalone Li-Ion cells are a tiny part of overall Li-Ion cells and chargers market. Most Li-Ion cells are used in integrated packs so chargers already know the optimum charging parameters.

There may simply never been a strong enough incentive to develop automatic current selection. Let's hope this will change soon. Because there is nothing complex about it. Chargers already estimate remaining charging time accurately enough, and that's all the info they need to implement this feature.


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## StandardBattery (Oct 9, 2016)

Got one of these in the mail a couple days ago. A little bigger than I thought, especially the magnetic ends. It does not come with a portable carrying case, but I found a near perfect little long rectangular tin to put it into for storage or if I want to put it in a to-go bag of some sort or pocket.

Did a little test.



*Battery**Initial Voltage**USB Input I @ 5.1V *(Initial)*USB Input I @5.1V *(after 1min)AAA NiMH1.245V122mA240mA***AA NiMH #1 (eneloop)1.178V115mA240mA***18350 LiIon (XTAR 850mAh)2.958V650mAh*660mAh (690mA** @ 5min)18650 LiIon (TF 2500mAh)3.786V739mAh*739mAh




Quiesent USB input current (i.e. no connection) was 0.0055mA.
Note measured current in Input current from the USB power source, not the battery charge current.
Only did test on each cell for 5min to get summary initial charge stats.
***Current after 1min was fluctuating between 200mA and 240mA, I didn't scope it but there may be some pulsing. Unless indicated current was the same @ the 5min mark.
* reading occurred very quickly ~10-12sec
** current was still increasing


Based on this short test. It would work OK for 16340 & 18350 cells, and would be not too bad for 18650 when you are not in a hurry. Of course this is just a very simple preliminary test so I look forward to hearing from others on complete charge cycles with this charger. I've got it completing the AA charge now to see if it might pickup steam at some point.


*Update 1: *after an additional 3.5hrs of charging the AA NiMH battery the input current was unchanged and input energy had reached 3.764Wh so I stopped the test. Battery voltage was 1.43V (essentially Full), the battery was not warm at all. The charger was slightly warm, I didn't measure temp, but it was mild. So no expected completed charge signal, but I'm curious on why the input power was still so high.

*Update 2:* after an additional 78min the 18350 Terminated correctly with green light (4.205V). USB monitor reported 3.95Wh of energy had been consumed. Input current decreased as the charge reached the end of the cycle as expected for a LiIon charge algorithm.

*Update 3:* It was able to complete the charge on the 18650 an properly terminated the charge 4.2V I didn't monitor the time. Input power was 6.25 Wh. So I'm happy with LiIon charging, but AA and AAA charging needs further investigation.

*Update 4:* I had it complete the charge on the AAA cell in 71min reported input power was 893mWh. The cell was a bit warm.

*Update 5: *I had it charge another AA cell and it did terminate correctly, but reported input power was 5000mWh which seem to indicate very poor efficiency, but I was not able to record the time it took to charge. Still not liking this charger for AA cells. I may try a more detailed test, but I'm not likely to use it for AA or AAA anyway.


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## Gauss163 (Oct 12, 2016)

brighterthanthesun said:


> Hey everyone, I talked to Chris (I think) at Olight World this morning and was told that the charger is actually smart enough to identify the capacity of the cell being charged and adjust the output accordingly. Sounds like a very interesting travel/go bag charger.



In order to refute this highly dubious claim we went straight to the source, Olight. On October 2, we sent queries to all of the support email addresses for Olight (US, Germany, and China), viz. [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. We quoted the above claim, and asked for the specific current(s) used to charge Li-ion cells. We received no reply from the US contact. The German CSR forwarded our email to China, and we received replies only from someone named Shirley in China. The first few replies from Shirley simply quoted vague information already available in their brochures. Finally, after many requests for specifics, she supplied some test results (see below). The data seems to imply that the charger does not adjust the output using some capacity heuristics (as claimed above). Rather, it appears to use a fixed current of about 750mA for all Li-ion cells (except it precharges at about 250mA for cells below 3.0V). Of course such tests results are by no means definitive, but this is the best info we could obtain from Olight after many rounds of emails.

It is bizarre that no one from Olight could supply a definitive answer. They had to run tests to attempt to infer what charge currents are used. I don't expect a company like Olight to have in-house expertise on Li-ion charging, but they should be able to obtain that info by contacting the OEM who designed the charger. Answers to questions like those we posed are _essential _knowledge required in order to know if the charger can be used safely with smaller cells.

Below is the test data supplied by Olight.


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## markr6 (Oct 12, 2016)

I've been using this for a few days now just to see if I like it. I love it! Li-Ion and NiMH, tiny, simple. I sure wish there was a voltage readout, but this will do. Too cheap and small NOT to have one somewhere for emergencies or just to top off that EDC or single cell light.


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## StandardBattery (Oct 12, 2016)

Seems to align with my test for Lithium. AA charge time seems crazy though in how long it takes to charge. And my test showed it used basically the same rate for AAA and AA. I think it's just easier to carry a single cell charger from XTAR and forget NiMH or get a Lii 100 and get more flexibility with an increase in size, but not that much and you get 2 cell capability which is good for NiMH and no messing with magnets.

I need to play with it more, but I think it's worth the $1 on sale although I would not pay $10 for it.


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## Olightworld (Oct 13, 2016)

The charger can identify the polarity of the battery so it does not matter what end you use to plug it to. It can detect polarity and battery type so that the battery is not overcharged and damaged but the speed and output will not adjust. 



Gauss163 said:


> It is impossible for such a charger to be "smart enough to identify the capacity of the cell being charged". Pure snake oil.


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## rookiedaddy (Nov 7, 2016)

Bought a unit, I really like its ultra portable size...











only thing is I wish they up the charging current to 1A instead of 750mA... well, one can always hope...


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## Gauss163 (Nov 7, 2016)

please ignore [dupe]


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## eh4 (Nov 29, 2016)

FYI, these are now available on Amazon for 10.50$, bundled with some sort of mini led flood lights.


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## TinderBox (UK) (Dec 20, 2016)

I just bought one of these.

I have a question.

What happens if the two magnetic contact touch together while it is powered on?

I guess these is some type of protection but i prefer to know for certain.

Thanks

John.


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## Toohotruk (Dec 21, 2016)

Nothing happens...it's nearly impossible to keep those magnets from grabbing each other at some point during the process, so I know from personal experience.


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## TinderBox (UK) (Dec 21, 2016)

Toohotruk said:


> Nothing happens...it's nearly impossible to keep those magnets from grabbing each other at some point during the process, so I know from personal experience.




Thanks, I though so. 

John.


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## Toohotruk (Dec 21, 2016)

I must admit that it freaked me out the first time they clacked together after I had already plugged it in, LOL! :duck:


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## TinderBox (UK) (Dec 22, 2016)

I just bought it out of feed my addiction for battery chargers, 750ma is just to high for my RCR123 cells and to low for my 18650 cells :sigh:

John.


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## Tachead (Dec 22, 2016)

TinderBox (UK) said:


> I just bought it out of feed my addiction for battery chargers, 750ma is just to high for my RCR123 cells and to low for my 18650 cells :sigh:
> 
> John.


Yeah, I think they should have made it 500mA. At least then it would work with 18350's and just be slow for 18650's. 750mA is an oddball decision. Alternatively, the best option would have been a switch on the plug for 250, 500, and 1000mA. Then it would have been a really cool little charger.


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## TinderBox (UK) (Dec 22, 2016)

Tachead said:


> Yeah, I think they should have made it 500mA. At least then it would work with 18350's and just be slow for 18650's. 750mA is an oddball decision. Alternatively, the best option would have been a switch on the plug for 250, 500, and 1000mA. Then it would have been a really cool little charger.




I wonder if it could be modded, maybe change a resistor to lower the current.

John.


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## markr6 (Dec 22, 2016)

Tachead said:


> Yeah, I think they should have made it 500mA. At least then it would work with 18350's and just be slow for 18650's. 750mA is an oddball decision. Alternatively, the best option would have been a switch on the plug for 250, 500, and 1000mA. Then it would have been a really cool little charger.



That would have been perfect and absolutely unbeatable for the price (considering a few more $$ for that feature).


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## keithy (Jan 1, 2017)

Just a quick heads up if anyone is interested in one of these:

Fasttech have it for USD$9.99, but using their New Year's coupon "TOAST" it brings it down to $8.49. Not sure when the coupon expires. 

Might be useful for those of us not in North America that couldn't take advantage of the $6 intro deal.


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## Woods Walker (Jan 3, 2017)

Here is something and wonder if anyone knows why.

It seemed to charge just fine when plugged into a wall outlet powered USB. Tested an AA,AAA,14500 and 18650. But when plugged into a power bank so far two power banks failed to work with lithium ion. Have not tested more. It will glow red then after the time when the powerbank shut down due to not being used the Olight charger would also turn off. It did seem to charge an AA from a USB powerbank but didn't test that to completion and will tomorrow. I have a feeling this won't be solar friendly either. So why won't it charge a lithium ion from powerbank but do a LSD NiMH AA?


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## Woods Walker (Jan 3, 2017)

Ok seems to work with a flat Mycharge and smaller Anker but not F1 or a larger POM. Not sure why some work with lithium ion but not others.


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## keithy (Jan 4, 2017)

Woods Walker said:


> ]I have a feeling this won't be solar friendly either. So why won't it charge a lithium ion from powerbank but do a LSD NiMH AA?



That's interesting. I am intending on using this in my backpacking kit as a backup 18650/14500 charger from powerbank and solar - I currently bring an MC0 which can do 14500 but not 18650, and the Xiaomi Zi5 which can only do NiMH. 

I am still waiting for mine to arrive, so can't test it out with my kit yet.


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## steeps (Jan 10, 2017)

TinderBox (UK) said:


> I just bought it out of feed my addiction for battery chargers, 750ma is just to high for my RCR123 cells and to low for my 18650 cells :sigh:
> 
> John.



I thought it started out lower on RCR123 and then ramped up? (see chart in post 36) So, won't that still work for you?


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## TinderBox (UK) (Jan 10, 2017)

steeps said:


> I thought it started out lower on RCR123 and then ramped up? (see chart in post 36) So, won't that still work for you?



By the information above, it charges at 260ma till 3.1v and then jumps to 750ma until it hits 4.1v and then it starts to get lower to complete the charge.

John.


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## steeps (Jan 10, 2017)

TinderBox (UK) said:


> By the information above, it charges at 260ma till 3.1v and then jumps to 750ma until it hits 4.1v and then it starts to get lower to complete the charge.
> 
> John.


So, would you say it's safe to use with RCR123?


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## rookiedaddy (Jan 11, 2017)

FWIW, been using 2 of this UC cable for past 2 months to test recharging my RCR123, IMR16340, 14500, 18650, 26650, NiMH AA and NiMH AAA, they work great with my phone USB charger, Aukey QC2.0 5-port USB charging station as well as my Yoobao, APC and Aukey powerbank. Until it develops problem or someone reported serious defects, this UC charger is going in every BOB in the family...


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## TinderBox (UK) (Jan 11, 2017)

steeps said:


> So, would you say it's safe to use with RCR123?




I could say i was an expert, but that would be laughable, until HKJ does a review, He has already said 750ma is too high for small cells, But how much of the charging time does it spend at 750ma ??

John.


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## Woods Walker (Jan 12, 2017)

keithy said:


> That's interesting. I am intending on using this in my backpacking kit as a backup 18650/14500 charger from powerbank and solar - I currently bring an MC0 which can do 14500 but not 18650, and the Xiaomi Zi5 which can only do NiMH.
> 
> I am still waiting for mine to arrive, so can't test it out with my kit yet.



I will test for solar ASAP. I keep the flat MyCharge in the solar kit as it's 4000 mAh which is plenty for a little panel. So if it works with solar will add it to the solar kit including the MyCharge. Anyone know a good cheap battery voltage tester. I been using the one on my charger but want something purpose made and inexpensive.


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## TinderBox (UK) (Jan 12, 2017)

keithy said:


> That's interesting. I am intending on using this in my backpacking kit as a backup 18650/14500 charger from powerbank and solar - I currently bring an MC0 which can do 14500 but not 18650, and the Xiaomi Zi5 which can only do NiMH.
> 
> I am still waiting for mine to arrive, so can't test it out with my kit yet.



The LiitoKala Lii-100 is one of the best single cell micro usb charger for the money, it charges almost anything and only costs around $6

http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger LiitoKala Lii-100 UK.html

John.


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## ChrisGarrett (Jan 12, 2017)

TinderBox (UK) said:


> The LiitoKala Lii-100 is one of the best single cell micro usb charger for the money, it charges almost anything and only costs around $6
> 
> http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger LiitoKala Lii-100 UK.html
> 
> John.



I got two of the 100s and two of their 202s two months back. I think I paid $3.87 shipped for the 100s and $7 for the 202s, for $22 shipped total.

They're nice to have as spares and to put in places you might want something an emergency--car, truck, tackle box, multiple bug out bags, etc.

I don't think that they're perfect and Henrik doesn't like the lack of 2.1A support as a power bank, but it's better than nothing, I gather?

Chris


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## Woods Walker (Jan 13, 2017)

Initial solar test not promising but intentionally did it under poor conditions to try to trigger an error. Looked good at first but then showed green at 3.7 volts which isn't fully charged. Will try again in more favorable conditions, still the more complex the charger aka multiple battery types etc etc the worst in my experience it works for solar. Still surprised some of my power banks don't work with it.

edit.

Will try again in better conditions.


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## TinderBox (UK) (Jan 13, 2017)

Woods Walker said:


> Initial solar test not promising but intentionally did it under poor conditions to try to trigger an error. Looked good at first but then showed green at 3.7 volts which isn't fully charged. Will try again in more favorable conditions, still the more complex the charger aka multiple battery types etc etc the worst in my experience it works for solar. Still surprised some of my power banks don't work with it.
> 
> edit.
> 
> Will try again in better conditions.



What solar panel are you using, and were in the world are you? I have a couple of folding solar panels (see my signature) 24W is my most powerful, though why i bought them when the UK only gets 2 weeks of sun in the summer and the rest of the time it`s windy cloudy or raining, maybe i should have bought a wind generator.

Do you have a ups power bank, meaning it can be getting charged by solar while it is charging you charger, this stops the charger cutting out when clouds block out the light.

John.


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## Woods Walker (Jan 16, 2017)

TinderBox (UK) said:


> What solar panel are you using, and were in the world are you? I have a couple of folding solar panels (see my signature) 24W is my most powerful, though why i bought them when the UK only gets 2 weeks of sun in the summer and the rest of the time it`s windy cloudy or raining, maybe i should have bought a wind generator.
> 
> Do you have a ups power bank, meaning it can be getting charged by solar while it is charging you charger, this stops the charger cutting out when clouds block out the light.
> 
> John.



I used a 16W Allpowers standard panel. Running a proper test with a 14W Allpowers high efficiency panel right now with a lithium ion protected Keeppower 16650 at 3.7 volts (same battery which failed the marginal conditions test). Also charged a dead LSD Duraloop using an Anker battery pack yesterday. I have several powerbanks. The F1 charger can actually do a pass through and is immune near as I can tell to charging errors.


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## TinderBox (UK) (Jan 16, 2017)

HJK is supposedly doing a review of this charger, Hopefully we can find out how bad it is for small li-ion cells.

John.


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## Woods Walker (Jan 16, 2017)

Here are the results. 3.7 volts charged up to 4.1 volts during weak winter sun with occasional clouds during the afternoon. 14W solar panel charger. Again a Keeppower Protected 2500 mAh 16650. I am feeling better about this but need to do another test. On a side note I have no scientific basis but really don't think the charge rate will kill anything including AA or 14500 instantaneously resulting in who the heck knows what. Sometimes the internet can blow (pun intended) things out of proportion. Or rather hope not as charged them both. LOL!

Photobucket sucks and is down so will upload pics later.

edit. On a side note 4.1 volts appears to be all it will take with the UC as it showed green when attempting to top off the last .1 volt using both the wall outlet USB and Anker power bank. Will test that again with another battery. Using a simple Xtar to top it off.

edit. Ok photobucket it up. On a side note the 16650 had about 30 more minutes of charging on the MC1 to reach the proper 4.2 volts.


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## TinderBox (UK) (Jan 17, 2017)

Looks like things are going ok.

I use to use Photobucket, But now i use Imgur it`s free and much better, and it`s easy to post your pictures on forums ect.

John.


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## Woods Walker (Jan 19, 2017)

More actual use testing. Charging at 1a.









All the batteries charged up good this time. 4.2 volts on the Keeppower. 

Charged a mixed bag of older LSD NiMH. After charging with the UC put them in the XTAR.





But the USB power supply was weak so pulled one out then did one that after.





It's was actually ok as they were not in the XTAR for more than 15 minutes or so before being fully charged.

So from that powerbank it did just fine. But then from an Anker 3200 it cut short at 4 volts (remember the solar cut short at 4.1). I suppose that's better than not terminating the charge but no expert on this topic. It's a PITA to charge in a wall outlet (but did totally work) as the cord is so short and it has gotta, sorta hang unless using the USB ports on my power stripe. So this IMHO is a mobile thing. Which still makes me wonder why the powerbank inconstancy? I tested it with a larger Anker, 13000 mAh and it seemed to work fully but didn't write anything down or really double check it. Going to test some more with a few more powerbanks. Overall my advice is to test it with whatever power supply first before depending on it. I was really surprised the F1 didn't work to charge lithium ion yet seemed to work with NiMH when using the UC. I gotta revisit that. Given the light weight and bulk will probably pack it to support my camera, takes AA and headlamps AA/18650/14500 using a compatible power bank. Still don't get why they all don't work.


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## markr6 (Jan 30, 2017)

Mine is blinking red every few seconds trying to charge a 14500. 18650 works fine. It's not the 3 blinks/second for standby, so not sure what's up.


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## TinderBox (UK) (Jan 30, 2017)

markr6 said:


> Mine is blinking red every few seconds trying to charge a 14500. 18650 works fine. It's not the 3 blinks/second for standby, so not sure what's up.



Mine does a single red flash every 3 seconds, when no battery is connected.

It should be a constant red while charging that turns to green when the battery is full.

John.


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## Woods Walker (Jan 31, 2017)

markr6 said:


> Mine is blinking red every few seconds trying to charge a 14500. 18650 works fine. It's not the 3 blinks/second for standby, so not sure what's up.


I have charged 14500 with it just fine but will test that again once the Tiara as used one up. Did you try another battery?


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## keithy (Jan 31, 2017)

Woods Walker said:


> I have charged 14500 with it just fine but will test that again once the Tiara as used one up. Did you try another battery?



I've also just charged an Olight 14500 and a Keeppower 14500 with mine with no problems. Have you tested that 14500 in another charger?

I'll be testing mine with my solar panels over the next weekend.


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## keithy (Feb 4, 2017)

HKJ's review is out now http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?429485-Test-review-of-Charger-Olight-UC and it says that the charger does not restart when the voltage drops. 

On my solar panel test today, it was clear sunny day for at least 5 hours, and I tested charging NiMH AAs, which appeared to have charged fine. I will test again in cloudy conditions as well. 

And if anyone is interested, I found a perfect DIY case for it, using an empty Mentos gum container. The case is fairly small and lightweight, is splashproof and protects the charger from magnetising other things in my backpack when I go hiking:


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## eh4 (Feb 4, 2017)

I've got a protected 18650 which has had the positive button mashed down by a light. The olight charger blinks red and doesn't charge with it. The solution is to add a small steel BB to the magnet that's on the mashed positive, charges fine now that it can make contact. 
This makes me think that the magnetic contacts are needlessly big and heavy, two small rare earth magnet spheres could sit in pressed copper pouch/sleeves instead.


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## ko4nrbs (Feb 5, 2017)

Having the ability to use this charger with a Solar Panel would be a big asset for me. I'll do some testing with a Solar Panel as well when I get home from Florida in March.

Please continue to post your Solar charging results for us and I will do the same.

Bill


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## TinderBox (UK) (Feb 5, 2017)

The Nitecore F1 is a good charger/powebank for use with solar as it has an ups function, meaning it can be getting charged by the sun while it is charging your phone ect, And if the clouds block the sun the ups feature keeps your device charging.

John.


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## ko4nrbs (Feb 5, 2017)

keithy said:


> HKJ's review is out now http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?429485-Test-review-of-Charger-Olight-UC and it says that the charger does not restart when the voltage drops.


It does appear to restart charging upon a Power *interruption* though, correct??
Bill


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## ko4nrbs (Feb 5, 2017)

Woods Walker said:


> The F1 charger can actually do a pass through and is immune near as I can tell to charging errors.



Are you referring to the Nitecore F1 charger?
Bill


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## TinderBox (UK) (Feb 5, 2017)

ko4nrbs said:


> Are you referring to the Nitecore F1 charger?
> Bill




Yeah, That`s the one.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?419504-Nitecore-F1-Charger-Battery-Pack-Review

John.


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## noboneshotdog (Feb 5, 2017)

TinderBox (UK) said:


> Yeah, That`s the one.
> 
> http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?419504-Nitecore-F1-Charger-Battery-Pack-Review
> 
> John.



I think I saw a 2 bay version of this on one of the Shot Show 2017 videos last month. May be worth waiting for its arrival.


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## Woods Walker (Feb 7, 2017)

ko4nrbs said:


> Are you referring to the Nitecore F1 charger?
> Bill



Yes. It's really good kit.


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## xdayv (Mar 11, 2017)

Noticed that when the cell is near full (say around 4.09v), it won't charge up to 100%... anybody has the same experience? 

I used a Keeppower 18650 battery case to house it. So far so good...


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## ThawMyTongue (Mar 11, 2017)

xdayv said:


> Noticed that when the cell is near full (say around 4.09v), it won't charge up to 100%... anybody has the same experience?
> 
> I used a Keeppower 18650 battery case to house it. So far so good...



Yeah, my UC is the same. If the charging is interrupted anywhere above 4.08v or so, it will just turn green when reconnected.

I think it's a great charger for "just in case", but you still need a proper charger on hand.


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## xdayv (Mar 11, 2017)

ThawMyTongue said:


> Yeah, my UC is the same. If the charging is interrupted anywhere above 4.08v or so, it will just turn green when reconnected.
> 
> I think it's a great charger for "just in case", but you still need a proper charger on hand.



Thanks! And I agree... This is a good charging option to be stucked inside your edc bag or organizer... for the times you are away from your 2-bay or 4-bay charger.


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## Woods Walker (Mar 11, 2017)

xdayv said:


> Noticed that when the cell is near full (say around 4.09v), it won't charge up to 100%... anybody has the same experience?
> 
> I used a Keeppower 18650 battery case to house it. So far so good...



Same here. I don't know but happened with solar so think it might have something to do with spotty charging above a certain voltage as it didn't happen at a lower level. Also don't know why it refused to work with the F1 to charge lithium ion and the Palm but did work with those for NiMH. All of that said for a crazy UL pack item (tested to verify it works with packed power bank as it did with my others) it's good enough. Won't replace my other chargers but it gets packed when needed.


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## eh4 (Mar 12, 2017)

xdayv said:


> Noticed that when the cell is near full (say around 4.09v), it won't charge up to 100%... anybody has the same experience?
> 
> I used a Keeppower 18650 battery case to house it. So far so good...



- or you could consider it a feature, slightly undercharging should extend battery life, right? 
So it's more of a "lost on a desert island" feature than a practical, everyday one.


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## Woods Walker (Sep 5, 2017)

Some observations after using it more.

1. Seems to shut down a bit short of a full charge with NiMH or lithium ion. Not so bad as would rather be 95% charged than over charged aka missed termination. 

2. Charges AA/AAA at .24 to .27 amps at 5.10 to 5.09 volts. Starts are .12 to .15 amps then increases. Seems to pulse charge NiMH by the looks of the meter.

3. 18650 charges at .74 to .75 amps at 5.10 volts.

So far seems kinda solar compatible but testing that again in a day or so.


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## markr6 (Sep 5, 2017)

xdayv said:


> Noticed that when the cell is near full (say around 4.09v), it won't charge up to 100%... anybody has the same experience?
> 
> I used a Keeppower 18650 battery case to house it. So far so good...





ThawMyTongue said:


> Yeah, my UC is the same. If the charging is interrupted anywhere above 4.08v or so, it will just turn green when reconnected.
> 
> I think it's a great charger for "just in case", but you still need a proper charger on hand.



If it's nearly charged (around 90%), you have to *connect the charger the the battery FIRST, then plug it in*. I think it says this in the manual, but I could be confusing it with another charger. And I can't find my manual or one online to confirm.


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## Woods Walker (Sep 5, 2017)

markr6 said:


> If it's nearly charged (around 90%), you have to *connect the charger the the battery FIRST, then plug it in*. I think it says this in the manual, but I could be confusing it with another charger. And I can't find my manual or one online to confirm.



Will try that but the NiMH batteries were nearly depleted and they did the same thing. Remember as it was the last ones I charged. Though again rather leave that party a bit early than stay late...missed termination.


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## Woods Walker (Sep 6, 2017)

Working on a larger solar thread/video but found some stuff which might be of use.

Near perfect performance within specs for 18650.







Very sweet. Granted 1A would be better but right on the .75 amp money at 5 volts.






14500 protected at about the same. I would prefer .5 amps but then again for some applications the extra speed is ok IMHO. This is not my every day charger.






So how does it work on AAA?

Starts with a spool up of around .13 to .15 amps.






Goes to .22 to .24 so no concerns about AA/AAA charging.






Pulse charge caught on camera. I forget the pros to pulse charging NiMH. If anyone knows please key in.






Finished pulse.






It's hard to produce a true solar charging error aka failure requiring restart though conditions vary for solar charging. There maybe something to the top off issue for putting the contacts on first before plugging the charger in. The 14500 came out at 4.2 volts and I intentionally did this. But then again who knows. In any case never had a missed termination and that's what I care about. Also the contacts put together which as we know is impossible to avoid when plugged in measured .01 amps so no issue. I am getting more and more impressed with it.


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## Woods Walker (Mar 5, 2018)

Woods Walker said:


> Same here. I don't know but happened with solar so think it might have something to do with spotty charging above a certain voltage as it didn't happen at a lower level. Also don't know why it refused to work with the F1 to charge lithium ion and the Palm but did work with those for NiMH. All of that said for a crazy UL pack item (tested to verify it works with packed power bank as it did with my others) it's good enough. Won't replace my other chargers but it gets packed when needed.



It's a bit tricky seeing exactly what they will work with in terms of powerbanks. Tested two of the 4/7s Olight UC.

Worked good with the Palm unlike my older One with Olight markings.











The Nitecore F1 still wouldn't charge Lithium-ion but did NiMH.






Worked OK for NiMH.






However if I ran the F1 through the USB detector it worked just fine... Go figure... Tested mutiple batteries in the F1 and UC.











Magnetic fun. Chargers and powerbank. Worked great!
















This powerbank gave me some issues with the Olight UC but ran the 4/7 ok using both NiMH and 18650. Did so with both the detector and stock. Not sure why..






Some powerbanks ran them all just fine using everything. Others not so much so if mobile test to see if everything works together first.


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## Woods Walker (Mar 5, 2018)

For example. In the pocket of the 7 w high efficiency solar panel with built in powerbank.






Tested and made sure the UC worked with the thin Monster powerbank and the solar panel's powerbank.


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## Woods Walker (Mar 5, 2018)

And just like magic the older Olight UC and newer 4/7 UC now both don't work charging lithium ion with that Palm powerbank. Then again my earlier test showed that. They all worked great with the Morphie.


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## ChrisGarrett (Mar 6, 2018)

I bought two of the Olight UBC last year, for $16. One is still sealed and the other just sits in a Pelican emergency case, along with some lights I don't generally use. I should break out my Sunkingdom 14w USB folder and see what I can see.

Chris


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## keithy (Mar 7, 2018)

Woods Walker - I'm curious as to why some of your powerbanks don't work with the Olight UC. I've been using mine with my solar panels and xiaomi powerbanks.


It is pretty much in my solar charging bushwalking kit now, and I used it on a 100km hike in November, and also on a 250km hike in January. I don't usually use the UC directly with the solar panel I'm using though - I use the solar panel to charge a powerbank first and then use the powerbank overnight with the Olight UC and the AA or 14500 I need charging.


I have four Xiaomi powerbanks (the older 10400mAh, the 16000mAh, and two of the newer thin 10000mAh versions). The Olight UC seems to charge my NiMH AAs and 14500s well enough with these powerbanks.


I have a few older powerbanks (pebble, targus, iconBit and some other no name branded ones) I can test the UC with. But some of those powerbanks are limited by lower current output (<.75A) since they are older so I usually don't take them with me anymore.


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## cclin (Mar 7, 2018)

Maybe the Palm powerbank's low current cutoff is set too high?? a common flaw with many power banks!


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