# **NEW** XTAR SP2, 2-bay Li-ion Charger



## gopajti (Apr 19, 2012)

Picture from XTAR facebook page







charge current max. 2000mA!


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## Draven451 (Apr 19, 2012)

Xtar,

They are staying on top of the trends in larger capacity batteries


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## tobrien (Apr 19, 2012)

any new features?


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## gopajti (Apr 20, 2012)

XTAR SP2 14500/ 14650/ 17670/ 18500/ 18650/ 18700/ 22650/25500/26650 3.6V/3.7V Li-ion battery charger.

Charging qualifications and structures
Operation Temperature: 0~40℃
Storage Tempertature: 0~70℃

Input AC: 12V DC/2.0A
0.5A CC Current: 500m A±5%
1A CC Current: 1000m A±5%
2A CC Current: 2000m A±5%

Cut-Off Voltage: 4.2±0.05V
0.5A gear Cut-off Current/TC Current: ≤100m A
1A gear Cut-off Current/TC Current: ≤150m A
2A gear Cut-off Current/TC Current: ≤220m A
Standby Current: ≤30m A
Auto Recharging Threshold Value Voltage: 3.9±0.15V


*Features:*

1. SP2 is the follow-up product of the successful WP2II, and is no doubt one of the best 3.7V Li-ion charger in the market today.
2. SP2 is a professional automatic charger with high charging current, which is designed to charge 14500/4650/17670/18500/18650/18700/22650/25500/26650 3.6/3.7V Li-ion battery.
3. It designed with under-voltage lock out and algorithm (TC-CC-CV) charging method which can monitor the battery status in real time.
4. The charger adopts PWM technology, to supply the charging management system charging power.
5. SP2 is designed with 0.5A, 1A, 2A optional charging constant current so that batteries with different capacities can achieve the best charging condition.

Notice: The above-mentioned parameters tested in Lab are approximate and may vary between flashlight/charger, batteries and environments.

http://www.xtarlight.com/en/05-chanpin/p-001-1.asp?styleid=211&style=New Arrival


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## A[L]C (Apr 28, 2012)

Should I go for one of these, or the XTAR WP6 MKII? I've got a WP2, but it's faulty 

Will be used for 18650/18700 and 18350's.

Thanks


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## monkeyboy (May 21, 2012)

I've just ordered one of these!

I was worried when I saw "TC" (trickle charge) current mentioned, but after reading the website, it looks as if the trickle charge is only there to resuscitate a low voltage battery between 2.0 and 3.0V. It then does the regular CC-CV charging stages.


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## kaabob (May 22, 2012)

Uh oh, I just bought a WP2 II. 
What happened to your WP2?

I can't justifiy a SP2 @ >2x the price of a WP2 II


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## monkeyboy (May 22, 2012)

kaabob said:


> I can't justifiy a SP2 @ >2x the price of a WP2 II



Its the fast charging rate that's the selling point here. As far as I know, it's the fastest off-the-shelf charger for flashlight sized Li-ion batteries.


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## Ualnosaj (May 22, 2012)

Yet no USB power out 


___________
Posted from my phone.


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## madecov (May 22, 2012)

Also does not appear to accept 16340 cells. And will not accept the spacers.


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## candle lamp (May 22, 2012)

madecov said:


> Also does not appear to accept 16340 cells. And will not accept the spacers.



SP2 needs spacers to charge 16340 cells. (It dosen't come with spacers.)


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## madecov (May 22, 2012)

candle lamp said:


> SP2 needs spacers to charge 16340 cells. (It dosen't come with spacers.)



From the photo it does not look like it accepts spacers unless they mount opposite to the way they do on the WP series chargers.


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## gopajti (May 22, 2012)




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## kaabob (May 22, 2012)

Sexy. 
BTW *gopajti* , which camera did u use for those shots? it's a beaut.


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## gopajti (May 22, 2012)

kaabob, an old Canon PowerShot A630


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## candle lamp (May 23, 2012)

madecov said:


> From the photo it does not look like it accepts spacers unless they mount opposite to the way they do on the WP series chargers.



The SP2 charger needs another type of spacer (or connector) to charge 16340 cells as shown in the photo. Just shame the spacers came with WP6 II charger can't be used.


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## madecov (May 23, 2012)

One of the great features of all the Xtar chargers was the ability to purchase spare spacers and charge almost any battery. It is a shame the original spacers do not fit.


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## turbostreetracer (May 23, 2012)

Does this charger come with the 12 volt car charger cord like the WP2 II and WP6 II ?


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## HiltiHome (May 23, 2012)

turbostreetracer said:


> Does this charger come with the 12 volt car charger cord like the WP2 II and WP6 II ?



XTAR SP2 comes with a wall-wart and a 12V car-cord.

Have al look at my short review and the pics:

http://www.messerforum.net/showthre...E4higes-Ladeger%E4t-f%FCr-Lithium-Ionen-Akkus
(German language)

I rated this charger excellent.

Only drawback is the high termination current, which doesn't mater in practical use. 

My opinion is, that XTAR did right, not to cover all battery sizes.
Even 0,5A continuous charging current may be a bit to high, for 16340 batteries.
Real capacity of 16340 rechargeables is ~550mA.


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## thedeske (May 23, 2012)

turbostreetracer said:


> Does this charger come with the 12 volt car charger cord like the WP2 II and WP6 II ?



the ones from xtarshop on ebay show the 12v car cable


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## tobrien (May 23, 2012)

HiltiHome said:


> XTAR SP2 comes with a wall-wart and a 12V car-cord.
> 
> Have al look at my short review and the pics:
> 
> ...



very nice!


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## loutsopo (May 28, 2012)

turbostreetracer said:


> Does this charger come with the 12 volt car charger cord like the WP2 II and WP6 II ?



I will take one of this.I think that 12 volt car charger of wp2 II will be ok with this charger.I need it to use it in car to charge 3100 mah 18650 with 2A current.I hope that XTAR made a good charger for us now.


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## Rommul (Jun 15, 2012)

Does this charger make contact with flat top cells?


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## Shadowww (Jun 16, 2012)

loutsopo said:


> I will take one of this.I think that 12 volt car charger of wp2 II will be ok with this charger.I need it to use it in car to charge 3100 mah 18650 with 2A current.I hope that XTAR made a good charger for us now.



I wouldn't charge 3100mAh cells at 2A if I were you, Panasonic recommends max. 850mA charging current for them, so while 1A is still 'okay' (just 15% over recommended), 2A I'd say is not.


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## monkeyboy (Jun 16, 2012)

Shadowww said:


> I wouldn't charge 3100mAh cells at 2A if I were you, Panasonic recommends max. 850mA charging current for them, so while 1A is still 'okay' (just 15% over recommended), 2A I'd say is not.




There's some confusion here,
According to the datasheets, 2900 and 3100 have max recommended charge rate of 0.3C, yet AW states 0.7C for his cells. I've tried 2A and it seems fine but probably stick to 1A now after reading the datasheets.

EDIT:
Redilast and Orbtronic both recommend 0.3C as well so perhaps AW made a mistake?


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## nightowl415 (Jun 16, 2012)

Does anyone know if the SP2 comes with Type A or B plugs for connection to a standard 120V (United States) outlet? From the pictures I've seen, the included power cord doesn't seem to be compatible with US outlets.


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## Ualnosaj (Jun 16, 2012)

The power cord is US friendly.


___________
Posted from my phone.


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## zapper (Oct 23, 2012)

Just looked up the Panasonic site for their 18650 batteries. The 3000mAh rated batt can be charged at 4.35V and 1450mA rate where as the 2600mAh rated batt is listed for 4.2V and 1750mA rate. That appears to be between .48C and .67C charge rates. Just putting out there what I just read, no opinion either way.


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## Shadowww (Oct 24, 2012)

zapper said:


> Just looked up the Panasonic site for their 18650 batteries. The 3000mAh rated batt can be charged at 4.35V and 1450mA rate where as the 2600mAh rated batt is listed for 4.2V and 1750mA rate. That appears to be between .48C and .67C charge rates. Just putting out there what I just read, no opinion either way.


Erm.. where have you found 3000mAh battery on Panasonic's site? :S
UR18650ZTA? If yes, that's Sanyo's cell. Also, 1750mA is 0.7C, because *minimal* capacity rating of the 2600mAh cell is actually 2500mAh.


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## fliptwister (Nov 21, 2012)

I have bought the SP2 and it is on its way. I missed that the SP2 cannot charge 16340 batteries without a spacer and that it does not come with spacers. Where can I get spacers that will work? I need to charge some AW RCR123A batteries.

I also ordered some Eagletac Protected 18650 3400 mAh batteries for my G26C2 MKII flashlight. Should I charge these at 0.5A, 1A, or 2A? Will the SP2 know automatically how to charge these?

Thanks for any help!


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## bestsystem (Nov 22, 2012)

i would like to see a charger that can do a optional boost to 4.35V, optimize for new chemistry cells.:twothumbs


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## Shadowww (Nov 22, 2012)

bestsystem said:


> i would like to see a charger that can do a optional boost to 4.35V, optimize for new chemistry cells.:twothumbs


At the moment, only option (apart from hobby-chargers) for 4.3V and 4.35V batteries is Cottonpickers mini USB charger.
But yeah, 4.2V / 4.35V switch in a Xtar SP2-style charger (that is, dual-bay, AC powered) would be very lovely (and maybe also 3.6V for LiFePO4)


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## fliptwister (Nov 22, 2012)

candle lamp said:


> The SP2 charger needs another type of spacer (or connector) to charge 16340 cells as shown in the photo. Just shame the spacers came with WP6 II charger can't be used.



Can you please direct me to where you got these spacers? Thank you!


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## bestsystem (Nov 22, 2012)

need a fool proof design though, e.g. dented switch to avoid accidental activation


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## Robert_M (Nov 22, 2012)

fliptwister said:


> Can you please direct me to where you got these spacers? Thank you!



I bought mine at Lighthound.


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## fliptwister (Nov 22, 2012)

Thank you Robert!


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## Glock27 (Nov 27, 2012)

How hard would 2 amps be on 3100 and 3400 panasonic cells? Battery University says Li-Ion can be charged up to .7c. The 1 amp setting would be much closer to .3c. 
I'd like to know if charging at the higher rate would substantially decrease the life of the cells.

Bobo


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## Shadowww (Nov 27, 2012)

Glock27 said:


> How hard would 2 amps be on 3100 and 3400 panasonic cells? Battery University says Li-Ion can be charged up to .7c. The 1 amp setting would be much closer to .3c.
> I'd like to know if charging at the higher rate would substantially decrease the life of the cells.
> 
> Bobo


Panasonic's NNP cells - NCR18650(A / B) - have max. charging current of 0.3C (= 825mA for 2900mAh ones, 885mA for 3100mAh ones and 975mA for 3400mAh ones), but 1A isn't going to make them explode, wear out faster, or anything like that. 2A, though, most likely will, so proceed at your own risk. I'm often charging mine in excess of 5A (when I'm in hurry), but then again, I understand & accept the risks and disadvantages (such as high wear on cells).


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## mccririck (Nov 28, 2012)

Is this a better option than the WP2 II?


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## Shadowww (Nov 28, 2012)

mccririck said:


> Is this a better option than the WP2 II?


Depends on your needs.
If you need to charge 26650 batteries, and/or need 2A charging current, SP2 would be preferred.
If you're fine with just 1A, but would love USB output functionality, then WP2 II would suit you better.


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## ObserverJLin (Jan 17, 2013)

I am deciding between XTAR SP2 and Pila IBC for charging 18650 type batteries. Is there a formula I can use to calculate the best current to use while charging.

For example I read somewhere, "divide the capacity of the battery by two and use that value as the charge current". I.e. 3400mAh divide by 2 equals 1.7A or 1700mA.


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## neutralwhite (Jan 17, 2013)

when is this released ? any update ? 
thanks .....


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## HKJ (Jan 17, 2013)

ObserverJLin said:


> Is there a formula I can use to calculate the best current to use while charging.
> 
> For example I read somewhere, "divide the capacity of the battery by two and use that value as the charge current". I.e. 3400mAh divide by 2 equals 1.7A or 1700mA.



The only safe way is reading the datasheet for the battery.

As a rule of thumb you can use 1A for 18650 batteries and 70% of capacity for smaller batteries.


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## Brera (Jan 17, 2013)

I do like this charger a lot. The 2A charging option is wonderful and I do use it to charge my Eagletac 3400. For the rest, I only use 1A (2600 - 3100). I know that 2A on 18650 is not recommended but those eagletac 3400s are cheap (compared to AW) and I can always buy replacements.


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## ObserverJLin (Jan 18, 2013)

Forgot to ask. Does the SP2 have reverse polarity protection and all other good protection features?


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## Brera (Jan 19, 2013)

ObserverJLin said:


> Forgot to ask. Does the SP2 have reverse polarity protection and all other good protection features?


"The SP2 charger incorporates a reverse polarity protection circuit board and over/under voltage disconnecting technology to prevent problems associated with contaminated cells, wrong polarity and short circuits caused by mishandling or abuse of the unit." says the manual.


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## Epsilon (Jan 19, 2013)

Just got the charger only to find out it supports 26xxx cells as well. Didn't buy it for that though, but I am glad that it does . I mainly bought it to charge large capacity batteries and IMR chemistry which doesn't hurt them at all. I to be honest don't mind that the cells only last 200 cycles vs 500. 200 is a lot more than they would ever see in use. Only if you would use the cell every day you could run into problemS.

I am not encouraging to fast charge the cells, I only explain how I look at it


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## Rachel-Seth (Dec 27, 2013)

_Has anyone used the Nitecore i4 charger?????_


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## HKJ (Dec 27, 2013)

Rachel-Seth said:


> _Has anyone used the Nitecore i4 charger?????_



Many people uses it, it is an acceptable charger, but slow.
Its main featured is LiIon+NiMH and four bays (It is one of the best chargers with that combination). If you only need LiIon and two bays you can easily find better and faster chargers.


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## recDNA (Jan 29, 2015)

Will this charge keeppower to 4.3 volts or do I need sp1 for that?


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## HKJ (Jan 29, 2015)

recDNA said:


> Will this charge keeppower to 4.3 volts or do I need sp1 for that?



If you check my reviews, you will see a table that very clearly list if 4.35 volt charging is supported. No charger supports 4.30 volt charging (Except some hobby chargers).
The SP2 only supports 4.20 charging.


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## recDNA (Jan 29, 2015)

Sorry. Not tecky enough to read I guess. Thanks for having the patience to answer. I appreciate it.


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## HKJ (Jan 29, 2015)

recDNA said:


> Sorry. Not tecky enough to read I guess. Thanks for having the patience to answer. I appreciate it.



Yo do not need to read, just look for this table (Here for SP1):





And just below that table is another table with supported battery sizes and recommended current settings.


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## recDNA (Jan 29, 2015)

OK so SP1 is what I need for my keeppower 16650. Thanks!


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## StorminMatt (Jan 29, 2015)

Too bad they didn't put all the features of the SP1 in the SP2.


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