http://www.xtar.cc/product/XTAR-VC8-Charger-125.html
For review / test I have the Xtar VC8 charger . What we have is a multi battery ( 8 ) , multi charge rate , Nimh / Li-ion charger ( 1.5v / 4.2v ) . Depending on the charge bay used , you have 3000mAh / 2000mAh / 1000mAh / 500mAh and 250mAh charge rates to chose from . These charge rates should cover just about 99% of your charge requirements . The power source required is either 5v USB or 9v USB making this charger very mobile ( any USB source ) .
Charging 18650 :
I really like the way this charger rolls with Li-ion , good quality batteries come off the charger at 4.19v and batteries with higher internal resistance ( older batteries ) come off the charger at lower voltage as the charger does not appear to try and force 4.2v onto batteries of lower quality . I really appreciate modern chargers that are so much safer than the chargers from say 10 years ago .
Charging AA :
I really like the VC8 for it's 8 charge bays . Charging 8 AA at a time really makes charging batteries easy . ( Especially if you have a lot of AA ) Now a lot of chargers terminate AA charging at about 1.46v or maybe 1.48v . The VC8 takes my Nimh over 1.5v , I pulled one battery off the charger at 1.52v and it was still charging . At this time I don't know how high the VC8 might take the AA , but anything over 1.5v is probably a waste as NIMH just don't do what dry cells and Alkalines do voltage wise .
USB Power Source :
I am still waiting on two USB power supplies so I can test the VC8 further . Right now I don't have a USB power source capable of doing the charger justice and I had to resort to using a Y cable , so I could use two USB power sources to feed the charger . I would at this time say that the achilles heel of this charger is the power source . If you start doing some math , you will quickly find that very few USB power supplies can do this charger justice . Which is why I would love to see in the future a better option ( or added option ) , like 12v to 18v DC power supply support built into the VC8 .
Conclusion :
At this time I am not going to draw a conclusion as I don't have a USB power source that comes close to doing the VC8 justice . It's Saturday today , so hopefully I will have some better USB power sources early next week ( locally sourced - I thought ? ) . So there will have to be a part 2 to this . So maybe this was just a preview ?
About a week has past as I wait for my USB Mains adaptors .
PART 2
AA Batteries = They all came off the charger very nicely . I was charging them at 250mAh as these days I like the idea of looking after the batteries and I feel that high charge rates just overly stress the battery for no real reason other than convenience . Just own a few more batteries . I really did not care for the higher than average voltage that the AA were taken too ( 1.52v ) , but the batteries did remain relatively cool through out the charge cycle .
AAA Batteries = Everything I said about the AA batteries .
NIZN Batteries = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel–zinc_battery / Anyone remember these batteries ? I originally had about 8 of these but over time and the stress of charging some 4 have gone to battery heaven or hell . I remember I had a charger that would charge the Nizn , but they always got hot . Using the VC8 charger @ 250mAh the Nizn got charged and stayed cool through out the charge cycle . I was actually happy with the way the VC8 handled the Nizn batteries .
18650 Batteries = Again , very happy with the way the VC8 charger behaved with the 18650 . There was one battery in my collection that the VC8 refused to charge . A low quality 18650 that I have rubbished in the past . My other 18650 chargers will charge this battery , but not so the VC8 . So the VC8 can actually pick out garbage , that's really nice . I charged over 20 18650 and the good ones come off the charger at 4.2v or 4.19v . Older batteries and batteries of lower quality come of the charger at lower voltage . The lowest of the VC8 might have been about 4.08v , but this is a 10 year old battery .
USB power source = This really is the Nuts and Bolts of it . With some 8 x 18650 batteries on the charger @ 250mAh my USB power monitor reported some 1.8A to 1.9A current form the USB power source . If you increased the charge rate to say 500mAh then you would need almost 4A ( 5v USB supply ) to feed the VC8 . So think about that . The VC8 is really limited by the USB power source you are using . I would not dare try to charge batteries at high current simply because I would be scared to cook the USB power source . I have run USB power supplies at their maximum and they do get hot ( 1A ) . The one I ordered is a little better than the single or duel outlet ones , but not really what I would consider heavy duty . Xtar themselves have posted 5v 2A and 9v 2A as the power required for the VC8 , .... That means ( manual ) one battery @ 3A , two batteries @ 2A , 4 batteries @ 1A , and 8 batteries @ 0.5A . But I wont vouch for any cheap USB power supply to do 4A .
Conclusion :
I think the VC8 has just become my go to charger , for now . 8 battery slots and since I am already charging my batteries at 250mAh the VC8 charger fits me like a glove . I love charging at lower current rates as you are just looking after your batteries so much better . There are three ways to shorten the life of a battery . High discharge rates , over discharge and high charge rates . High discharge can't be helped in some applications , but the other two are well within a users control . I really like the VC8 charger , and the only downside I can see is the power source chosen to power the VC8 . Would I recommend the VC8 , hell yes !
I like the size ( 8 slot ) and the build quality looks to be really good . Also the VC8's ability to charge Nizn has warmed my heart and I might start using my Nizn batteries again without fear of killing them when recharging . Companies like Xtar are really making the flashlight hobby a more rewarding one , and I would just like to thank Xtar for sending me the VC8 for review / testing .
