XTAR VC8 Review: RESCUING some OLD Dyson cells!
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- čas přidán 10. 09. 2022
- I got a new charger. The XTAR VC8. It's on the list of things you think you don't need... until you use it.
Buy the VC8 here: amzn.to/3U9xV9Z (Paid link)
So I like to do some e-waste salvaging from time to time.
That's when I found an old Dyson V6 that wouldn't turn on... but the battery pack looked in good nick.
After a lot of difficulty ripping apart the case, lo and behold... 6 X 18650 cells. These are LG 18650 cells with 20A draw. Not bad.
But are they safe to use?
This charger can test the impedance of each cell to see how worn it is, and also can conduct a full capacity test.
It discharges the cells completely and then charges them up again while measuring capacity.
I read that these Dyson battery packs lock themselves out when there's a voltage imbalance in one or more of the cells (0.1V).
The cells appear to be fine although I'm probably going to dispose of the one with a dented positive terminal.
A few observations about the VC8. You can 'grade' or measure the capacity of cells on slots 1-4. 5-8 are for charging only. All slots can measure impedance.
You can charge just about any cell, including NiMH cells. Each slot operates independently, so you can mix and match.
I like how you can change the charging current from 250mA to 3000mA. It displays the actual charging current and battery voltage too.
Makes things a lot safer as I can't see the voltage of cells charging inside a flashlight tube.
There's also a storage mode. Discharges cells to 3.7 volts for long-term storage (safest voltage and maximises battery lifespan).
Go get one if you have lots of rechargeable batteries. You won't regret it.
Disclaimer: I don't recommend pulling apart any battery packs or messing around with mystery batteries unless you know what you're doing.
Thanks, @TorchHacker for sending me this charger. May have avoided losing my hand with my other one 😂 - Věda a technologie
It's great to see the XTAR VC8 being put to good use! The Internal Resistance display and Grading function are pretty useful.
Hey cheers man, this thing charges everything. Ok besides 26800 cells. I'm not game enough to try modding it 😅
There is a slightly updated version of this charger, the VC8 Plus.
There is too! It'd be good if you could use all 8 bays for grading and storage mode. If 26800 start taking off, I'll probably get a separate charger for those too.
@@DarrenYeoYT I am looking forward to (hopefully) Xtar bringing out a Dragon 2 charger which would take 26800s.
@@ianmaw66 I'd be all in on a 3x 26800 light :D
XTAR silently updated the VC8 due to a chip shortage last year. This one allows 3A charging from any slot instead of just slots 1 and 8. 😀
Ah right, no biggie. I also think my phone charger might not supply enough current to charge more than a couple batteries at high rate. If I put 8 cells in, they will all charge at around 500mAh each max.
Used 18650 batteries end charging at 4.2V (by XTAR display) but my multimeter show anything from 4.18 to 4.23... I am puzzled on why it is happening. Perhaps different batteries conditions... but why the voltage goes above 4.2?
Other than that I absolutely love the device.
That's very strange. But I do find that some of the bays display incorrect voltage too. In my case, it considers a cell fully charged at 4.14-4.17 volts on certain bays. Try charging the 18650 cell in different bays to see where one is over charging. Could also be an issue with your multimeter. Should be careful about overcharged cells.
Apparently, there's a newer model not out yet, not the vc8 plus. This new model may finally have grading for all 8 slots. I had to settle with the vc8 plus since I needed a charger badly.
Hi Dan, if I put too many batteries in, maybe 3+ the charging capacity reduces to about 1A per cell. Apparently the chip shortage may have been responsible for some of these cutbacks. Still a great charger!
@@DarrenYeoYT it just sucks that unlike smart phones, we don't have leaks to work with 😂
We're apparently in a 'niche' market, popular with a lot of prepper/doomsday crowds 😂
ok I do have a bug out bag though hah!