Repost a good review
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XTAR is a manufacturer who focuses on battery chargers. Its products have always been aimed at high performance and reliability. I bought a VC8 charger, which can charge 8 pieces of 21700 batteries at the same time.
Appearance
The charging battery quantity determines the charger’s volume. The XTAR VC8 has 8 bays, so its overall size reaches 194mm x 134mm x 34mm, and the net weight is close to 350g, which is a large size in the chargers.
● Wide Compatibility
Although VC8 has a large size, it supports 6 pieces of 26650 batteries or 8 pieces of 21700 batteries.
In daily use, all the common lithium batteries can be installed, from 16340 to 26650. If you have many flashlights or need to use many batteries, this VC8 charger will bring you convenience.
● Two LCD Screens
VC8 has two LCD screens, which looks like two 4-bay chargers side by side.
XTAR's LOGO and the “VC8” model are placed in the middle of the two screens, which is very eye-catching.
The screen has a protective film. You can remove it when used.
● Chute Design
The charger uses a chute design, which is also the structure used by most chargers. This structure is stable, reliable and easy to use.
The contact plate of the chute adopts nickel plating process, so there is no need to worry about the durability.
Grading And Storage Mode
The channels of VC8 are marked CH1 to CH8 from left to right. And the CH1 to CH4 not only can be used for charging, but also support battery capacity test and charging in storage mode.
● Storage Mode
Generally, if the lithium batteries are not used for a long time, the battery capacity should not be too full or too low. The ideal voltage is 3.6-3.8V, because it can prevent the battery from passivation to maintain performance.
The storage mode of VC8 is to charge the battery to 3.7V which is suitable for long-term storage. If the battery voltage is higher than 3.7v, the VC8 will perform the discharge operation, and if it is lower than 3.7v, the charging operation will be performed for long-term storage.
● Charging FeLiO4P Batteries
The storage mode also has a major role, which is charging the FeLiO4P battery. You know that the voltage of the FeLiO4P battery is 3V, and it is about 3.6V after being fully charged. It can also charge up to 4.2v, but it is not far from death (I have done it many times). That means, the terminal voltage of the storage mode is almost the same as that of the FeLiO4P battery. Therefore, another function of this mode is to directly charge the FeLiO4P battery.
● Grading Mode
The capacity test of VC8 is to fully charge the battery, then discharge it, and then recharge it for a cycle. The VC8 calculates the battery capacity through the discharge current and time.
It should be noted that because the silent design of VC8, it doesn’t have a fan, so the current will not be too large during discharge, only about 300mA. Therefore this test takes a long time.
0V Activation Function
After playing with the flashlight for many years, I found that it is normal for batteries to be over-discharged in daily use. The flashlight is often forgotten to be turned off or turned on by mistake.
Generally, the charger will rely on detecting the battery voltage to determine which type of battery it is. It is a 1.2V AA NiMH battery or a 3.7V Li-ion. The battery is judged by the initial voltage. If you put a battery with no voltage, some chargers will not charge at all.
A protected battery generally disconnects when it reaches the cut-off voltage. There is no voltage at the two ends of the battery (test with a multimeter). So a charging voltage is required to "activate" the protection board before the charger can detect the battery type.
After testing, the VC8 channels have an activation voltage when they are not loaded, so whether the battery has protected board or not, it can automatically start activated charging.
This activation process is probably to slowly charge to a certain voltage first, then start the set power for fast charging, and finally use constant voltage charging to supplement.
------------
XTAR is a manufacturer who focuses on battery chargers. Its products have always been aimed at high performance and reliability. I bought a VC8 charger, which can charge 8 pieces of 21700 batteries at the same time.
Appearance
The charging battery quantity determines the charger’s volume. The XTAR VC8 has 8 bays, so its overall size reaches 194mm x 134mm x 34mm, and the net weight is close to 350g, which is a large size in the chargers.
● Wide Compatibility
Although VC8 has a large size, it supports 6 pieces of 26650 batteries or 8 pieces of 21700 batteries.
In daily use, all the common lithium batteries can be installed, from 16340 to 26650. If you have many flashlights or need to use many batteries, this VC8 charger will bring you convenience.
● Two LCD Screens
VC8 has two LCD screens, which looks like two 4-bay chargers side by side.
XTAR's LOGO and the “VC8” model are placed in the middle of the two screens, which is very eye-catching.
The screen has a protective film. You can remove it when used.
● Chute Design
The charger uses a chute design, which is also the structure used by most chargers. This structure is stable, reliable and easy to use.
The contact plate of the chute adopts nickel plating process, so there is no need to worry about the durability.
Grading And Storage Mode
The channels of VC8 are marked CH1 to CH8 from left to right. And the CH1 to CH4 not only can be used for charging, but also support battery capacity test and charging in storage mode.
● Storage Mode
Generally, if the lithium batteries are not used for a long time, the battery capacity should not be too full or too low. The ideal voltage is 3.6-3.8V, because it can prevent the battery from passivation to maintain performance.
The storage mode of VC8 is to charge the battery to 3.7V which is suitable for long-term storage. If the battery voltage is higher than 3.7v, the VC8 will perform the discharge operation, and if it is lower than 3.7v, the charging operation will be performed for long-term storage.
● Charging FeLiO4P Batteries
The storage mode also has a major role, which is charging the FeLiO4P battery. You know that the voltage of the FeLiO4P battery is 3V, and it is about 3.6V after being fully charged. It can also charge up to 4.2v, but it is not far from death (I have done it many times). That means, the terminal voltage of the storage mode is almost the same as that of the FeLiO4P battery. Therefore, another function of this mode is to directly charge the FeLiO4P battery.
● Grading Mode
The capacity test of VC8 is to fully charge the battery, then discharge it, and then recharge it for a cycle. The VC8 calculates the battery capacity through the discharge current and time.
It should be noted that because the silent design of VC8, it doesn’t have a fan, so the current will not be too large during discharge, only about 300mA. Therefore this test takes a long time.
0V Activation Function
After playing with the flashlight for many years, I found that it is normal for batteries to be over-discharged in daily use. The flashlight is often forgotten to be turned off or turned on by mistake.
Generally, the charger will rely on detecting the battery voltage to determine which type of battery it is. It is a 1.2V AA NiMH battery or a 3.7V Li-ion. The battery is judged by the initial voltage. If you put a battery with no voltage, some chargers will not charge at all.
A protected battery generally disconnects when it reaches the cut-off voltage. There is no voltage at the two ends of the battery (test with a multimeter). So a charging voltage is required to "activate" the protection board before the charger can detect the battery type.
After testing, the VC8 channels have an activation voltage when they are not loaded, so whether the battery has protected board or not, it can automatically start activated charging.
This activation process is probably to slowly charge to a certain voltage first, then start the set power for fast charging, and finally use constant voltage charging to supplement.