Glad you liked it. I bought this thing thinking I'd found a less expensive cell tester and in fact I did not. It's designed pretty light weight and doesn't do anything that I want a cell tester for.
Thanks for all these reviews. So is the XTAR VP4+ Dragon still the best charger to get at present? I feel like it's getting pretty old, and some recent reviews on Amazon indicate slipping QC recently.
It has been a while since I bought any more VP4+ cell testers. I have 6 of them and they are all going strong and probably will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Can you get a bad one? I suppose you can. I haven't, but 6 units is hardly enough to go on to say that quality is always good. Like anything, the chances of a few bad ones is always possible. I'd like to see XTAR do a refresh of the VP4+. It's still the best in my opinion, but it can be made better too.
Thanks for this review! Im looking for a 4 bay charger preferably fast charging(for bigger batteries 26650). Also looking for one that has capacity test. What do you recommend?
Finally someone that knows how to properly IR test and go though reason most chargers even with proper discharge are horrible for IR testing as relies on a spring though plate which of course creates resistance as longer path and oxidation. Yes the fact contacts are not sharp enough to pierce though oxidation layer of the cell? People wonder why I rather spend 2k on a proper bench meter and over 1k on a electronic load tester and a proper balancer that cost 100’s. As very picky on what cells I use in large packs and reason why haven’t had a pack fail to date. I have a pack on my first e-bike with a bbshd I build many years ago before e-bikes were mass produced and still hobbyist phase. I am using Panasonic cells that still gives me pretty much near full capacity and have 1000’s of miles on it. Yes you can cut corners but from experience had brand new cells had to reject or had a couple literally leak, or bust into flames during testing. Imagine if put those cells in a pack? It not going to be just replace that cell as whole pack could go up in flames, or rows? I repaired packs for customers that that literally happened and only had under 200 miles on them and failed where hotspots happened and took rows of cells out. In a couple cases pack was actually built correctly and thick enough nickels spot welded correctly but failure was caused by one bad cell that leaked overheated and shorted.
there are 2 model the C4 and the C4-12(which you bought) and the C4 model has the discharge function but the C4-12 does not have the discharge function. maybe do a review/teardown on the C4. one difference i see is the power plug, the C4 does not use the DC Barrel plug(well it has one but it not being used for main power).
If you'd like to send me a C4 for a tear down, I'll do one. However, if it's anything as garbage as the C4-12 is, then it's not really worth it for me to go buy one.
It is garbage i was forced to replace 4 times cmos transistors several times. Firmware was broken slots - was killed by placing in them old protected 18650. Now it is stable but use it rarely. Mine was 15$ because of discount of broken port (that was damaged multiple times after that also).
Except that you are paying a LOT more than $30 for this turd! Its a way over priced mega cheap charger. I'd tell people the same thing about those other super cheap chargers...avoid them too. and no not "every single" charger looks like this inside! Spend some time looking at my VP4+ charger tear down. It's far better! The SkyRC C3000 is also a nice build.
This video was made over a year ago. They lowered their price to be inline with other basic cell chargers like it since that is all it really does. I'm not sure what you are referring to with your "megaohms" comment. If that was about cell internal resistance, then whatever cell you have with more than a few hundred milliohms of resistance is bad. Honestly, even 200 miliohms in a cell is extremely high and the cell is very probably at or near end of life.
Oh, I see. then, 2/10 of an ohm is high. My definition mistake. The C4 i have measures internal resistance, and checks capacity by charging it all the way up, and then discharging. Of course, it also just charges. Maybe you have a different model. I also have the similar EBL charger/ analyzer and it is a dismal failure. One of the channels failed right away.@@de-bodgery
@@tomtillmanI say it in the video, but you might have missed it. Charge, discharge, charge is a single cycle and usually enough to test both discharge and charge capacity of a cell. This is something the C4 does not do. It only charges once. I did test for this and it's not listed in the feature bullet points either. Watch the video, don;'t skip anything, I describe how proper Ir testing is done and why this charger doesn't do that. While it claims to do Ir testing, it doesn't. If you have a "different model" as you claim, is yours just like the one I show in the video? If it's the same, you don't have a different model and what you are saying about your unit is false.
Nothing false here. A misunderstanding maybe. After charging the battery up, it fully discharges and shows the mAh. Then it charges it back up, with the capacity continuing to show until you take the battery out. If the one you have doesn't do this, you have a different one, or older one, or you don't understand its functions. The manual is substandard and does not make this very clear. I have analyzed dozens of cells with it. @@de-bodgery
Even HKJ gave this thing a thumbs down overall and he's way too nice on these manufacturers. Right off the bat I was turned off by the price and the nonstop 3A CHARGING advertising. Whoop de doo that's all you can do and the Vapcell S4 Plus can be found for $45 and has a billion more features. I'm really curious about its ability to charge the different chemistries, specifically LiFeP04 since I've never seen any universal charger/testers do 3.7V/3.2V Lithium and NiMh charging well.
Hi. Thanks for stopping by to watch my video content! I have no idea if this charger can handle LiFePO4. The SkyRC MC3000 is a lot more money and it for sure can.
@@de-bodgeryit can. Double press the mode button like the manual states and choose between li-ion 3.7V, 3.85V and Lifepo4 3.2V by pressing mode button...
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Finally, someone tells it like it is! Thanks for the review.
Glad you liked it. I bought this thing thinking I'd found a less expensive cell tester and in fact I did not. It's designed pretty light weight and doesn't do anything that I want a cell tester for.
Which charger do you suggest to buy with discharge program?
Which charger should I get from Aliexpress with a $50 USD budget? Thanks!!
Thanks for all these reviews. So is the XTAR VP4+ Dragon still the best charger to get at present? I feel like it's getting pretty old, and some recent reviews on Amazon indicate slipping QC recently.
It has been a while since I bought any more VP4+ cell testers. I have 6 of them and they are all going strong and probably will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Can you get a bad one? I suppose you can. I haven't, but 6 units is hardly enough to go on to say that quality is always good. Like anything, the chances of a few bad ones is always possible. I'd like to see XTAR do a refresh of the VP4+. It's still the best in my opinion, but it can be made better too.
Thanks for this review! Im looking for a 4 bay charger preferably fast charging(for bigger batteries 26650). Also looking for one that has capacity test. What do you recommend?
Finally someone that knows how to properly IR test and go though reason most chargers even with proper discharge are horrible for IR testing as relies on a spring though plate which of course creates resistance as longer path and oxidation. Yes the fact contacts are not sharp enough to pierce though oxidation layer of the cell?
People wonder why I rather spend 2k on a proper bench meter and over 1k on a electronic load tester and a proper balancer that cost 100’s. As very picky on what cells I use in large packs and reason why haven’t had a pack fail to date. I have a pack on my first e-bike with a bbshd I build many years ago before e-bikes were mass produced and still hobbyist phase. I am using Panasonic cells that still gives me pretty much near full capacity and have 1000’s of miles on it.
Yes you can cut corners but from experience had brand new cells had to reject or had a couple literally leak, or bust into flames during testing. Imagine if put those cells in a pack? It not going to be just replace that cell as whole pack could go up in flames, or rows? I repaired packs for customers that that literally happened and only had under 200 miles on them and failed where hotspots happened and took rows of cells out. In a couple cases pack was actually built correctly and thick enough nickels spot welded correctly but failure was caused by one bad cell that leaked overheated and shorted.
This charger and that is all it is, is a turd.
I liked my C4-12 but two of the springs have recently failed, like I told they would do!
Debodgery! I have an OPUS BT-C1300 and the LCD has delaminated! Does the guide i see on relaminating the screen work for these displays as well?
thanks for this vid. almost bought this unit..
just ordered the lii600 instead :)
Good choice!
The Li-600 will do more than 1A capacity test?
Do i need to put them on fans like the OPUS?
Lii-600 does .5a discharge. I don't usually have a fan on mine when I'm testing cells, but they do get somewhat warm.
What charger do you recommend? Was looking at the MiBOXER 8-Bay Smart Charger reviews.
Watch my videos youi'll see what I like
@@de-bodgerywhat a bullshit answer
there are 2 model the C4 and the C4-12(which you bought) and the C4 model has the discharge function but the C4-12 does not have the discharge function.
maybe do a review/teardown on the C4. one difference i see is the power plug, the C4 does not use the DC Barrel plug(well it has one but it not being used for main power).
If you'd like to send me a C4 for a tear down, I'll do one. However, if it's anything as garbage as the C4-12 is, then it's not really worth it for me to go buy one.
Yes, my C4 has a discharge function (in slot 4 only).
It is garbage i was forced to replace 4 times cmos transistors several times. Firmware was broken slots - was killed by placing in them old protected 18650. Now it is stable but use it rarely. Mine was 15$ because of discount of broken port (that was damaged multiple times after that also).
After all of that, its not worth it!
@@de-bodgery indeed
which version is this, the 3rd or the 4th?
No idea, but as you can see in the video the board says v2.0. I know that I bought it new on Amazon 2 days before making this video.
Every single charger looks like that inside. I don't see what the issue is. They are all $20 to $30 made in the same sweat shops in China.
Except that you are paying a LOT more than $30 for this turd! Its a way over priced mega cheap charger. I'd tell people the same thing about those other super cheap chargers...avoid them too. and no not "every single" charger looks like this inside! Spend some time looking at my VP4+ charger tear down. It's far better! The SkyRC C3000 is also a nice build.
Almost bought it..the search continues 😂
After I made this video, I sent it back!
@@de-bodgeryI'll probably get the xtar vc4/plus or nitecore um4..there's only so much research I can cope with
It's not milliohms. It's megaohms.
I have the C4 and it works great.
It's $28 on Amazon.
This video was made over a year ago. They lowered their price to be inline with other basic cell chargers like it since that is all it really does. I'm not sure what you are referring to with your "megaohms" comment. If that was about cell internal resistance, then whatever cell you have with more than a few hundred milliohms of resistance is bad. Honestly, even 200 miliohms in a cell is extremely high and the cell is very probably at or near end of life.
Oh, I see. then, 2/10 of an ohm is high. My definition mistake.
The C4 i have measures internal resistance, and checks capacity by charging it all the way up, and then discharging. Of course, it also just charges. Maybe you have a different model.
I also have the similar EBL charger/ analyzer and it is a dismal failure. One of the channels failed right away.@@de-bodgery
@@tomtillmanI say it in the video, but you might have missed it. Charge, discharge, charge is a single cycle and usually enough to test both discharge and charge capacity of a cell. This is something the C4 does not do. It only charges once. I did test for this and it's not listed in the feature bullet points either. Watch the video, don;'t skip anything, I describe how proper Ir testing is done and why this charger doesn't do that. While it claims to do Ir testing, it doesn't. If you have a "different model" as you claim, is yours just like the one I show in the video? If it's the same, you don't have a different model and what you are saying about your unit is false.
Nothing false here. A misunderstanding maybe. After charging the battery up, it fully discharges and shows the mAh. Then it charges it back up, with the capacity continuing to show until you take the battery out. If the one you have doesn't do this, you have a different one, or older one, or you don't understand its functions. The manual is substandard and does not make this very clear. I have analyzed dozens of cells with it. @@de-bodgery
@@tomtillmanyou have a C4 v4. That's a total different charger that does 1.5 Ampere max per channel and can discharge in slot 4...
Even HKJ gave this thing a thumbs down overall and he's way too nice on these manufacturers. Right off the bat I was turned off by the price and the nonstop 3A CHARGING advertising. Whoop de doo that's all you can do and the Vapcell S4 Plus can be found for $45 and has a billion more features. I'm really curious about its ability to charge the different chemistries, specifically LiFeP04 since I've never seen any universal charger/testers do 3.7V/3.2V Lithium and NiMh charging well.
Hi. Thanks for stopping by to watch my video content! I have no idea if this charger can handle LiFePO4. The SkyRC MC3000 is a lot more money and it for sure can.
@@de-bodgeryit can. Double press the mode button like the manual states and choose between li-ion 3.7V, 3.85V and Lifepo4 3.2V by pressing mode button...
I have an err mesg on channel 3. That is why I am here. Hopefully what ever you do can lead me to a fix.
I'm sorry you bought a POS. Not much I can do about that. If you can still send it back, that's what I suggest.
Most probably a shorted ME3118A.