Super eGo Charger

[CraigHB]

Having some recent problems finding a decent eGo charger, I thought I'd have a go at making a super high quality one.  So I did (photo below).  This one has a 650mA rate compared to a regular eGo charger's 420mA rate.  It charges a 650mAh eGo battery in an hour.   The unit operates exactly the same as a normal eGo charger (lights behave the same), but with much higher quality parts and a higher charging rate.

You can see a big component on the top toward the left, that's a surge suppressor.  It protects the unit from power spikes, something regular eGo chargers don't have.  A power hit won't blow this one.  It also has a little trimmer pot that you can see close to the middle that allows me to dial in the terminal charging voltage exactly.

I used the original enclosure, connector and cable, just made a better circuit board for it.  That's a hand made PCB by the way.  That's why it doesn't have solder mask (it's not green).  Normally I order out for PCBs, but this one was simple enough I decided to make it myself.

The design is based on the Linear LT3055 current/voltage regulator.  It's a really trick part that enabled a simple design.  The Linear web site says it's a 500mA regulator, but I don't know why they under sell it like that.  It's actually a 900mA controller if you look at the specs in the data sheet.

[Breaktru]

Well done Craig. Definitely a way better charging system. No cheap shortcuts there. Real quality for sure. 
It's amazing how you hand solder those tiny components

[CraigHB]

It's actually not that hard under a microscope, here's the one I use;

http://www.amscope.com/se305r-p.html

[Breaktru]

Cool microscope. I'll have to put that on my Christmas list. Now... to find a device to keep my hand still 

[CraigHB]

I actually hard a hard time finding the exact one I'm using, got it now, took a few edits.  They have a ton of different models and they're amazingly inexpensive.  The quality is fine with mine.  I've had zero issues with it and I've been using it for several years.

I've been wondering about a rig that uses a macro camera though.  The microscope is only good for small projects with the small platform.

[jeandbean]

Good one and Super soldering dude 

[wwwest]

Those parts are so tiny 
Nice going 

[jumper]

Outstanding work Craig. If you could get a backer you could mass produce these and sell them. I would buy one 

[CraigHB]

Been using it a couple days now, working great.  Put an eGo on there and it's done before you know it.

[Visus]

This is great charger at a later date maybe I try to build one.


I am wondering if theres a way to change the charge rate on an ego charger, which resistor if it is plausible.

I have used the ego charger for almost a year now, it charges great but @420mA much slower than my 1 amp charger which I use only when in dire need of a batt-- never happens but --.


Do ya know which resistor and is it safe or leave alone?
Fasttech sells a ~1 amp fast ego charger so theres gotta be a way..

Would love a few more mA lol..

[CraigHB]

I really doubt a generic 1A eGo charger from Fasttech charger is anything worth using.  I've had serious issues with the Generic eGo charges I've come across.  Though the genuine eVod and genuine Joyetech chargers are good quality.  Those are the ones I've actually tested on the bench.

I can't say on the generic eGo charges how to change the rate.  They vary in terms of circuitry.  They also have to be designed to handle those higher rates.  You know how the Chinese are, they build stuff that can't even handle the specs they advertise let alone be over-driven to higher level.

One other consideration is that you really don't want to exceed a 1C rate with any of the eGos.  You can use a 1A rate on the 1000mAh and larger ones, but you wouldn't want to use that rate on a 650mA eGo or anything similar with that capacity.

[Visus]

Thanks Craig

I went searching fasttech for them they do not carry them nor does joytech sell those anymore.

So probably had issues with them like you says..

Meh' I really like it, it hits 4.19-2v on the button every charge and then if I leave it when finished the vdisplay starts to drain it down and it wont start back up unless I take bats out or unplug -- one and done I guess,  but I read your reply to clav so maybe thats it, needs at least 10%+  drain or more to restart..  I have not let it sit that long..

I had another that charged to 4.27-34v so they are not all the same and can be dangerous lol..

The ego circuit makes it charge lower so they are not worried about it being perfect.  With an ego circuit in play it will only charge to 4.15-7v..

I at first did not like the 14500 v2 efest 700's but they seem stronger now when new and dont wanna risk messing them up @850ma with the 4056 charger even tho 1400mah on the charger and data sheet says 4c rate which is surprising since 700mah..

[CraigHB]

The high drain cells can typically handle a 2C charging rate, but that's not a hard and fast rule.  The cells in the eGos are standard LiCo so you don't want to push them too hard.

[Visus]

I looked over the ego charger which I hadn't since I made that charger,  well there is no resistor that changes the charging rate its all on the chip the only resistor is for the led.

Theres some cap spaces open and unused but thats it.  Basic,  lol I did not look at it before posting that question.  Was in thought it was similar to the 4056 so I asked..
Its a genuine joytech charger


Had another charger from greensmoke@ its heart a lm358 with a blank 8 pin thingy an aca1j chip lots of resistors and other components.



Holy cow theres a lot going on with that charger..

[CraigHB]

The eGo chargers are weird.  They don't work like a regular Li-Ion charger.  It's because the eGo battery unit itself handles the charger connection to the cell.  It has to supervise the connection for atomizer or charger. 

It's really kind of a kludge, but when they say Chinese engineering, the way eGos charge is a good example.  They forgo the normal disconnect a proper Li-Ion charger performs on completion of the charge cycle.  There's a reason for it.  It's because of the shared atomizer and charger connection.  The charger has to always be on so the battery unit can see the connection.  However, it's a Lithium Ion battery no-no.  The correct Li-Ion charging profile requires the charger disconnect internally and indicate a full charge when charging current drops below 10% of the full rate.

The moral of the story is take your eGos off the charger when the light turns green.  They don't disconnect from the charger until you do it manually and it's bad for Li-Ion cells to be trickle charged, wears them out prematurely.

[Visus]

Yeah I check them frequently they go green at 4.20v on the button without the ego electronics in line--with ego electronics same imr batts about 4.15-17 depending on how long I leave it on green.  Its strange when I sleep I sometimes charge and forget in morning and later when I check the batts they are at 3.9-or so with a green light and charger  v meter indicator indicating 4.2.  I measure the batts on a seperate dmm and the batts are at 3.9v..  My guess was the charger meter slowly trickles the batts down to 3.9v and the charger says 4.2v with green light and almost no current.  IDK it happens often with same results and why I posted it wont start charging again until I guess a certain percent is gone once the charger is displaying green.  Meh not safe, not unsafe, I hope, been going perfect for long while now.

With the ego electronics it will keep charging, without it- it drops current so low it cannot charge the batts and power the v meter but displays 4.2v .
Maybe it is overheating, IDK its strange, yes they are weird..

The GS charger meters out at 4.6v so they also use some chip in the battery for charging..

[CraigHB]

I haven't had any calibration issues with the Joyetech chargers and I checked one eVod charger that looked good, but the generic ones are all over the place.  They can can be ridiculously out of tolerance.  They can over-charge or under-charge by quite a lot.  The rates are all over the place too.  If you see one of those generic ones, don't get near it, major safety hazard.

In fact, a friend of my wife's was using those cheapo eGo chargers and she had a battery explosion, not once but twice.  Fortunately nothing burned down nor was there any personal injury, but it did some damage to the house.  I sent her a set of Joyetech chargers and she hasn't had any more problems.

Li-ion batteries have a very narrow range on the terminal charging voltage.  The listed spec is plus or minus 50mV, but I use a tolerance even tighter than that, 30mV.  So if a charger finishes a battery less than 4.17V or greater than 4.23V it's out of tolerance.  That's assuming the battery is spec'ed at 4.20V.  There are some Li-Ions that charge to 4.35V, I use them myself.  Same thing on those, plus or minus 30mV which is 4.32 to 4.38 Volts.

People sometimes assume that because something sits on a retailer's shelf there's a degree of safety behind the product, but you can't assume that especially with China products.  Same goes for e-cig vendors that just resale the cheapest crap they can get which is most of them.

[Visus]

Thanks

yeah  it is happening on the charger every time one blows recently its on the charger,  yup..

Thats as bad as my 4056 charger I just figured out has a 220ohm resistor when it should be 1.2kohm resistor.  The charger never did act right.  I didnt even notice it until I wired it up for a charging station and it wouldn't stop charging the batts.  I put a 1.2k smd on it and charges fine now, my other 4056 is fine 221 vs 122 smd easy tricked me to not noticing.

China items can be dangerous as well as awesome,  its a knowledgeable purchase needed.

I filed my irons tip into a sorta angled bevel chisel its uber easy now to do smd's.  I am ready to use em more lol..   
Wow in how u do em.. 


Bastiges
That maybe woulda started a fire..



Playing with my phone magnifier noticing it works best in almost darkroom. Top photo almost dark room, bottom photo sunlit room.  woot learned sumthin new..