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Funny, I was actually thinking about wireless Li-Ion chargers the other day.As far as that particular schematic goes, receiver output voltage is going to be sensitive to variations in power transfer and loading. It would be better to use the receiver to power a proper Li-Ion charging circuit through a switching regulator than to simply rely on an adequate transfer of power. That's going to to vary quite a bit depending on the level of mutual inductance. Also, charging voltage can not go over 4.2V absolutely and since mains power can fluctuate from 110 to 120V, there's no way to guarantee that simply with a windings ratio.The guy says in his article it's not something he's actually built and used, only something he threw out there on paper. There's stuff you need that's missing, for example, charging indications are generally something you don't want to do without.I've never designed a wireless Li-Ion charger myself, but they're out there already. There may be reference designs available for ones that have actually been built and are known to work well. I'm pretty sure actual working ones are not going to be as simple as the one proposed in that link.The big problem I can see right off with the wireless charger idea is the part count. Basically, you'd be building a wall wart and charging electronics into a battery mod. That's a lot of PCB real estate and the receiver windings are going to take up considerable space as well. You're adding a lot of size to the device only so you don't have to plug in a wire. This is not something that is going to work while you use the device either. You'd have to actually lay the device down on a pad to charge it.
Laying it down to charge it is the point. Vape and set it down and it always has a charge rather than having to unplug it a lot
, why not just use a holster similar to charging stations for phones and walkie-talkies. You just drop it into the station and contacts on the bottom of the device mate for charging. Pretty much the same thing, but without all the extra wireless electronics built into the battery mod.
I can definitely see the draw. Like I said, I thought about it myself. However, I plug when I need to charge and unplug when charging is complete so it's not like I'm constantly plugging and unplugging either. Plus, I can charge and vape at the same time so the "in use' charging cycle would be slightly shorter in comparison. I can place the device wherever I want in reach of the wire instead of making room for a pad and only placing the device there.I think with some careful engineering, it would be possible to implement a wireless charger in a compact enough form for it to be at least somewhat practical. I'm not going to look into it any further myself, but if someone thinks it's a worthy convenience, go for it. Would love to see one realized.Oh, this reminds of another thing I had thought about some time ago. You could use the same wireless idea, but without the wireless part. Since you have to place the device on a pad anyway for wireless, why not just use a holster similar to charging stations for phones and walkie-talkies. You just drop it into the station and contacts on the bottom of the device mate for charging. Pretty much the same thing, but without all the extra wireless electronics built into the battery mod.
