Different eBay battery charger - with schematic

[@actuallyusingmyrealnameher5061]

We’re getting closer to that straight line circuit diagram 🙂

[@bikkiikun]

I think, making the plug part of the PCB is actually a weirdly good idea. It certainly strengthens the plug. You don't have to worry about detaching pins.

[@Whigu]

On cheap stuff probably yes but if you have to change that connector it would be bit annoying.

[@bbgun061]

​@@Whigu there's no changing the connector, only buying a new charger.

[@Frankhe78]

@@Whigu Repairability does not seem to be a consideration in this product.

[@1marcelfilms]

@@bbgun061 simply break off the pcb and solder on a real connector. add lots of superglue

[@curtishoffmann6956]

When you spend more money on making the plastic case than on any of the electronics inside.

[@DIYuntilDAWN]

I am surprised at how cheap this is made that they even bothered to put the Diode in.

[@LordPhobos6502]

My guess is, if a battery is reversed, it might destroy another battery or the unit, but it won't destroy whatever's powering the usb. Avoids angry lawsuits for wrecked computers.

[@jkobain]

@@LordPhobos6502 _this_ exactly is quite surprising, tbh.

[@fgaviator]

​@@LordPhobos6502 Lawsuits? In China? About an unbranded Chinese trash unit sold by some anonymous ebay re-reseller? 😂 Good luck with that! 🤣😂🙂

[@volvo09]

I haven't seen something so minimal since tearing apart 70's and early 80's NiCd chargers as a kid...

[@bbgun061]

I'm surprised it has four metal contacts for the USB...

[@Megatog615]

taking the shielding off a USB-A connector and revealing the PCB edge connector makes it look so vintage.

[@tubaman66]

If it says 100-240V on the back then that is what it needs to be tested at. I'm sure it'd be entertaining, even if only for a second!

[@kimchristensen2175]

Gee and I thought the DeltaV type Nimh chargers that would only charge cells in series pairs were lacking. I guess it can always be worse. Maybe the next one will get rid of the diode, resistors, and LED and let the USB port limit the current.

[@jasejj]

I've seen that type of USB connector before, on some very cheap SD card readers. Quite clever actually.

[@johndododoe1411]

I've seen it a lot on small USB things such as USB sticks. The extra plastic bits to obtain regulation thickness are a sign of quality craftsmanship, but the inclusion of text for a non-USB product in the same mold is a big mistake .

[@jkobain]

My USB wireless mice often come with a tiny counterpart which plugs as a dongle into a USB port, so only the antenna part sticks out, and they don't obstruct connecting normal plugs into neighbouring ports, nor provoke breaking the port.

[@rtechlab6254]

I have a bag of super cheap 16gb "usb 3.0" mem sticks like this, cheap, cheerful and only used for boot Utilities

[@alvaros.]

Ah, 220V 50Hz USB connectors... first you plug your water heater into them and think they are quite neat, but then you accidentally plug your phone into them...

[@PSUQDPICHQIEIWC]

Give it a few more years of mobile device bloat, and people will be begging for a new USB class that supports fast charging at 10kW.

[@Lemon_Inspector]

@@PSUQDPICHQIEIWC The next minor revision of USB-C will allow the host device to put out 400V on the supply rails, for charging your car. You'll be able to tell if a socket supports this feature by plugging in a normal device and seeing if smoke comes out

[@boboften9952]

I'm holding out for Q charging when you put your phone directlt on to the nuclear reactor

[@meneergroeneveld]

Ah! At last a schematic I can understand!

[@ekij133]

When the cells are fully charged the current into each cell will still be driven by the Voltage V = 5 - 0.7 (diode) - 1.5 (battery) = 2.8. And the resistance will be the 12 Ohms of the resistor + internal resistance of the cell (lets say 10 Ohms) for a current of I = V / R = 2.8 / 22 = 127mA which is more than I'd be comfortable pushing into a charged cell to dissipate as heat. I have a similar charger to balance cells of different discharge but I use individual resistors per battery and a much higher resistance. This results in a slower charge but allows me to leave the cells on charge for long periods of time without concern for over-charging them.

[@TopEndSpoonie]

I can imagine this breaking lots of charger ports, as it dangles from them.

[@Alacritous]

I have USB extension cords for dealing with assorted devices like that.

[@swiftsilver]

The cheap shit Chinese lead free half cold solder joint will break off first I bet

[@joecool4656]

@@Alacritous I stopped using mine because the voltage drop was ridiculous for larger loads

[@lubrikwiklund]

I want pcb edge mounted male usb connectors to only be used for tiny dongles

[@jkobain]

@@joecool4656 well, in this very case it won't be excessive at all. Quite the other way.

[@pear7777]

I think the way the connector is constructed is quite genius.

[@LordPhobos6502]

3:00 How do you know it's not 240V 50Hz... unless you test it? 😇

[@FnordOok]

120-240V 50/60Hz had me laughing. Would love to see what that does to the diodes. (ZAP/POW?)

[@Tinker001]

Wire up 240V to a USB connector & plug it in... BOOM! Battery guts everywhere.

[@tncorgi92]

I fear that even the Explosion Containment Pie Dish would be insufficient.

[@ruthmoreton6975]

I bought a dimmable nightlight to use as a reading light at home. It came with it's own USB power supply. However I felt the weight of it and thought "That is far too light to be either safe or power efficient, I wonder if BC would like to dissect it" but sadly I lost it. The night light is really good though, it even has a remote.

[@MayaPosch]

I'd say that's more of a battery cooker than a charger, especially if you only put in one or two cells. What are the chances of any NiMH cell surviving being in that contraption for a few hours?

[@RaglansElectricBaboon]

My thoughts too. Where's the overcharge protection?!

[@MeriaDuck]

Fully agree with that. Battery killer / fire hazard if you leave it on for days/weeks...

[@PSUQDPICHQIEIWC]

@@RaglansElectricBaboon It is insufficient to say that there is none. It would be more appropriate to call it a "battery overcharger". Why would it protect against the one thing it does well?

[@RaglansElectricBaboon]

@@PSUQDPICHQIEIWC haha, you've a future in marketing!

[@dcallan812]

If its cheap it might be handy as a battery box. I dont think much of the circuit for charging battery's, while it swings out of a usb charger. Especially if it was in my house it would get put on charge and left to cook for 3 weeks until I remembered them 🤣 interesting bit of tat 2x👍

[@jmr]

There's enough room it might be the project box too.

[@dcallan812]

@@jmr yes it could be used for that. 👍👍

[@techbaffle]

3:00 240V would be quite exciting to be fair... possibly with a very dodgy USB power supply

[@cortanajpn]

When it says “100-240 V” on the back, I was kind of hoping that you’d shove the mains through it just to see what would happen.

[@iamdarkyoshi]

"I'll ignore what it says on the back here" as you proceed to read it I think we need a 240v test, be sure to bring it up with the supplier

[@ekij133]

Anyone feeding 240V through a USB connector disserves all that follows.

[@scratchdog2216]

Put two out of four in backwards. Must be a warning about that in Chinglish somewhere.

[@humble2246]

Chinglish sounds so offensive.. I love it 😂

[@DirkFedermann]

I guess, one could take the positive or negative terminal, cut them into individual pads, solder individual resistors and diodes on it and have a good charger. If the case fits the need.

[@cidercreekranch]

You know it's cheap when they don't conceal the clips!

[@MeriaDuck]

'minimalistic design ' is quite an understatement. That's a battery killer and fire hazard if you ask me.

[@pault6533]

It's going to get exciting when someone places one of the cells in backwards. The springs will probably make very nice heaters. In general the steel wires probably help to ensure more equal current through all four cells.

[@PaulSteMarie]

It's a shame I don't have any of security keys from when i was working. Those were even more elemental, just a tiny PCB that fit into a USB A socket with a touch contact and some LEDs. Very minimalist-you needed to use needle nose pliers to remove the smallest ones, which only stuck out about 1/16" from the socket.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Sounds like the U2F keys. I use some for my Google account.

[@hjalfi]

"How low can you go?" You don't actually need the metal shell. You can just push the bare PCB into a USB socket.

[@umbrellacorp.]

Always pay the extra dollars for the good stuff guys.

[@NutScrewGamer]

Thank you for this life saving tip

[@Splarkszter]

specially on power supplies.

[@deanagoes2791]

liitokala I have accommodated all needs.

[@madmanmapper]

That's how we get evil mega corporations... wait a minute.

[@umbrellacorp.]

@@NutScrewGamer Always here to help. 😂 Especially with medical needs. 😌👍

[@formbi]

3:35 I think of those markings like 120 -> 12e0; 102 -> 10e2

[@davedownunder8057]

Great stuff Clive !

[@fredfred2363]

Old skool style charger... 👍🏻😀🇬🇧

[@gedtoon6451]

That integral USB plug made me laugh out loud!

[@voltare2amstereo]

Description suggestion : Auto balancing NiMH cell charger (since they're in parallel they should Equalize voltage

[@PSUQDPICHQIEIWC]

Where "balancing" is used as a synonym for "precariously dangling".

[@Luke-san]

I've had a worse one. Those things that attack the callus on your feet etc ... Takes 4 AA's and has a USB cable included to charge them. Included a motor that was already showing rust spots. Wires of the lowest quality I have ever seen. A plastic lever to turn the on/off switch that was already broken when it arrived and was made out of not sure if it was even considered plastic. Well the wires went directly, no diode, no resistor, to the batteries. I guess the cable is the resistor. Weird thing is that the feedback on the product is not that bad.(so feedback is no guarantee for a good product) I now have another USB charger from Ali that was dirt cheap. Nice thing, includes micro usb and usb-c input. The bad thing. 4 slots but they charge per 2 and the fancy bars show full way to fast. So balancing? Haven't opened it up but I think it might be interesting.

[@DeeP_BosE]

wow another compact gem

[@Lykaotix]

I expected so much more than that tiny square of a circuit board... On that note I kind of said the same thing to myself yesterday, as I was taking an oldish Emerson TV apart lol. I think it's only a 32 in. screen but I still expected to find more under the hood than I did. Got some really cool backlighting out of it though...and speakers....and whatever I can successfully de-solder from the 3 PCB's it had 🤓🧐

[@bigclivedotcom]

There's very little in modern TVs. You can get retrofit boards for many of the functions.

[@hoggif]

Far from worst. I have an ancient soviet charger (from 1980s) that had charging from mains through a diode and resistor to NiCd cells. It had a lid over the cells though to keep the user safe but for example putting battery in with device connected to mains would have given one a nasty shock. At least the cells were in series in that one though.

[@TheKumaDono]

Quick question, how does a "smart" charger identify the type of battery installed? is there some signature to the current/voltage as it's being charged that indicates the chemistry in the battery?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Most I've come across treat anything below about 2.5V as a NiMH cell and anything above as a lithium cell.

[@jameshancock]

4 diodes and resistors instead of one could have made this ok. Like $0.12. Wild.

[@ZacabebOTG]

Customer: How many C does this charge the cells at? Manufacturer: Yes!

[@jkobain]

I can actually imagine them using a capacitive dropper, some rectifier, and probably a resistor to limit the current, in an AC version of this. Although, the USB plug as a part of the box contradicts the marking on the box anyway, lol.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I have reviewed a light that used a capacitive dropper to charge the NiMh cells in the slots.

[@Derek_Garnham]

At last - a schematic that i can understand :)

[@simplybeanjelly]

On the bright side, if you have a dead cell that a smart charger won't charge, this would probably bring it back lol

[@johnwinters4201]

I think you should try applying 120 V - 240 V and see what happens.

[@Kais.]

I got a a little 3-cell version of this with a bubble blower I got for the dogs, came with 3 Ni-Ci cells too. I thought it was a steal for only £6.50

[@bog6570]

You got it wrong, the input is 110/220V, it is just that the power supply with the ACDC converter is not included.

[@JendaLinda]

I guess there's also a mains powered version, using a capacitive dropper.

[@PSUQDPICHQIEIWC]

... with a usb plug molded into the same part that has the text molded into it? I don't doubt that there is a mains powered charger somewhere, but it's not likely that it shares this part. It's either a mold insert that didn't get swapped out, or (my bet) lazy copy-pasting in the 3D model.

[@kapegede]

"How low can you go?" Hold my beer...

[@EdzashedFudwinkle]

Charges until you decide its charged enough? Sounds like my ATU-100 auto antenna tuner, not cheap tat at £70+, but definitely a problem when charging the batteries, or over changing,stressing the c-type connector, until no charge can be accepted.

[@kyoudaiken]

Could be a nice project box for another Ni-Mh trickle charger.

[@Space_Debris]

Clive, what does the packaging of these gizmos look like, if I may ask? What are your very first impressions?

[@haywoodyoudome]

Product branding at its finest.......a plastic bag with a sticker.

[@Space_Debris]

@@haywoodyoudome 😆 Yup, most likely!

[@tncorgi92]

​@@haywoodyoudome and the sticker would have info for a completely different product

[@bigclivedotcom]

Often loose in a plastic shipping bag.

[@Space_Debris]

Environmental hazards, real or not, do sell product!

[@johndii2194]

I like the design of the USB connector.

[@papaalphaoscar5537]

The bean counters would be very impressed!

[@haywoodyoudome]

-bean- -counters- _grains_ _of_ _rice_ .....it's China.

[@Dust599]

you of course would use this with a usb extension cable.. also from the $1 store.

[@mallow173]

First question....do you like it and do you trust it?

[@malcolmstockbridge2569]

There is actually a 3d printer version of this which involves using screws to make the terminals....cant beat a bit of quality work :)

[@RambozoClown]

Talk about built down to a price. Were the wires that plated aluminum crap?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Not sure what they were. I'd assume the cheapest possible.

[@jensschroder8214]

is it even cheaper? I had guessed two resistors and an LED. But they spared no expense and installed one diode.

[@bigclivedotcom]

£3.

[@grandrapids57]

Could we please see someday, for comparison purposes, a model of an excellent design?

[@bigclivedotcom]

They tend to be based on custom chips. I put up a video showing a project for making a super simple trickle charger.

[@jmr]

Another race to the bottom!

[@h-leath6339]

Sorry, did I miss something? Is the entire weight of a fully populated battery charger meant to be supported by a single USB connector? Last time I did a brush-up I didn't see USB connectors on the list of accepted load bearing rigging devices.

[@matthewmiller6068]

Lithium cell you say? Lemme put one in slot 1 and a NiMH in slot 2. Works on my last battery charger so it should be fine in this right? Maybe if I build a USB to NEMA 5-15 so it gets the full 120V 60Hz?

[@symetryrtemys2101]

Yes, but does it soda stream?

[@Killfish37]

I feel like that charger is junk.....Thanks for the warning!

[@tonysheerness2427]

Where does the maker stand if some one was hurt plugging into 240 volts as said on the cover?

[@bigclivedotcom]

It's China. No accountability.

[@Chris_the_Muso]

Cool, another battery box for the parts bin... 😂

[@AndyFletcherX31]

or more probably the actual bin.

[@IanMcDoe]

I think the plug as part of the housing is quite a horrible idea. On a USB connector the plug is supposed to be the part breaking of in case of an accident so you dont damage the device its attached to. This probably make the plug strong enough to rip the USB connector out from your laptop or power brick. Also doesnt this circuit mean that when the batteries are fully charged they are overloaded with a 4v input? Dont know much about this cell chemistry but that doesnt sound to great.

[@Cassandra_Johnson]

That 12 ohm resistor could be doing a fair bit of disapaiting, no?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Probably. The people who design these have no grasp of resistor power ratings.

[@markfergerson2145]

I haven’t seen anyone else say it, so I will. What have you been drinking, dear Clive? The diode and 12 ohm resistor belong on the left of the LED in the schematic you drew. Trivial really but still. Also, it seems there’s nothing preventing the batteries discharging through the LED other than that 1K resistor, and I wouldn’t trust it. Not as if any of it is trustworthy…

[@katrinabryce]

The diode stops the batteries discharging through the LED surely?

[@markfergerson2145]

@@katrinabryce It would if it was where he drew it, but it isn’t. And don’t call me Shirley.

[@andro7x]

The best design is "No design"!

[@Nono-hk3is]

Any idea what the thicknesses of the circuit board is? I always thought that PCB printing a type A connector was pretty clever, but it turns out that typical PCB thicknesses (1.6 mm) are larger than the the USB standard allows, meaning products such as these may put too much physical stress on the mating connector.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I think it was a thin PCB in a plastic carrier. There is a thicker size of PCB that can be slotted straight into a USB socket.

[@dantesmith3664]

Thanks for the videos :)

[@wisher21uk]

Thanks Clive that’s a cheaper then cheap item, they could of made it a lot safer for pennies, I like my ikea one it’s very good and not too fussy

[@bandit4550]

"It's good bud bad"! 🤔

[@Sommyie]

If you put a diode between the positive or negative ends of the batteries, would that help? If you just did thay.

[@matambale]

617 views. 730 likes, but it's Clive, so that makes sense.

[@HerecomestheCalavera]

I have a question about rechargeable batteries. Why is it that in a name brand charger such as Energizer it will refuse to charge some batteries? Mainly what I'm talking about are ones that are several years old. I know they still hold a charge as I've used an old charger from the 80s to charge them but in the modern charger a red x appears above the battery and it refuses to charge. Would just like to know the actual reason behind this. Thanks.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I made a video about that. The "smart" chargers often reject older cells because they see the voltage rising too quickly and think it's a non rechargeable cell. If the cell is completely discharged to zero they may also just not see it. Putting the cells into an older dumb charger will nudge the voltage back up again or can be used to charge older cells fully.

[@PSUQDPICHQIEIWC]

Well, it says it's rated for 240v. I think we have to ask "what would PhotonicInduction do?".

[@Nono-hk3is]

Yeah the change to a male type A connector on this physical form factor is a gratuitous cost reduction decision, because that's unusable in most use cases, without a relatively rare usb extender.

[@frogz]

i wouldnt want one of this if it was free, if i found a circuit that....minimalist, i would rip it out and run a cut usb cable into the end with a lm317, a few resistors and a led to indicate it is working or something similar

[@NoobixCube]

You'd almost be better off just sticking four NiMHs in series and slapping 5V into them. Not quite, but almost.

[@frogz]

1p4s is 4.8v, this checks out...

[@d.t.4523]

Thank you.

[@BillyNoMates1974]

can the chinese penny pinch any more than this ? This has to be the cheaped out winner of 2023

[@Pascal666...]

But how ? 4v is to much. Are they not charged to 1.4V

[@georgebliss964]

How warm does the 12 ohm resistor get and is this any problem?

[@bigclivedotcom]

I'm sure it'll get warm. But the designers associated with these products don't have the knowledge to work out power dissipation.

[@cmuller1441]

If a battery is low at 1V and one full at 1.4V there's 0.4V. If you have a direct contact, it's only the internal resistance of the cells that limit the current. If it's 50mOhms X2 =0.1 you get 0.4/0.1=4A. That's quite violent! Of course it's for a limited time but that's bad. Add the fact that you are basically trying to charge up to 4.5V instead of 1.5V, you have a recipe for cell destruction. You'll just loose all the electrolyte and battery capacity over time.

[@psneternityinanhour]

Good afternoon to all the fellow nocturnals.

[@rikardlalic7275]

Nights should never be wasted 🙂

[@umbrellacorp.]

🧟‍♂️

[@raymitchell9736]

It is: "so bad it's good", or "so good that's it's bad"? I suppose that in the event of over current condition a component will blow like a fuse... just shortly after the fire starts. Well, they've gotten the penny pinching down to a science!

[@andrewbaines8760]

How would it work at mains voltage as the case specifies

[@bigclivedotcom]

Briefly.

[@Dekko-chan]

Heyy can you sometime explore a big low pressure sodium ballast?

[@bigclivedotcom]

They're not terribly exciting. Just a big inductor in the UK with separate igniter that bridges the lamp briefly to cause a high voltage spike.

[@davey2k12]

Short the data pins see if it draws 2amp lol

[@brentengelhart5]

"It's goood but, It's bad!" My 10th grade girlfriend before she broke it off.

[@piconano]

The red wire is the negative ground? hahahaha

[@andygozzo72]

hm, i think its bad parallelling nicad/nimhs ... i have done it recently but the link between them was a bit of 5 amp fuse wire in sleeving to hopefully protect against disasters also i'd say doing similar to lithium ion cells bad without a fusible link, i had a laptop battery pack fry one of its cells, one of a pair shorted and discharged the other pretty quick, melting its plastic wrapper 😲 lucky it didnt go up in flames

[@Boraxo]

Looks like AA alkalines would fit in just nicely, results might not be favorable.

[@VJETRA]

yes....cuz it's for rechargeable AA battery

[@Boraxo]

@@VJETRA For lipo's (3.2-4.2V) only correct ?

[@snakezdewiggle6084]

Purchased an 8 cell slow charger, were all + common, and all - common. 1 cell survived... Should have opened it up before using. These cheap cases look 3d printed, is that likely ? ;)

[@bigclivedotcom]

3D printing is too slow for mass manufacture.

[@jessiedover6561]

Like to see a mod to turn it into a charger/power bank

[@1marcelfilms]

i love breaking my usb sockets with heavy things

[@Scyth3934]

How much did it even cost?

[@bigclivedotcom]

£2.93 shipped.