Comments on the OEM Ripvan 100 Charger
- Thread starter BigBelly
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The chargers we got are exactly the same as the best selling Lightning Pack 4000N from RipVan100. It is very unlucky and unfortunate that this batch contains some defects. The manufacture have admitted that it is their mistake.
On our side, we will always do our ulmost to ensure that all our customers get total satisfaction in our products.
We will honour our
1) 14 days 1-for-1 exchange policy
2) 1 year warranty
You have our assurance.
Thanks for your understanding
EastGear
From what I understand.. it might not charge for 100min depending on the discharge state of your batteries.. but after the charging is complete, it should switch over to trickle charge automatically, and not switch off totally.
If it switch off totally, it might be becos one of the protection mechanism has tripped.. most probably becos the batteries are too hot, which should not be likely with this charger (if it is working properly).
Knighthunter
Senior Member
Hi East Gear, Have you have date and time for the charger one to one replacement? I need the charge for next week. I hope I can get replacement by this Sunday.
Thanks for the suggestion, will ask the manufacturer about this.
Originally posted by stk
EastGear,
Can the manufacturer identify which range of units are defective? It'll be much easier for those who have purchased to identify by serial number rather than for everyone to test their own units extensively..
Just a thought..
Hi Guys,
Just came back from Thailand. I was diving at Similan.
Anyway just to update you guys on the problem with the charger.
The engineer from Taiwan called me to say that the defective chargers I sent him had 2 faults.
1. Those that the LED did not light up at all had the problem with one of the capacitors. It was of the wrong size. It is very obvious when the charger has this fault. No question about this fault. One to one exchange.
2. The right bank of some chargers only lights up for about a minute. This is due to the soldering.
The engineer was very apologetic about it and told me that all defective chargers will be exchanged.
I wrote to the engineer about the problem with the batteries not going into trickle charge and this is the reply.
"Q1 : Another issue is that the batteries do not always go into trickle mode. I know that the thermal or timer control might have kicked but do you think it is caused by the incorrect capacitor size? Let me know your thoughts.
A1 : I would like to know how do you know the charging is in trickle mode? The LED will turn off if the charging time is no more than 1 hour 45 minutes and the temperature of battery cell is higher than 52 C degree. Once the LED is off then there is no trickle mode at all.
The timer is set up at 3 hours. The thermal is set up at 52 C dergee. The LED will turn of for timer or thermal controls activated."
Just came back from Thailand. I was diving at Similan.
Anyway just to update you guys on the problem with the charger.
The engineer from Taiwan called me to say that the defective chargers I sent him had 2 faults.
1. Those that the LED did not light up at all had the problem with one of the capacitors. It was of the wrong size. It is very obvious when the charger has this fault. No question about this fault. One to one exchange.
2. The right bank of some chargers only lights up for about a minute. This is due to the soldering.
The engineer was very apologetic about it and told me that all defective chargers will be exchanged.
I wrote to the engineer about the problem with the batteries not going into trickle charge and this is the reply.
"Q1 : Another issue is that the batteries do not always go into trickle mode. I know that the thermal or timer control might have kicked but do you think it is caused by the incorrect capacitor size? Let me know your thoughts.
A1 : I would like to know how do you know the charging is in trickle mode? The LED will turn off if the charging time is no more than 1 hour 45 minutes and the temperature of battery cell is higher than 52 C degree. Once the LED is off then there is no trickle mode at all.
The timer is set up at 3 hours. The thermal is set up at 52 C dergee. The LED will turn of for timer or thermal controls activated."
So does it mean that we have to use up the batteries before recharging? Then it'll surely go into trickle mode?
He said that the charger will turn off if the temperature reaches a peak of 52C. Does this mean that the charger will remain off even when it cools down after a while?
Since the batteries will be fully charged in 2 hours, what is the purpose of the charger turning off if the charging time is less than 1 h 45 min?
Please kindly clarify my doubts.
Thanks.
isomers007
Senior Member
Originally posted by BigBelly
yar..i know his reply hard to understand as he is taiwanese. it was very hard to communicate with him over the telephone as he was using chinese terms...
anyway let me post my own results later and explain what he means.
wah...so many faults....me wondering whether i shud get it from eastgear this weekend. im going to desaru next wk and dun want any problems....hmm....:what:
Capacitors of the wrong size? Hmm, what he means by that, I wonder.
Size only matters if the pcb is small and unable to cater to a larger capacitor. How the capacitors used is determined by its voltage and of capacitance, with other issues like the tolerance level, series/types and ESR.
From what I gather, it is more likely that the wrong type capacitor is used.
Size only matters if the pcb is small and unable to cater to a larger capacitor. How the capacitors used is determined by its voltage and of capacitance, with other issues like the tolerance level, series/types and ESR.
From what I gather, it is more likely that the wrong type capacitor is used.
i've tested 3 chargers since i returned from thailand yesterday. i had 3 sets of 1800 AA batteries which were discharged over the trip with 1 set being discharge in my battery analyser.
the charger was placed in mode 1 meaning discharge then charge. the charger was noted to go into discharge mode for about 20s before diplaying a constant led light which meant charging. all three chargers went into trickle charge up to this morning.
Let me try to explain "The LED will turn off if the charging time is no more than 1 hour 45 minutes and the temperature of battery cell is higher than 52 C degree"
What this means is that if the batteries have been charging (LED on) for any time less than 1h 45m AND the temp rises to 52C, THEN the charger will auto off.
This also means that if the charging process has been on for more than 1hr 45m and then the temp increases to 52C, the charger will not go off.
Remember that there is also a timer control of 3 hours. That means if your batteries are not charged by 3 hours, the charger will auto off also.
And yes, once the charger is off, it will not come on again even if the charger is cooled down. Let me explain this.
The batteries WILL get VERY hot during charge. However, they should not get heated up soon after charging so the 1h 45m timing. The batteries should not also take more than 3 hours to charge and hence the 3 hour timer.
In general batteries are probably spoilt if they exhibit the above behaviour. Of course I'm taking about 1800 batteries and not 550-800mAh batteries.
What happens is that some of the users have tried to discharge a relatively full capacity battery in mode 1. remember that discharging generates heat and a 300mA discharge is quite high and if there are 4 batteries, it will take a long time and generate a lot of heat. By the time the charger goes into charge mode, the batteries will have been at a certain temperature and hence the probability of the charging sensing a overheating is very high.
Remember that the charger is trying to save your batteries and the charger and hence the safety mechanisms are in placed.
Please note that the GP Rapid, GP Smart do not indicate with the LED that the charger is in trickle charge mode even though they have the function. The GP Smart has the thermal protection too and there is no way to know if the charger has been turned off due to overheating. They also do not have the auto-continue function. I believe no charger should have it has IF the batteries were really spoilt, then the charger will keep on turning on and off so chargers are made to "detect" certain variables and act accordingly.
In summary,
1. If you do a mode 1 discharge and charge when the battery is full, there is a high chance that the batteries will not go into trickle charge.
2. There is no auto-continue charging function.
3. The safety functions are made to protect the charger and the batteries.
I'm sorry if the chargers are causing a problem especially for those which are affected by the defects. As promised, there is a 1 to 1 exchange (14 days) for those affected.
the charger was placed in mode 1 meaning discharge then charge. the charger was noted to go into discharge mode for about 20s before diplaying a constant led light which meant charging. all three chargers went into trickle charge up to this morning.
Let me try to explain "The LED will turn off if the charging time is no more than 1 hour 45 minutes and the temperature of battery cell is higher than 52 C degree"
What this means is that if the batteries have been charging (LED on) for any time less than 1h 45m AND the temp rises to 52C, THEN the charger will auto off.
This also means that if the charging process has been on for more than 1hr 45m and then the temp increases to 52C, the charger will not go off.
Remember that there is also a timer control of 3 hours. That means if your batteries are not charged by 3 hours, the charger will auto off also.
And yes, once the charger is off, it will not come on again even if the charger is cooled down. Let me explain this.
The batteries WILL get VERY hot during charge. However, they should not get heated up soon after charging so the 1h 45m timing. The batteries should not also take more than 3 hours to charge and hence the 3 hour timer.
In general batteries are probably spoilt if they exhibit the above behaviour. Of course I'm taking about 1800 batteries and not 550-800mAh batteries.
What happens is that some of the users have tried to discharge a relatively full capacity battery in mode 1. remember that discharging generates heat and a 300mA discharge is quite high and if there are 4 batteries, it will take a long time and generate a lot of heat. By the time the charger goes into charge mode, the batteries will have been at a certain temperature and hence the probability of the charging sensing a overheating is very high.
Remember that the charger is trying to save your batteries and the charger and hence the safety mechanisms are in placed.
Please note that the GP Rapid, GP Smart do not indicate with the LED that the charger is in trickle charge mode even though they have the function. The GP Smart has the thermal protection too and there is no way to know if the charger has been turned off due to overheating. They also do not have the auto-continue function. I believe no charger should have it has IF the batteries were really spoilt, then the charger will keep on turning on and off so chargers are made to "detect" certain variables and act accordingly.
In summary,
1. If you do a mode 1 discharge and charge when the battery is full, there is a high chance that the batteries will not go into trickle charge.
2. There is no auto-continue charging function.
3. The safety functions are made to protect the charger and the batteries.
I'm sorry if the chargers are causing a problem especially for those which are affected by the defects. As promised, there is a 1 to 1 exchange (14 days) for those affected.
Alright, but what about this? I tried to discharge 4 GP 1800mAh batteries bought from eastgear yesterday using mode 1 but after 2 hours ++ , the LED indicators were still in the discharge mode. Meaning they continue flashing rapidly without going into charging mode.. Is something wrong with my charger?
I've smsed eastgear for an exchange yesterday but no reply yet. I'm worried becoz my 14 days 1-1 exchange is going to expire tomorrow.
So eastgear, please kindly sms back at 93822840.
Thanks.
I've smsed eastgear for an exchange yesterday but no reply yet. I'm worried becoz my 14 days 1-1 exchange is going to expire tomorrow.
So eastgear, please kindly sms back at 93822840.
Thanks.
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