Charger GP ReCyko+ Quick3





GP makes many product, here it is a simple charger and the "quick" in the name is rather misleading, it is not a quick charger. The charger also has a usb output, but not for a power bank function, it must only be used when there is no batteries in the charger.



I got the charger in a blister pack.



All text on the package, click for large version.



The contents: The charger, 4 2000mAh GP cells and an instruction sheet in many languages.
The cells will get a seperate review.



The charger has one led, it is red while charging and green when finished. It will flash red on errors.



The charger also has a usb output that can be used to charge usb equipment, it is rated for 0.5A and must not be used while the charger is charging.



The charger has a rather special battery placement, the useable positions are (No other combinations are valid):
Two AA cells: Use the two center AA slots.
Two AAA cells: Use the two AAA slots.
Four AA cells: Use all AA slots.







Measurements charger

• Mains idle power is 0.11 watt.
• USB output must only be used when not charging, but there is always power on it.
• Charge will restart charging after power loss, or battery insertion.
• Mixing AA and AAA cells is not possible

The batteries are charged after 5½ hour, but the charger continues to charger for nearly 8 hours.



All slots filled, I am measuring on slot #1. For some reason the charger got an error and stopped premature.



Same as above, but this run I measured on slot #2. No errors this time, it charged for 8 hours.



When starting with empty high capacity cells the charge time nearly fits.



With AAA cells the charger uses a lower current, but the same charge time.



M1: 31,1°C, M2: 34,6°C, M3: 36,3°C, M4: 34,1°C, M5: 33,1°C, HS1: 47,6°C
For this fairly low charge current the center cells do get a bit warm.



M1: 31,8°C, M2: 35,1°C, M3: 37,0°C, M4: 34,8°C, M5: 35,3°C, HS1: 43,5°C



M1: 45,8°C, M2: 51,8°C, M3: 53,7°C, M4: 47,5°C, M5: 35,5°C, HS1: 56,1°C
But the problem is when the charger is finished, then they get fairly warm for a couple of hours (On a -dv/dt charger they will also get warm, but only for a short time).



The charger is very fast to start.



The charging is with pulsing current.



This pulsing is not between the two battery on the same charger channel, but between the two charger channels.
I.e. the charger has one charge circuit that is time sharing between 2&3 and 1&4.



With AAA cells the current is reduced, but everything else is the same.



Measurements USB

• Mains idle power is 0.11 watt.
• USB output is coded as Apple 1A, but the coding voltage is too low.
• USB output must only be used when not charging, but there is always power on it.

The load sweep looks fairly nice with a overload protection at 0.7A and output voltage increasing with load.



There is no problem maintaining output for 1 hour with 0.5A load.



The output has fairly low rms noise at 0.35mV rms, but the peak noise is high at 1500mVpp.


Testing the mains transformer with 2500 volt and 5000 volt between mains and low volt side, did not show any safety problems.



Conclusion

I do not like this type of termination on chargers because it cook batteries, especially if you try to charge partial empty batteries. Having the batteries in series is usual a bad thing, but with timer termination it does not matter.
The usb output works fine, but has some spikes in it.

If you want to get a long life from LSD (Low self discharge) cells, do not use this charger, with older NiMH cells it is more acceptable, but still not good.



Notes

Here is an explanation on how I did the above charge curves: How do I test a charger