HuanGao Universal Dual Channel AC Charger HG-1206W
This is a cheap charger from Fasttech (sku:1192300), it is supposed to charger both LiIon and NiMH batteries, but when I put a NiMH in the charger the led flashed red.
I got the charger in an envelope, there was no instruction sheet or any accessories with it.
![DSC_0585](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/DSC_0585.jpg)
The charger is with a foldable US plug.
![DSC_0581](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/DSC_0581.jpg)
But also support 230VAC.
![DSC_0580](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/DSC_0580.jpg)
There is a single red/green led on the charger. The led is red while charging and green at any other times.
![DSC_0587](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/DSC_0587.jpg)
The charger uses sliders in metal rails and they work fairly well. It can handle batteries from 30mm to 69mm in length.
![supportedBatteryTypes](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/supportedBatteryTypes.png)
![DSC_0597](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/DSC_0597.jpg)
The charger can handle 69 mm long batteries including flat top cells.
Measurements charger
- Supposed to do NiMH, but reports error when trying.
- Idle power consumption is 0.22 watt at 230VAC
- Charger will start charging from 0.5 volt.
- Will discharge with 0.4mA when not powered.
- Will discharge with 0.4mA when battery is full.
- Will stop charging at 4.28 volt.
- Will restart charging at 4.24 volt.
- The two batteries are nearly in parallel (There is a small resistance between them).
![HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(PA18650-31)%20%231](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(PA18650-31)%20%231.png)
The charger uses a CC charging (Constant current), there is no CV (Constant voltage) phase. This means there will be a significant voltage drop when the charger terminates, as can be seen here the voltage drop is enough to restart charging.
To get a full charge on the battery the charger uses a rather high termination voltage.
The charging speed is a bit slow.
![HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(PA18650-31)%20%232](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(PA18650-31)%20%232.png)
Second channel is the same.
![HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(SA18650-26)%20%231](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(SA18650-26)%20%231.png)
Using a cell with less capacity will make the charge faster.
![HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(PA18650-34)%20%231](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(PA18650-34)%20%231.png)
And a larger cell means longer charge time.
![HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(BE18650-26)%20%231](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(BE18650-26)%20%231.png)
Using an older cell means termination problems due to higher internal resistance. The charger is jumping in and out of charge mode at a fast pace.
![HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(AW18350-IMR)%20%231](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(AW18350-IMR)%20%231.png)
This cell has the same problem, but at a slower rate.
![HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(KP14500-08)%20%231](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(KP14500-08)%20%231.png)
And here the charger terminated fine, but will probably restart again soon.
![HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(2xPA18650-31)](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20(2xPA18650-31).png)
Charging two cells will halve the charge current, this means it need more than 15 hours to charge two 3100mAh cells.
![Temp2211](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/Temp2211.png)
M1: 33,5°C, M2: 33,0°C, M3: 46,6°C, M4: 42,8°C, HS1: 79,8°C
Somewhere in the charger there is a hot electronic part, but the cells stay cool.
![Startup](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/Startup.png)
The charger starts immediately, but it takes a few second to stabilize the current.
![StartupDual](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/StartupDual.png)
It is the same with two cell, except the current is lower (I have changed the current scale).
![HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20load%20sweep](https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Other/Charger%20HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20AC%20Charger%20HG-1206W/HuanGao%20Universal%20Dual%20Channel%20load%20sweep.png)
This curve shows the charge current, depending on battery voltage, I started at a low voltage and slowly increased the voltage.
There is not any termination in the 1.5 to 2.0 volt range, where I would have expected a NiMH voltage termination.
It looks like the charger will charge NiMH, but without any termination.
The charger passed an isolation test with 2500 volt, but failed a 5000 volt test, this makes the charger acceptable for 120VAC usage, but doubtful for 230VAC usage.
Conclusion
The charger works and can be use with 120VAC for LiIon, but I do not like the over voltage or the missing CV phase. There is also the doubtful NiMH charging, due to the led flashing red every time I tried, I did not do any test curves.
Basically you get what you pay for: A cheap, not very good charger, but it can be used for LiIon in an emergency.
Notes
Here is an explanation on how I did the above charge curves: How do I test a charger