Wall Charger?

[Cal_Cobra]

8 hours ago, Cabin Fever said:

Charger Gate!  The lack of supplied charger has for some reason became a big deal on other forums. I thought everyone had a pile of these things lying around..  I didn’t think anything of it and am surprised at the discontent..

Unless you're still using a flip phone, and driving a 1985 Honda Accord, you should have a pile of USB chargers around... 

[dewcon4414]

The only thing i see...... you might not want to LEAVE it plugged in for long periods.   One of the things that damage phones and kill those batteries is they are over heated by being left on chargers over night.   Batteries Plus showed me my USB port....... you could tell it had been blackened from heat.   This is a larger battery....... but the USB isnt a smart charger.   Do expect the charge to take longer on a simple cell phone charger.

[bado1]

I believe that if it was that big of a deal ML would have said so or included a smart charger or something. As Steve said in a previous post, (para phrasing) ML and others put LOTS of thought in to this machine... I doubt they would blow it on something as obvious as a battery charger.

Nobody questions what type of USB-wall charger they plug their tablet or phone in to. I've got a bunch of them from different phones, tablets, etc. and  never look to see which goes to what. I've got some USB chargers that plug in to the accessory ports in my truck. I charge my wireless head phones, cell phone, tablet, and anything else that has a USB charging cable. I've NEVER had a problem over many years of charging stuff. Some of these USB chargers are advertised to charge your phone faster than others, etc. Therefore, all of these devises must have "smart" circuitry built in ( including the NOX). The charge to the battery is regulated and it shuts off when the battery is full. ML recommended which one to use in the manual and, to be safe, I will go through my "electronics junk drawer", where I have phone and tablet chargers dating back to the 1860s, and find the recommended one.

I'm no electronics guy, but I'm guessing that the little USB-Wall "charger" isn't much more than a invert-er that changes AC to DC and that the "smart charging" happens in the device circuitry?

Dean

 

 

[Steve Herschbach]

On 2/2/2018 at 7:52 AM, bado1 said:

Steve,

Someone mentioned that the EQ does not come with a wall charger but can be purchased separately. I'm assuming that a basic USB Iphone wall charger will work? 

Dean

I assumed that when the 70 page owners manual came out there would be people finding all the neat previously unmentioned function details and would be excitedly discussing them. Who knew that the “what comes in the box” photos freely available here and elsewhere for a couple months would suddenly be the issue of prime importance now that some people have noticed after a couple months that no charger comes in the box. Wow, secrets hidden in plain sight! “Charger Gate” is a perfect characterization.

The decision may have been logical - I have no less than maybe thirty ways to charge my Equinox, and have randomly grabbed any USB charger in sight the last couple months will no ill effects. Yet the blowback may have Minelab wishing they tossed one in. Good chargers typically retail around $10. Then you have adapters for international use to deal with.

Whatever, it is what it is. Hopefully dealers are educating themselves so they know to inform customers they need one. Online dealers should add a purchase option for one on their sales pages.

[bado1]

5 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I assumed that when the 70 page owners manual came out there would be people finding all the neat previously unmentioned function details and would be excitedly discussing them. Who knew that the “what comes in the box” photos freely available here and elsewhere for a couple months would suddenly be the issue of prime importance now that some people have noticed after a couple months that no charger comes in the box. Wow, secrets hidden in plain sight! “Charger Gate” is a perfect characterization.

The decision may have been logical - I have no less than maybe thirty ways to charge my Equinox, and have randomly grabbed any USB charger in sight the last couple months will no ill effects. Yet the blowback may have Minelab wishing they tossed one in. Good chargers typically retail around $10. Then you have adapters for international use to deal with.

Whatever, it is what it is. Hopefully dealers are educating themselves so they know to inform customers they need one. Online dealers should add a purchase option for one on their sales pages.

Why would you assume to know how people are gonna act? Especially a bunch of old guys that still use flip phones!  Of course we are excited! I, too, have a bunch of chargers... just wanted some input from someone that has had some experience with the product.

Dean

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi Dean,

My comment was not aimed at you, but some threads elsewhere running over 50 posts now! In other words, the “someone’s”. Anyway, nobody at Minelab ever told me what I could or not plug Equinox into, and I have been using anything near at hand, with amp ratings all over the map. Nothing blew up, and the only thing I have seen is the lower the amps, the longer it takes to charge. The only thing that did not work outright was my experiment of charging off 4 AA batteries in a USB adapter. So I can promise anything rated 800ma or less won’t work.

I feel comfortable using any charger made by a reputable company. I would avoid dirt cheap generic chargers.

[Dan(NM)]

I have this on hand and use it for everything that charges by usb, never have thought twice about if it was the "right" thing or not. I have no worries that it'll do the job for the Equinox, headphones and WM8.

[bado1]

Thank you, Steve.

Dean

[dewcon4414]

You will find the manual says........ if you use say a computer with a .5v output its going to take 13 hours to charge the battery fully.   It also says if it gets to hot it will shut down and may not charge fully.   I have one of those USB charger called an anker powerport 4.   Its 40w with an output of 2.4v...... but will charge faster.   It performs some tests on lith so its more likely to charge, fully charge, and not over heat.... both the battery and connections.

[Chase Goldman]

1 hour ago, dewcon4414 said:

You will find the manual says........ if you use say a computer with a .5v output its going to take 13 hours to charge the battery fully.   It also says if it gets to hot it will shut down and may not charge fully.   I have one of those USB charger called an anker powerport 4.   Its 40w with an output of 2.4v...... but will charge faster.   It performs some tests on lith so its more likely to charge, fully charge, and not over heat.... both the battery and connections.

Yes you should be good with that.  BTW the output is 2.4A (current) not 2 4v (voltage), just so people don't get confused.  The USB output voltage spec is  5VDC and the minimum they were talking about in the manual is also amps (0.5 A vice 0.5 v).  Not trying to be a smarty pants engineer here, but since you have to supply your own power source, just want people to not get confused on the specs based on reading the posts.