Xtar VC8S Battery Charger Tested

This 8-bay charger supports lithium ion and nickel metal hydride cells, and can charge up to 2 cells at 3 amps, up to 4 cells at 2 amps, and up to 8 cells at 1 amp. LiFePO4 can also be charged if the charger is in Storage mode. Sodium ion can also be mostly charged in Storage mode.
Cells can be graded (charged, discharged and capacity tested, then charged again) in Grad mode.

Things I found out after I made this video:

In storage mode, nickel metal hydride is first charged fully, then discharged to 1.29 volts.

In storage mode, sodium ion is treated as NiMH until it reaches 2 volts. Between 2 volts and 2.5 volts, sodium ion is treated as a faulty lithium cell and will periodically flag an error. Above 2.5 volts, sodium ion is charged normally up to 3.65 volts.

[chipmeister]

Thank you kindly for the in-depth demonstration of the capabilities of this charger. I'm impressed not only at it's many functionalities but also with your deep knowledge of the charger itself so thanks once again.

[goonk]

Thanks, this was very helpful to me. I bought this charger today along with 18650 Li-ion cells.
When I wanted to charge 8 batteries at once, 6 did not want to exceed 250mA and two did not want to exceed 500mA. I did everything right according to the manual...
Then searched on Youtube, and luckily found this video. Pressing the slider worked for a few, some of them I had to press really hard, but in the end, all eight charged simultaneously at the maximum 1000mA. Great video!

[AlexBohda]

Děkuji za odbornou a přesnou recenzi. Díky ní jsem zakoupil tyto nabíječky dvě.
Ať se daří a pozdrav z CZ.

[ahamro]

For me this was a very useful review to help decide on which charger to buy. And to view and hear your clips is really refreshing. You have an ideal voice for it and there is no stupid music. Great!

[robmoore]

Brilliant review thank you. This made it so much easier to understand than the actual instructions that came with it. Love the toip about sliding the contact to get things charging.

[MCsCreations]

Awesome review, Julian! Thanks! 😃
I won a charger and 4 cells from this brand, it arrived around a month ago I believe... And I've got no complaints. 😊
Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[marstedt]

Brilliant and thorough review of this unit! I have the VC8 and wish I had waited for the VC8S now. Regardless, this video has some excellent insight and explanation. Thank you for your diligent efforts.

[Nifty-Stuff]

Wow, SO much great info in this video about this charger! I have the VC8 and I was struggling with how to interpret settings, display, etc. The manual is lacking, but your video was what I needed. Thanks!

[utubeuser]

Nice charger for Li-Ion - the storage mode for charging LiFePO4 cells is very handy. My only gripe is the fixed 500mA charge current for NiMH cells.

[paveljelinek]

I have those thresholds BUT for model VC8 and it IS pretty obvious that VC8S is much more "sensitive" to put more charge when it detects -to me- still ok IR values (88mO is perfectly fine) edit: about 6:50 😳😳😳 yup it is VERY sensitive to IR, too much i'd say BUT i've unfortunately misplaced my VC8 and seems like this is a great successor to it..

[furat]

Thanks for the video
Can this charger now the exactly mAh for the li-ion batteries?

[philipng]

I own a VC8 and it just sucks to have 4 slots for grading. I guess its time for an upgrade to VC8S since it looks much better. Hopefully the grading is a lot more accurate since I am seeing differences between my chargers.

[digitalk]

8:15 "you really shouldn't charge lithium cells while you're asleep"

what a BS. tell that millions of smartphone users, who charge their phones overnight :D

[joey]

nice review, I can't figure out why I can't get any 18650 to charge faster than 500ma, I have several brands & it won't charge any higher. I have a few generic 26500 and everyone of those charge at 3A without issue. Fenix 21700's won't go any higher than 500ma, yet in the PD36R light using it's built-in USB C port, it charges at 3A in a fraction of the time needed in the VC8S. I have other chargers but the 21700's don't fit, so I bought this one and while they do fit really good, charging them in the VC8S is a ridiculous waster of time. I'm still trying to explore why.

[dangle]

I am testing one now and apparently it can't detect if an alkaline cell is inserted.

[amsbrit]

I assume yours USB-A to USB-C, am I correct? I wonder if USB-C to USB-C can be used?

[Monarky]

Do you know if this one will charge lithium double As? I know the old one does not seem to do it. Everytime i put a lithium double a in the battery gets super hot scary.

[TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

sodium ion sounds like a bug in the firmware. Manual settings are always better than autodetect.

[iwalker]

Was that a Tronic AAA NiMh I saw briefly. All mine are junk, with such high IR's such that my smart charger refuses to charge them (and they're nearly new). Even warming the cells to reduce their IR doesn't help.

[Mpafanai]

This type of battery charger is must very convenient and skyrc lipo charger