Troubleshooting eGo Fast USB Charger

[Whistle_Pig]

My 1st eGo Fast USB charger was bad, and now it appears the replacement is bad also. But before I either take it apart or whatever I decide to do with it, are there any diagnostics I can perform?

I will be making sure that I have a 5V source to connect it to which will supply sufficient current.

 

[stubear62]

Hi,
The way I do it is to use a volt meter.. But this isn't always a true way.
Contact the supplier and let them know unless you no longer have a warranty.. In that case, buy another charger and see if that sovles the problem (can never have too mane chargers as they do tend to crap out first)

 

[Whistle_Pig]

Hi Stubear62.

Yeah, I can measure the voltage, but as you say, that's not completely informative. I actually don't think it's worth it for me or the vendor to spend postage shipping multiple $7 items back/forth. I will drop him a note, once I (I hope) have better information. Could be a bad mfr. run, and people should know about that. Or maybe it's just that cheap chargers are just what they are, and there's no point in wasting any more money on it.

Agreed on having spares, but I'm a bit uncertain about what sort of spare to get -- maybe something more robust, though that's a different topic.

I can measure the voltage easily enough. I can even cobble together a way to measure current under load. But I don't know what sort of loads would be appropriate. Sure, I can look around for typical LiIon internal resistance numbers, but then there's the protection circuit, and other stuff as noted by Scottbee.

 

[Whistle_Pig]

FWIW, I have the charger hooked up to this, and it's producing 4.2V with no load but the meter.