Lii500
This is an analysis/reverse engineering review of the Liitokala Lii-500 Engineer 4-slot Li/Ni battery charger/tester.
List of Features
- Voltage Range (Charge): 0-4.2V
- Max Current (Charge): 1A
- Max Current (Discharge): 0.5A
- Efficiency: xx% (charging, single slot at 1A, 3.8V)
- Modes: Charge, Nor Test (C/D/C), Fast Test (D/C)
- 10mV voltage resolution (3 digits), >6Hz update rate
Electronics
Buck Converter (Charger)
Reverse polarity protection is achieved by use of a low-side N-channel MOSFET (LTC8205A) rated for 6A, 20V, 38mOhm at Vgs = 2.5V, up to 0.83W power dissipation.
A simplified schematic of the buck converter that charges the battery from a 12V supply is shown in the thumbnail below:
The input is decoupled with a single 220uF/25V electrolytic capacitor. The charger consists of a APM9435 P-channel MOSFET, rated for up to 30V, 5.3A, 90mOhm at Vgs = 4.5V, up to 2.5W power dissipation, switched at 62.5kHz with a 47uH(?) through-hole inductor, through an SS34 diode, to a 22uF (?) MLCC output capacitor. Current is measured through a 0.3 ohm sense resistor.
Charge is terminated when the current drops below 60mA in CV mode. There is no rest period before discharge begins.
FET Discharger
A simplified schematic of the circuit that discharges the battery is shown in the thumbnail below:
The battery positive goes through a 0.3 ohm current sense resistor to the drain of an FQP30N06 N-channel MOSFET (30A, 60V, 40mOhm at Vgs = 10V, 79W power capability, ~2.16W max dissipation with 40C ambient, equivalent to 0.51A at 4.2V). The PWM rate for the MOSFET is 62.5 kHz, with 62ns PWM resolution (1/(16 MHz)). The peak battery current for a 4.2V Li-Ion battery is approximately 0.8A pulsed.
Discharge termination is when the Li-Ion battery reaches 2.85V at constant current.
LCD
The display uses an unmarked LCD Driver Controller/microcontroller.
CCR v1 Performance Evaluation
Microcontroller
The Lii-500 uses an unknown microcontroller in 20-SOP packages.
Lii-500 Performance Evaluation
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BOM Cost Estimate
EE Component | Cost | Source |
OPA335 Zero-Drift Amplifier (qty 2) | $2.42 | LCSC |
MCP1402 MOSFET Driver (qty 4) | $1.83 | LCSC |
STM32F103 "Blue Pill" | $1.82 | Aliexpress |
NCS199A1 Current Sense Amplifier (qty 2) | $1.45 | LCSC |
18650 SMT Holder (qty 2) | $1.23 | Aliexpress |
N-channel MOSFET 13A 11.5mOhm SOIC-8 (qty 4) | $0.52 | LCSC |
rBOM (under $0.41) | $4.76 | LCSC |
PCB | $2.00 | JLCPCB |
Assembly | $7.10 - $31.70 | PCBgogo |
HW Component | Cost | Source |
100x40x20 Aluminum Heatsink | $3.02 | eBay |
40x40x20 5V Fan | $1.60 | eBay |
Misc HW (Under $0.22) | $0.42 | Aliexpress/eBay |
Total Price | $52.41 (Assembly cost $317, batch qty 10) |