The Gyrfalcon S8000 is a powerful charger that targets professional users. It allows you to set many detailed options to adjust the charging and discharging process. And it performs really good in charging and discharging batteries!
This review is from BLF (BudgetLightForum.com) and was written by SammysHP. Many thanks to SammysHP for their selfless contribution!
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2024-02-10: Initial publish with section Unboxing and hardware
2024-02-18: Battery compatibility and inserting/removing batteries
2024-03-03: Added section User interface and documentation
2024-03-06: Added section Li-ion batteries
2024-03-07: Added section NiMH batteries
2024-03-10: Added sections Other functions and Conclusion
2024-03-12: Added link to S8000 manual 10
2024-03-16: Added link to TimMc’s review 28
2024-03-23: Added short video about the UI 3
2024-05-18: Updated section Internal resistance measurement
2024-05-18: Updated section User interface and documentation
2024-05-18: Updated section And more
2024-05-18: Added section 1.5 V Li-ion batteries
2024-05-18: Added information about MAX CAPACITY in section Charging NiMH
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- It comes with the following parts:
- Charger
- Power supply
- EU power cable
- Micro-USB cable
- Manual
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When you want to charge a battery, the usual workflow is as follows:
- Setup your slot program
- Insert battery
- If autostart is disabled, hold enter to start the program
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Update 1: Enova implemented a voltage verification based on my suggestion. When you insert a NiMH battery in Li-ion mode or vice versa, it shows “confirm again!” and doesn’t start to (dis)charge until you press enter.
Update 2: Now you can configure a “strong protection function” in GSV. If enabled and the voltage is below 2 V, charging is denied.
Update 3: Maximum termination current was increased from 150 mV to 0.8*CHARGE CURRENT.
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Charging NiMH is a bit more tricky than charging Li-ion. Well, not the charging itself, but finding the correct moment for termination. NiMH batteries have a complex chemical structure and it is not as simple as charging to a specific voltage. The charger has to observe the charging process and decide when it is time to stop charging depending on various parameters.
One method of finding the proper moment is the so called “-dV/dt” method. This means “a negative change of voltage over time”. During charging the voltage increases most of the time, but when the battery is full, it drops slightly. This does not always happen, especially if you have old and worn batteries, if the charging current is too low or if the battery was already almost full when you started charging it.
The voltage is measured without load (open circuit voltage, OCV). This means that the charging has to be interrupted every few seconds to measure the voltage of the battery. In the charging graph this can be seen by the frequent pulses, that almost look like a wide band.
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There is a special type of battery often called “1.5 V Li-ion”. It’s basically a regular Li-ion battery with an added step-down voltage regulator, usually with an integrated charger. This type of battery is useful in situations when the voltage of a regular NiMH battery (around 1.2 V) is too low for a device to work correctly. The 1.5 V Li-ion battery outputs constant 1.5 V all the time (some models come with a low battery warning and the voltage will drop at the end).
Due to the integrated charging controller, these battery just need 5 V on their terminals – or something close enough. Recently the S8000 got support for this type of batteries added via a firmware update (3.0.30).
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Update 1: In one of the latest firmware updates Enova changed the way internal resistance is measured. The results are now much lower and in a similar region of other chargers. The results are also much more consistent and closer together on repeated measurements.
Update 2: If the protection circuit of a battery has tripped and its voltage is 0 V, the S8000 cannot recognize that a battery was inserted. Since firmware version 3.0.31 it has a “battery activation” function that can be enabled in GSV. Press enter and a slot button simultaneously and it will apply 200 mA for up to two minutes to that slot. Its LED will blink purple and the display shows “Activating!!”. You can hold the cancel button to abort the activation function.
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The Gyrfalcon S8000 is a powerful charger that targets professional users. It allows you to set many detailed options to adjust the charging and discharging process. And it performs really good in charging and discharging batteries!
On the other hand it doesn’t feel quite finished. The firmware got improved a lot over my testing period, but there’s still room for improvement and extension. There are a few mechanical usability problems with the terminals as well.
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