Possibly a design flaw of Opus BT C3100 v2.2

[kamcm]

Possibly a design flaw of Opus BT C3100 v2.2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMdPYKtPulM

The peak current is over 10A:sick2:

I don't think the stock power supply will stand for it in long term. :sigh:

Any opinions?:laughing:

 

[kreisl]

Any opinions?:laughing:

Never mind. :laughing:

 

[HKJ]

Any opinions?:laughing:

When looking at peak current it is important to look at how long the peak is and if it affects voltage.

The first version of the charger did have problems with peak current, but it was improved in later versions.
You can see the difference in my reviews:
V2.1 http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Opus BT-C3100 V2.1 UK.html

V2.0 http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Opus BT-C3100 Software V2 UK.html

First version: http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Opus BT-C3100 UK.html

 

[usrnam]

Voltage requirements

IIRC the power requirements posted in a forum from a user I believe from China and familiar with the Opus stated the charger can be power from 8 to 16 volts.

 

[Gauss163]

IIRC the power requirements posted in a forum from a user I believe from China and familiar with the Opus stated the charger can be power from 8 to 16 volts.

Correct, Opus engineer Henry Xu wrote on BLF "For Opus BT-C3100, there is a DC/DC inverter used, and the voltage can vary from 8v to 16v, and it will be no problem".

 

[gyzmo2002]

The charger of my opus 3100 v2.2 worked well for about 1 month. Now, with 4 18650 at 1.00A, after completing charge-discharge test and begins the charge again, it is resetting itself like if the power supply been disconnect, reconnect and begins to charge (not charge test) at 500ma.

I have changed the power supply for a 3.0A but with a one that you can remove the cord. After 4 months, no problem with it.

I was thinking that it was too borderline or a bad quality unit.

 

[usrnam]

I've been using this charger for several days and it's been fairly easy to operate.

I found I'm able to change the current without restarting the unit through the "Mode" button.

By pressing the "Mode" button cycling to a mode, enables the "Current" button is able to function. Using the "Slot" button enables changing the current for indvidual cells.

 

[Gauss163]

I'm considering connecting directly to a 12 volt power source such as a large 12 volt battery (connected to an ac/dc charger) or directly to a high amp ac/dc converter.

The Dell DA1 is a 12V 150W high-quality power brick (< $10 on eBay) that will more than suffice for the job.

Further you can easily mod it to vary the voltage from 3.7V-12V, see here and here and here.

It will also work fine when hot-plugging devices with big inrush current (unlike its big brother DA2 18A/216W)

For more power consider server supplies, e.g. for a few dollars more you can get a very compact 47A 575W HP DPS-600, connect it to a power distrubution box and power all of your 12V devices (and it is quiet if you do the fan mod - much quieter than the Opus fan; it doesn't start ramping up till around 17A).

All are very high quality - made by top-tier manufacturers (Delta, Flextronics, or Lite-on depending on rev.)

 

[usrnam]

I'll take a look at the Dell psu's. I have several PC and laptop psu's in storage.

 

[KeepingItLight]

I suppose not many PC user's remember the days of mainframes and punch cards?

I can't remember much, but I will never forget the day I failed to put the brick in the out-hopper of a card reader. My 5000-card FORTRAN program was in the in-hopper when I pressed go. Boy, did it go! 300 cards a minute came shooting out of the reader. They made a beautiful rainbow arc that was about four-feet wide before crashing onto the floor in a mess.

I presume you have played 52-card pick-up before? I guess I had a few hundred this time.

 

[usrnam]

Yes, I can vaguely remember people picking them up off the floor. I think was a known problem people were having with punch cards.

 

[usrnam]

Problem with FAN running constantly

I have an Opus BT-C3100 that was running normally. While plugging in the power supply I noticed a spark from the DC plug. After plugging in and out a few times to further investigate what was going on, the FAN hasn't yet once stopped. I allowed the charger to sit overnight (room temperatures in the ~50s deg F. temperature range), plugging it in without any batteries installed the FAN runs continually.

According to the manual the fan is suppose to turn on when internal or battery temperatures reach 40 deg. C (104 deg. F.).

Fan running all the time doesn't seem to have an effect on charging voltages, however I'm concerned about the charger being able to read the correct battery temperatures for battery charging algorithms.

Update: After reading through various post it appears other more expensive and less expensive 12 volt multi-cell chargers have the same type of problem. * Suggested solution is to always remember to first plug in the charger's DC plug before applying power to the adapter.

Step 1) Unplug power adapter (from power source)
Step 2) Plug DC plug-in into charger.
Step 3) Supply power to power adapter

 

[usrnam]

Re: Problem with FAN running constantly

The Opus BT-C3100 V2.2 with the always ON fan, while charging a depleted Samsung ICR18650-26C (~3.75 volts) @ a 500mA rate took 6.48 hours to complete a Full charge of 4.20 volts.

Specification for the IRC18650-26C shows a standard charge of 1300mA at 3 hours.

Is 6.48 Hours approx. the right amount of charging time @ 500mA?

The BT-C3100 v2.2 fan is constantly running and won't shut off. I'm wondering if the correct temperatures are being read from the temperature sensors?

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Re: Problem with FAN running constantly

The Opus BT-C3100 V2.2 with the always ON fan tested with a depleted Samsung ICR18650-26C (~3.75 volts) At a 500mA rate it took 6.48 hours for a Full charge of 4.20 volts.

Specification for the IRC18650-26C shows a standard charge of 1300mA at 3 hours.

Is 6.48 Hours approx. the right amount of charging time @ 500mA?

The BT-C3100 v2.2 fan is constantly running and won't shut off. I'm wondering if the correct temperatures are being read from the temperature sensors?

The fan on my new 3400 v. 2.2 cycles on and off depending on charge/discharge rates. Li-ions don't use dT, so I don't think that temperature is the problem, unless you're charging up NiMH.

6.5 hours is too long, even at 500mA.

Chris

 

[HKJ]

Re: Problem with FAN running constantly

6.5 hours is too long, even at 500mA.

No, it sounds reasonable.

 

[usrnam]

I have four NiMH batteries reading 1.28 - 1.30 volts. I'll first try a discharge refresh at 500 or 700 mA of three cycles to try to determine if there's any temperature problems.

When first plugged in, while the charger is cold, the FAN starts out at a lower rpm and generally increases output at various levels during charge and discharge.

I'm not certain what happen perhaps the sparking damaged part of the circuit that controls the fan on and off. This sort of function is often controlled using a chip with various inputs that will ground or close a relay.

I did take the charger apart to take a brief look at the wiring and pcb. Could not find anything unusual or any burnt circuits.

The temperature sensor wires make the unit sort vulnerable where you can't completely remove the PCB.
I don't remember seeing a fan relay on the pcb. There was a smaller control chip I don't believe had any markings.

Does anyone know which hardware and firmware related circuits control fan output?

It don't remember seeing any eprom or replaceable prom for the firmware.

I'm still testing the charger by charging multi and individual cells at different currents. Fully depleted 18650 took around ~1.25 hours to bring back at a 2 amp current.

The charger has no self test function, nor does it produce any error codes.

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Re: Problem with FAN running constantly

No, it sounds reasonable.

You're presuming that the cell is pretty much empty. Most of us don't discharge our cells down to 2.80v, like you do in your testing and so the cell that's at ~3.60v, shouldn't take 6.5 hours at 500, in my experience and I have a lot of chargers.

Now, I will say that I bought a Ruinovo 4x18650 after reading your review and it came with four Sanyo FMs that were between 3.6v-3.7v. I threw them on my i4 v.2 and damn if those cells didn't take 6 hours to finish charging.

Chris

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Re: Problem with FAN running constantly

Well, Robert sent me another wall wart, but mistakenly grabbed a 2A version and then sent me a 'tested out' 3A version, that looks a bit different. The initial 3A looked the same as the 2A, so maybe that was one from one of the other Opus chargers he sells?

Things are working peachy.

Quick service from 'rdana' on Ebay, for those wondering.

Chris