SkyRC — IFA 2014 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

[gyzmo2002]

Glad you got everything working again. You certainly didn't deserve all the problems you experienced. Hopefully your experience with the MC3000 will be pleasant from now on.

Thank you. I was planning to just reverse the fan and cutting the grill but the first thing I saw, it's the broken plastic pin, even if I paid attention. It was probably cracked before I touched it. It is always the first that is the most difficult. Many things to enligner.( slides, springs, thermal probes...).

Just reversing the fan and cutting the grill were fast and easy though. It is not dangerous to cut the grill. You can put your finger on it without any injury. I advise others to remove it. The fan clips perfectly between the 2 sliders. No glue and no rattles.

I ordered 5 fans ($2.00 each) in case but for now, I don't have to change mine. I will have some spares....

 

[gyzmo2002]

i had mentioned it before but a photo helps:

during reassembly one needs to make sure that the tip of the spring lies in the slot of the slider. this seems obvious but in practice it's not, i know it, and the photo also proves it. it is THE ONLY reason why some slot produces a (faint) screechy sound. the spring itself cannot produce any sound and it also doesn't scratch against any other part. the only scratching part IS the tip of the spring, if it rides on the rail instead of in the slit.

yes, reassembly of the device is straight-forward but challenging to put into practice.

Yes a good advice. I paid attention to it before the final assembly.

 

[gyzmo2002]

The plastic pins I was talking about. I tried "crazy glue" brand but that has not held. Epoxy will be probably better but I did not have at home. The "hole spring trick" with the plastic pin to prevent it from moving seems to work well.

I must admit that I thought to buy another charger during reassembly.


hebergement d image

 

[MarioJP]

No more noisy fan. I cut the grill and reversed it. The max temp is 60 celsius 4x1A discharge in a 21celsius room. A good improvement. For the broken pole, I did what millguy told but I put the plastic pole in the hole to prevent it from moving.

I do not wish to take apart of my charger over a fan issue. but, 60c that sounds like a big improvement.

 

[gyzmo2002]

I do not wish to take apart of my charger over a fan issue. but, 60c that sounds like a big improvement.

I thought the same thing but the noise it made when it started waking me up at night. If it would have been quiet, I would have left like that.

If you decide to do just the fan, don't lift or move the board and keep the sliders in place.

The fan and grill are easy to do. Don't bother with washers to lift the fan, just cut the grill. The fan will keep its place between the 2 plastics retainers as it was before.

 

[gyzmo2002]

That's the first thing I saw when I lifted the buttom cover. The fan's wire is not very long and the connector is glued so I probably lifted a bit the board and that's what happened. After seing that, I decided to disassemble the rails and sliders to clean them. That was the "funny part".


Télécharger des photos


image a telecharger gratuitement

 

[billcushman]

gyzmo2002, did you ever determine the original source of the fan noise. Was adhesive applied so it interfered with the rotating blades. I'm sure your whole experience was NOT joyful, but maybe the future use will be.

 

[chemEJoe]

Hi, using a file or a dremel for the chamfering is not a good idea. It is a cleaner job with a utility knife.

Hi Kreisl,

You are 100% right. I did the fan mod yesterday, and that part is very delicate so I used the knife your way. As it was, my chamfer was a little much (no free play, but not tight as you noted) so I used household white glue to fill in the gaps and it's very snug. I hope Elmer's glue can hold up to 85C. I just didn't have rubber cement and didn't want to use superglue or epoxy.

Difference between 1.4 and 1.5 is the addition of coils near the USB/Bluetooth output to pass FCC/CE certification. It's the only difference. These additional electronic parts may (or may not) even have adverse effects on the accuracy performance of the charger, all original specs were valid for the non-FCC/CE compliant production units like mine and yours, so don't wollie.

Thank you for this information ... funny ... my unit has the CE label on the outside, so they must have just used up the last of their boards. I guess I could ask for a new one, but as you note, it's probably just a FCC wireless compliance thing and anyway, that Bluetooth has a very short range I cannot even get the signal over than 10ft away, or so.

While my PCB looked 99% clean, i had used a Q-tip with a drop of solvent/alcohol to make it 100% clean.

Thank you, I will do that ... I have maybe 20% left in a bottle of 100% isopropyl alcohol I bought to clean a water-logged PCB, so I get another use out of it before it all evaporates yay!!!

Where I am now is I cannot find my thermal paste, so I need to go get that. The fan reversal went v smoothly

(your post #2323
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...=4841654&highlight=fan%2C+reverse#post4841654).

I haven't put it all back together yet. I can attest you are right so far and I learned that in doing it. The only thing I would add is the spacer you suggested ... I just cut 4 small 3-4mm bits of thick rubber bands and Elmer glued them into the corners of the fan housing. Nice for noise reduction. We'll see how it works.

So to your points:

1. Knife to chamfer, for fine control
2. have some glue handy in case you want a nice firm mounting (Kreisl did not need this because he had a tight chamfered fit).
3. take pics of the spring assembly before you undo, as that will be tricky to reassemble
4. yes yes, clean the grease, it is indeed in the circuit for IR readings.

Thanks so far. I will not have time to finish today but this can help other first version(+) hardware. Saves a round-trip to China, all those cust svc 'tickets' and the unit could be better for it as you know better than me. For me I had to do it because that fan just started grinding 100% of the time as it got tilted with heat/cool cycles even in the downward state (2nd side of clip was not engaged. That might help you, gyz if you are reading).

 

[chemEJoe]

gyzmo2002, did you ever determine the original source of the fan noise. Was adhesive applied so it interfered with the rotating blades. I'm sure your whole experience was NOT joyful, but maybe the future use will be.

Bill,
Mine went into 100% fan grind mode after maybe 100 hrs of use characterizing batteries (with discharge cycles). The cause seems to be only one clip was locked down, so even with glue, it slanted from the heat/cool cycles and the vibration in use, so it just kept slanting more I guess until one side was possibly rubbing the grill.

I will not have my unit back together until I get thermal paste later, so if I don't post anymore, assume that was true and the reversal per Kreisl's mod, mostly, worked out fine.

 

[gyzmo2002]

gyzmo2002, did you ever determine the original source of the fan noise. Was adhesive applied so it interfered with the rotating blades. I'm sure your whole experience was NOT joyful, but maybe the future use will be.

No, I did not see something was wrong. The fan was clipped well, glued well and horizontal well. no friction's trace on the wire passing thereunder nor the grill. I think when it was starting, there was something that vibrated around a little and that was causing the noise. Weird because the noise lasted only about 20-25 sec after starting.

 

[chemEJoe]

No more noisy fan. I cut the grill and reversed it. The max temp is 60 celsius 4x1A discharge in a 21celsius room. A good improvement. For the broken pole, I did what millguy told but I put the plastic pole in the hole to prevent it from moving.

Congrats on a great fix and thanks for the pictures ... I have the same pcb 1.4 so it looks like we are both there. The hole mount for the spring is a good choice. Epoxy on the broken pole would have been weak over time ... it's a case of drilling a v small hole, using a cut pin as reinforcement to both sides of the plastic pole, and then epoxy. I've had to fix kid's toys like that for it to work long term, so the solution suggested by the other poster is good.

I don't plan to cut my grill, so I'll let y'all know how it performs. I used cut rubber bands as spacers to raise the fan, and chamfered the mount edge to let the clips keep doing their job, as Kreisl suggested.

 

[gyzmo2002]

That might help you, gyz if you are reading).

The job is already done. I did it last night. Everything is working great now. Take a look at my posts above. Good luck. [emoji6]

 

[gyzmo2002]

Congrats on a great fix and thanks for the pictures ...

We follow us,except that for me it is longer to write in english so some posts could be made before I finish mine. Time goes on...

 

[kreisl]

That's the first thing I saw when I lifted the buttom cover.

so the broken pin was there already? must have been a hasty assembly worker in the production line
feel free to ask for a replacement case from your dealer or the manufacturer. i know that the manufacturer does not offer end customer service but you could try to ask anyway. i would support your case np

 

[gyzmo2002]

so the broken pin was there already? must have been a hasty assembly worker in the production line
feel free to ask for a replacement case from your dealer or the manufacturer. i know that the manufacturer does not offer end customer service but you could try to ask anyway. i would support your case np

Thank you kreisl for your help. I have received a mail from SkyRC. They offer to send the replacement case for free. They were not oblige to do that.

Since I fixed it, I don't want to dissasemble it again. If I change the case, I will have to remove some other pieces like the display. If I do, I could cause other issues. Now everything is working well, it's better to keep it like that.

If I were not able to fix it, I would have change it.

Thanks again. [emoji6]

 

[gyzmo2002]

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[gyzmo2002]

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[dssguy1]

No more noisy fan. I cut the grill and reversed it. The max temp is 60 celsius 4x1A discharge in a 21celsius room. A good improvement. For the broken pole, I did what millguy told but I put the plastic pole in the hole to prevent it.




No squirrel on the board. V1.4. 2015-07-07. First batch charger.

Weird, somebody else cut the grill out and gets much lower system temp.... Almost like what I have been saying for a month (https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/4837203 is true...

Regardless of what other misinformation might be spread by those who haven't removed the grill and how it won't help or isn't restrictive.

I guess the tide is turning the "grill" front!

Welcome to the club gyzmo. Death to grills!!!

 

[gyzmo2002]

Weird, somebody else cut the grill out and gets much lower system temp.... Almost like what I have been saying for a month is true...

Regardless of what other misinformation might be spread by those who didn't remove the grill. And how it won't help or isn't restrictive, guess the tide is turning on the "no grill" front!

Welcome to the club gyzmo.

I have followed your posts and when I opened the charger today, I searched for your pictures but did not found them. Did you have deleted them?

I expected a temperature around 70 but to my surprise, I have not exceeded 60 celsius today in a room at 21 celsius. So what you said is true. And I see no risk of injury by putting your fingers on or "in" (if you have tiny fingers lol) the fan. The fan stops as soon as you touch it. A lot of heat goes out of the upper vent. When I will buy a new charger, I will remove it without hesitation.

 

[kreisl]

This is surely that caused the vibration noise.

hmm

never mind where the noise came from, it doesn't matter for the case

you got broken pin and this calls for remedy

cypm i am hooking you up :tinfoil: