SkyRC — IFA 2014 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

[CuriousOne]

So far, hobby chargers with balance connector and good quality cradle are most affordable tool for IR resistance testing.

 

[Ravel]

@Ravel , thanks for your cheers!!
So you like samba and sshfs for remote access? If i understood correctly, SSHFS is a thing between two Linux machines; i couldn't use it on my Win-machine or on my Android phone. Samba seems popular, versatile, powerful, .

Was thinking just file access, not remote access as such.
Never used samba, I know nothing about winblows (it was for completness of option)
Quite keen on sshfs, yes it is more of an oddity linux to linux, but great.

Also if interested there is an android raspi manager app called raspmanager

Regards

 

[_UPz]

Hi,

Today I am trying to replace an old MC3000 case (wiv broken spring poles and some screw column missing two) and I am struggling to take the display off. Removed all screws but the display block seems to be glued to the case and pry/level it is scary...

Any of you who replaced the case or dissasembled the display can help with any tip?

Thanks a million!

 

[kreisl]

Any of you who replaced the case or dissasembled the display can help with any tip?

Here is my tip: the display assembly consists of LCD screen soldered(?) to its PCB. And between LCD and mc3k case there is a thick transparent plastic window. We have four layers at the screw posts for the display assembly: mc3k case + window + LCD + PCB. Since this sandwhich is held together with 4 small screws, their white glue is imho not needed.

Maybe you can tell us how you managed to ..

 

[_UPz]

Hi kreisl,

Thanks for your "tip".:shrug:
I've managed to take out the display, not with a lot of scary moments. As you say, there's white glue. Too much imho. And also, not needed at all because all parts are nicely enginereed and the fitment is perfect with no glue.

Dissasembling my old unit was easy, till I got to the display... after some meditation I decided to throw the dice and try to pry it out. I started prying with small flat screwdriver from the corners. I bended the screwdriver and the "sandwich" display was still intact . Grabbed a bigger flat screwdriver and my wife's hair dryer. After heating a bit the display corners from the front side of the device, I started to feel how the things started to get "screamy" when prying, cracky scary noises. But shortly the screen (LCD and it's PCB) came out.

There was still the display "window" attached to the case. And it had TONS of white glue under. More hair dryer, a bit of pry... but the material of the "window" is bit fragile and I broke a small bit (fortunatelly not visible from the front face) of it while prying... then I switched the screwdriver for a guitar pick and slowly I started introducind it from the front joint of the window-case. Spend a bit of time slowly separating the glued parts and finally the d*mn window thingy came off.

My adventures with mc3k replacement case didn't end there... shortly after removing all the bits (including the logo plate) from the old case, I noticed the new case had thicker screw columns. YES.
I measured my PCB hole diametter (~5.2mm) and the columns in the replacement case are ~6.4mm. Whoa... test fitment confirmed: My "motherboard" PCB (v1.4, 07-2015 FYI) didn't fit in the new case columns.

There was no other option than sand the columns or bigger the PCB holes. Since I was replacing the case because it had 4 broken spring poles and 3 screw column missing... for me it made no sense to "weaken" the new purchased ( and pretty expensive if you ask me ) case. So I took a round diamond file and start sanding out the holes to make them bigger. I took extreme caution to not touch any of the traces around the holes. It was specially tricky with the center-left hole, which I sanded a bit on the PCB and had to sand a bit the case column to reduce its diametter to make it fit, because there are PCB traces surounding the hole very closely.

Once I got all holes enlarged I test-fitted the PCB: nice perfect fit. I followed this video tutorial (tx larry) for assembly, which can be tricky specially with the backplate-slider-spring-cable-thermalsensor fitment combination :sick2:.

Fortunatelly my unit is now repaired, working and looking good, but, just in case any of you need to replace the case (because poor plastic choice on first batch) just be aware that it's not a fast & easy task.
Also, the replacement case product page didn't say nothing, but it's only the front half. It doesn't include the back case, nor the display window, nor the screws, nor the slot thermal plates, nor even the logo! I understand that it's a replacement part intended for waranty issues, but people paying "full price" like me will feel like ripped off.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[MidnightDistortions]

I'm so excited, i got my MC3000. I'm playing around with an older AAA NiMH battery. I couldn't get the temp cut off to work though, i'm not sure why that is unless it's because the battery is at an angle? It was the only way i could get the battery to go in there. Either way, this is pretty cool a lot more information and play.

 

[kreisl]

yes could be. the AAA might not be touching the temp sensor plate.
btw i have enough thermal paste on my thermal sensors, so my slot sensors work pretty well. just saying.
Congrats to the acquisition, welcome to the owner's club
Which firmware version is on your unit?

Thanks for your "tip".:shrug:

 

[MidnightDistortions]

Yeah. Thanks.. it's a great unit. I'm not sure if i can view the firmware while i have a battery cycling in there. I think it was 1.4 something i don't recall.

 

[canonite]

was charging nl1834 cells.. and notice slot 4's battery post being pushed into an awkward position.. spring and slider is fine.. but seems like the post was bent backwards...

 

[tjh]

Is there a new FW version in the works?
I mean there's nothing wrong with 1.13 as far as I'm concerned (well the beeping error is annoying) but you know, good to see it get an update once a year or so I guess!

 

[kreisl]

i have the 1.14beita and the finalization is on their todo list but these days/weeks they are not working on it afaik. you can see the changes for 1.14 already in de list: only few changes like minor bug fixes, official(!) support for LTO and RAM, and filling up the <DOWN+SNB> in TOV with 4 additional "memories" as not opposed by you guys.

btw while "memory" is not a technically incorrect term, see old handheld calculators and their <M+> and <MR> keys, i suggested that they use the word "shortcut" instead. when they update the pdf manual, let's look for the old/new words.

fed is the goat!!

 

[LiteTheWay]

How reliable should we expect the Battery IR measurement achieved by < Up + Down > to be? Compared say with supposedly dedicated battery IR measurement meters?

 

[kreisl]

How reliable should we expect the Battery IR measurement achieved by < Up + Down > to be? Compared say with supposedly dedicated battery IR measurement meters?

You must have read my post #4780, haven't you?

Have you experienced the operation (ease of use?) of dedicated Batt IR measurement meters (dbirmm)? Meaning what?
Meaning .. if i handed out your meter to a family of six (father, mother, son, daughter, grandpa, grandma) and told them that each person were to give it only 1 shot, after which he/she must quote me the reading, what do you think would the sequence of six numbers look like? And also, i wouldn't give them any kind of information or details on how to operate the meter other than pressing the button

Point is, i (and HKJ, and and and) can produce reliable batt ir measurements with the mc3k <Up+Down> method, as proven by my above series of footage, but not everybody else can produce reliable batt ir measurements with the mc3k. The minimization or elimination of all contact resistances comes always first, no matter which sensing is implemented (Two-Terminal Sensing, Three-Terminal Sensing, Four-Terminal Sensing) and no matter which sophisticated code algorithm is used, and it is the only challenge to face when any mc3k user wants to produce reliable batt IR measurements with the mc3k (or a dbirmm).

Or was your question how a "51mΩ(mc3k)" reading (produced by my efforts) compares to a dbirmm reading produced by my aunt? No offense but i would rely more on my mc3k-measurement


Yet another related example: Have you ever tried to measure the resistance of a piece of wire with the probes of your digital multimeter? A piece of wire has only a few milliOhms resistance, say 6-8mΩ. But to get this reading on the display of your DMM (typically rounded as "0.01Ω" on an auto-ranging DMM) you will have to spend real sweat and efforts with your hands, probes and the piece of wire. The contribution of contact resistance between probe1+wire and probe2+wire is substantial and can range between 0.10-1.00Ω, i.e. 1 or 2 orders of magnitude higher!, depending on how well/forceful you press the probes against the piece of wire.

 

[LiteTheWay]

Yes I have/had. Which is why I asked the question and was looking for a short answer. I guess a short answer is/was: very reliable if you work at it a bit and certainly as good as dedicated meters.

You must have read my post #4780, haven't you?

 

[cobalt]

Can anyone tell me if the problem with the post that hold the spring has been fixed as I've had the 3rd one brake I really like the charger but I don't want to get another if it's going to be the same. So has the problem been addressed ?

 

[terjee]

Can anyone tell me if the problem with the post that hold the spring has been fixed as I've had the 3rd one brake I really like the charger but I don't want to get another if it's going to be the same. So has the problem been addressed ?

It HAS been addressed. The upgraded posts are much stronger, and I've not had an issue since I fixed mine. You might want to be careful about where you order from though, some shops could have old stock. I bought the last bad one from NKON quite a while back, so I know they should be good. They were helpful and quick in shipping a replacement of the top part of the chassis as well. It's always hard to say something is 100% surely fixed, but there was a design change to address this issue, the new version appears to fix it, and I've ridden the new version harder than the old, with no issue.

Seems very promising, but I wouldn't bet my first born. I'm confident enough that I'd buy a new one if my current one was stolen.

 

[kreisl]

you must have been an early adopter of the product, am i right? and really you wouldn't mind getting another one, even so it costs 100$? as you know one could fix the broken pins situation with thin zip-ties, as shown before. Gearbest sends out the improved/stronger replacement case basically for free to early GB buyers as warranty service; the buyer must then exchange the part on his own. Apart from repairing units this way, yes that issue was long fixed: since June production 2016. And all the fast selling vendors got this or newer production batches in stock for months! from which shipping county would you like to buy? send me a pm and i could point out recommended vendors in that county🤑

(…)

On a different/related note, i can personally confirm that DEX3.3.0 on raspi logs ut61e beautifully without probs or setup/configuration/driver installation. Like plug'n play!, which is super rare on a native Linux system. One only needs to use a "specific" Serial-to-USB adapter (min 7-10$ cost ouch) between the raspi's USB port and the UNI-T's serial logging cable, and the raspi kernel supports the adapter from the get-go after a reboot. I will post more about raspi'n ut61e (all thx to our DEX!) soon in my raspi cpf thread np stay tuned.

 

[terjee]

Just double-checked the order date on my early version, and it was just over 2 years ago. By that time, the fault was known and fixed, I just got older stock. A unit delivered to a shop 2 years ago would be a new version with the fix.

 

[kreisl]

over 2 years ago

afaik the product was released just before xmas 2015, say nov 2015, no? :thinking:

 

[Ravel]

On a different/related note, i can personally confirm that DEX3.3.0 on raspi logs ut61e beautifully without probs or setup/configuration/driver installation. Like plug'n play!, which is super rare on a native Linux system. One only needs to use a "specific" Serial-to-USB adapter (min 7-10$ cost ouch) between the raspi's USB port and the UNI-T's serial logging cable, and the raspi kernel supports the adapter from the get-go after a reboot. I will post more about raspi'n ut61e (all thx to our DEX!) soon in my raspi cpf thread np stay tuned.

AFAIK only DEX 3.2.9 is yet available
http://www.nongnu.org/dataexplorer/download.html