SkyRC — IFA 2014 — MC3000 charger-analyzer
- Thread starter kreisl
- Start date
Help Support Candle Power Flashlight Forum
mrQQ
Enlightened
0,5C
(Question: Which tires fit on my car? Answer: Car tires)
what about termination voltage etc?
4,2V
But it would be nice if you had a link or a detailed description of the batteries.
It could e.g. 10440 or 32650 cells.
Equally important if you want to speed up charging or save it.
The right settings depend more on this than on chemistry.
But it would be nice if you had a link or a detailed description of the batteries.
It could e.g. 10440 or 32650 cells.
Equally important if you want to speed up charging or save it.
The right settings depend more on this than on chemistry.
Hi Please, Help
After the last charging of Eneloop Pro cells, my MC3000 is not powering up any longer. I thought I was the PSU, so I purchased another power supply which is switchable between 11-22 volts.
I set it to 15V which is specified to 5amps on this PSU.
I plugged it into the MC3000, and the same thing its not powering up. I can see the MC3000 display backlight flicker a bit, but that's it, no other sign of life.
Is my MC3000 charger buggered? I am disappointed it failed so easily, I've only charged in it about a dozen times.
My unit has 1 fan. Its the HW 1.40+ version.
Can it be fixed?
thanks
Jabz
After the last charging of Eneloop Pro cells, my MC3000 is not powering up any longer. I thought I was the PSU, so I purchased another power supply which is switchable between 11-22 volts.
I set it to 15V which is specified to 5amps on this PSU.
I plugged it into the MC3000, and the same thing its not powering up. I can see the MC3000 display backlight flicker a bit, but that's it, no other sign of life.
Is my MC3000 charger buggered? I am disappointed it failed so easily, I've only charged in it about a dozen times.
My unit has 1 fan. Its the HW 1.40+ version.
Can it be fixed?
thanks
Jabz
Last edited:
That's very clever. I'd been using my older MC3000 with snapped posts with some random pieces of fill to achieve contact. Took it apart and put some cable ties in there, but must've shorted something out while putting it back together since now I get the following error from the ADC (MCP3424-1 Err). Tried reassembling it and checking that everything's ok, but the charger doesn't seem to recover from it. At least I have a spare...
I found your message in the search.
Did you solve the problem?
I left home for the holidays and turned off all.
But when I came back, my MC3000 shows an error "MCP3424-1 Err" when turned on.
I'm very upset,
I didn't plan such spending after the holidays
perhaps I should do the same? Or just buy something else.If you contact sky they'll probably ask you to send it in for component replacement or something, a repair that would cost something
I don't have a spare.I have a spare too
Have another replacement, LII-202
But this is not an equivalent replacement
wus
Newly Enlightened
Strange Ri values
I received my MC3000 before christmas, but started to use it only a few days ago. Want to check the state of all my round cells :twothumbs They are mostly eneloops of very different ages.
1. Some of the older ones were directly refused when I tried to charge them. Is there anything I can do with them so that the MC3000 can measure their remaining capacity? Charged with Sanyo NC-MQN04E or Camelion BC-0907, they were still working, why would the MC3000 refuse them? Unfortunately I forgot the exact error message that the MC3000 displayed.
2. Some other, also old cells (AA eneloops, 1900mAh) were not refused, but the charger shows Ri values from 700 up to 1300 mOhm. If that were true, charging with 1000mA (as I do) should result in voltages up to 2.7V. However the voltages observed during charging are somewhere near 1.5V (I set the limit to 1.65V and it never tripped). What's wrong here? How does the MC3000 measure Ri?
I received my MC3000 before christmas, but started to use it only a few days ago. Want to check the state of all my round cells :twothumbs They are mostly eneloops of very different ages.
1. Some of the older ones were directly refused when I tried to charge them. Is there anything I can do with them so that the MC3000 can measure their remaining capacity? Charged with Sanyo NC-MQN04E or Camelion BC-0907, they were still working, why would the MC3000 refuse them? Unfortunately I forgot the exact error message that the MC3000 displayed.
2. Some other, also old cells (AA eneloops, 1900mAh) were not refused, but the charger shows Ri values from 700 up to 1300 mOhm. If that were true, charging with 1000mA (as I do) should result in voltages up to 2.7V. However the voltages observed during charging are somewhere near 1.5V (I set the limit to 1.65V and it never tripped). What's wrong here? How does the MC3000 measure Ri?
Last edited:
Re: Strange Ri values
Could be a contact problem. Maybe press the minus contact against the battery and turn the battery a little.
The same applies when measuring the internal resistance (ideally when it is charged).
For some reason, the charger shows the charging voltage when charging NiMh in the slot overview much lower than you do with a multimeter.
But if you look at the average voltage after pressing the slot button, it is significantly higher (at least with old batteries with high internal resistance).
I think before you take the trouble to determine the capacity of old batteries via charge / discharge cycles, many can be discarded based on too high internal resistance.
For example, if AA batteries have more than 200mOhms.
Could be a contact problem. Maybe press the minus contact against the battery and turn the battery a little.
The same applies when measuring the internal resistance (ideally when it is charged).
For some reason, the charger shows the charging voltage when charging NiMh in the slot overview much lower than you do with a multimeter.
But if you look at the average voltage after pressing the slot button, it is significantly higher (at least with old batteries with high internal resistance).
I think before you take the trouble to determine the capacity of old batteries via charge / discharge cycles, many can be discarded based on too high internal resistance.
For example, if AA batteries have more than 200mOhms.
Low voltage LiIon cells
Has anyone solved the issue of the MC3000 refusing to charge a LiIon cell whose voltage has dropped too low? I have some LED torches that don't have any protection for LiIon batteries (such as a couple Anker lights, which claim to say they support operation of 18650 batteries), and if I use them too long after they start dropping in brightness, the battery may get a little over discharged.
Currently, what I am doing is to put the battery into the charger, then take a fully charged "jump start battery" and connect the leads in parallel, then start the MC3000 charge, and from there everything is fine.
I get that some people think charging an over-discharged LiIon is a bad thing, but if it's not entirely flat, there seems no harm. I've jumped batteries many times like this, and then ran a Refresh on the MC3000 to check the capacity, and there is no loss...
Otherwise, is there another charger on the market that will charge a low voltage LiIon cell?
Has anyone solved the issue of the MC3000 refusing to charge a LiIon cell whose voltage has dropped too low? I have some LED torches that don't have any protection for LiIon batteries (such as a couple Anker lights, which claim to say they support operation of 18650 batteries), and if I use them too long after they start dropping in brightness, the battery may get a little over discharged.
Currently, what I am doing is to put the battery into the charger, then take a fully charged "jump start battery" and connect the leads in parallel, then start the MC3000 charge, and from there everything is fine.
I get that some people think charging an over-discharged LiIon is a bad thing, but if it's not entirely flat, there seems no harm. I've jumped batteries many times like this, and then ran a Refresh on the MC3000 to check the capacity, and there is no loss...
Otherwise, is there another charger on the market that will charge a low voltage LiIon cell?
Re: Low voltage LiIon cells
".....there seems no harm.....
Until after your first experience with a Vent With Flame incident. Then, you might have a different thought process.
Maybe there was some specific Engineering of the software that took place in the 3000 to prevent Vent With Flame incidents?
".....there seems no harm.....
Until after your first experience with a Vent With Flame incident. Then, you might have a different thought process.
Maybe there was some specific Engineering of the software that took place in the 3000 to prevent Vent With Flame incidents?
wus
Newly Enlightened
Re: Low voltage LiIon cells
Where can I find this MC3000 Monitor V1.03 Software?
Edit:
Apparently I was blind when I visited SkyRC's MC3000 download page last time. Or is it possible that it wasn't offered for download there, a few days ago?
Where can I find this MC3000 Monitor V1.03 Software?
Edit:
Apparently I was blind when I visited SkyRC's MC3000 download page last time. Or is it possible that it wasn't offered for download there, a few days ago?
Last edited:
Re: Low voltage LiIon cells
This is supposed to be an advanced charger for advanced users?
As far as I can tell, there are many ways this charger can be configured to destroy a battery and set it afire, in which the software will not stop you from doing. So with regards to setting a minimum voltage requirement, why not?
This is supposed to be an advanced charger for advanced users?
As far as I can tell, there are many ways this charger can be configured to destroy a battery and set it afire, in which the software will not stop you from doing. So with regards to setting a minimum voltage requirement, why not?
fmc1
Enlightened
Re: Low voltage LiIon cells
I charge overly discharged NiCd's almost weekly in the MC3000. I just save the charge program for NiCd AA's to all slots. After I insert the batteries the display will just show "no battery". I hold down the slot number button for about 5 to 10 seconds until the program starts. You only need to get about 8mAh's into the battery and then the voltage will jump right up. NiMh batteries do the same thing. I never tried this with LiIon batteries but I'm inclined to believe the same functionality is there in the charger.
The safety factor in using LiIon batteries that have been over discharged often is another conversation.
Frank
I charge overly discharged NiCd's almost weekly in the MC3000. I just save the charge program for NiCd AA's to all slots. After I insert the batteries the display will just show "no battery". I hold down the slot number button for about 5 to 10 seconds until the program starts. You only need to get about 8mAh's into the battery and then the voltage will jump right up. NiMh batteries do the same thing. I never tried this with LiIon batteries but I'm inclined to believe the same functionality is there in the charger.
The safety factor in using LiIon batteries that have been over discharged often is another conversation.
Frank
Capacity Cut problem
I have recently several problems to charge NiMH cells. I do not get a proper termination.
Everything started with some older LSD cells. (2000 mAh)
Charging them with 1000 mA and using 0dV termination will keep the cell half empty.
With 700 mA and 1mV charging won't stop till I get a Capacity Cut.
With 1000 mA and 1mV I will get a BattTemp Cut.
Okay - old cells. Time to get rid of them.
But I had afterwards similar problems with a set of 4 brand new Energizer Power Plús 700 cells.
Charging them with 400 mA doesn't terminate with 1mV. I get again a capacity cut error (1080 mAh since I did not change from Eneloop AAA Pro to the Standard AAA).
I cycled the cells (discharge with 200 mA till 1.0 V, Charge with 400 mA)
With 0dV it looks a little bit better - at least 3 of them stopped charging (after 731, 745, 802 mAh). But for the 4th one I got again a capacity cut (960 mAh, voltage is 1.50V).
I can hardly remember that I had ever a capacity cut within the last 3 years. And now suddenly so many.
I can charge the cells (the old and new ones) with an Opus BT-C2000 without problems.
Any idea what I can do? Charging only to 1.48 V? :-/
Increasing the current? (but 400 mA is already more than 0.5 C and should be in generally fine)
Does anyone of you also have Energizer Power Plús 700? How do you charge them successfully?
I have recently several problems to charge NiMH cells. I do not get a proper termination.
Everything started with some older LSD cells. (2000 mAh)
Charging them with 1000 mA and using 0dV termination will keep the cell half empty.
With 700 mA and 1mV charging won't stop till I get a Capacity Cut.
With 1000 mA and 1mV I will get a BattTemp Cut.
Okay - old cells. Time to get rid of them.
But I had afterwards similar problems with a set of 4 brand new Energizer Power Plús 700 cells.
Charging them with 400 mA doesn't terminate with 1mV. I get again a capacity cut error (1080 mAh since I did not change from Eneloop AAA Pro to the Standard AAA).
I cycled the cells (discharge with 200 mA till 1.0 V, Charge with 400 mA)
With 0dV it looks a little bit better - at least 3 of them stopped charging (after 731, 745, 802 mAh). But for the 4th one I got again a capacity cut (960 mAh, voltage is 1.50V).
I can hardly remember that I had ever a capacity cut within the last 3 years. And now suddenly so many.
I can charge the cells (the old and new ones) with an Opus BT-C2000 without problems.
Any idea what I can do? Charging only to 1.48 V? :-/
Increasing the current? (but 400 mA is already more than 0.5 C and should be in generally fine)
Does anyone of you also have Energizer Power Plús 700? How do you charge them successfully?
wus
Newly Enlightened
My recommendation: if it's only about charging, use the BT-C2000.
I also have a couple older NiMH cells which charge seemingly well in other chargers (the white Sanyo slow charger, Camelion BC-0907), but not in all. The MC3000 and also the EBL U421 refuse them. These cells still work well in applications that don't need high currents, but not where higher currents are needed. The MC3000 revealed that they have high Ri, from 350 mOhm to almost 1000 mOhm.
What Ri do your cells have?
In my opinion, 0 or 1 mV dU/dt is too low. I use 3mV, after this recommendation. And 1.50 V as cutoff is also too low. I observed voltages of up to 1,56V during charging. I left the value at the factory preset for NiMH, 1.65V.
I also have a couple older NiMH cells which charge seemingly well in other chargers (the white Sanyo slow charger, Camelion BC-0907), but not in all. The MC3000 and also the EBL U421 refuse them. These cells still work well in applications that don't need high currents, but not where higher currents are needed. The MC3000 revealed that they have high Ri, from 350 mOhm to almost 1000 mOhm.
What Ri do your cells have?
In my opinion, 0 or 1 mV dU/dt is too low. I use 3mV, after this recommendation. And 1.50 V as cutoff is also too low. I observed voltages of up to 1,56V during charging. I left the value at the factory preset for NiMH, 1.65V.
But any higher value would make the situation worse.
As long 0 or 1 mV work they it is better for the cells. (see the tests of AAcycler)
The new AAA cells have a Ri of 73-85 mOhm.
Charging with 500 mA & 1mV termination worked (at least the 1st time).
OK for 500mA on AAA battery.
Normal value 75 milli Ohm for this battery AAA size
For better recharge:
1] Set the voltage cutoff to 1,65 Volt
2] Increase the current charge for AA battery to 1000mA or more
(the SKYRC MC-3000 have real costant charge current, not high current pulsed as other low cost or older battery charger)
Possible major bug (1A trickle charging)
So, played around with my new MC3000 this weekend and I seem to have discovered a pretty major flaw in the programming of the iOS app. Using the eneloop or NiMH "charge" program results in a trickle charge beginning exactly 5 minutes after completion of the program and of exactly the charge rate, despite having trickle explicitly set to "off". Talk about cooking some eneloops
.
Here's my parameters:
And here's the result:
So, played around with my new MC3000 this weekend and I seem to have discovered a pretty major flaw in the programming of the iOS app. Using the eneloop or NiMH "charge" program results in a trickle charge beginning exactly 5 minutes after completion of the program and of exactly the charge rate, despite having trickle explicitly set to "off". Talk about cooking some eneloops
.Here's my parameters:
And here's the result:
Re: Possible major bug (1A trickle charging)
You have set some parameters that are illogical for NiMh.
You definitely have to set "Restart Volt" to "OFF". This is the reason that the charger starts charging again.
I would also deactivate "Charge Cut Current".
You have set some parameters that are illogical for NiMh.
You definitely have to set "Restart Volt" to "OFF". This is the reason that the charger starts charging again.
I would also deactivate "Charge Cut Current".
WalkIntoTheLight
Flashlight Enthusiast
Re: Possible major bug (1A trickle charging)
Why would anyone want to restart based on a voltage, anyway? Does that make sense for any chemistry, apart from perhaps lead-acid?
Why would anyone want to restart based on a voltage, anyway? Does that make sense for any chemistry, apart from perhaps lead-acid?
Similar threads
