Test/Review of Charger SkyRC MC3000

[HKJ]

lol yupp they do have "small issues " when you get a blank screen like i have on mine that gearbest is giving me the run around for warranty work.

One thing is small issues, another thing is a defect charger. On any product there will be a small percent of defect products, what is interesting is how the seller handles it.

 

[Viking]

Issues and bugs are very important for consumers to know about. Personally I'm glad HKJ highlighted those issues, and frankly I'm puzzled anybody outside the company or distributors have a problem in this regard.
When issues are highlighted it also makes it easier for either Kreisl or Skyrc to get an overview of what needs to be fixed.

And finally, reading the review I get the complete opposite impression, that HKJ are infact very satisfied and positive overall for this unit. Not that possitive ratings are in any way a benchmark for good reviews, negativ ratings and conclusions are just as helpfull. Actually I start to get a little suspicious if either all or to many reviews end up with a positive rating for any reviewer.
But I find it a little ironic someone "accuses" HKJ for being unbalanced in a negative point of view, when this review is actually one the most positive ones I can recall reading. He even mention this charger will take the place for nearly all of his other chargers in the future

Please keep on your good work HKJ, and also focus on bugs and issues next time, as any honest and competent reviewer will do. Unfortunately too many reviewers are in the pocket of the industry, which is reflected in their overly possitive ratings and conclusions.

 

[HKJ]

But I find it a little ironic someone "accuses" HKJ for being unbalanced in a negative point of view

I can see his point, the issues takes up a lot of space in the conclusion and I do not use much space on the positive sides, but my reviews will always be that way: When everything works, there is not much to say or list, but anything that do not work, will requiring writing.

 

[Viking]

That is also my believe. It is much more meaningful to emphasize things that doesn't work than things that does. Thinks that works as advertised shall of course be mentioned too, but they don't need to get emphasized in the same manner.
Bugs and issues is something you don't expect in the same way as a customer.

 

[Vortus]

How long does it take to do a full refresh on a D cell nimh or 32650? Had hoped it would do four C/D or 26/32650-700. Would make a nice supplement to our current chargers, but concerned at how long it might be tied up only doing two cells at a time. Though not fitting inside, any reason for it to have issues if using magnets and wires to do four larger cells at a time? Is there any sort of cap that would cause issues if doing even larger lifepo4 cells like 38140s.

 

[HKJ]

How long does it take to do a full refresh on a D cell nimh or 32650? Had hoped it would do four C/D or 26/32650-700. Would make a nice supplement to our current chargers, but concerned at how long it might be tied up only doing two cells at a time. Though not fitting inside, any reason for it to have issues if using magnets and wires to do four larger cells at a time? Is there any sort of cap that would cause issues if doing even larger lifepo4 cells like 38140s.

Using 2A you can charge or discharge a 10000mAh NiMH cell in 5 hours.
It is possible to extend the connections, but you will get higher resistance. I do not expect you will have any serious problems with charging/discharging.
As you can see in my parameter list, it can handle up to 50000mAh, but you will probably have problems with terminating NiMH.

 

[Viking]

As you can see in my parameter list, it can handle up to 50000mAh, but you will probably have problems with terminating NiMH.

But that is one of the great features with this charger, he could set a voltage cut off termination or timing, to make sure no overcharge is done. or couldn't he ?

 

[HKJ]

But that is one of the great features with this charger, he could set a voltage cut off termination or timing, to make sure no overcharge is done. or couldn't he ?

Exactly, but if using time he will not get any statistic for the battery, just a "Timer cut"

 

[DeanW8]

Try reading my praise: "all of this is way above any other (consumer) charger on the market at the current time."

I do not believe I need to say much more, but I want people to be aware that there is a couple of (small) issues, even though I say "very good" (I do not do that very often).
If there had been anything affecting the charging, the rating had not been that positive. If I had rated the different modes, neither dummy or simple would get more than good, they often have issues with the current software.

Quoting that single sentence (that talks about battery support and precision) doesn't disprove anything I have said. It is about emphasis and volume, 90% of the conclusion section is about charger's flaws, even the things that should be mentioned under its advantages.

For example, instead of listing the PC analyzing ability under the pros of the charger, since it is a feature that 99% of the round cell chargers don't have, it was listed under the flaws of the charger because of some minor issues with the software.

Despite the positive rating the entire conclusion strikes me unbalanced, mentioning every flaw and issue with the charger, while barely mentioning any of the pros and unique features.

I am not implying you did that with malice, because you praised the charger elsewhere.

But if I had just read the conclusion I would have never guessed that you like the charger so much that you replaced your other chargers with it.

I think that you need to really read the review and read HKJ's comments usually after a picture, to see that he's pretty stoked about this charger. I'm sure that the local tattoo parlor has already worked out a design for H..

While there are some issues to be worked out, I got the impression that this is a very good charger, but I needed to read the entire review, carefully and then reread it some more.

I have read the entire review and all the comments before posting. But one should not need to read everything, and many people don't, just to understand the reviewers opinion on the product.

 

[HKJ]

But if I had just read the conclusion I would have never guessed that you like the charger so much that you replaced your other chargers with it.

The fact that I replaced my other chargers do have a lot to do with how I uses the chargers, not many people has the same usage pattern. Of course it also had to be a good charger, or I would not have replace any of my chargers.

It do sound like it is the first time you read one of my reviews, it helps when you understand what I mean when I call a product "very good".

 

[Vortus]

Thanks. Missed the capacity line. Great review.

 

[bob_ninja]

Thanks for great review HKJ.
Considering all the information/data that it deals with, would you say that it could use a bigger display? Seems at times it is unable to show enough due to small screen.

 

[HKJ]

Thanks for great review HKJ.
Considering all the information/data that it deals with, would you say that it could use a bigger display? Seems at times it is unable to show enough due to small screen.

I would have like a bigger display or higher resolution display, but except for my single complain, the interface works fairly well.

 

[retrocon]

I'm fairly new in this space, but comfortable with coding in general. My thought, in addition to saving to a PC, it seems like it should be possible to add a parameter to "execute program X on completion" and allow multiple programs to execute in sequence. For example, have a charge program, upon an exception free completion, run a top off Program, or do variable cycles. Just curious if you experts think this would be of value, or would have reservations against it?

 

[HKJ]

I'm fairly new in this space, but comfortable with coding in general. My thought, in addition to saving to a PC, it seems like it should be possible to add a parameter to "execute program X on completion" and allow multiple programs to execute in sequence. For example, have a charge program, upon an exception free completion, run a top off Program, or do variable cycles. Just curious if you experts think this would be of value, or would have reservations against it?

There is not that many cases where you really need to use multiple programs and what about the data when you use more than one program?
Adding top-off settings to NiMH might be a better solution.

 

[retrocon]

There is not that many cases where you really need to use multiple programs and what about the data when you use more than one program?
Adding top-off settings to NiMH might be a better solution.

That makes perfect sense. I guess the dynamics of battery chemistry are reasonably finite, so designing in a bunch of flexibility is just overkill. Again, thanks for the great review!

 

[ko4nrbs]

Quoting that single sentence (that talks about battery support and precision) doesn't disprove anything I have said. It is about emphasis and volume, 90% of the conclusion section is about charger's flaws, even the things that should be mentioned under its advantages.

For example, instead of listing the PC analyzing ability under the pros of the charger, since it is a feature that 99% of the round cell chargers don't have, it was listed under the flaws of the charger because of some minor issues with the software.

Despite the positive rating the entire conclusion strikes me unbalanced, mentioning every flaw and issue with the charger, while barely mentioning any of the pros and unique features.

I am not implying you did that with malice, because you praised the charger elsewhere.

But if I had just read the conclusion I would have never guessed that you like the charger so much that you replaced your other chargers with it.


I have read the entire review and all the comments before posting. But one should not need to read everything, and many people don't, just to understand the reviewers opinion on the product.

I can only imagine how many hours HKJ put into testing the MC-3000. It takes a lot of work disassembling the charger, taking the pictures, performing the tests, etc. Let's factor all this in as we read the review and reflect on it's contents.

I know of no one else who provides this much detailed information all free of charge. In addition he is much more than a casual user like most of us so the reviews are accurate and contain back up data to confirm his findings.

Bill

 

[-Archie-]

I can only imagine how many hours HKJ put into testing the MC-3000.

+1. Great review!

 

[samgab]

Another great, in depth review, thanks for your hard work HKJ! Based on this, I ordered this charger today, so I look forward to seeing how it performs.

I've had my C9000 for several years now, but this charger brings some new more modern features to the table. I also have an iCharger hobby charger with PC connectivity, but it's much simpler having the 4 cylindrical cell holders built into the charger unit, and the bluetooth chip/iPhone app mean I don't have to have a cable plugged into my laptop all the time. It would be good if the bluetooth could connect to a laptop too, to interact with the PC software, rather than having to use the USB cable. I'm not sure if that is possible, or if the bluetooth can only talk to an android/iOS device...
But one good thing about this charger is that extra functionality can be added, and bugs squashed, by means of firmware updates.

 

[kreisl]

Is a new android app version out today?

I can't check, i am too busy with bugs looking.