Test/Review of Charger SkyRC MC3000

[terryoregon]

ProgressiveRC has just listed the MC3000 on Amazon (LINK) for $101 plus shipping $7.38 (two-day shipping in the US). That's cheaper than I got it from NKON.

One of the questions on the listing was:

If I order today (01/16/2018) will the skyrc mc3000 be the newest version with two cooling fans and three raised points on positive terminal?
"Yes (ProgessiveRC)"

 

[joegmeyers]

ProgressiveRC has just listed the MC3000 on Amazon (LINK) for $101 plus shipping $7.38 (two-day shipping in the US). That's cheaper than I got it from NKON.

One of the questions on the listing was:

Not currently available. I hoped to get this before I deployed, but looks like I'll have to hope they'll ship it to me once it's in stock.

 

[joegmeyers]

I just got mine from gearbest.com -- they just restocked after a month of being out of stock. Should be the newest model. I'm excited for when it comes in.

Came out to $99

Was this the newest model? I keep waiting for NKON and progressiverc to get some in stock, but I'm beginning to get impatient. Especially knowing it's going to take about a month to get to where I'm located.

 

[id30209]

Was this the newest model? I keep waiting for NKON and progressiverc to get some in stock, but I'm beginning to get impatient. Especially knowing it's going to take about a month to get to where I'm located.

I'v got mine from NKON as well, it's the latest and greatest edition with most of the issues corrected from HKJ review. My HW is 1.3+ and FW is 1.13.

 

[joegmeyers]

I'v got mine from NKON as well, it's the latest and greatest edition with most of the issues corrected from HKJ review. My HW is 1.3+ and FW is 1.13.

Yes sir, I would love to get one from NKON. However, my question was generated on NKON still being out of stock.

 

[joegmeyers]

Great News! Progressiverc has posted that they will be getting a shipment in on 15MAY2018. I have already pre-purchased one and I'm now excitedly awaiting the shipment and arrival. Plenty of time to read he cheat-sheets and manual.

 

[klrman]

Was this the newest model? I keep waiting for NKON and progressiverc to get some in stock, but I'm beginning to get impatient. Especially knowing it's going to take about a month to get to where I'm located.

Got mine from Gearbest two weeks ago and it is the latest version.

 

[Wireworld]

Nkon are advertising them as coming into stock on May 15th although their wording is somewhat ambiguous about what you might actually get as they say:

Latesthardware version, two cooling fans, three raised points on positive terminal(and of course reinforced pins to prevent the broken slider problem in foundvery old versions)

One but last model (one cooling fan, reinforced pins)

 

[id30209]

Is anyone having unusual IR readings on some of the slots? Shifting from time to time with same batteries?

 

[tedi13]

Excellent review HKJ!Thank you very much for your time and effort.



the first day the screen does not work bluetooth works well the software pc ok also
sometimes all black or all white sleep mode times yes and sometimes no (
I also test all the updates1.12v-1.13v-1.14v)

 

[klrman]

Is anyone having unusual IR readings on some of the slots? Shifting from time to time with same batteries?

Yes. Have to rotate the batteries a little or jiggle them until you get the lowest IR reading and according to HKJ the lowest reading is fairly accurate. I can confirm with another tester that when I move the batteries a little and find the lowest IR reading that it holds up to be reliable.

 

[Gauss163]

Is anyone having unusual IR readings on some of the slots? Shifting from time to time with same batteries?

This may be due to (large) variation in contact resistance. One quick and simple way to test for poor contact is to slide you fingers horizontally across the cells (with very light touch) and check if any cells easily rotate while doing so. If they do rotate then rotate/adjust them in the slot until they no longer do so. The goal is to get the cells in all slots under similar contact/pressure so that (hopefully) they have similar contact resistance. This method usually works to eliminate large contact resistance variations.

 

[id30209]

Thank you guys for info. Did it as advised and it worked.
Thumbsup!

 

[hjdca]

Hello, I just picked up a new SKYRC MC3000 from amazon. It arrived in 2 days with Prime. I bought the one with two fans and the latest firmware. It is a great charger. I love it ! I got the hang of it now. Note: It did come with the European black plug, but, the recharging brick is just like a laptop, and, I had plenty of USA plugs laying around to use with charging brick.

My first task is to try to re-condition 15 or so 10280 batteries for my brother and mine "old" Draco keylight flashlights. 10280 batteries do not seem to be available anymore, so, I have no choice but to try and recondition all the old used 10280 batteries we have.
Most of the 10280s are sitting around 95mah and they should be 200mah. I have been cycling them with .09 charge rate and .12 discharge rate, and I moved the voltage cutoff to 2.5 volts. My plan is to cycle them a few times, throw them in the freezer for 24 hours. Thaw them out, then, cycle them a few more times. I am not sure if I will be successful, but, I am already seeing internal resistance going down and the mah coming up.

Do you guys have any charger settings or recommendations for me to get these 10280s back up to 200mah ? Thanks in advance for any help.:thumbsup:

 

[hjdca]

Hello, I just picked up a new SKYRC MC3000 from amazon. It arrived in 2 days with Prime. I bought the one with two fans and the latest firmware. It is a great charger. I love it ! I got the hang of it now. Note: It did come with the European black plug, but, the recharging brick is just like a laptop, and, I had plenty of USA plugs laying around to use with charging brick.

My first task is to try to re-condition 15 or so 10280 batteries for my brother and mine "old" Draco keylight flashlights. 10280 batteries do not seem to be available anymore, so, I have no choice but to try and recondition all the old used 10280 batteries we have.
Most of the 10280s are sitting around 95mah and they should be 200mah. I have been cycling them with .09 charge rate and .12 discharge rate, and I moved the voltage cutoff to 2.5 volts. My plan is to cycle them a few times, throw them in the freezer for 24 hours. Thaw them out, then, cycle them a few more times. I am not sure if I will be successful, but, I am already seeing internal resistance going down and the mah coming up.

Do you guys have any charger settings or recommendations for me to get these 10280s back up to 200mah ? Thanks in advance for any help.:thumbsup:

UPDATE - I am having some success reconditioning these 10280 cells ! So far, I have managed a 50%-100% improvement. I settled on a .08ma charge and a 110ma discharge, with 2.5V low cutoff & 4.2V high cutoff. Most of them started out at around 80-90mah, and now I have them around 125-152 mah with this same discharge rate of 110ma. If I decrease the charge and discharge rate to around 60ma, I believe my mah numbers may get close to the magic 200 mah for these cells. When they rate them at 200mah, I wonder what discharge rate they are assuming. I am sure it is probably below 100ma. The IR also started out very high on these cells (I am using spacers, brass, steel, & aluminum) -- like 900. I have the Batt IR down now to about 300-400.

My process is the following - C>D>C about 6 times - then Discharge, then seal cells in plastic bag, Freeze for 12 hours. Then, C>D>C to see the results.

Any recommendations gladly appreciated. I am really loving this charger, it is extremely precise and accurate ! Accuracy and Precision is really such a welcome advantage to this charger.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

My process is the following - C>D>C about 6 times - then Discharge, then seal cells in plastic bag, Freeze for 12 hours. Then, C>D>C to see the results.

Why freeze?

Also, are you really seeing much more improvement after you ran a couple of full cycles already? I would have thought that the vast majority of any improvement would come from the first couple of cycles.

 

[hjdca]

Why freeze?

Also, are you really seeing much more improvement after you ran a couple of full cycles already? I would have thought that the vast majority of any improvement would come from the first couple of cycles.

Yes, I saw about a 30% improvement in mah with just cycling a few times, and then, no improvement.... but, then, the freezing doubled that gain again ! My understanding is that some "junk" in the battery freezes, cracks, and releases "electrolyte" during the freezing/thawing process... It seems to be working well on these small cells. Not sure if it will last though...

The cells bounce off of 2.5V discharge and settle around 2.9V. Super small cells.... Then, I freeze them. After Freezing, at first charge. I see about a 30-50 mah improvement on the first charge.. That is alot for a 200 mah cell !!

Here is a pic of two 10280s that were cycled 3 or 4 times, discharged, frozen, thawed, then charged, then discharged to get the final mah. One just bounced off the 2.5V cutoff and one is about to. Note: these cells tested around 80-90mah when I started, then, went to approx. 115ma after cycling a few times, then to approx. 150ma with the first charge after freezing.

I am putting these same cells again through the freezing process to see if there are any more gains to be had from a second deep Freeze. Stay tuned.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

The freezing thing is odd. I haven't ever heard of that trick being used to increase capacity. Are you sure it's giving you an increase in total energy, and not just the mAh at a lower voltage draw (due to sag from the cold)? Does that charger show you the Wh when you do a discharge test, not just the mAh? The Wh is what you're really after.

 

[hjdca]

The freezing thing is odd. I haven't ever heard of that trick being used to increase capacity. Are you sure it's giving you an increase in total energy, and not just the mAh at a lower voltage draw (due to sag from the cold)? Does that charger show you the Wh when you do a discharge test, not just the mAh? The Wh is what you're really after.

Yes, pretty sure... I kept the settings pretty consistent and the temperatures pretty consistent... I let the batteries thaw to room temperature.

I am discharging at 110ma, and that is giving me as much as 150mah on a few of them.. That seems to be a reasonable discharge rate for these old cells in a Draco. The internal IR of these cells has also cut in half since I started messing with them...

I will keep going and let you know how I end up. Thanks !

 

[hjdca]

Yes, pretty sure... I kept the settings pretty consistent and the temperatures pretty consistent... I let the batteries thaw to room temperature.

I am discharging at 110ma, and that is giving me as much as 150mah on a few of them.. That seems to be a reasonable discharge rate for these old cells in a Draco. The internal IR of these cells has also cut in half since I started messing with them...

I will keep going and let you know how I end up. Thanks !

UPDATE2 - ok, I did a second round of "discharge, freeze, thaw, charge, discharge, charge". No real change on the cells. I got 121mah to go to 125mah, and the 150mah went to 155mah, but, that change could have been attributed to variables.

So, I am done for now. I got 10 of 10280s between 120mah to 150mah with the charge, discharge ratings stated earlier. I am somewhat happy, the Draco is now super bright with these reconditioned cells and gets quite hot. I still think the first freeze improved the cells by 30%, but, I was not very scientific and this could have been due to other variables.

btw, I just love the MC3000 charger. Is it worth it to upgrade the firmware from 1.13 to 1.14 ? I am also using the "auto" algorithm for the fan. It seems better to have the fan on variable speed constantly, rather than it turning on and off at full blast when the defined temperature is reached. Not sure, what is the consensus on the fan algorithms ?