Test/Review of Charger Opus BT-C3100 V2.1

[seanspotatobusiness]

...for normal charging I will still prefer a charger with non-pulsing CC/CV charging.

Does anyone know why HKJ prefers non-pulsing CC/CV charging? What's wrong with pulsing?

 

[HKJ]

Does anyone know why HKJ prefers non-pulsing CC/CV charging? What's wrong with pulsing?

With smaller cells, you may charge with 10 times rated current in the pulses.
When the charge is nearly finished a pulsing charger will often charge with voltage above 4.2V.

Both are minor details, that is avoided with a non-pulsing charger.

 

[Capolini]

I like mine very much. I exchanged my original 2.2 for the one below which gives a slightly higher charge[0.02v] and is more accurate w/ capacity test!

HKJ Tested:2884Mah for FT version


DISCHARGE/CAPACITY RESULTS

Device: NEW Opus BT-C3100 2.2

Battery:Samsung INR18650 30Q- FT-3000mAh

Purchased:November 27th,2016

Discharged @ 1amp

Cycles:5

Four slot average:2925mAh-HKJ-2884mAh-My Opus results are 1.5% higher than HKJ.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DISCHARGE/CAPACITY RESULTS

Device: NEW Opus BT-C3100 2.2

Battery:Samsung INR18650 30Q-BT-3000mAh

Purchased:March 27,2017

Discharged @ 1amp

Cycles:1-Brand new-First cycle for this capacity test.

Four Slot Average:2910mAh. Although it is a BT and Not a FT which is the only one HKJ tested, it is 0.9% higher than HKJ[2884mAh].:thumbsup:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As you can see they are very close. The OLDER[4+Months] FT 30Q have a Four slot average of 2925mAh and the BT'S have a Four slot average of 2910mAh

 

[SoCalTiger]

With smaller cells, you may charge with 10 times rated current in the pulses.
When the charge is nearly finished a pulsing charger will often charge with voltage above 4.2V.

Both are minor details, that is avoided with a non-pulsing charger.

What is the practical impact of this? More wear/degradation of the cell over time I assume? Is there any impact to cell safety over time or just cell life? Or maybe no practically measurable difference at all?

It looks like the pulses are at a little over 2A - about 2.25A. So, for a 2Ah+ cell, no problem. But I can see how it can be problem for a smaller cell that is say, only 600mAh. The pulses are at ~4C in that scenario.

 

[hatman]

Has anyone compared the Opus 1000 with the 3400 for charging ability and speed?

 

[The-J-Man]

Results for the Opus:

Discharged capacity measured: 3502mah instead of 3252mah with the mc3000. The capacity measured with the Opus is too high than the cell specs.

In then process of testing hundreds of 18650s here and the results really are a bit high. Ive had several that the 3100 v2.2 says it's discharged 2200-2250 from a 2000 cell.

Considering this inaccuracy seems normal I'm trying to find out as accurately as possible what percentage on top it seems to be. From my results I'm inclined on say about 15%.
As you have the mc3000 would you mind running a few more tests so we could maybe establish an average percentage that I can take off the results from the 3100 so I know what my cells are so I can categorise them?

cheers mate

 

[The-J-Man]

People are saying the opus charges to 4.22v, mine definitely stops at 4.2, what gives?

 

[Arizona_Mike]

Mine stops a 4.2v as well. Might just be a tolerance issue. Most cells are specified +/-0.05v on he charge voltage.

Mike

 

[ChrisGarrett]

People are saying the opus charges to 4.22v, mine definitely stops at 4.2, what gives?

Chargers are all different.

I have some that charge to only 4.14v-4.15v (Xtar MP1S), some that charge over at (4.22v-4.23v (two Liitokala 100s) and finally, some that are just right--4.20v (Xtar XP1).


There's tolerance stacking even within the same model line there could be variances and then throw in the condition of the cells and batteries and things can be 'not always exact', shall we say?

I even have two Liitokala 202s that I got at the same time and but for the extra bay, the 202s are identical in my eyes to the 100s, but both 202s consistently undercharge to the tune of ~4.18v, for all four bays! Even on the 4.35v setting for my LG D1s/E1s.

My Opus BT-3400 v. 2.2 seems to terminate right at 4.20v for the times that I've sat there and watched, with healthy cells coming off at 4.19v-4.20v and then settling down a bit after that, which is normal.

Spec for most cells is 4.20v (+/- .05v), so 4.15v-4.25v and the health/condition of the cells will matter a lot. That means where the charge curve stops and not where the cell is 24 hours later.

It used to be that the NiteCore i4 v.2 charger would exceed spec for many users posting here, to the point that some might not have been that kosher to use, but mine has been a perfect child...go figure?

Get a decent DMM, get a fresh battery for it and check this stuff initially, at least, so you know what's up.

Chris

 

[The-J-Man]

I just got myself a second one and the Voltage reading are terribly wrong. A 4.20v cell reads at 4.13v. My first charger reads it at 4.21v.

Is it possible to calibrate these chargers, or is my unit just defective?

 

[HKJ]

I just got myself a second one and the Voltage reading are terribly wrong. A 4.20v cell reads at 4.13v. My first charger reads it at 4.21v.

Is it possible to calibrate these chargers, or is my unit just defective?

When people say this I always wonder what equipment the use to check the charger. The meter has to measure the voltage in the 0.2 second the charger turns the current off (My preferred meter for this is a Keithley DMM7510, but it is a bit expensive).

With that said the precision on these charger is not that good, but I believe somebody said it has a very rough calibration (Something with a solder bridge).

 

[The-J-Man]

When people say this I always wonder what equipment the use to check the charger. The meter has to measure the voltage in the 0.2 second the charger turns the current off (My preferred meter for this is a Keithley DMM7510, but it is a bit expensive).

With that said the precision on these charger is not that good, but I believe somebody said it has a very rough calibration (Something with a solder bridge).

I got some 40€ multimeter from amazon that had a 5star rating, its been just as accurate as some super fancy one I have at work.
My first c3100 is a tiny bit high compared to the meter but the second is quite a but low.

so there might be a chance to adjust how its calibrated?

I put some cells in it now to charge them, they are reading 0.02lower then my meter so im ok with that, lets see what they charge up to...

 

[Nev]

Mine was showing 4.2v when it was really 4.16v fully charged ,I did a bit of research on this forum & came across a thread that discussed desoldering the J1 solder blob , I did it and now it's only 0.01v off , it now shows 4.2v & my multimeter says 4.21v.

 

[Capolini]

Mine was showing 4.2v when it was really 4.16v fully charged ,I did a bit of research on this forum & came across a thread that discussed desoldering the J1 solder blob , I did it and now it's only 0.01v off , it now shows 4.2v & my multimeter says 4.21v.

That is interesting.

My first one showed 4.20v. The DMM read 4.15v. I exchanged it for that and other reasons!

My new one reads 4.21v. DMM reads 4.18v. Plus its capacity results are much more accurate to specs. No complaints w/ this one.

 

[Nev]

I tried to find the thread so I could post a link to it ,but I can't find it ,I was only reading it 2 days ago.
I've got pictures of the circuit board where the J1 bridge is but I can't post pictures on this forum for some reason, I had to use a magnifying loop to spot it as it's very small.

 

[Capolini]

I tried to find the thread so I could post a link to it ,but I can't find it ,I was only reading it 2 days ago.
I've got pictures of the circuit board where the J1 bridge is but I can't post pictures on this forum for some reason, I had to use a magnifying loop to spot it as it's very small.

You have to use a Host to post pictures on here. I use postimage.org. It is simple and works much better and faster than photobucket which I used prior to Post image.

 

[Nev]

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j1 as it came

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this is after it's been de soldered.

 

[Nev]

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[The-J-Man]

Wow thats a tiny solder bridge!! how did you manage to fix that

 

[Nev]

With a 10x magnifying loup