SkyRC — IFA 2014 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

[Milw light]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Can someone who needs an instruction manual to plug this in make use of this sophisticated charger? I know I can buy a cheaper dumber charger. I'd rather buy the best & not be sorry I bought a real distant second.

 

[Albert_]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Can someone who needs an instruction manual to plug this in make use of this sophisticated charger? I know I can buy a cheaper dumber charger. I'd rather buy the best & not be sorry I bought a real distant second.

A "Dummy" mode was built into the firmware, so it works like a dumb charger with two additional user levels. Has PC and Bluetooth Link. The PC-Link software is fairly simple, to modify the software's default settings you need to know something about battery charging and charging variables.

The manual states that Dummy mode supports NiMH and LiIon battery only and will automatically detect battery chemistry.

I'm still waiting for the charger to be delivered. The manual has instructions for selecting Dummy mode, charging current and then pressing a couple of other buttons to start charging. I'm not certain it works similar to some chargers in Dummy mode, i.e. after a few seconds of inserting a battery, automatically starts charging using the charger's default settings.

 

[tjh]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Can someone who needs an instruction manual to plug this in make use of this sophisticated charger? I know I can buy a cheaper dumber charger. I'd rather buy the best & not be sorry I bought a real distant second.

Do you care about how many C you're putting into your batteries? Do you want to see pretty graphs of he charge?

If you just want to charge batteries, this charger is way way overkill. But if you want to tweak every little thing and know every little detail about your batteries, this is the one to get.

 

[Devon]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

From what I can gather this is the best non commercial battery charger for charging single cylindrical batteries of multiple sizes and chemistries on the market. And it can do 4 at once in most cases.

If you are charging battery packs or batteries in series or parallel or batteries of the non cylindrical type, there are better options available.

 

[kreisl]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

And it can do 4 at once in most cases.

Here is one case with 12 AA's (3 AA per slot in a commercial yet modded adapter, × 4 slots):

Similarly, i also managed to charge 16 AAA's simultaneously (4 AAA per slot in a commercial unmodded adapter, × 4 slots).

 

[Devon]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Squirrel, under what parameters are you charging these and how are you terminating the charge?

Thanks

 

[kreisl]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Hi Devon, i'll detail parallel NiMH charging in 1 or 2 future posts, my pleasure to share. For now, just this: no special parameters set. Normal NiMH charging, 3.00A charge rate per slot, 3mV delta peak. Each AA cells gets 1 amp, so this is indeed a "12 amps" charging

 

[Devon]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Terminating on delta peak does not work properly when charging batteries in parallel. The batteries peak at different times even when we'll matched. Putting 3 amps into your batteries when 2 in a pack have peaked and the 3rd has not will quickly wreck them.

The charger cannot terminate the pack properly like this.

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Can someone who needs an instruction manual to plug this in make use of this sophisticated charger? I know I can buy a cheaper dumber charger. I'd rather buy the best & not be sorry I bought a real distant second.

Have you ever used a hobby charger for RC battery packs? If yes then you would definitely be able to pick this up with some of the more advanced features.

If no - then you may struggle a little bit with all the features but you should be able to get by in Dummy mode.

I would definitely recommend reading through the manual (it's available on the SkyRC website as a PDF download). The english translation leaves a bit to be desired here and there and makes it a bit of a tougher read. But if you can read through the manual and say to yourself that you kinda get it then you should be okay once you got the charger in hand.

It's one heck of a charger and having the ability to choose profiles specifically for Eneloop and Eneloop Pro NiMH batteries that don't trickle the cells when the charge is complete is pretty impressive.

 

[kreisl]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Terminating on delta peak does not work properly when charging batteries in parallel. The batteries peak at different times even when we'll matched. Putting 3 amps into your batteries when 2 in a pack have peaked and the 3rd has not will quickly wreck them.

The charger cannot terminate the pack properly like this.

Of course that is the prerequisite, the batteries must be identical. For my tests i use best quality best condition identical cells, so they are automatically best matched. In all other cases, diverging peaks would wreck the wreck the cells quickly, no argument there. Keep in mind that Eneloop company itself manufactures D cell Eneloops by composing AA Eneloops in parallel, we've seen such proof of composition on the inet, was it cpf? It means that it is a legitimate method, in principle.

Of course my commercial modded adapter is not perfect, with various contact resistances of varying magnitude.

Having said that, alternatively one could let the charger terminate on voltage, for example TARGET VOLT 1.47V plus 300mA trickle charge during C.RESTING 120min lol. That's basically the charge algorithm of MH-C9000 which terminates on voltage followed by 100mA top-off charge for 2hrs.

 

[billcushman]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

This is an easy way to get the PCLS Monitor Software. This method directly downloads the .exe file. It avoids downloading the zip file, unzipping the downloaded file, and using a .rar opener. Go to the ProgressiveRC site and click on download the Monitor Control Software.

http://www.progressiverc.com/skyrc-mc3000-multi-chemistry-charger.html

 

[MarioJP]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

So. Still pondering if i should partition the drive for win xp lol.

 

[billcushman]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

So. Still pondering if i should partition the drive for win xp lol.

The PC Monitor software works fine with Windows 10. I haven't tried it with Windows 7. I usually use the MC3000 by itself only, but have used PCLS a few time when I needed to record data. The second button on the right side of PCLS that says STAR is the START button. It wan't obvious to me with no instructions provided. If they only had space for four characters, STRT might have been better. My display resolution is 1366x768 so the bottom of the screen is not displayed, but when you save the file everything is there and it prints correctly.

 

[billcushman]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Albert, sorry you still don't have your MC3000. Where do you live? To answer your questions, read the first paragraph on page 16 of the MC3000 Manual. The unit has six temperature sensors, two are on the Heatsink and the others are on each of the four slots. The results can be displayed in ℉ or ℃. I haven't felt any need to measure battery temperature with my Laser Temperature Gauge. The batteries have always been cool to the touch. The battery temperature seldom gets to as high as 100℉.

 

[Milw light]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

A "Dummy" mode was built into the firmware, so it works like a dumb charger with two additional user levels. Has PC and Bluetooth Link. The PC-Link software is fairly simple, to modify the software's default settings you need to know something about battery charging and charging variables.

The manual states that Dummy mode supports NiMH and LiIon battery only and will automatically detect battery chemistry.

I'm still waiting for the charger to be delivered. The manual has instructions for selecting Dummy mode, charging current and then pressing a couple of other buttons to start charging. I'm not certain it works similar to some chargers in Dummy mode, i.e. after a few seconds of inserting a battery, automatically starts charging using the charger's default settings.

Thanks Albert, one of my concerns is updating this too. When you are running Vista Home I think a person is sunk. This should be a good investment though.

 

[billcushman]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Here is information on current Operating System usage.

https://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0

A friend has Vista and finds it terrible. He bought a new computer with Window 10 to stop the frustration and agony.

I usually use a Mac with OSX 10.11.3, recently updated from OSX 10.6.8. PCLS works fine with Windows 10 on my new $200 HP 14t-ac100 Computer. It has Bluetooth, a removable battery, an ethernet port, 2 USB2 ports and 1 USB 3 port. I normally use a Mac for everything. I use a PC only when it is required. Albert, if you are using Vista, buy a new machine or upgrade to a better Operating System.

 

[Devon]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Of course that is the prerequisite, the batteries must be identical. For my tests i use best quality best condition identical cells, so they are automatically best matched. In all other cases, diverging peaks would wreck the wreck the cells quickly, no argument there. Keep in mind that Eneloop company itself manufactures D cell Eneloops by composing AA Eneloops in parallel, we've seen such proof of composition on the inet, was it cpf? It means that it is a legitimate method, in principle.

Of course my commercial modded adapter is not perfect, with various contact resistances of varying magnitude.

Having said that, alternatively one could let the charger terminate on voltage, for example TARGET VOLT 1.47V plus 300mA trickle charge during C.RESTING 120min lol. That's basically the charge algorithm of MH-C9000 which terminates on voltage followed by 100mA top-off charge for 2hrs.

I too have a setup just like yours Squirrel.

I also need to charge lots of AA batteries at once, all Eneloops.

The problem with this setup is working out how to do it fast and maintain good battery life....unfortunately delta peak termination only works on a single battery and can't work on a number of batteries in parallel. This is a shame.

The work around you have proposed seems to be the best solution. This is the way we are heading. We don't need the batteries completely full so may just terminate on voltage and not worry about the last trickle as it means running two programs and will also extend battery life.

The problem here is getting the voltage right. The MC300 appears to terminate lower than the set voltage, but not by much.

 

[billcushman]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Devon, I too have lot of Eneloops, probably about 40 AA and 16 AAA- I seldom need to charge more than four at a time. I have two MC3000s and if needed I also have two C9000s (9 years old). I also have a Liitokala Lii-500 and a Nitecore D4. At present the two MC3000 are all I use. If I used all six chargers I could charge 24 Eneloops at the same time. In my case this will never be necessary. Charging a large number of batteries at once is normally only required by someone maintaining batteries for a fleet of flashlights that are used heavily every day.

 

[ChibiM]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Man, you guys are hilarious with charging envelops. I never had to charge any envelops.. they just never held a charge

 

[Devon]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Devon, I too have lot of Envelops, probably about 40 AA and 16 AAA- I seldom need to charge more than four at a time. I have two MC3000s and if needed I also have two C9000 (9 years old). I also have a Liitokala Lii-500 and a Nitecore D4. At present the two MC3000 are all I use. If I used all six chargers I could charge 24 Envelops at the same time. In my case this will never be necessary. Charging a large number of batteries at once is normally only required by someone maintaining batteries for a fleet of flashlights that are used heavily every day.

We are currently using mostly primaries and use lots every day.

Trying to eliminate that and introduce a rechargeable solution dummies can use safely and minimise any problem.