SkyRC — IFA 2014 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

[TinderBox (UK)]

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

It`s the plastic post that the spring is attached to that breaks, that why i though temperature could play a part in the failure.

EDIT: You can see the posts poking though the pcb in photo 1, and the posts themself in photo 2 three quarters way down the page, in HKJ/Henriks Review

http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger SkyRC MC3000 UK.html

John.

EDIT2: Here is a photo of a post that has been glued that a CPF member posted.

So Is it matter of time that the spring could snap on my charger?

 

[gyzmo2002]

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

A better way to fix it. Remove the broken pin, place the spring in the pcb hole and put your broken pin in the same hole to prevent the spring from going out.


des photos

 

[Gauss163]

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

A better way to fix it. Remove the broken pin, place the spring in the pcb hole and put your broken pin in the same hole to prevent the spring from going out

Beware that there appears to be a trace running in front of that spring hole, so if the spring cracks through the pcb there then you'll need to repair the pcb trace - which is much harder than simply reinforcing the post with some glue or epoxy before it snaps.

 

[Swede74]

What is your hardware version?

Analyzing HKH version is revision 1.3 and appears to have spring brackets, quite robust.

The currently marketed version is 1.4

I'm sorry, I must have missed your post last time I logged in. My HW version is 1.4. (FW: 1.03)

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

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

That looks like a nice easy fix, as long as we remember to reinforce the insulation on that pcb trace or else (always like using that)

Also make sure the two thermistors mesuring the heatsink temp are still touching when you re-assemble as they can come away as they are only held with some heatsink compound.

John.

A better way to fix it. Remove the broken pin, place the spring in the pcb hole and put your broken pin in the same hole to prevent the spring from going out.


des photos

 

[gyzmo2002]

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

Beware that there appears to be a trace running in front of that spring hole, so if the spring cracks through the pcb there then you'll need to repair the pcb trace - which is much harder than simply reinforcing the post with some glue or epoxy before it snaps.

I saw that when I fixed it but the spring doesn't move with the tight pin. Another reason to use the broken pin.

 

[fnsooner]

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

I would rate my usage level as medium. I have had my MC3000 since April 21 or 22, almost exactly one month.

I received mine April 6th, it broke May 12th. I used it heavily for about a week after getting it - cycled 36 18650s, put it through its paces with a number of size/chemistry variations. Since then, pretty light use charging 18650/26650/16340s for normal use - been busy and haven't played with my toys much.

Hmm, both bought in April. It may be batch specific. At the moment, I think I will leave mine alone.

Thank you gyzmo and TinderBox for your pictures, links and comments. I am now caught up on what the specific problem is concerning the spring pins. I haven't been keeping up with this thread lately.

 

[gyzmo2002]

Hmm, both bought in April. It may be batch specific. At the moment, I think I will leave mine alone.

Thank you gyzmo and TinderBox for your pictures, links and comments. I am now caught up on what the specific problem is concerning the spring pins. I haven't been keeping up with this thread lately.

[emoji106]

I tried epoxy glue in the photo of TinderBox but the poles were too thin. If I have another one, it takes 10 min to fix it.

 

[LiteTheWay]

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

I have one of the the first production lot (pre-order) obtained through HK Equipment - without the FCC certification. These are presumably the oldest and if this broken pin business is generic across all production batches, these being the oldest should have more broken pins by now, on average. If that is not the case (mine is so far fine), then this broken pin issue may be more of an issue with a recent batch(es) as suggested by the squirrel.

Hmm, both bought in April. It may be batch specific. At the moment, I think I will leave mine alone. Thank you gyzmo and TinderBox for your pictures, links and comments. I am now caught up on what the specific problem is concerning the spring pins. I haven't been keeping up with this thread lately.

 

[Swede74]

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

I decided that waiting anxiously for the next pin to snap was not an option, so I opened up the MC3000 to see if there was something I could do to fix the problem. There was not, so I took a rather radical approach and removed the springs altogether.

Upon opening the charger, I discovered that no fewer than three of the pins had snapped at the base (where they are supposed to be attached to the case, see pic) and one of them had also broken in half. I am reasonably sure this did not happen during disassembly, although I am not quite sure how the broken pins were able to hold the springs in place after they had become detached from the case.

Post-springectomy MacGyverism.

 

[MarioJP]

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

I am crossing my fingers that this does not happen. Would hate to see a good charger become useless

 

[jal]

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

Post-springectomy MacGyverism.

Nicely done.

 

[fnsooner]

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

Shocking pictures. Thanks for posting.

I decided that waiting anxiously for the next pin to snap was not an option, so I opened up the MC3000 to see if there was something I could do to fix the problem. There was not, so I took a rather radical approach and removed the springs altogether.

Upon opening the charger, I discovered that no fewer than three of the pins had snapped at the base (where they are supposed to be attached to the case, see pic) and one of them had also broken in half. I am reasonably sure this did not happen during disassembly, although I am not quite sure how the broken pins were able to hold the springs in place after they had become detached from the case.

Post-springectomy MacGyverism.

 

[Viking]

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

Hmm, both bought in April. It may be batch specific.

well observed :thumbsup:

 

[kreisl]

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

• (k#59) in SOV, charge Energy calculation seems off between LCD and DEX e.g. for NiMH battery (CONFIRMED, BEING FIXED)

Maybe someone has a clear agreeable opinion on this one, not too important anyway but needs a decision in our minds. I had noticed that for NiMH and Charge the charging energy differed between the LCD and the value seen in DEX. The LCD value was higher. Excel crosscheck calculations proved that DEX calculated the charging (and discharging) energy 100% correctly, based on the logged data (time, voltage, current) received at the USB data port. During NiMH Charge the device sends the off-load voltage, not the real-time on-load voltage!, to the USB, ...which is certainly the correct thing to do. Unfortunately this leads to wrong too low charged energy values in the DEX log for this battery type (NiMH, NiCd, Eneloop). The LCD value is truthful, the DEX value is calculated correctly but untruthful. Could this situation be fixed? Yes i guess. mc3k could also send the real-time on-load voltage to the USB for DEX to process for the NiMH Charge Energy calculation, or, mc3k could send the energy LCD value to the USB and DEX would only need to log, not re-calculate the Energy. Or, we just move on and accept that DEX uses off-load voltage to calculate NiMH Charge Energy and that the LCD shows the truthful value.

The fact that i discovered this discrepancy so late, numbered 59!!, says something about how important the topic NIMH Charge Energy must have been to me lol. Of course i'll figure out something, a solution which i personally can live with. - But what say you?

In any case, it has been decided that energy contributions due to TRICKLE C. are nulled. Trickle charging can be as high as 300mA, which would mean a notable amount of energy. However for our purpose this "wasted" energy is not added to the energy of the previous Charge routine, neither in dex log nor on the LCD, similarly to the nulled trickle capacity. Basta. My dog doesn't like this decision, and went away. One discussion less. Fine with me. Lol.

 

[tjh]

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

I have a "first run" MC3000. It had the fan blowing the wrong way (though it does have a CE Label)
I haven't had any issues with pegs snapping.
I am wondering if it's something to do with the unit getting too warm, have the people who's have snapped been doing a LOT of 4 x 1A discharging?

Fingers crossed mine doesn't go boom, after I reversed the fan and cut away all the fan grill I don't think I'd get a warranty fix!

 

[millguy]

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

I have a "first run" MC3000. It had the fan blowing the wrong way (though it does have a CE Label)
I haven't had any issues with pegs snapping.
I am wondering if it's something to do with the unit getting too warm, have the people who's have snapped been doing a LOT of 4 x 1A discharging?

Fingers crossed mine doesn't go boom, after I reversed the fan and cut away all the fan grill I don't think I'd get a warranty fix!

I was one of the early buyers, fan wrong way, no CE label. I have two of these.
If I remember correctly, I was the first one with a broken pin. After connecting spring to hole, I have not had any more break. Unit was cold when it broke. No heavy discharging had been done.
Since I have two units, I have relegated the one with the broken pin to charging batteries shorter than 18650's to avoid stress on remaining pins. No trouble since.

 

[gyzmo2002]

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

I was one of the early buyers, fan wrong way, no CE label. I have two of these.
If I remember correctly, I was the first one with a broken pin. After connecting spring to hole, I have not had any more break. Unit was cold when it broke. No heavy discharging had been done.
Since I have two units, I have relegated the one with the broken pin to charging batteries shorter than 18650's to avoid stress on remaining pins. No trouble since.

Yes and you gave me the trick...work perfectly since then. [emoji106]

 

[romteb]

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

Reading Swede74 post it appears that one can have broken pins without noticing it.

I'll open mine to see how the pins fared, it has seen little use and lots of it with AAA , i also have a habbit to remove the charged 18650 as soon as the termination bips go off, so very little time under significant spring tension for my charger.

 

[romteb]

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

Opened the charger, my pins are perfectly ok, no sign of wear or indentations :

Now the interesting part, when i first opened the charger a while back to change the orientation of the fan i noticed that the 2 plastic posts that receive the 2 central screws where stripped from the factory, i didn't pay attention at the time but looking at these posts today i noticed their failure mode is rather surprising and unlike any other plastic stripped by screw i ever saw, instead of stripping the internal thread created by the screw and giving of a few plastic shaving from their core it appears the 2 posts actually cracked entirely while there is ample space inside for the body of the screw to fit in.

This leads me to believe that the culprit of broken pins might be a strong case of POS brittle plastic wich it also appears to be at the touch and sound.