SkyRC — IFA 2014 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

[HKJ]

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

Quick question regarding semantics. In terms of "calibration" using a reference source, isn't that completely different to "adjustment"? In my mind, calibration is about keeping track of an instrument's drift over time, to ensure a reliable confidence level in its readout. Once adjusted, with new settings, there's really no way of knowing the accuracy one week further on, sort of back to square one when the history is lost?

Modern equipment is adjusted in software, the internal reference is not affected. I.e. if you know how fast something changes, you will still know it after an adjustment.

Usual people that works with calibrated equipment use the work calibration about a verification, most other people uses calibration about a adjustment.

 

[pgogborn]

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

<snip>
PCLS exports your session to *.BMP/*.CSV.

Before moving on to DataExplorer I wanted to understand PCLS.

I have exported a session to *.BMP using the Save button, I also want to export to *.CSV but the pull down menu Save button only gives BMP(*.bmp) as a "Save as type".

My Google-fu has failed me - is there something wrong with my Save button or am I looking in the wrong place?

Firmware 1.10, Monitor 1.03, Windows 10 64-bit

 

[kreisl]

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

I also want to export to *.CSV but the pull down menu Save button only gives BMP(*.bmp) as a "Save as type".

My Google-fu has failed me - is there something wrong with my Save button or am I looking in the wrong place?

Firmware 1.10, Monitor 1.03, Windows 10 64-bit

Welcome to the forum!
I can't speak for Win10 64bit, sorry i use WinXP . Afaik PCLS was developed years back in a XP developer's environment. And under XP the PCLS automatically dumps BMP and CSV together at the same time in the same Save location. Same thing on my Win7, 2 files in the same Save folder; other Win7 systems may exhibit differing behavior. It is correct that one can only choose BMP as Save As, but as just said the software actually produces BMP and CSV in a bundle. This has historical reasons

I will assume that your PCLS dumped a CSV too. Somewhere. Maybe you can perform a file search on your Win10 PC looking for *.CSV files? Then please let us know in which location, which folder on your HDD you found the CSV.

Personally i can't envision PCLS1.03 getting a major update in near/distant future like a "PCLS2.0" or something. If users encounter critical bugs in PCLS1.03, sure we would see a minor update/fix (PCLS1.04). But word is that the developers themselves have switched to using and enjoying DEX instead. For quick fast logging i find PCLS helpful; in fact PCLS played an important role in the debugging of mc3k FW. Ambitious data recording should always be carried out with DEX. Imho.

 

[ArmaBene]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

someone published a video showing how offset the voltage (and amperage) is, what do you think, further calibration needed? :thinking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjSQAQIQlv8

I didn't test on my unit; according to the video there are no offset issues and scaling voltage readouts (thanks to one point calibration) makes it working as expected... :thumbsup:
I'll test my unit and I'll let you know...

 

[ArmaBene]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

someone published a video showing how offset the voltage (and amperage) is, what do you think, further calibration needed? :thinking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjSQAQIQlv8

I didn't test on my unit; according to the video there are no offset issues and scaling voltage readouts (thanks to one point calibration) makes it working as expected... :thumbsup:
I'll test my unit and I'll let you know...

 

[pgogborn]

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

I will assume that your PCLS dumped a CSV too. Somewhere. Maybe you can perform a file search on your Win10 PC looking for *.CSV files? Then please let us know in which location, which folder on your HDD you found the CSV.

kreisl, thank you for your prompt and detailed reply.

I found it in my Download folder. One of the things that confused me is the BMP was dumped to a different folder - My Documents.

Personally i can't envision PCLS1.03 getting a major update in near/distant future like a "PCLS2.0" or something.

I see no reason for a update to PCLS. But if I lived in a perfect world not the real word I would like to see a few tweaks to the Bluetooth interfaces.

In the Android app I can delete a program, I can't seem to do it in the iPhone one.
In the iPhone app I can save a program so that it applies to more than one slot, I can't seem to do it on the Android one.
I like the graphics - but I would prefer it if the Android graphic for a battery in the Details display did not have an AAA label (the iPhone graphic does not have a label).

Ambitious data recording should always be carried out with DEX. Imho.

I love data - which is why I loved your detailed reply. I will definitely be using DEX in the future.

I wanted to get PCLS1.03 working before I added complexity. Later I am going to try using a different computer and connection but at the moment I can't get PCLS1.03 do a firmware upgrade - I get a no connection to the Internet message - in this thread it has been mentioned the message came up when a firmware upgrade was withdrawn but I am assuming I have got a different problem.

 

[Late2Dgame]

In my first post, which hasn't appeared yet, to this thread I gave a brief explanation of where I'm coming from - - that being I've never owned or used a stand alone charger for charging rechargeable batteries. So please bear with me as I attempt to get up to speed w.r.t. this field.

My first question (actually 2nd question, my 1st question was in my original post) has to do with how much energy (power) is required to charge a set of 4 batteries and how long it would take.

Specifically I'm looking at what would be involved with using solar panels as an energy source (using an inverter) for the MC3000.

If anyone has already ran the numbers and was willing to share them, I'd be most grateful. If no one has that information I'm going to have to take baby steps in order to plow through this.

My first baby step question would be to start with the MC3000: if one was charging 4 batteries that required the most energy (because of their capacity) how much energy would it take to charge them fully and how much time is required to do this? This would be assuming the batteries we're talking about would be on the MC3000 list; the MC3000 was plugged into the wall and the recommended charging rate, etc. was used.

I'm asking about this because I've never done this sort of calculation and I'm concerned that I could make a costly mistake.

Thanks

 

[kreisl]

Tell us which exact battery you want to charge?

32700?

 

[HKJ]

My first baby step question would be to start with the MC3000: if one was charging 4 batteries that required the most energy (because of their capacity) how much energy would it take to charge them fully and how much time is required to do this? This would be assuming the batteries we're talking about would be on the MC3000 list; the MC3000 was plugged into the wall and the recommended charging rate, etc. was used.

There are a lot of factors:
The mains power supply would probably on have an efficiency around 70%
The charger may be 50% (A rough guess), but it will depend on the actual battery type and selected charge current
The charger will continue to use power when the battery is full

To get good efficiency you will need a simple charger and run it directly from the solar panel/batteries.

 

[carnage]

@ HKJ I didn't read the whole thread so I'm not sure if its been mention, Do you know if the issue have been fixed with the MC3000?

 

[HKJ]

@ HKJ I didn't read the whole thread so I'm not sure if its been mention, Do you know if the issue have been fixed with the MC3000?

What issues? Lot of stuff has been fixed/improved.
There has been two mechanical improvements, everything else could be done with a software update.
The two mechanical improvements was:
Cooling was not enough to handle full discharge current on all four channels, turning fan around fixed it.
The plastic mounting for the slider often broke, the mold has been changed to make it more robust.

There is one detail left: The metal of the sliders are a bit soft, i.e. if you press back on the top of the slider they may bend (The are easy to bend back again).

 

[carnage]

What issues? Lot of stuff has been fixed/improved.
There has been two mechanical improvements, everything else could be done with a software update.
The two mechanical improvements was:
Cooling was not enough to handle full discharge current on all four channels, turning fan around fixed it.
The plastic mounting for the slider often broke, the mold has been changed to make it more robust.

There is one detail left: The metal of the sliders are a bit soft, i.e. if you press back on the top of the slider they may bend (The are easy to bend back again).

On your website on the MC3000 it says the charger is not without issue and most of them probably be fixed with a software upgrade.

 

[HKJ]

On your website on the MC3000 it says the charger is not without issue and most of them probably be fixed with a software upgrade.

That was a long time ago, I believe that the software updates has fixed all my problems and added a lot of nice extras (With the exception of the supplied program).

 

[carnage]

That was a long time ago, I believe that the software updates has fixed all my problems and added a lot of nice extras (With the exception of the supplied program).

Any of the new MC3000 you purchased now will have the updated software or do you have to update it yourself?

 

[HKJ]

Any of the new MC3000 you purchased now will have the updated software or do you have to update it yourself?

Depends on the age of the stock in the shop, I would guess that most has the newest version of the software (It is some time ago it was released).

 

[carnage]

Is there a way in all of the charger reviews in the conclusion to tell if there a problems at the time of the review has been address or fixed, kind of a update to the review. So when people looking at the review know if there's still a problem.

 

[HKJ]

Is there a way in all of the charger reviews in the conclusion to tell if there a problems at the time of the review has been address or fixed, kind of a update to the review. So when people looking at the review know if there's still a problem.

If I get a note from manufacturer clearly stating they will fix the problem I will usual add a comment in the notes section.
If the manufacturer sends a new charger I will usual add a text at the top of review saying that the review is partly obsolete with a link to the updated review.

 

[carnage]

If I get a note from manufacturer clearly stating they will fix the problem I will usual add a comment in the notes section.
If the manufacturer sends a new charger I will usual add a text at the top of review saying that the review is partly obsolete with a link to the updated review.

Thank You sir for the replies!

 

[Late2Dgame]

There are a lot of factors:
The mains power supply would probably on have an efficiency around 70%
The charger may be 50% (A rough guess), but it will depend on the actual battery type and selected charge current
The charger will continue to use power when the battery is full

To get good efficiency you will need a simple charger and run it directly from the solar panel/batteries.

======

Hi HKJ I'm going to repost my response which I'd originally posted on the 19th but somehow disappeared.

Thanks HKJ - It's already become obvious to me that this is going to be one of them iterative deals where not only am I juggling what it is that I'm charging, how I'm charging and what I'm using to do the charging.

I might end up charging a battery bank (such as the Tesla Powerwall) and then using energy from it to run charger(s) like the MC3000.

I saw something that made me wonder if the MC3000 could be run using DC power instead of AC. Is that possible with the MC3000?

So based on your comments am I correct in assuming that the power loss could/might be something like 60%? If that were true would that mean that if I wanted the batteries charged to 100% that my power source would have to provide something like 167% of the power?

I can see why you're suggesting having a simple charger that would be ran directly from the solar cells. No inverter power loss, etc. etc.

As I mentioned in my reply to kreisi my intention was to spec out the worst possible case w.r.t. the type of battery (largest power requirement) figuring that if my system could handle that then every other type of battery could be charged. As far as how fast the batteries are charged, I'd be happy with a charge rate that was efficient w.r.t. the well being of the batteries.

Lastly, here's an excerpt from my still missing 1st post that I wanted you-all to see.


“…I'm really impressed with this board and the folks who are populating it. Wow!...”

Thanks HKJ... You're one of the good guys!

L2dG

 

[Late2Dgame]

Tell us which exact battery you want to charge?

32700?

Hi kresil: As I mentioned in my just sent reply to HKJ, my original reply to you didn't make it so I'll try it again.

Rather than having me tell you which exact battery I want to charge, what I was hoping for was using the largest battery that the MC3000 was designed to charge as the example.

My thought being if I could provide the MC3000 enough energy to charge the type of battery which required the most power then I'd for sure be able to charge any of the lesser capacity batteries that might come into my possession.

I'm wondering if the calculation would go something like this:

If one is charging 4 wxyz batteries that are about depleted and between them they have a capacity of XXX then...

if one was using the MC3000 they would need a power source that could provide (XXX) times something like 1.7, i.e. (1.7)(XXX) .

This would be because things like the loss of energy in the charging process

I don't know if the units used would be amps or volts or ????

L2dG