SkyRC — IFA 2014 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

[dts71]

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

i have the same problem on win10, i am able to grab the screen edge and move the window up to see the fourth/bottom graph, but still cannot size it.

I see now that you can grab the blue edge to the right in the window - now I can reach the buttons

 

[Viking]

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

In #6, i am listing arguable suggestions we've come up with.

For future hardware improvements, I suggest adding 9 volt battery compatibility. That way the analyzer will support every ordinary household battery out there, like the Ansmann 3000. Not many analyzers can brag about that, and it will be just another argument to get this analyzer.

 

[kreisl]

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

Sorry Viking, please "nothing too distant from the present state of things". Only minor changes, still under the MC3000 name, the current production. A 9V compatible device would be named 3200 or something. Not a valid suggestion for that list. Therefore i also did not list Power Bank.

I thought so

Thanks for your understanding.

 

[Viking]

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

I thought so

 

[Curetia]

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

dts71 thanks for the share. What you and Curetia are observing at FLD**, is correct and intended by the fw authoring team. Hardcore modders on other sites (i don't mean www :devil found ways to keep the temps down such that the threshold isn't reached but their take involved breaking plastic parts and adding dis an dad, a real charger mod om*g!, and i certainly cannot disclose nor recommend such crazy procedure. For the time being, please accept the situation: for constant -1.0A discharging over the whole runtime try not to produce a higher total load than -13 Watts, for example 3x LiIon's only (3*4.35*1 < 13 Watts).

**FLD = full load discharging, i.e. |-15W| or higher

After 1h discharging 3 Slots of 18650 with 1A the SysTemp is at 78°C so the max discharge looks like 3x1A with 18650s

 

[Gauss163]

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

... For the time being, please accept the situation: for constant -1.0A discharging over the whole runtime try not to produce a higher total load than -13 Watts, for example 3x LiIon's only (3*4.35*1 < 13 Watts). **FLD = full load discharging, i.e. |-15W| or higher

Ah, the 15W discharge limit is for the entire unit. I had assumed it was per slot. That's somewhat weak for discharging. I have smaller hobby chargers that can discharge to 150W. I'm surprised you couldn't squeeze more discharge power into such a large unit. Is that limit the result of a design decision or hardware limitation, or ...?

 

[Anders]

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

The hobbychargers won't have the pack in the unit, thats why.

 

[Gauss163]

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

The hobbychargers won't have the pack in the unit, thats why.

Of course, but much more than 15W should be possible with optimal thermal design.

 

[gyzmo2002]

The update for the application for ios is on stream now. I did not received the charger but the appli starts correctly with this update.

 

[Julian Holtz]

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

My charger should arrive any day now, at least I hope that.
I have around 20kg of A123 cells to test for an ebike project, so would the following program be possible:

1) discharge (to measure remaining capacity)
2) charge
3) Discharge (to measure actual capacity)
4) storage charge.

Thanks.

 

[fnsooner]

The update for the application for ios is on stream now. I did not received the charger but the appli starts correctly with this update.

I can confirm. I updated the app and now it opens. The charger won't sync with my iphone 6 ios 9.2. Progress though.

I get "Alert No Charger Found!" when I start the app.

 

[kreisl]

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

I have around 20kg of A123 cells to test for an ebike project, so would the following program be possible:

1) discharge (to measure remaining capacity)
2) charge
3) Discharge (to measure actual capacity)
4) storage charge.

Talking about programming:

With a single program number AND without a PC, no, not possible.
With a PC, you could program a single program, called a composite program (or combined program), which sequences a series of compatible single non-composite programs ("program steps"). This feature should be realized (in PCLS not likely, in DEX more likely) in some future, but better not wait for it. Nobody knows when composite programming will be available in some form.

Since at this point in time, composite programs are not possible, neither with PC/mobile nor on the device, you would need to split this 4-step task into 2 or 3 tasks by reserving program numbers for them and then executing the programs consecutively. Off the top of my ****, 2 possible alternatives:

ALT1 (no PC needed):

1. PROGRAM[01] Discharge mode. After [01] has finished, the discharged capacity will be available.
2. PROGRAM[02] Cycle mode w/ C>D sequence (N=1). After [02] has finished, only the discharged capacity will be available. (afaik)
3. PROGRAM[03] Storage mode

ALT2 (PC helpful):

1. PROGRAM[01] Cycle mode w/ D>C>D sequence (N=1). After [01] has finished, only the discharged capacity of the 2nd Discharge will be available. (afaik)
2. PROGRAM[02] Storage mode

With ALT2, if you need the discharged capacity of the 1st Discharge, then either read the value from the LCD screen during the D.RESTING routine or read it from the PCLS window at any time (the value is shown at the tip of the mouse cursor). Clearly, if you can't use PCLS and cannot be present during the 1st Discharge, then you'd miss the discharged capacity of the 1st Discharge; in such a situation ALT2 would not be an acceptable alternative.

In general both alternatives are nice, clear and logical. Trivial. ALT1 is more flexible and more fun, more playing with the buttons. ALT2 is more elegant but comes with a price for l*ziness: be present OR use the PCLS, or else you miss the discharged capacity of the 1st Discharge!

 

[dts71]

I can confirm. I updated the app and now it opens. The charger won't sync with my iphone 6 ios 9.2. Progress though.

I get "Alert No Charger Found!" when I start the app.

I'm running 9.2 on a 5S and it seems to be running fine. I have only used monitoring so far, will try to push settings during next batch i try out.

 

[fnsooner]

I'm running 9.2 on a 5S and it seems to be running fine. I have only used monitoring so far, will try to push settings during next batch i try out.

I was charging when I initially updated the app and tried to connect. After reading your post, I decided to unplug and then plug the charger back in. I then closed and re-opened the app and now everything is synced up. Yay.

 

[morcegolas]

The update for the application for ios is on stream now. I did not received the charger but the appli starts correctly with this update.

Nice, I didn't receive mine either, but it's already here in customs! Any day soon!

 

[gyzmo2002]

Nice, I didn't receive mine either, but it's already here in customs! Any day soon!

It's been 7 days that it has been shipped. The tracking works since today only. "The item is pre-advice". PostNL....Not much info....

 

[morcegolas]

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

Now that I can start adding programs to the app, I have a lot of NiMH Turningy AA and AAA cells, they have 2550mAh and 900mAh.

The settings for AAA 900mAh will be:
Capacity - 900 ( Battery capacity)
Charge current - 0.2 A ( Default was 1.0A )
Cut Current - -0.01 mA
Target Volt - 1.65 ( This is default, I don't know if this is too high )
Cut Temp - 50°C
Cut Time - Off ( Default was 120m )
Restart Volt - 1.20 (1.35V was default, isn't this an high value? )
Detal V - 10mV
Trickle C - 10mA

The lines that I didn't comment is default values, should I change any of this?
Sorry my dummies questions but I'm new to rechargeable batteries and I want to learn more before do anything.

Thanks!

 

[billcushman]

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

I have only had one of my MC3000s since December 15, but I have discovered some things to make things very easy.

Decide what chemistry batteries you want to use. In my case it was Eneloop, Li-Ion, and NiMH. Write one program for one chemistry, inserting that type of battery in one slot. Then push the Slot Button to enter SPV, enter desired values, and Save to 01.

After that is done, go to Slot Programming View and change the program to some new characteristics, maybe Refresh rather than charge. Specify the new parameters and Save to 02.

Continue this method for all the batteries of that Chemistry.

Insert a battery of a new chemistry, and change the program for the new chemistry and characteristic desired. Save to the next available program number.

Continue this method until you have created all the programs you desire.

To see what the various programs do, with no batteries in the slots, push any slot button. One program will appear. You can now can thru all your programs by pushing the up and down buttons. Enough information is normally displayed so you can tell what each program number does without scanning the program.

Once I learned how to do this, I was able to create six or seven programs in just a few minutes, and I could tell what the programs did very fast by scanning thru the programs. I chose Advanced mode to have the most items appear.

Once you have all the programs you need and you can identify the program numbers easily, the MC3000 is very easy to use.

 

[mms]

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

Now that I can start adding programs to the app, I have a lot of NiMH Turningy AA and AAA cells, they have 2550mAh and 900mAh.

The settings for AAA 900mAh will be:
Capacity - 900 ( Battery capacity)
Charge current - 0.2 A ( Default was 1.0A )
Cut Current - -0.01 mA
Target Volt - 1.65 ( This is default, I don't know if this is too high )
Cut Temp - 50°C
Cut Time - Off ( Default was 120m )
Restart Volt - 1.20 (1.35V was default, isn't this an high value? )
Detal V - 10mV
Trickle C - 10mA

The lines that I didn't comment is default values, should I change any of this?
Sorry my dummies questions but I'm new to rechargeable batteries and I want to learn more before do anything.

Thanks!

I'm not an expert, but in my short experience with this charger you might need to change the following:
Capacity - 1000-1100, during the charge cycle the battery needs to take a bit more of its capacity to be fully charged (some energy being lost by heating?)
Charge current - 0.4-0.5 A minimum, lower than that the charging might not be finished correctly (it happened to me at 0.5 A with some old cells).
Delta V - the default 3mV worked just fine for most of my cells, except a few very old ones that were almost dead, 10mV might be too much especially for lower charge currents
Trickle C - I'm not familiar with Turnigy batteries, but if they are low self-discharge you need to turn trickle charging off

 

[cdm191]

Evening All,

Just received the MC3000 and attempted a firmware update to V.1.03 but unforunately experienced a 'start vector' error (or something along those lines) and now appear to have a bricked charger.

I don't suppose anyone has a potential remedy to the above situation other than returning to GB. Charger powers up with simply a blank illuminated screen through both DC mains and/or USB.

Many thanks,

Chris