SkyRC MC3000 first hours of use

In this vodeo I show the main features of the MC3000

[@speedlever]

I have to say that’s pretty slick. Now awaiting your tear down video on it!

[@de-bodgery]

I made one but YT said it was 1 minute too long...got to do it again...grrr!

[@speedlever]

@@de-bodgery I did the Vapcell test yesterday. Working on the Lii-600 today. I’ll post results in your Lii-600 tear down comments unless you’d rather have them elsewhere.

[@alibro7512]

Great video, thanks for sharing. I have the same charger and found the same about the buttons, they are pretty hopeless but hadn't played with the app as much as you did so will defo have another go with it. The one thing I didn't like about it was I couldn't create a program to test the cell then charge or discharge it to storage voltage. I had to create a second program and run it after testing. This means you cannot start a test, leave it to run and when you return put the cell straight into storage, you need to run the storage program which is a pain.

[@de-bodgery]

The android app is the way to go! Frankly for $100, the LCD ought to be much higher resolution, color and EASY to navigate! I'm 100% disappointed in the cell tester LCD/button interface, About all it's really good for is seeing the same stuff you can see on your phone! *** Yes...there needs to be another 2 cycle options to accommodate this: C>D>C>D and D>C>D>C However in their defense, I don't know of any other cell tester that does this either. Do you?

[@alibro7512]

@@de-bodgery Nope I haven't seen that option anywhere else but I've only used two chargers so I'm no expert. Having said that the charger gives so many options it's a pretty stupid omission. Anybody testing cells will usually want to leave them at storage charge while they test other cells. It's got to be one of the most common uses for chargers.

[@de-bodgery]

@@alibro7512 I have yet to see a cell tester that won't discharge cells. I agree that this is a valid use for these devices. I think the assumption is that people are charging cells so they can use them, not store them. I have 8 cell testers of 7 different models and from 6 different manufacturers. This "omission" is in all of them. I think that you are right. It needs to be an option, but I think no one has considered adding it or thought it was of low value and didn't bother to put it into any of their cell testing programs.

[@lorandhorvath4466]

@De-bodgery Have you ever tested the SkyRC iMAX B6 v2 or the B6 mini?

[@de-bodgery]

I have a B6 I got a long time ago. I like ISDT chargers more. I have a D100 I like much more than the B6. The MC3000 isn't very good. I do wish they would make new firmware for it. There has been nothing new since 2020 and frankly I think the thing is virtually impossible to use from it's own LCD! It's got lots of interesting features, but lousy implementation! SkyRC can do some good products and then utterly fail on others. The D100 is pretty good! The PC monitoring app for it is really good too.

[@user-yr2mx9mn1j]

Sounds like it’s taking off

[@de-bodgery]

Yeah...seriously LOUD fans!

[@de-bodgery]

Little fans have to spin really fast to make any amount of air movement and that of course makes a lot of noise.

[@jjjoooojjj]

Great review, thanks! I was wondering if it can charge Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) 450mAh 3.2V rechargeable cells?

[@de-bodgery]

It can, but this charger is a terrible implementation to actually use. It drops BT signal before the charge finishes so your phone doesn't stay updated and you lose all data that the charger is supposedly creating.

[@jjjoooojjj]

@@de-bodgery Wow .. Do you still like to use it or is it too much?

[@de-bodgery]

@@jjjoooojjj I bought mine in 2020. I used it long enough to discover it's issues and that they made it unusable and put it away. The problem isn't your phone. It's the BT module in the charger. I've since pulled it out a few times and looked for new firmware that might fix the issues and there never is any. It's effectively collecting dist at this point. Clearly SkyRC doesn't care if they fix it or not.

[@jjjoooojjj]

@@de-bodgery It's so sad they don't care.. It had a potential to be my end game charger :) I've tried to use assistance chat on they website but with no joy and they don't respond to my emails .. I don't know what's wrong with them ..!!??

[@de-bodgery]

@@jjjoooojjj I think that's it...don't care!

[@TranTek]

Have you try running the cells first then take a reading on the IR i have the Q200 and d100v2 and i noticed when you take a IR reading it is higher like litto kala, same as my icharger 106b+ with external 10A high quality psu

[@de-bodgery]

The cell Ir readings happen pretty quickly right as cell testing starts and then don't change again. It is well known that cell Ir can vary somewhat as a cell charges or discharges.

[@TranTek]

@@de-bodgery i did notice that they are reading higher when i finished balancing charge, it reads more like the VP4+ can you do a tear down of mc3000 and check if it is quality design and components used in it. thanks

[@de-bodgery]

@@TranTek I did a MC3000 video, but need to edit it to get it down to 15 minutes. Why LION chargers charge to 4.2v is a total mystery to me. 4.1v is the maximum voltage.

[@TranTek]

@@de-bodgery awesome waiting to see, i don’t mind 30 minutes more info i meant the IR result of Q200 and icharger 106B+ is similar to VP4+ i also use the SM8124A tool if i hit to get IR at the start of charging, or just do a reading i get much higher IR reading

[@de-bodgery]

Proper Ir reading should take 20 seconds. There is a specific way to check Ir that is the industry standard. Charge for 10 seconds, measure the current draw and voltage change then discharge for 10 seconds while measuring the voltage and current. Ohms law is then used to calculate both charge and discharge resistances. They are averaged together to get Ir. Any Ir tester that takes less time than 20 seconds can't be doing industry standard Ir testing. While the XTAR VP4+ does the best job I have seen, it's much too fast at it. *** Can you tell me how quickly the SM8124A tests for Ir?

[@Tenhult]

If you only had one xtar vp4+. Would you buy a second xtar or get a MC3000?

[@de-bodgery]

Several things about the MC3000 made me dislike it. It does a lousy job at cell Ir. It's very inaccurate since it is a 2 wire tester instead of a proper 4 wire Ir tester like the VP4+. The front panel controls are clunky and difficult to use to get it to do cell testing. The phone app is really the only way to get programs into the charger and then to make them run. That seemed OK, except that bluetooth in the charger goes to sleep after a while and you can't get it to "wake up" again. Your phone app no longer communicates with the charger and so you have no idea if cells ever completed testing or their capacities! You can find this in the LCD display, but the phone app is totally dead at that point. To get BT working again, you need to unplug the charger and plug it back in again. The hassle factor is much too high considering all the hoops you need to jump through to get cell capacity results. Meanwhile, the VP4+ is incredibly simple to use. Press and hold the right most button to go into TEST or capacity testing mode. Put in cells, walk away and come back later. Right there on the LCD is your charge and discharge capacities. Pull those cells, insert new ones to test and it immediately starts capacity testing the new cells. It's pretty damned simple to use and does all its functions reliably and repeatedly and costs a good bit less than the MC3000 with none of the hassles. *** SkyRC tried to make a highly flexible cell tester and succeeded. It does have some impressive abilities. The programs you can create for it to run have dozens of options for all sorts of things that you won't find in other cell testers. The problem however is that to get all that flexibility, they made it nearly unusable without the Android app. Blue tooth shuts off after about 30 minutes of being idle and won't turn on again. You are screwed since you can't see status and cant reconnect to the charger. After attempting to use it for a few days, I was getting irritated with its issues and I already had several VP4+ that just worked and worked and worked. If I had 8 of the MC3000 like I do of the XTAR VP4+, I'd be fighting the charger issues constantly and be really hating the damned things! I guess I should mention the seriously noisy fans inside the MC3000 too. *** Without a doubt or any hesitation, and it is 10 months later, I'd buy more XTAR VP4+ before I ever bought another MC3000! I think when I made this video I had 2 VP4+ and now I have 8.

[@jjjoooojjj]

@@de-bodgery I like XTAR VP4 but it doesn't charge 1.5V Li-ion AA and LiFePO4 123a 3.2V batteries. It looks like MC3000! the only one that does it.. I just want all in one charger but I got the feeling that I will hate MC3000! if I get it ..

[@de-bodgery]

@@jjjoooojjj Build quality of the MC3000 is pretty darn good. Implementation is where it sucks. You need your phone to use the charger and the stupid BT module in the charger goes to sleep after 20-30 minutes and then you lose your phone access and can't get it back without restarting the charger from dead scratch. It's stupid and makes the thing useless. IF this issue didn't exist, I'd say mc3000 was pretty good. It still can't do cell internal resistance testing, but all the charge and discharge options are awesome...if they worked. *** Most 1.5v lithium cells are really a standard NMC cell inside with a charge controller That steps cell voltage down to 1.5v. Your cells don't have a USB port on them for charging? VP4+ doesn't support LiFePO4 cells. I rarely use this chemistry so that doesn't bother me much. If you do find a single cell tester that does do everything, please let me know. The VP4+ is the closest I've found and it doesn't work with 9v or LiFePO4.

[@mobi47]

If I have different cells with different capacities do I have to change the capacity in program for every cell ? does it matter ?

[@de-bodgery]

Ideally you want each bay knowing what the expected cell capacity is. However, this is usually not known when it comes to used cells and is not super critical. Just set all 4 bays to some value well above the maximum capacity of your highest cell. For example, I was recently testing a bunch of 18650's of unknown capacity. I knew they could be no more than 3400mah so I set each bay to 4000mah. This is a maximum allowable capacity before the charger stops charging. What is the actual measured capacity is probably some amount less than this and will be detected while charging and discharging the cells.

[@mobi47]

@@de-bodgery Thank you for the help

[@ultrapurple111]

This is a decent review in terms of content though I couldn't see details on you phone clearly, especially when you displayed a white background which was washed out. I would have dismissed this charger because of its terrible interface and dated screen but my viewpoint changed when I saw the Android app. This looks slick, modern and customizable.

[@de-bodgery]

Been a while since I watched my own video so I wasn't sure what you were talking about. However, I can read my phones screen just fine in the video. Even when the list of chemistries with the white back ground is presented, I can still read it. The android app seems cool until you try to actually use it. The app will disconnect from the charger after about 30 minutes and there is nothing you can do to get it to reconnect. The problem is the BT module in the charger has gone to sleep and won't come back online without powering off/on the charger again. You LOSE whatever you were doing! The android app only has data up to the point where it lost connection to the charger. AKA...seems cool and then reality is something else all together! There are aspects of these chargers that is quite compelling...until you try to actually use them!

[@jjjoooojjj]

@@de-bodgery I wonder if iOS APP is any better ..

[@ilovefreeski]

Any idea how to get the discharge AND charge capacity with this charger for aa nimh and 18650s?

[@de-bodgery]

Good point...I'd have to read the manual to see if it specifies which capacity is displayed. I think it is discharge capacity. I did some tests at 2 amps, 1 amp and .5 amps and the capacity went up with lower discharge current. This is exactly what I would expect when you discharge a cell more slowly.

[@ilovefreeski]

@@de-bodgery Great thanks! I spent a lot of time getting familiar with this amazing charger finally and I would recommend checking out gnu data explorer. It gives detailed information completely graphed out for you on a computer via the usb port. You can save all the data to view at any time which includes: voltage, avg voltage, battery temperature, system temperature, internal resistance, capacity, power, energy , current. www.nongnu.org/dataexplorer/

[@de-bodgery]

@@ilovefreeski Thanks for posting this info about this logging app. It supports a few things I have: iCharger 4010DUO, SkyRC D100, CellLog 8S and the MC3000. I'm going to ask about adding the DL24P and DL24M load testers to his already copious list. I have both of those.

[@ilovefreeski]

@@de-bodgery Your welcome and I might add that you want to install java runtime to get everything working properly. You have to also select your devices from the list of compatible devices in the software. I was using windows 10 and downloaded it from here www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase-jre8-downloads.html

[@de-bodgery]

@@ilovefreeski Are you Winfried Breugmann the developer of the app?