Difference between Opus BT-C3400 & BT-C3100 v2.1?

[chops728]

You’re still not explaining why the heat is building up and shutting the charger off early in the Discharge cycle—at that point the charger has no idea what size the cell is—I usually don’t read manuals(I don’t have those problems—why would I)—when something gives me too much trouble —I toss them

[teacher]

@wolfdog1226

@chops728

To start off with your charger is stopping it’s discharge way before the end(heat) and restarting— so cell size has nothing to do with it
All I know is I have two of them and they work perfect—good luck with all your testing

It is the total mAh CAPACITY! More capacity/More work/more heat!

4 x VTC5[2600mAh] = 10,400mAh

4 X K’power 3400mAh= 13,600mAH Additional 3200mah!

That is like an extra battery. That is why w/ 3 x 18650 3400Mah the charger does NOT have problems.

If you read the manual it will tell you about “WHY” the charger stops/starts again during Discharge or when the batteries get above 40C/104F.

That is all well and good. But none of it answers the questions I asked.

In addition mine does not do it with 4 x Sanyo NCR18650GA’s…. 3500mAh each.
4 x Sanyo GA’s [3500mAh ea.] = 14,000mAh … Additional 400mAh from the K’powers

What I am asking is quoted again below……

@teacher

1. The initial problem mentioned was a “reset” shortly after the discharge cycle had ended & the charge cycle had begun. This problem was identified as happening when 4 x 18650 cells were being tested.
   This is what my charger was doing also, nothing more.
   The solution to this was replacing the inadequate power supply with an adequate SMPS.
   As far as I can recall, no mention was made by anyone at the time of their charger stopping during discharge because of “heat” related issues.
   Sooooooo….

2. Is this a newly discovered issue?
Mine has not & does not do that. When was this issue first discovered?

[chops728]

teacher——-I tried to answer you as far as I know from reading here—I thought the first instance of the New problem was when Wolfdog tried the replacement fans—yesterday he mentioned that other 3100 had this shutting down on discharge problem

gauss163—I thought about the IR after my last post—most of my cells are low resistance—as far as ambient temp—I have mentioned my wife keeps this house like a meat cooler—-one of the things I see is—all of his chargers are/maybe coming from the same lot

the only way I could make my 3400 replicate the first discharge/charge reset was to use my Littokala 2amp PS—-with this PS as soon as you tried to charge 4 cells @ 1 amp it reset

[wolfdog1226]

@teacher

@wolfdog1226

@chops728

To start off with your charger is stopping it’s discharge way before the end(heat) and restarting— so cell size has nothing to do with it
All I know is I have two of them and they work perfect—good luck with all your testing

It is the total mAh CAPACITY! More capacity/More work/more heat!

4 x VTC5[2600mAh] = 10,400mAh

4 X K’power 3400mAh= 13,600mAH Additional 3200mah!

That is like an extra battery. That is why w/ 3 x 18650 3400Mah the charger does NOT have problems.

If you read the manual it will tell you about “WHY” the charger stops/starts again during Discharge or when the batteries get above 40C/104F.

That is all well and good. But none of it answers the questions I asked.

In addition mine does not do it with 4 x Sanyo NCR18650GA’s…. 3500mAh each.
4 x Sanyo GA’s [3500mAh ea.] = 14,000mAh … Additional 400mAh from the K’powers

What I am asking is quoted again below……

@teacher

1. The initial problem mentioned was a “reset” shortly after the discharge cycle had ended & the charge cycle had begun. This problem was identified as happening when 4 x 18650 cells were being tested.
   This is what my charger was doing also, nothing more.
   The solution to this was replacing the inadequate power supply with an adequate SMPS.
   As far as I can recall, no mention was made by anyone at the time of their charger stopping during discharge because of “heat” related issues.
   Sooooooo….

2. Is this a newly discovered issue?
Mine has not & does not do that. When was this issue first discovered?

I understand teacher! Your charger is just like King Opus that I killed,It has NO issues,be grateful. I have had 2 chargers that could not handle 4 x 18650,that is why I am determined to get this one or another one working like it should.

The results I post later will show the difference b/w 3 or 4 batteries discharged when you have a charger like the one I have now. Lastly, Jon only discharges 3 batteries at a time because of this issue and the other[reset] that I mentioned in a post yesterday!

HKJ and I have been exchanging emails/photos of my board. He has been tremendous help in pin pointing the destruction of King Opus. I will post that later.

My fans are in the mail to Dale! :+1:

[wolfdog1226]

I am testing 4 X 30Q Now,10 cycles only,basically new. I will find out soon enough if it stops or if it can handle 12,000mAh. It could not handle 13,600mAh[4 x KP 3400.

_

Although not mind boggling this will give you an idea what the difference is in charging 3 X 18650 3400 VS. 4 X 18650 3400. Same KeepPower batteries.

I believe this is evidence that numerous stoppages during discharge directly relates to over blown and inaccurate capacity readings.

- 4 X 18650 3400mAh Keeppower-Numerous stoppages ~15 lasting 90 sec. to 2 minutes.

Four slot median:3278mah

Average time: 3h55m

–3 X 18650 3400mAh KeepPower

Four slot median: 3096mAh

Average time: 3h3m

Difference: 282mAh and 52 minutes longer for the 4 x 18650 3400mAh

Obviously the stoppages ADD time and the also add mAh because as the battery rests, the voltage goes up ~0.03v to 0.06v and that is measured AGAIN!

The solution, other than what I am trying to do[Delta destroyer] is to do what Jon does and only put 3 batteries in!! I can not accept that,at least now I won’t!

[teacher]

@chops728

I think the problem started when a fan was replaced —I’m not sure though

@chops728

teacher——-I tried to answer you as far as I know from reading here—I thought the first instance of the New problem was when Wolfdog tried the replacement fans—yesterday he mentioned that other 3100 had this shutting down on discharge problem

And a stellar job you did my Louisiana friend. :+1: …
Thank you.

All I was attempting to ascertain was when the heat problem was first noticed as wolfdog has now mentioned it has happened in 3 of his 4 OPUS chargers.(1)

“I” did not recall any of that being mentioned until the last day or two.

• So I was trying to determine if this had been an occurrence all along and just not been mentioned OR if I had missed the mention of it in all this vast quantity of material.

Nothing more nothing less…….

---

(1)

@wolfdog1226

I have experienced that with 3 out of the 4 Opus.chargers I have had

[wolfdog1226]

@gauss163

@wolfdog1226 Sorry to hear about your mod misfortunes. Are you certain it is the Opus that fried and not the SMPS? Try another SMPS to be sure.

If I were at Opus I’d send you another given all the good testing you’ve done. It might be worth a shot sending email to Henry Xu at Opus to see if they will send you a free copy of their latest unit to alpha/beta test. Point him at this thread for reference. Maybe he’ll also have some ideas for troubleshooting your Opus.

Btw, if you were filing the PCB then beware that this produces fiberglass dust which is a known carcinogen. So it’s not a good idea to breathe much of that.

How do I get a hold of him. More than a free Opus I would like to know if the Resistors Q18 and 1AMh can handle using my Delta 12v/0.12a/1.44w fan.

These lie directly behind the plug of the fan on the back of the board.The white piece of plastic is for the plug insert.

I had to get a magnifying glass to read them. HKJ worked with me over 1 hour telling me what to look for and I took some pictures.

1AMh resistor is the one that HKJ was not able to find info. on. His guess is the fan would be ok.

Q18 and 1AMh

[HKJ]

@wolfdog1226

1AMh resistor is the one that HKJ was not able to find info. on. His guess is the fan would be ok.

Not resistor, but transistor. There is a significant difference between the two type of parts.

[wolfdog1226]

@gauss163

^ Didn’t Henry reply to one of your earlier emails to Opus?

I asked about the SMPS. I am not sure who replied. Let me locate the email.

[wolfdog1226]

@HKJ

@wolfdog1226

1AMh resistor is the one that HKJ was not able to find info. on. His guess is the fan would be ok.

Not resistor, but transistor. There is a significant difference between the two type of parts.

Sorry,no intention to make you look bad!

How do you like the improvement on the pictures?! :+1:

[wolfdog1226]

I do not know what happened. About 7 of my folders disappeared with all the emails in them.

EDIT: The folders are there,they are just empty.

[HKJ]

@wolfdog1226

Sorry,no intention to make you look bad!

I did not expect you where, you are just not an electronic guru.

@wolfdog1226

How do you like the improvement on the pictures?! :+1:

They are very good, the transistor is probably this one: http://www.onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/MMBT3904LT1-D.PDF

It can handle a bit above 2W at 12V

[teacher]

@wolfdog1226

I do not know what happened. About 7 of my folders disappeared with all the emails in them.

EDIT: The folders are there,they are just empty.

Probably some “double naught” spy after secret OPUS information……

Seriously that sux… :person_facepalming: … …
I hate to think it that happened to me. It might be time for me to learn how to do a backup.

[wolfdog1226]

@HKJ

@wolfdog1226

Sorry,no intention to make you look bad!

I did not expect you where, you are just not an electronic guru.

@wolfdog1226

How do you like the improvement on the pictures?! :+1:

They are very good, the transistor is probably this one: http://www.onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/MMBT3904LT1-D.PDF

It can handle a bit above 2W at 12V

That technical stuff[specs] is out of my league!

Can it handle my delta fan?

[wolfdog1226]

MY 4 X 30Q are almost done. It looks like the first success out of Four tries. The other 3 failures were [1]KP and[2] Orbtronic 18650 3400mAh

No STOPPAGES and the discharge is @ 3.15v! NOW it must be accurate like king Opus who had his funeral today!

[wolfdog1226]

@gauss163

Probably the “henry” in your post #441 is Henry Xu. So use that email address.

Good detective work Gauss! I will send him a detailed dissertation tomorrow w/ links, Pictures and data.

[HKJ]

@wolfdog1226

@HKJ

It can handle a bit above 2W at 12V

That technical stuff[specs] is out of my league!

Can it handle my delta fan?

You fan was about 1W, two watts it more, i.e. it can handle your fan (but not any shorts).

[teacher]

@teacher

@chops728

Check this guy’s mod out—-it would be nice if he sold that replacement bottom piece—I have plenty of 80mm fans

Opus BT-C3100 - 80mm Fan Mod by ShrimpStar - Thingiverse

Wow…. I like this!! thanks for sharing it. :+1:
.

@chops728

I wish I fooled with 3D printing—I would do a run of those custom bases that hold a 80mm fan

The more I think about this chops the more I like it! You know, being preventative and all………….
I am gonna see if I know anyone who knows anything about 3D printing…. cause I sure don’t.

[wolfdog1226]

4 X 30Q Were a success! NO STOPPAGES.

These are the same batteries.

ALL DISCHARGES ARE AT 1Amp

King Opus on April 3, 2017-3 cycles

Newest OPUS. Today-Batteries have 15 cycles.

ALL 1Amp discharges

HKJ-2884mAh

King Opus-4 slot ave.–2910mah

Newest Opus-4 slot ave.–3009mAh

100mAh difference. But you see why I love King Opus. Out of the 4 chargers it was the most consistent and was closer to HKJ’s numbers than the other Three.

RIP King Opus

[wolfdog1226]

@HKJ

@wolfdog1226

@HKJ

It can handle a bit above 2W at 12V

That technical stuff[specs] is out of my league!

Can it handle my delta fan?

You fan was about 1W, two watts it more, i.e. it can handle your fan (but not any shorts).

:+1: :+1: :+1:

Almost 1.5,but still safe!

Delta 12v/0.12a/1.44w fan.