I recently bought the MiBoxer C4-12 at Amazon. The UI is kept very simple as there is just one single button you can press. Unfortunately, my C4-12 indicated unreasonable IR values on all of my tested batteries (Enerciq TN14500HP with 180 mOhm, Keeppower 14500 840mAh with 280 mOhm, Samsung 30Q Button Top between 770 and 999 mOhm), causing the device to charge with less than 0.5A. Slot 4 of the C4-12 mistook my 30Qs @ 3.67V with NiMH instead of Li-Ion. I cleaned all contact surfaces but it did not improve anything. With a heavy heart, I sent it back to Amazon as I still believe that the C4-12 is a very good charger (when working correctly).
I will have a look onto the MC3000 (Model 2018 with 2 cooling fans) now as I am enthusiastic about all those features many other charges do not have. There were only some minor complaints about too loose retaining clips with the updated 2018 version. For the time being, my Enova Gyrfalcon All-44 will remain the “insert battery and forget” charger.
What is happening is that these chargers are not laboratory-grade devices that can accurately provide the IR to last milliohm, and in fact, their manuals give such disclaimer about it. Nevertheless these chargers can at best approximate the IR of any given battery, features that we neglect and even consider before the advent of these chargers.
The C4-12 has very sensitive IR feedback that its auto-mode may err on the safe side than the other way around, automatically selecting a leisurely rate of .3A and thereabouts.
Choosing its Manual mode is actually like what we are used to experience when we used the ‘old’ chargers that don’t have digital displays nor gives out IR readings but just keep on pumping 1A regardless of the cell’s IR, but we are just not aware of it then. That’s the reason why with these dumb chargers, high IR cells will just heat up rapidly and dangerously and yet continue to charge it…while the C4-12 will never allow that if it is in ‘Auto’ mode, in my experience, some cell’s IR when charged at a very low starting voltage (like my numerous brand-new Samsung INR-18650G that arrived to me at a very low .72v) of about 230 to 260 milliohms, started at .3A but when the voltages started to rise in the 2.5 to 3v range, the IR started to go down and the charging rate started to go up, some as high as 1.80A, though some of those cells of mine never recovered.
That’s my experience…have you ever used or charged using the C4-12, put in a .72v Samsung INR-18650G that stayed in that state for months? You can’t argue with my first-hand observation, regardless of what your high-end instruments tell you with your brand-new cells.
I did not say anything about your cells IR, just that many chargers would have used a low current, because they do that at low voltage. It has nothing to do with high or low IR.
Well, I am talking about MY cells, and the IR showed by the C4-12, and will select low current when in Auto mode but my Xtar VP2, (charging the same cell/s with high IR based on the c4-12’s) will nevertheless charge it will at 1A. How do I know it charged it at one amp? I took note of the time it reached full-charge.
It is indeed a good charger. Some kind of “insert battery and forget” device. I only have some trouble with button tops in this charger. The voltage indicated on the display often does not correspond with the actual voltage of the battery, e.g. if a button top cell is partially discharged to lets say 4.05V, the Gyrfalcon sometimes measures 4.20V and will not even start to charge. Disconnecting the battery for a couple of times in the slot finally solves it. Furthermore, the voltage indicated on the display will not be updated for quite some time even though the cell is still being charged. It looks like the display is kind of frozen to the initial value for at least 20-30 minutes before it is being updated. Of course, all areas of contact have been cleaned before I started to charge the cells.
I think we are pretty lucky right now to have a lot of good chargers, they will all have small issues and quirks though. I don’t think the average person, or flashlight enthusiast even, needs the MC3000, but if the UI was sensible and not scatter-brained I would recommend it more. If you want to use computer control then that is one way to tame the MC3000 and use its advanced features. I’m thinking now that the technical details are sorted with the hardware, maybe they will make an update which is basically a UI change, and maybe add a nice WiFi connection to it for reliable control from a Cellphone or tablet. On the other hand they have spent a lot to develop it already I’m sure, and might be ready to just call it a day and say “it is what it is”.
Recieved my MC3000 last week. Been charging/discharging/refreshing almost nonstop since then. :sunglasses:
I don’t really like the battery sliders, but I guess if you want to accomodate all battery sizes without any additional adapters it takes a toll on usability. Also the UI could need an overhaul. Not being able to name or group the charging programs makes it unnecessarily hard to choose the right program.
Super easy. There’s two ways: Select program on one bay and then choose to save it to “all slots” and done. But even faster you can copy your favorite programs to all slots with a combination of just two keys. (see here: MC3000 cheat sheet )
I happened to come upon this thread.
I had a Nitecore, I forget the one, with 4 slots which I gave to a friend.
I have been thining about getting back into RC and do not want to purchase both a charger for cylindrical cells and RC batteires…especially since I think I may get a DJI which has its own system.
Anyway, I built two different battery holders capable of holding quite a few cells of various sizes….one is in parallel for charging and the other is in series. The later one I am using to test how batteries lag with my laser drivers.
The former one, I simply put either one or groups of the same batteries in, set my CC CV PSU for 4.2 and set the proper charge current for the specific capacity….and wait. Usually, I charge when the voltage is high enough that it is in CV mode. I wait until the current drops to zero and voila….4.2 volts….Yes….if the batteires are not equal in terms of capacity at time of charging…not good. Since I started this….I have not had problems….
except that my new Samsung 30Qs seem to take quite awhile to charge at 1/2 to 1 C
The one thing that I do need is a simple way to discharge my batteries for storage and if possible, measure capacity. I was thinking of buying a SkyRC hobby charger….but I really don’t need it.
I have yet to find an inexpensive way to discharge and measure capacity…any ideas?
I was unable to link an iPhone 6S (iOS 11.3) with the MC3000. The bluetooth connection never worked. For reasons unknown the link to an iPad 2017 with iOS 11.3 worked instantaneously and stable. I have the latest revision of the MC3000 with two fans.
I can confirm that the bluetooth-driven UI is much easier to handle but imho not as sophisticated as the device‘s UI. Furthermore, it’s not possible to remote-schedule the device‘s charging programs. Both UIs work independently from each other.
No, I doubt it. The Windows software seems to be far different and much more sophisticated than the MC3000 app on Apple‘s app store. It’s also a completely different OS platform. I admit, I have not tried the Windows software either.
