SkyRC MC3000 Charger. Post your thoughts. Better than average?

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.

Why is noone talking about the GyrFalcon All-44 (Enova)? I’m using HKJ’s site as reference and this seems like a very good deal for the price?

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.

How easy is it to set your preferred voltage on all 4 bays and can that be saved as a program for future charges?

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 )

Not too bad then and thanks very much for that sheet sheet, very nice

@LichtAn:

Dank Dir für das 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?

Thanks

UI programming is very, very simple if you use te app.

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.

Is the software for your iPad the same as the PC Link software for windows? Have not played with any of that yet.

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.

Hmmm, I have an iPhone 6S+ (11.3.1) and it works fine. You did disable the PC software (via USB cable)? One won't work if the other is active.

Never mind, I see you got it to work with the ipad.

Not to revive an old Post but I use the newer 2 fan model of the MC3000. It charges/discharges 18650 cells 24/7. I’ve ran all 4 bays at 2 amps many times. I’ve never had an issue with overheating.

Honestly, I don’t think the UI is that intimidating either. It’s a bit much but it’s pretty simple to get started. I didn’t read a manual to start charging batteries. Within a few minutes I figured out the rest with a few glances at the manual.

If you don’t need the other features no big deal…don’t use them…

I for one appreciate options.

I wish they finally brought out a new version that fits for protected 21700 cells. It’s a bit optimistic to advertise 20700/21700 on the brochure and when you try to put them in, well… :person_facepalming:

I have the older 1 fan version (bought about a year ago from Gearbest).

I was wondering, when you do discharging tests, up to what temperatures do you get (the System temperature of the unit as shown in the display), and also when doing 4 battery discharging (eg. 4x 1A discharge of 18650 batteries).

(Side question: any idea if there are changes in the contact poles of the 2-fan SkyRC MC3000 — mentioning this since some of my 26650s, namely the INR26650-50A cyan sometimes don’t contact that well, have to adjust the batteries to make contact — I understand this is more of an issue with the said 26650 battery itself, but was wondering if the newer 2-fan version has any improvements with regards to certain flat-top 26650s that don’t make that “proper” contact with the slider poles)

I am on the verge of bending too.

If the MC3000 is your preferred charger now, which of the others would you rate as your second & third choice?

The MiBoxer C8 is a nice alternative. Not as fully featured, but if you have a lot of cells it is nice.