This is how my 30Qs with button top look like. They were bought from nkon.nl and seem to be equipped with a „spot welded joint“ as button. These cells have major issues both in the C4-12 and the Gyrfalcon All-44 in terms of recognizing the internal resistance and correct voltage. They work fine in the MC3000, though.
Out of curiosity I just compared the internal resistance readings of several different button top 18650’s on both the Miboxer C4-12 and the Zanflare C4. The Zanflare consistently gives readings of less than half the readings on the Miboxer.
Not really sure what that means but I did find it interesting.
That’s weird. I was using my 30q cells in the Q8 and did the voltage check and it was saying only 4 volts. So I put my Sofirn cell in there and it said 4.1 volt. So I am agreeing that the cells I have of the 30q are the issue. I’m not an expert when it comes to flashlights but the button tops are really short unlike my other cells. Maybe it has something to do with the wrapper on the outside of the cell, maybe it doesn’t I have no idea.
Thanks for all of the help guys it is much appreciated. I thought I was just kind of wacko LOL
My LG hg2 flat top unprotected cells give me different readings to just not crazy readings like the Samsung button tops. Max the LG goes to is 110 but pull it out and put it back in and it goes back down to 45 50. It is interesting
This is what I got.
I have some Liionwholesale 30Qs that also exhibit the inconsistent high resistance/low charge rate problems mentioned here in my C4-12. I wonder if some 30Q button top conversion batches/lots may be different?
I have 30Qs from at least three different sources and my Miboxer C4-12 hates all of them (I am careful to keep all of my batteries labeled/separated in as purchased/used “sets”).
I know Miboxer chargers themselves can be different. When I had two of the new style C4s, one worked WAY better than the other one with my 30Qs so I returned the flakey one. Now the other one has developed similar problems.
My C4-12 that can’t handle 30Qs will charge my many 3500 mAh Flat Top Sanyo 18650GAs at an auto selected ~1.5-1.7A rate with NO problems whatsoever. Also, if I manually bump the rate up to 2A, it will stick, rather than falling back down as it does with 30Qs (I generally don’t exceed a .5C charge rate though [for battery longevity], I just did so briefly out of curiosity).
Hmmmm…. I wonder, in hindsight, back during the days when chargers are just chargers….red for charging, green for full.
…and if my salvaged cells cannot sustain my ZL SC600 “turbo” mode up to 2 minutes, then ‘that’ cell undergoes a discharge test in my iCharger hobby charger for confirmation, then goes for recycling…and another thing to watch back then was when a cell heats up abnormally fast.
…and charging was fun!
I'm beginning to like my VC4 again. No connection issues, batteries never heat up, just drop them in and wait for them to charge and done.
Is VC4 Xtar? The cells are heating up now in the C4-12?
Ha ha. That’s because it is such a weak charger and does not measure internal resistance. It can do 2 amps while the C4-12 can do 12 amps. That’s a big difference.
Ps, you also don’t know if there is a connection issue or not. It doesn’t tell you.
As they say, ignorance is bliss.
Maybe Miboxer should pull some of the technology out of the C4-12. Don’t have it measure internal resistance or temperature. Use a default 0.5A or 1A charge rate that you have to manually change if you want it higher or lower. I wonder if it would sell?
Maybe Miboxer should pull some of the technology out of the C4-12. Don’t have it measure internal resistance or temperature. Use a default 0.5A or 1A charge rate that you have to manually change if you want it higher or lower. I wonder if it would sell?
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I’d buy one. I just realized from your post that maybe the C4-12 is too smart?
There are 2 basic ways to attach button tops to a cell. One is to spot welded it directly to the top post like here:
Or to attach it like this where the button top is held in place with an adhesive ring and then reinforced by the shrink wrap. It has a metal strip spot welded from the battery to the button top. I suspect Richards cells are like this based on the pictures I’ve seen:
The 2nd picture is my 30Q from Banggood. I took it apart to see how it’s made. I put a new shrink wrap on it and it’s fine. I haven’t tried them in the C4-12 yet.
That’s interesting. I would have thought the first post cells would be better with the button directly spot welded to the cell. I’m curious to know how your banggood cells behave in the C4-12 charger
It’s very advanced. Rarely do you see chargers monitor temperature or set charge rates on its own. It’s kind of like the auto drive Tesla cars. Sure it works great most of the time, but certain situations can confuse it.
About the only thing the C4-12 doesn’t have is the auto discharge and test feature a couple other chargers have. On the flip side, those chargers don’t have the power or features the C4-12 has.
That explains a lot of my confusion with the C4-12. I was so used to the D4 charger then BAM! Super z smart charger uh what? :person_facepalming:
Soon I will be getting my SKYRC MC3000 which will be even more complicated fun. At the moment, I think I like my Opus BC-3100 the best.
Does the Opus discharge also?
When I reviewed the C4-12, this was kind of my suggestion. It’s one thing to measure IR. But to determine charging current based in IR, knowing that IR reading is somewhat unreliable is just asking for problems, IMO. Granted, MiBoxer is fairly conservative in the auto charging rates they use, but in some cases this is going to result in extremely low charging rates and very long charge times. You just have to remember to set the rate manually then.
Yes and it also has an internal switch if you remove the back cover so you can set storage to 3.7v if you want to.
That’s cool. I may have to pick one of them up when i get a chance.