The Miboxer C4-12 also has thermal sensor, similar to the MC3000, although the temperature threshold is not user-configurable, and I think set to a fairly high temperature (55 or maybe 65 degrees Celsius?).
Also, the C4-12 appears to use its IR measurement (again IR measurement cannot be completely accurate due to the contact/rails though) for determining the automatic charge current. And it can use very high charge current for cells that it measured low IR (and conversely, many button-top cells will have high-IR due to the contact point, even if they should have lower IR than measured).
The Xtar VC4S also uses IR measurement to determine the charge current (it tries to charge new AAA NiMh at very high charge current though…). So using IR measurement for the unit to auto-select charge current may not be foolproof…
MC3000 has user-configurable temperature threshold so it may come in more useful (also, if attached to a computer or phone for graphing, one can monitor the temperature raise in the graph, eg. if it’s rising too quickly, may indicate a problem with the cell…)
But, I usually won’t immediately test the capacity of a cell that has unknown condition (eg. 2nd-hand from battery pack) since they could have very high IR, or drained to too low voltage, or other damage. Usually when trying to charge something unknown, I use the slowest charge current (eg. around 100mA) and see if the voltage rises. (after checking that the voltage is not “too low” and also checking the IR first with a battery resistance tester.)
Hey, I just spotted this thread. Yes the BT-C3100 has temperature sensors, but the software ignores them during the charge cycle. At least that’s what I observed.
7. Overheat Protection When charger works at high current, there will be massive heat generated inside the charger. To achieve a good charging result as well as keeping batteries at the top condition, lowest temperature rise is very important for both charger and battery. BT-C3000 charger is equipped with a temperature controlled cooling system. When internal temperature is lower than 40C, fan will be stopped. When internal temperature or battery temperature is over 40C, fan will be switched on. With our improved charging circuit design, for normal good quality battery with low impedance, heating built up on battery during charging process is almost unnoticeable. However during the last charging stage for Ni-Cd or Ni-Mh batteries, when battery is almost full, batteries can become hot. This is normal: the larger charging current applied, the more heat will build up. When battery temperature is sensed to be over 60C, then over heat protection will be kicked in for safety reason. When overheating occurs, current working mode for all 4 slots will be automatically halted. To tell if it is in the state of overheating protection mode, charging current will be reduced to 0mA. Charging/discharging process will only resume after battery temperature drops below 40 degrees Celsius.
