An upgrade might be reasonable if it only required a firmware update and if there was a way to update the firmware via usb, but there isn't. They're definitely not going to offer upgrade boards, and if they did it would cost about as much as the full charger since most of the cost is in the board.
Frankly I agree that the sale was probably [at least in part] an inventory clearing strategy. I disagree about whether they’d have gotten stuck with the old units if they fessed up to the strategy. Lots of people don’t need the improvements seen in v2.1, but they do need the discount.
I’d prefer full disclosure on things like “We started selling these at $40 as a promo but now we are continuing the promo because we want to clear all our stock.” On the other hand…. many BLF’ers suspected that a new version was incoming. HKJ’s review was positive, but he made it clear that the charger could be improved. V2 came shortly after V1. So no surprise here.
I dunno if I’d have waited or not. Maybe V2.1 won’t even have a $40 GB. I guess I’d better make sure I try to get >$40 out of this charger if I flip it to cover the cost of a V2.1…
While Henry Xu may not be treating us well, I don’t think he’s treating us badly either. And he’s careful to hook HKJ up w/ review units. So… “meh”?
I did not mean to imply that anyone was treated badly. I just would not have bought 4 of them. I would have gotten 1 and waited for the improvement.
No doubt. Big project?
EDIT:
FWIW BT-C3100 v2 is going for ~$52 new shipped from US right now. You could probably cut your losses if you acted quickly to sell your v2’s. YMMV and it’s just a heads up in case you’d like to do that! Figure $45 shipped for like-new-in-box chargers would get most of your money back but undercut the new ones by enough to sell…
I sometimes buy batteries in bulk. I have to test them so I can move them feeling good that I sold a good product. I keep telling myself I need even more chargers that test batteries. I have at least 20 chargers. I also have some hobby chargers that I never used. lol
Hello,
In fairness to everyone, when I posted the group buy thread invitation on April 15, I nor Gearbest was not aware that there was even a 2.0 version then. If fact, all the reviews I pasted in the OP are from the original 1.0 version. (The HKJ review of the 2.0 version was just added later when it was published by HKJ himself, this thread actually, of which, Gearbest itself sent the review 2.0 sample to him)
The OP even was for the original (1.0 version if you will), but I only edited it to the 2.0 when it was known that the version Gearbest will be getting was the newly-released, 2.0 version.
You will find the posts here about the reported *2.0 *version on April 18, post # 28, three days later AFTER the OP was posted. In fact, there were already some who posted “I’m in” on the 1.0 even before the 2.0 was known to exist.
See post # 28 about the existence of the 2.0: Opus BT-C3100 V2.0 "Dreamcharger" GROUP BUY Now @ $ 36. New coupon code - tatasal -(to close July 15) NOW CLOSED
Post # 101, dated April 25———sample of 2.0 sent to HKJ
Post # 120, dated April 27———50 units reached, group buy starts
There's one more mode I wish this charger had: storage. It'd be great for those of us with a lot of batteries.
I use the voltage termination switch for exact that purpose…
(3.7 / 4.2 / 4.35V)
So if you put it to 3.7V, it ends up at 3.7v?
Very clever. I like that idea.
Now it should be ok. What do you think?
It looks like a beefy power supply.
I wonder how much V2.1 will improve this.
It’s xbox Power supply. It says 12v 16.5a.
Note that the XBox had an internal power supply. The one pictured above looks like an XBox 360 power supply, which leads to another issue, later generation XBox 360s had lower power draws and, near as I can tell, less beefy PSUs.
When the BT-C3100 is used in the car, will this inverter be OK for this charger, or will it stress it, or give inaccurate readings, or what? Is it better not to run the charger or the Maha C9000 with it?
Rosewill RCP-E150C 150W Can Sized Silence Car Inverter with 1 Amp USB Port http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-RCP-E150C-Sized-Silence-Inverter/dp/B003YMIUD0/ref=cm_rdp_product
Why would you want to convert 12V to 120V and then back to 12v when all you need is a beefy 12V car adapter?
big plus 1. I was wondering that myself??
LOL, I guess I wasn’t paying attention and I just got the inverter Wednesday.
Where do I get a beefy car plug, I did buy the Maha C9000 plug, but I think it is for 2amps isn’t it?
Do you think the Maha cord is adequate? If you don’t need to charge in the car, is there any downside to it as far as the quality of the charge and readings?
Is charging when the car is off, OK for 2 or 4 18650s? Any difference in charging while running or stopped, in regards to protecting the chargers?
Yes they are 360 PSUs. I believe they range from 150w to 200 odd. Mines 203 I think.
The car definitely doesn’t provide 12V. Without knowing the upper limit the charger will tolerate, I would say do not hook it directly to the car battery / alternator (eg do not hook it to a cigarette lighter adapter). That said, inverters can be hard on the equipment plugged into them. The already stressed 3A wall-wart that comes with the charger may live a short life that way. Instead, consider a 12v regulator intended for automotive use.
https://www.google.com/search?q=12v+vehicle+regulator
You’re correct, but the newest Xbox 360 version uses a 120W PSU, meaning that it should be able to do 10A continuous, that’s the peak current draw during the spikes this charger generates. This PSU should be a fine choice.