Become a Patron!

Just need some opinions on a charger.

H4X0R46

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Hey guys! I'm in the market for a new charger, mine is going south. I REALLY want another bluetooth compatible charger (no efest chargers, and not esyb, been through 2 of those, they don't last). Are there any good chargers out there that still have a bluetooth interface like a mobile app? Thanks guys!
 

Carambrda

Platinum Contributor
ECF Refugee
Member For 5 Years
There's only one good charger that has bluetooth with a mobile app, and that's the SkyRC MC3000. I have it, and, even though it's really good, it is roughly three times the cost of a "normal" good charger such as my Nitecore UMS4 that I use daily. The MC3000 is not new, it has been in existence for years, but this also means that firmware issues have been ironed out so, actually, in this instance I consider that a good thing... but in the end it's still pricey.

The app works well on my Huawei P30 Pro with Android Pie, it's nice to have, though not really necessary. For me, the main benefit is it lets me avoid using the clicky push buttons on the charger. After the charging starts, I turn my phone's bluetooth off again, put it in ultra power saving mode. The charger can do a loud (but optional) beep after a battery has finished charging so, there's no need to keep monitoring the app constantly all the time. Nevertheless, it is reassuring to know I can always have another quick peek when necessary.

The MC3000 is absolutely packed with advanced features, there's much more than the average user will ever need. Keeping the Advanced mode set to disabled is recommended with this charger if you don't know what you're doing, as some of these features definitely are not without risk.

The PC monitor software that works via USB connection is primitive and very limited in its capabilities, like, it doesn't let you edit or save any profiles. If you use this program to quickly launch the charging, pressing any button on the charger will interrupt the charging so that you'll have to re-launch the charging again after that. Using the app avoids this, but then you don't get to see nice graphs. The PC functionality part of this charger is limited to USB and can best be used with DataExplorer (third-party software). As a result from all that, you won't be using the PC a lot with this charger if you're not particularly interested in the high technicalities of battery monitoring and analysis.
 

Rooster Cogburn

Memento Mori
VU Donator
Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
ECF Refugee
Reddit Exile
VU SWAT
Like stated above the skymc3000 is gonna cost about $100, on sale, and will do anything you want. It’s the best charger available in this man’s humble opinion. Some other options are Xtar, they make a solid charger if you want something that won’t break easily, I have two, one predates my vaping at around 12 years old and one is around 7 years old both still work and haven’t been treated the best. My favorite charger right now is the Miboxer C4-12 which has roomy slots to fit the biggest cells with ease and can charge across all 4 bays at 3 amps if you’re in a hurry. I’ve had mine for 3 years or so without issue. Keep in mind no Bluetooth on the Miboxer or the Xtars I have but all excellent choices. Best of luck with your decision making process.
 

H4X0R46

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Yeah so that skyrc charger looks good! But OUCH! $100? Seems like the gimmick with Bluetooth has all died down now. I always loved being able to just check my batteries on my phone every so often. Yeah the skyrc is too pricey for me tbh. The others mentioned are all great options though, I may just have to lower my expectations on Bluetooth and such and just get a GOOD charger without it I'll miss the Bluetooth lol
 

Carambrda

Platinum Contributor
ECF Refugee
Member For 5 Years
Yeah so that skyrc charger looks good! But OUCH! $100? Seems like the gimmick with Bluetooth has all died down now. I always loved being able to just check my batteries on my phone every so often. Yeah the skyrc is too pricey for me tbh. The others mentioned are all great options though, I may just have to lower my expectations on Bluetooth and such and just get a GOOD charger without it I'll miss the Bluetooth lol
I actually like my Nitecore UMS4 a little bit better than my SkyRC MC3000. The latter only gets used whenever I want the voltage cut-off to be lower than 4.2V, which is only every once in a while.
 

H4X0R46

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I actually like my Nitecore UMS4 a little bit better than my SkyRC MC3000. The latter only gets used whenever I want the voltage cut-off to be lower than 4.2V, which is only every once in a while.
Alright so I looked into the Nitecore UMS4 and it looks good! Although, I notice that you can add on a USB 3 fast charger with it as well. My question there is, do you NEED that quick charge adapter to get 1A charge across 4 cells? I tend to use the 1A charge on 4 bays often.
 

~Don~

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
I use an Opus BT-C3100

1a across the 4 or 2a on outer bays.

Fits 21700’s easily

Default charge rate is .5a, but you can change that with a few button presses.

Charge rates can be 200, 300,500,700,1000,1500*,2000*

* outer bays, only 2 batteries

I’ll probably grab another one, as backup


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Carambrda

Platinum Contributor
ECF Refugee
Member For 5 Years
Alright so I looked into the Nitecore UMS4 and it looks good! Although, I notice that you can add on a USB 3 fast charger with it as well. My question there is, do you NEED that quick charge adapter to get 1A charge across 4 cells? I tend to use the 1A charge on 4 bays often.
With the UMS4 you can't get 1A charge across 4 cells. That's because, using a QuickCharge 2.0 (or 3.0, doesn't matter because QC 3.0 is downward compatible with QC 2.0) USB wall plug that's rated to 18 watts 3A, it is limited to a maximum of 3A total so, with all 4 bays in use, 2×700mA + 2×800mA is the most evenly spread maximum possible combination, as each slot can go from 300mA to 2A in 100mA steps, from 2A to 3A in 500mA steps. I don't need faster charging because it causes extra wear and tear on a battery. I just make sure to charge enough batteries beforehand because in the possible event of a blackout you never can tell how long it will take for the power people to reroute around the main cabin after it splodes leaving a deep smoking crater in the ground, like, last time it happend they took a little over 10hrs just because the spike had caused a beautiful domino effect that took out all the other cabins in the whole area also. LOL!

I use the European version of this: https://www.anker.com/products/variant/powerport--1-with-quick-charge-30/A2013115
To keep the micro USB port from wearing out on the charger, aside from being gentle with the plug I leave the USB cord plugged into the charger and instead unplug it at the other end of the cord.
 

VU Sponsors

Top