Thanks for the video, it is a great starter charger for the hobbyist and is a pretty good workhorse for those that are processing many cells. It should be noted that it exaggerates the mAh capacity. I also have a SKYRC MK3000 (which is the best, and most feature-rich, cylindrical cell analyzer available, but not the least expensive) and the results of the OPUS are 200 - 300 mAh too high. I have collected much data and it appears you can 'correct' the OPUS value by subtracting 251 and then dividing by 0.9921. Another point about safety, if you are processing used cells do not leave the cells testing unattended or overnight as some can begin heating up (especially some red SANYO cells) and I have found the thermal protection to be unreliable compared to the MC3K. One minor thing, in the manual it states the discharge is constant current mode and stops at 2.80V. This is likely never visually verified as the LCD update rate of the OPUS is pretty slow and the voltage would drop fast
The reason the voltage drops is because as the battery hits Delta V or the max it can take the voltage will actually slightly drop a little. This is normal and how the charger determines when the battery is at full charge.
I have a predecessor of this charger which only works for AA and AAA batteries (NiMH and NiCd only), since these are the batteries I normally use. I bought it in 2010 or 2011, so it's rather old but it still works and charges my Eneloops just fine (which are the same age).
Hello... this charger - tester from what I have seen is very old, if mention is made of the most recent version 2.2 but it is still many years old. Is there any other more modern and better charger - tester?
Hello Sir, thats a great video! I have two questions please: How long take to complete the process for Charge/Test and also for the Discharge/Refresh for example for a single 18650 3000mah?
It can take a while,, if the battery is empty and has a good capacity. 4-8 hours is not un-normal. and 12-24 hours for batteries that act up,, I think I do about 20 batteries a day.... when I do batteries.
Just wondering... all these charge cycles must consume a lot of power. And discharging is converted in heat. Do devices exist that work in tandem and feed the power during a dischange cycle into a second unit’s charge cycle and only using the powersupply when there is not enough power left? Thank you for making these video’s!
Hi Freddy Lauwers Thank You very much! 7-11W per cell,, it is not that bad. I do not think they reuse the power,,, that would be smart! Thank you for watching! :-)
I have a similar charger from LaCrosse, the problem with it is that it doesn't see extremely discharged batteries (keeps showing "null" instead). So have to charge those for a bit in a dumb wall-plugged charger, and only then the smart one starts seeing them. Did you notice such a problem with this one?
Hi rm Thank You very much! I have not come across this yet,, but I do the same thing,, I pre charge in a dumb charger,, but that was just to not waste time in the discharger,, I have ordered four more OPUS BT-C3100 now :-) and more dumb chargers too :-) Thank you for watching! :-)
Yes. Infortunately my Opus 3100 v. 2.2 too doesn't see very low charged NiMH batteries. So I have to precharge them in a dumb wall charger for just few seconds. Do you know if It is the same thing with Li Ion and LiPo batteries? May be you have told this in the video but infortunately I don't understand English at all ☺️. Thank you
You should do what Julian Ilett does and use the 12v from your solar charged batteries as a power source for chargers like this. If I recall this charger is fine at the 12-13v that fully charged lead acid batteries sit around. Thanks for the video!
sigh as much as i hate PWM discharging i guess i will just change the resistors inside and call it good enough, wouldnt be able to do much current with Ni-Mh but thats ok. @19:00 thats gold explanation of how to properly build a series battery
The "gymnastics mode" is more useful for NiMH or NiCd batteries, Li-Ion batteries don't really benefit from that, they rather deteriorate with these additional cycles put on them.
Hi Seegal Galguntijak Thank You very much! I am playing with the bad batteries right now,, those that did not give me 1000mAh at a discharge rate at 500mA,, It seams to help to cycle those. (It is a total waste of my time,, but I enjoy it :-) Thank you for watching! :-)
Charging a Lithium-Ion battery that is almost full with the highest current isn't good for it either, normal charging cycles like in a phone or a laptop will throttle the charging current down when the battery has reached 80% of its capacity.
Yes, normally it is said for Lithium-Ion batteries that they are the most healthy when they are charged with 0.1C, so a 2000mAh battery would be charged at 200mA. Although most of them can stand much more, it seems to be just a longevity thing...
Actually, not only is that not good, doing that would also raise the voltage above 4.2V, destroying the battery, which would catch fire (and that's for sure!).
@@Seegalgalguntijak Higher charging rates weld the lithium and components to the anode membrane, thus shortening the number of cycles. This is why the MC3000 allows you to dial in the charging amps - granularly. Also each battery slot is completely independent from the other.
Hi Rippin Engines Sometimes I will have a battery that charges for days, and becomes hot,, usually I can take it out of the charger for like 2 hours,, and back in and it will be all good. Thank you for watching! :-)
I believe the internal switch will adapt the charger for LiFePO4 batteries. i.e. the charger will charge to about 3.6 volts instead of 4.2 volts. Also, this would be a good charge point for long term storage of Li Ion batteries as it's healthier for the battery to be at 3.6 volts rather than 4.2 volts.
My PlayHouse I see the 3100 and 3400 chargers. whats the diff? if all goes well. I'll have 300 cells to build into 7s packs. and I'll need to test . and match for balancing
They are practically the same,but the 3400 DISCHARGES to 3.0 Volts, and the 3100 to 2.8 Volts (the 3100 therefore gives a higher Capacity reading of the Battery/Cell)
Hi Mark Williams Thank You very much! I will be charging the banks every day,, If they lose the charge to fast, I do not use them. Thank you for watching! :-)
Hi Unkyjoe's Playhouse Thank You very much! I picked up the second packets from you to day,, so that came :-) NO sweets :-/ Thank you for watching! :-)
Sorry, they sent the box back to me for no signature, so I stole all the sweets and ate them before sending it back to you, it's hard work dealing with the US Postal service :)
Thanks for the video, it is a great starter charger for the hobbyist and is a pretty good workhorse for those that are processing many cells. It should be noted that it exaggerates the mAh capacity. I also have a SKYRC MK3000 (which is the best, and most feature-rich, cylindrical cell analyzer available, but not the least expensive) and the results of the OPUS are 200 - 300 mAh too high. I have collected much data and it appears you can 'correct' the OPUS value by subtracting 251 and then dividing by 0.9921.
Another point about safety, if you are processing used cells do not leave the cells testing unattended or overnight as some can begin heating up (especially some red SANYO cells) and I have found the thermal protection to be unreliable compared to the MC3K.
One minor thing, in the manual it states the discharge is constant current mode and stops at 2.80V. This is likely never visually verified as the LCD update rate of the OPUS is pretty slow and the voltage would drop fast
Hi Detrital Geo
Thank You very much! glad you liked the video :-)
Thank you for watching! :-)
Great teachings! I Learned a lot about much more than just the intelligent charger! Thank you Brother!
Glad you enjoyed it
The reason the voltage drops is because as the battery hits Delta V or the max it can take the voltage will actually slightly drop a little. This is normal and how the charger determines when the battery is at full charge.
Hi Chris Sinclair
Thank You very much! glad you liked the video :-)
Thank you for watching! :-)
Back from Cuba catching up on all your video's , nice to see you getting alot of work done on your house..
Hi Chris Lowe
Thank You very much! welcome back,, did you enjoy the heat :-)
Thank you for watching! :-)
Heat yes, back to -15C No.
I have a predecessor of this charger which only works for AA and AAA batteries (NiMH and NiCd only), since these are the batteries I normally use. I bought it in 2010 or 2011, so it's rather old but it still works and charges my Eneloops just fine (which are the same age).
Hi Seegal Galguntijak
Thank You very much!
Thank you for watching! :-)
After seeing you using this in your videos I picked one of these up, they really are good and work well at testing older batteries
Hi Michael Simmonds
Cool,, I have four more in order..
Thank you for watching! :-)
Halfway through your videos i order one👍
Hi Bjorn Stout
Thank You very much! glad you liked the video :-)
Thank you for watching! :-)
Hello... this charger - tester from what I have seen is very old, if mention is made of the most recent version 2.2 but it is still many years old. Is there any other more modern and better charger - tester?
This video is also not new anymore...
Hello Sir, thats a great video! I have two questions please: How long take to complete the process for Charge/Test and also for the Discharge/Refresh for example for a single 18650 3000mah?
It can take a while,, if the battery is empty and has a good capacity. 4-8 hours is not un-normal. and 12-24 hours for batteries that act up,, I think I do about 20 batteries a day.... when I do batteries.
@@MyPlayHouse Thank you for the fast reply!
Just wondering... all these charge cycles must consume a lot of power. And discharging is converted in heat. Do devices exist that work in tandem and feed the power during a dischange cycle into a second unit’s charge cycle and only using the powersupply when there is not enough power left? Thank you for making these video’s!
Hi Freddy Lauwers
Thank You very much! 7-11W per cell,, it is not that bad. I do not think they reuse the power,,, that would be smart!
Thank you for watching! :-)
YES AT HKJ's reviews!!! he is a god on Budget Light Forum and really knows how to test chargers and batteries
Hi SuperBrainAK
Thank You very much! glad you liked the video :-)
Thank you for watching! :-)
I have a similar charger from LaCrosse, the problem with it is that it doesn't see extremely discharged batteries (keeps showing "null" instead). So have to charge those for a bit in a dumb wall-plugged charger, and only then the smart one starts seeing them. Did you notice such a problem with this one?
Hi rm
Thank You very much! I have not come across this yet,, but I do the same thing,, I pre charge in a dumb charger,, but that was just to not waste time in the discharger,, I have ordered four more OPUS BT-C3100 now :-) and more dumb chargers too :-)
Thank you for watching! :-)
Yes. Infortunately my Opus 3100 v. 2.2 too doesn't see very low charged NiMH batteries. So I have to precharge them in a dumb wall charger for just few seconds. Do you know if It is the same thing with Li Ion and LiPo batteries? May be you have told this in the video but infortunately I don't understand English at all ☺️. Thank you
you can probably get the lacrosse to charge the null by shorting the positive to another battery that is charging for a couple seconds. works for me.
You should do what Julian Ilett does and use the 12v from your solar charged batteries as a power source for chargers like this. If I recall this charger is fine at the 12-13v that fully charged lead acid batteries sit around. Thanks for the video!
Hi Kevin Clingerman
Thank You very much! but I have a 48v system.
Thank you for watching! :-)
Ah yes I forgot about that. You could use a DC-DC converter with adjustable output voltage still though :D
Hi Kevin Clingerman
Yes I could do that.
Thank you for watching! :-)
Here is a review Julian Ilett did of one that would work with 48v input: ruclips.net/video/8TRGoo66jm0/видео.html
Yes is excellent charger and easy to operate with...
Hi Bostjan Trancar
I do not disagree..
Thank you for watching! :-)
How do you know when a battery is finished charging?
When it i4.2volt, and not taking in more current.
I think Dodge builds some nice chargers as well.
Hi soccerzockt
Thank You very much! glad you liked the video :-)
Thank you for watching! :-)
sigh as much as i hate PWM discharging i guess i will just change the resistors inside and call it good enough, wouldnt be able to do much current with Ni-Mh but thats ok. @19:00 thats gold explanation of how to properly build a series battery
Hi SuperBrainAK
Thank You very much! glad you liked the video :-)
Thank you for watching! :-)
Tak. Good job. I'll order one straight away :-)
Hi Bo Tornvig
Good choice,, I have six of them,, I am the bottleneck now :-/
Thank you for watching! :-)
The "gymnastics mode" is more useful for NiMH or NiCd batteries, Li-Ion batteries don't really benefit from that, they rather deteriorate with these additional cycles put on them.
Hi Seegal Galguntijak
Thank You very much! I am playing with the bad batteries right now,, those that did not give me 1000mAh at a discharge rate at 500mA,, It seams to help to cycle those. (It is a total waste of my time,, but I enjoy it :-)
Thank you for watching! :-)
Charging a Lithium-Ion battery that is almost full with the highest current isn't good for it either, normal charging cycles like in a phone or a laptop will throttle the charging current down when the battery has reached 80% of its capacity.
Hi Seegal Galguntijak
Thank You very much! I am playing with the 200mA charge and discharge,, for the bad cells.
Thank you for watching! :-)
Yes, normally it is said for Lithium-Ion batteries that they are the most healthy when they are charged with 0.1C, so a 2000mAh battery would be charged at 200mA. Although most of them can stand much more, it seems to be just a longevity thing...
Actually, not only is that not good, doing that would also raise the voltage above 4.2V, destroying the battery, which would catch fire (and that's for sure!).
@@Seegalgalguntijak Higher charging rates weld the lithium and components to the anode membrane, thus shortening the number of cycles. This is why the MC3000 allows you to dial in the charging amps - granularly. Also each battery slot is completely independent from the other.
Do you have overheating problems with your opus?
Hi Rippin Engines
Sometimes I will have a battery that charges for days, and becomes hot,, usually I can take it out of the charger for like 2 hours,, and back in and it will be all good.
Thank you for watching! :-)
My PlayHouse ya mine overheats if they all discharge at 1 amp.
Hmm handy device :-D
There is a switch inside them to change the charge limit voltage, odd that.
Hi zx8401ztv
Thank You very much! I did see a headline on a video about that,,
Thank you for watching! :-)
I believe the internal switch will adapt the charger for LiFePO4 batteries. i.e. the charger will charge to about 3.6 volts instead of 4.2 volts. Also, this would be a good charge point for long term storage of Li Ion batteries as it's healthier for the battery to be at 3.6 volts rather than 4.2 volts.
i just wish this charer had a graphing function too something you could hook up to computer if need be
Hi dtec30
Thank You very much! Yes that would be so cool!
Thank you for watching! :-)
how were you charging and testing before this?
Hi James stranger
I was using an iMAX B6AC,,, one cell at the time.
Thank you for watching! :-)
My PlayHouse
I see the 3100 and 3400 chargers. whats the diff? if all goes well. I'll have 300 cells to build into 7s packs. and I'll need to test . and match for balancing
They are practically the same,but the 3400 DISCHARGES to 3.0 Volts, and the 3100 to 2.8 Volts (the 3100 therefore gives a higher Capacity reading of the Battery/Cell)
If the cell won't hold 4.2v after charging it's degraded
Hi Mark Williams
Thank You very much! I will be charging the banks every day,, If they lose the charge to fast, I do not use them.
Thank you for watching! :-)
If you press and hold the display button for 10 seconds, the display will stay on untill you cut off the power.
Hi Leo C
Thank You very much! Good trick!!
Thank you for watching! :-)
will it work with 21700 battery?
Hi cheetahkid
Batteries Supported:
Li-ion/IMR/LifePO4 10340, 10350, 10440, 10500, 12340, 12500, 12650
13450, 13500, 13650, 14350, 14430, 14500, 14650
16500, 16340(RCR123), 16650, 17350, 17500, 17650, 17670
18350, 18490, 18500, 18650, 18700
20700, 21700, 22500, 22650, 25500, 26500, 26650
Ni-MH(Ni-CD) - AA -AAA - C
Glad you liked the video :-)
Thank you for watching! :-)
thank, I have watched you for the past year, show some interesting stuff that I like to do. Keep it up.
@@cheetahkidI watched another review where it stated 21700 can be used with this.
wow morten that's a good deal i paid $45 ausd for the charger
Hi dtec30
Thank You very much! Yes not bad,, I have 4 more in order :-)
Thank you for watching! :-)
That price is for each of the chargers
Hi Curtis Jarvis
Think there is a link in the description,, see them there :-)
Thank you for watching! :-)
I got a real charge out of this video... :)
Hi Unkyjoe's Playhouse
Thank You very much! I picked up the second packets from you to day,, so that came :-) NO sweets :-/
Thank you for watching! :-)
Sorry, they sent the box back to me for no signature, so I stole all the sweets and ate them before sending it back to you, it's hard work dealing with the US Postal service :)
BTC miner and The numbers is code for the price you buy at
Hi PassFissn
Thank You very much! 3100 is the Hash of the tiny controller :-)
Thank you for watching! :-)
BORING I want to see paint dry again. IE tedious, dull, monotonous, repetitive, unrelieved, unvaried, unimaginative, uneventful; Cheers
Hi T Komoski
Thank You very much! be sure to use the 2x speed in youtube so I only waste ½ your time.... :-/
Thank you for watching! :-)
LOL, I like your product reviews this one wasn't catching me.