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Screen-Shot-12-15-18-at-09-02-PM

Screen-Shot-12-15-18-at-09-02-PM-001

Screen-Shot-12-15-18-at-09-03-PM

 

  Sent for review by Xtar
 Product page http://www.xtar.cc/products_detail/productId=203.html

  The MC3 charger is a USB charger in as much as it needs a USB port to plug into . This by it's very nature means that the abilities of the USB power source will to a great effect determine charge current . In other words you can not put out more than comes in ( current / power ) . So if you don't want to charge batteries at high current , you simply use a USB adapter with a lower current level . A little primitive as far as current selection goes , but very effective when you want to control a charger with no manual settings . I tend to use a USB Charge Doctor ( USB current meter ) to keep an eye on charge current as it is a very visual means of seeing when charging is complete . 

 

  It seems that the charge doctor reports very close to the charge going into the batteries . So if I see 1A at the charge doctor then it is almost a given that 1A is going into the batteries , how ever that current is divided between the batteries .  So far with my USB power adapters the highest current I have seen is around 1.8A ( USB adapter being 2A ) .

 I have actually lost count of the number of 18650 I have put through the MC3 from Xtar , it must be around 12 batteries so far with 2 more being videoed right now as I type this . Seriously , I can't sit and watch analogue meters whilst batteries charge . That's like watching grass grow , better to just video it !  To date every battery put through the MC3 has come out at about 4.18 or 4.17 volts ( 14 batteries ) . That's either a hell of a coincidence or the MC3 is doing something right .

 

 So from what I saw on the meters , the charger holds the current and voltage slowly rises . Once the desired voltage is reached then the charge current begins to drop .  This happens in stages and there might be some overlap as voltage and current are adjusted by the charger ( ? ) .   

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Over all I am very happy with the performance of the MC3 from Xtar . I like the terminating voltage , the charger so far looks to run cool and I have not detected any warm batteries . I must confess I am not running the MC3 as hard as it could possibly be run , nor am I pushing my 18650 with a lot of current as I am very much into the slow cook these days ( lower current charging ) . And one simply choses a USB source that delivers the current you want to limit the charger with . The MC3 is simply great and does a really good job of charging my 18650 . The build quality is really good , the sliders are firm and smooth with no binding . The bottom line is , so far I have found nothing to complain about . For the MC3 , 10 out of 10 Xtar .