The Magic-Flight Box
- Thread starter magicflight
- Start date
Along with the MH-C9000 you may want to look at the Opus BT-C3100 charger.
Compared to the PowerEx the BT-C3100 is quicker to setup, has similar functions (simultaneously charging and/or discharging four batteries with different settings) and readouts, costs a little less, and will also charge the 3.7v battery from the Arizer Air as well as many flashlights and cameras.
I've had both units on my kitchen counter for a few weeks now.
I strongly disagree about the MH-C9000 being "a bit arcane for the average user."
1. plug charger into AC outlet
2. insert battery
3. respond to prompt for MODE by pressing ENTER to select CHARGE
4. respond to prompt for SET CHARGE RATE by pressing ENTER to select 1000ma, or press the down arrow to select a lower (500ma is what I often use) value before pressing enter.
5. walk away and forget.
Pretty simple even if you're totally wasted .... as am I ahorita
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OF
Well-Known Member
Four years, about time don'cha think? You must be on your second (or even 3rd) ounce by now? Got your money's worth from the first batch........
Cycle life depends too much on treatment to make useful projections I think. Anything from a hundred or so (for bad abuse) to a thousand (for 'near ideal') is probably possible. The keys are avoiding deep discharges (past 1.1 Volts IIRC) and never miss termination (charger failure, instantly fatal).
Otherwise they are basically the same deal as before (just optimized for what we want......BRUTE POWER). The chemistry is basically the same, mechanical construction (thicker/wider conductors) modified. The should last much like the originals. You'll need another set in 2019 or so........
I'm sure you'll enjoy them, they are superior.
OF
lwien
Well-Known Member
So yesterday, just for grins, I put my old (original batts) on my BC-700 in refresh mode just to see what they had left. When I first put them on, they read 1589/2030 after the first cycle. They are on the third cycle now and they are reading 2280/2310 respectively and those numbers will probably go up a bit in a few more cycles, so looking at these numbers, it looks like they just needed a bit of refreshing exercise.
Just got the glyphs yesterday, so now with four batts available, I think 2019 is off the table, eh?
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OF
Well-Known Member
I would not bet the farm on that. Remember, higher mAh batteries are useless in the Box. Internal resistance, which rises as it ages, can prevent the battery from delivering that current at a fast enough rate to satisfy our little friend. That could well end their useful life while they still work fine in a flashlight.
MFLB needs like 15 Amps, far outside most batteries ability.
Enjoy them, I'm sure you'll be impressed.
OF
OF
Well-Known Member
Yes, you need to be careful. I use them in a couple of one cell (important) LED lights that don't have a switch in the tailcap (not so important, in that case you will just have trouble shutting it off). You have to avoid multi cell deals where they can touch bodies and situations where the tube they're in is not electrically the same as the body.
The CMG (the unit in question) is a great little light IMO. Not very powerful, but plenty for emergencies, walking in the dark or poking into dark corners. Waterproof, very solid aluminum body (you couldn't damage it running over it with your car on a bet), runs a LOT of time on even marginal batteries. I have a couple, including a military marked one (our govt. gave it a number and bought them as produced.....a 'mil spec' flashlight). I used to use them to 'use up' disposable AA cells that no longer worked in other things, now I 'recycle' old MFLB batteries for this. A recommended flashlight if you're so inclined. Modest, but a very serious performer that will last a very long time. Mine are probably 10 years old and have worn out a bunch of batteries.
http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/cmg_infinity2.htm
http://flashlightsunlimited.com/infinity.htm#.Vjt38MnSO9I
The point I was making is that just because a battery charger says it's got useful capacity doesn't mean the MFLB will agree.
OF
lwien
Well-Known Member
Gotcha. Understood.
One more question for ya. I only do one session every other day. I use the MFLB strictly as a maintenance hitter. In other words, once I get to the level I want to be at with either the LSV or the MV, I'll take a hit from the MFLB just to maintain where I'm at. So the MFLB typically gets hit once every other day.
With my old batts, I would use just one batt until it got kinda weak in the MFLB and then put it on the charger while switching out to the other batt that was fully charged about a month ago. Rinse and repeat. This is how I rotated the batts. Would I have been better off just using one batt fresh off the charger, use and then charge again until it finally died over a period of months and trashing it before bringing the other batt into play rather than rotating the batts as I did or.............being that I use them so infrequently, it really doesn't make difference. (hope I was clear in explaining this)
Edit: I just edited the post above to be a bit more clear.
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OF
Well-Known Member
Tough call IMO. In similar spots I favor the idea of a 'batch' of batteries in rotation (even if it's only two) that way you have a handy unit to compare performance with. It can remove the 'has this battery suddenly gone south on me?' issue. As long as they perform more or less alike I tend to continue using them that way. It's like having a backup in service, each battery backing up the rest.
I do a similar 'reference' routine with other vapes. For instance, I have a 'brand new' factory 18650 for my Airs. I keep it in reserve, but used it a while back when I questioned the one in the unit. Nice to have a reference.
The next fellow along is likely to do it different....... "It's all good" as they say.
OF
lwien
Well-Known Member
Yeah. The reason I asked is because the batts see a LOT more downtime when I rotate them as I have. Didn't know if it was better for them to be idle like that or to exercise them a bit more often.
If I didn't rotate them, the only batt that wouldn't be charged would be the one that is sitting there waiting for the other one to fail.
I'm fucking over-thinking this, eh?
Either way, I'm gonna try one of my older batts that has just been refreshed in the MFLB tonight while charging up the glyphs and then try a glyph next for comparisons sake.
If I didn't rotate them, the only batt that wouldn't be charged would be the one that is sitting there waiting for the other one to fail.
I'm fucking over-thinking this, eh?
Either way, I'm gonna try one of my older batts that has just been refreshed in the MFLB tonight while charging up the glyphs and then try a glyph next for comparisons sake.
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OF
Well-Known Member
Self discharge aside, I don't think there's a worthwhile difference.
The keys remain don't over discharge, keep them cool and avoid failure to terminate (lame charger) at all costs. One over deep discharge or failed charge termination can be fatal.
OF
lwien
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I'll charge at the highest rate that the BC-700 charges at to help it to keep from a missed termination and I'll stop using the batts when I notice the hits getting a lot weaker but still lighting up that LED and I never let them get hot so I think I'm ok.
Between the MFLB batts and my plethora of Eneloops, my charger has yet to miss a termination (gimme some wood to knock on....hehe), and unlike the MFLB chargers, my batts never come off the charger hot. A bit warm, but never hot.
Just did some checking around and found this excellent in-depth review (scopes, charts, infra-red, etc.) of the BT-C3100 charger if anyone's interested: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?389732-Test-Review-of-Charger-Opus-BT-C3100-V2-1
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One thing I've noticed with the glyph batteries are that they don't hold a charge quite as long in storage as the older stock ones did... I generally do a trench at a time and not just one hit so what I do is switch out between a pair with each trench.
...
I found that the glyphs were somewhere between HSD and LSD batteries. They are good for about a week, IIRC. I probably posted about it when I did the test, or maybe that was in my beta test report.
His_Highness
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
I use the Glyph's first and then the Imedion 2400's because the Imedion's hold a charge longer. If my Glyph's sit around without use for more than 2 weeks I may top them off. Especially if the wife complains. The freshly charged Glyph's do a better job than a freshly charged Imedion although the difference isn't that bad.
We've started to mark the Glyph's with a Sharpie that aren't performing well so we know which to put through a refresh cycle and which to simply charge up. The Glyph's that I refreshed worked surprisingly well afterwards but they also weaken quicker than the other Glyphs. I had one Glyph that I marked early on as a weak link and after the refresh it was way better but not as strong as a new Glyph. Diminishing returns on the refresh seems to be the case.
We've started to mark the Glyph's with a Sharpie that aren't performing well so we know which to put through a refresh cycle and which to simply charge up. The Glyph's that I refreshed worked surprisingly well afterwards but they also weaken quicker than the other Glyphs. I had one Glyph that I marked early on as a weak link and after the refresh it was way better but not as strong as a new Glyph. Diminishing returns on the refresh seems to be the case.
For easy marking try wrapping the end of the batteries with 1" wide cloth tape.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W2DLEX0
Wrap carefully so that the edge of the tape is closely aligned with the negative end of the battery. No problem if it take a couple of tries to get it aligned ... you've got enough tape for a lifetime of battery wrapping.
When the tape wrapped battery is pushed in to make contact, the edge of the tape will be extremely close to the side of the MFLB .... and when released there will be 1/8" of bare battery exposed.
Now you have immediate visual feedback that the battery is NOT heating your herb as well as having a history log.
Instead of cramped writing on the batteries, I use colored felt-tip pens (is it PC to say "colored" in 2015?) to make various small shapes (square, circle, plus, X, etc.) to make a coded record on each battery. Example: a hollow red circle means the battery was purchased in March 2015 and a green hollow circle means September 2015. A small tick mark near the positive edge of the tape for each recharge ... lots of possibilities for OCD record keeping!
Take care of your batteries, and your batteries will take care of your Launch Box.
Take care of your Launch Box, and it will take care of your head!
Dynalowrider
Well-Known Member
A one pound Folgers can, (red plastic), works as a "bong case", for an Orbiter. It may look funky as is, but you wouldn't confuse it for a "bong case". Put a couple of notches in the right places, it can be used on the go. Use your imagination.
OF
Well-Known Member
Both. That number came originally from MF. It sounded big to me so I tried measuring it myself, not at all easy. I finally used the voltage drop down one of the copper rails (the minus one). One volt meter lead on the loop/battery body the other poked in the hole in the front to make contact. I calibrated at about 3 Amps from a bench supply the let rip with a real battery. I got answers around 15A, I think that number is good.
BTW that's at about 3/4 of a Volt across the screen rails so we're talking about 12 Watts, which also seems reasonable to me given the performance.
Not at all trivial
Makes sense, who wants to be left off that list?
OF
caves
Living the vape life
It's kinda ghetto, but I've been using the box it came in since I got it at launch. I set the orbiter in the center of a handkerchief, pull all four corners to the top, drop it in the box, and close it. The size is pretty much as small as you can get, and the handkerchief provides enough padding to survive any drops or bangs. The Orbiter is pretty durable in the first place.
peaceonearth
High since 1968
Wish I had time to read all 1026 
pages, but as I've been loving my MFLB for over 5 years wanted to at least check in here. Tried Firefly, Haze & Ascent but kept returning to my trusty little on-demand cloud maker. For a long while I was mostly using it with the power adaptor to get productive hits, but with the glyph batteries I no longer need the PA - so great to be untethered! Also recently picked up the WPA and a cheap but sweet little bubbler, my first - and um, wow! 
It was cool to see this article in the New York Times Magazine this week about the MFLB, and vaping in general. Glad to see this kind of info appearing in mainstream media.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/m...-82828841&mc_cid=fb94d16656&mc_eid=5959ea41c7
pages, but as I've been loving my MFLB for over 5 years wanted to at least check in here. Tried Firefly, Haze & Ascent but kept returning to my trusty little on-demand cloud maker. For a long while I was mostly using it with the power adaptor to get productive hits, but with the glyph batteries I no longer need the PA - so great to be untethered! Also recently picked up the WPA and a cheap but sweet little bubbler, my first - and um, wow! It was cool to see this article in the New York Times Magazine this week about the MFLB, and vaping in general. Glad to see this kind of info appearing in mainstream media.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/m...-82828841&mc_cid=fb94d16656&mc_eid=5959ea41c7
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