West Mountain radio CBAIII

[chuckufarley]

Just got mine the other day ...... Oh... to not have to guess with inaccurate testing, this thing is SWEET!! Doesn't like LINUX though.... ANy of you guys have tips, hints, uses that may not be on the instructions....or hacks for upgrading this things capabilities? I've looked for a thread but I can't seem to find one....Dr Bass ....I just got a serious upgrade for my EVIL LAB!!! Thanks Bro!

[CamLight]

I did an analysis of the CBA II (warning...heavy reading) and had a mod to lower the operating temperature: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=8009, The CBA III can operate up to 100W or so without overheating but if you're in a high ambient temp environment, additional cooling is advisable.

Another thread is here: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=13761

Some tips:
- Don't use a hub, peripheral or laptop USB port to power the CBA. Use a desktop's port so you get a 500mA port and not a limited 100mA port (which the CBA often doesn't like).
- Avoid discharging over 30A or so to prevent components getting so hot that they unsolder themselves from the circuit board.
- Using the CBA (any model) with higher voltage packs, above 12V or so, risks the random destruction of the MOSFETs even if the discharge is well below the rated max power of the CBA. This is a limitation of the MOSFETs they use and can't be worked around without replacing the FETs.

They're fantastic units though, even with their limitations.

[miro13car]

What I did on mine CBAIII , I got rid of flimsy connector /the hottest spot of CBAIII during test/ and soldered AWG 10 wires direct into board
Fan is excellent quality so I cannot find better.
Anyway basic CBA III suffers from lack of calibration

[The Mighty Volt]

Hi there. I also own a CBA III and have noticed the Shitty Andersons get too hot. Any slight movement then throws the reading all over the place. Not good.

In any event, I have a 36v 16Ah battery that I would like to test at around 80A constant discharge.

Can anyone suggest a modification using resistors or the like that would help me achieve this.

Thanks.

[miro13car]

The Mighty Volt,
exactely.
I run tests of A123 20Ah over 40 of them ONLY at 20A and the weakest point of all set up was shitty Andersons.
Even slight 1mm movement of wires resulted in voltage changes displayed on charts - poor contact.
I cannot even imagine to run my tests at say 50Amps with such connector.
I dont care what those Andersons are rated for , they are not enough.
I understand WMR manufacturer wanted to make it compact and cheap but they went too cheap with this one.
After soldering beefy AWG 10 wires readings and chart are stable .
I realize CBA III should be calibrated with this modification but I do not have this option

[The Mighty Volt]

Thanks Mirko I agree 100%

can anyone show a photo of their CBA III opened up with this mod for heat?

Thanks.

Its an expensive piece of kit, I don't want to damage it until I have instructions. Thanks.