General > General Technical Chat
Rechargable vs. Non-Rechargable Batteries - AA/AAA Size
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james_s:

--- Quote from: Miti on July 31, 2021, 01:07:22 am ---
--- Quote from: james_s on July 30, 2021, 05:17:29 pm ---I have a LaCrosse BC-900 charger that I've been pretty happy with. A major downside is it only handles AA and AAA cells although I've used clip leads and magnets to connect it to larger cells.

--- End quote ---

I have this model as well but I can’t recommend it. It cooked my batteries. Maha never does it.

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Any idea what happened? I've been using mine regularly for about 10 years, a friend of mine has the same charger that he bought a few months earlier, so far I've never had a problem with it.
Miti:

--- Quote from: james_s on July 31, 2021, 05:45:25 am ---
--- Quote from: Miti on July 31, 2021, 01:07:22 am ---
--- Quote from: james_s on July 30, 2021, 05:17:29 pm ---I have a LaCrosse BC-900 charger that I've been pretty happy with. A major downside is it only handles AA and AAA cells although I've used clip leads and magnets to connect it to larger cells.

--- End quote ---

I have this model as well but I can’t recommend it. It cooked my batteries. Maha never does it.

--- End quote ---

Any idea what happened? I've been using mine regularly for about 10 years, a friend of mine has the same charger that he bought a few months earlier, so far I've never had a problem with it.

--- End quote ---

I think it doesn’t detect the end of change properly. The batteries are very hot at the end of charge and they get damaged. With Maha, the batteries are reasonably warm at the end of charge.

Edit: On the other hand, the maximum current is higher than what you set. It doesn’t have a real current control but rather a duty cycle control. The average current may be what you set, but the peak is much higher. Maha has four big inductors which make four separate controllable current sources, I guess. What you set is what you get. That’s TBD though, I haven’t checked.
bson:
I only use eneloops for AA/AAA.  They never leak and destroy whatever I put them in.  Everything else is secondary.
james_s:

--- Quote from: Miti on July 31, 2021, 11:34:12 am ---I think it doesn’t detect the end of change properly. The batteries are very hot at the end of charge and they get damaged. With Maha, the batteries are reasonably warm at the end of charge.

Edit: On the other hand, the maximum current is higher than what you set. It doesn’t have a real current control but rather a duty cycle control. The average current may be what you set, but the peak is much higher. Maha has four big inductors which make four separate controllable current sources, I guess. What you set is what you get. That’s TBD though, I haven’t checked.

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Interesting, I've never actually measured the current, I just took its word for it. Seems to work fine for me though, I have Eneloops that are over 10 years old that have always been charged in it. I typically use 200 or 500mA though, I have enough batteries that I'm rarely in a rush.
David Hess:

--- Quote from: Miti on July 30, 2021, 04:34:37 pm ---
--- Quote from: David Hess on July 30, 2021, 02:58:55 pm ---I have a now discontinued MH-C9000 which works well enough but after a couple years of light use, the aluminum electrolytic capacitors needed to be replaced.  This is not the first time I have had to do this and I suspect this is a common problem on all similar chargers.

It has a poorly designed user interface which apparently the MH-C9000PRO which replaced it has fixed.
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Really, how did you figure out the caps are bad? Did it show some signs or you just opened it? Mine still works well for many years but now you made me worry.
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The unit started having problems detecting battery state and end of charge.  After I pulled it apart, I saw the aluminum electrolytic capacitors and immediately suspected them.  Testing on my impedance bridge revealed low capacitance and high dissipation indicating significant degradation.  I replaced them with 40+ year old dry tantalum capacitors.


--- Quote ---The user interface looks identical to me on the pro.
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The problem with the MH-C9000 is that you have to enter the parameters like charge current every time for each battery.  The MH-C9000PRO apparently remembers the last entered parameters.
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