Rechargable vs. Non-Rechargable Batteries - AA/AAA Size

[retiredcaps]

I finally found my first set of AA Eneloops.  They are 10+ years old.
The last time I ran a capacity measurement on this initial set, I think it was still close to 1900mAh.

Ran discharge capacity test yesterday on the two cells above. I get 1894 and 1869 mAh.  Not bad after 10+ years and > 1500 cycles.

[Halcyon]

I guess this brings me to my next question... can anyone recommend a good quality smart charger? Ideally it should support the usual sizes at least (AA, AAA) but 9 volt and C size would be a "nice to have".

It should also have a discharge mode and ability to evaluate life/capacity.

I'd like it to be a "table top" model, rather than those big chunky plug-in/wall-wart types.

[Berni]

I use one of these for all my batteries:
http://www.liito-kala.com/page92?product_id=6

Yes it is chinese, but it is a well known chinese brand (So watch out for counterfit fakes of it). But it is cheap and works well. Takes all the popular battery types and auto detects the chemistry. It has adjustable charging current, measures the charge time and capacity along with cell internal resistance (tho that last feature doesn't seam all that accurate for me). It also runs from 12V so it fits on a lot of common 12V power adapters and includes a cigarette socket cable. It also has modes for testing capacity of a battery where it puts it trough a full cycle, tho that feature is a bit slow since it does not have active cooling, so it can't discharge very fast.

Only thing to watch out for is to not leave batteries inside it when it is disconnected from power. This makes it go into battery bank mode where it uses the power from the batteries to power that 5V USB socket, so it can drain the batteries over a long period.

[Miti]

I have this one and I’m happy with it:

https://mahaenergy.com/mh-c9000/

[David Hess]

I guess this brings me to my next question... can anyone recommend a good quality smart charger? Ideally it should support the usual sizes at least (AA, AAA) but 9 volt and C size would be a "nice to have".

It should also have a discharge mode and ability to evaluate life/capacity.

I'd like it to be a "table top" model, rather than those big chunky plug-in/wall-wart types.

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.

[Miti]

I guess this brings me to my next question... can anyone recommend a good quality smart charger? Ideally it should support the usual sizes at least (AA, AAA) but 9 volt and C size would be a "nice to have".

It should also have a discharge mode and ability to evaluate life/capacity.

I'd like it to be a "table top" model, rather than those big chunky plug-in/wall-wart types.

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.

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.
The user interface looks identical to me on the pro.

[james_s]

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.

[Miti]

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.

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

[beanflying]

Not a fully recommended product as I have only used it 5 or 6 times and it lives in the truck for on the road use eBay auction: #154503330184 but fairly well put together for the price point and independent charging of each cell. Cells came off well charged and not hot so something was working properly 

[deadlylover]

Great resource here by HKJ, one of us. 

I'm still using the Maha C9000 from a decade ago, so I don't know what's good value here in Australia. My next charger might be the SkyRC MC3000.

[james_s]

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.

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

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]

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.

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

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.

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]

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.

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]

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.

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.

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.

The user interface looks identical to me on the pro.

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.

[Miti]

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.

It doesn’t matter if you select 200 or 500mA. You’ll get pulses of 1A IIRC with different duty cycles.