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La Crosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower Battery Charger |
Thanks for a great product
I have two BC-900 and I'm mightily satisfied.
When you catch up testing and refreshing and charging all of your rechargeable batteries, there's a let-down or feeling of ennui as you realize there are no more batteries to fix. It makes you want to run radios and flashlights just to run down the batteries.
Perhaps we can call it the "empty battery nest syndrome"...
Most standard chargers can't tell if one of the batteries you're charging isn't keeping up with the rest. They're all charged for the same amount of time with no regard for the individual battery's condition. By charging each battery individually you can find out if one of them isn't charging to it's fullest capacity which will ultimately determine how long that camera, flash unit, or toy runs. If you've got a bad battery in with the others it's going to shorten the run time of whatever it's in.
You can run it through the discharge/charge cycle and bring it back to it's fullest capacity, or if you find that it's just run out of life and is no longer taking a full charge you can take it out of service and eliminate the source of shortened run times in you electronic appliances.
The refresh mode to me takes too long, several days sometimes, to discharge and charge the battery repeatedly until it can hold no higher capacity. I've found just running one that may be lagging behind through the regular discharge mode a time or two which discharges and then charges the battery one time seems to bring back a battery that has lost it's energy.
After you've run your batteries on the "smart" La Crosse charger you'll find that they last longer because they've been individually charged to their highest individual capacity instead of being cut off mid charge because the "dumb" charger has no way of knowing whether the individual battery has really been fully charged.
It's a good thing...
This charger brought them back to life. It works great and I love seeing the information on the batteries, instead of just one little light.
Works as advertised. The included batteries, case etc. are great. Highly recommended charger.
I was nervous about the charger getting hot or burning up as others may suggest. The charger does not get hot; however batteries, like with any charger, may get warm depending upon the charge rate and the battery. I've checked and charged all my nimh batteries (over 40), and none have gotten hot. The charger also has two thermal shutoff switches, which you can see under the battery slot.
Definitely buy the BC900 with the battery kit since it gives you more flexibility in charge rate over the BC700, and you also get the extra batteries and adapters for not much more.
By the way, using the refresh mode takes several days, 5 days in my case before all 4 batteries registered "Full".
When I received the BC-900 charger, one of the batteries included was dead, and would not take a charge. Not a major problem, and easy to resolve- right? Wrong!
When I notified Lacrosse Technologies, I was informed that the battery had probably dropped below a minimum charge level, and that since the BC-900 could not charge it, I needed to purchase another charger (from a different company) to get it up to the required minimum charge in order that the BC-900 I purchased would work!
I suggested that since they supplied a defective product (the battery), they should either replace it or supply me with the required charger at their expense. Their customer support refused to provide the third-party charger, and informed me that their one year warranty only covered their charger, not the batteries supplied with it. When I pointed out that this was both awful customer service, not to mention a pretty crummy advertisement for their product, they agreed to repair or replace the battery, but just this once, since they were not obliged to, and really just doing me a favor.
Let's go over this again- Lacrosse sold me a charger that they admitted could not charge one of the batteries included with it, told me to purchase a charger from another company to charge the battery they sold me, then refused to replace or charge the battery since it was not covered by their warranty. They weren't even ashamed to put all this in writing! What a way to run a company.
- Charges two or four batteries at a time only
- Can't mix AA and AAA batteries
- Seems to charge batteries uneven
- Overheat batteries, decrease their life
- Can't monitor health of battery
This charger solved all my problems
- Charge one, two, three or four, AA or AAA, any combination, any time, any order, any charge current !!
- Monitor voltage when battery inserted, can check how deeply discharged the battery was.
- Voltage function also can also be monitor of battery health. For example, one device that takes two batteries in series, both should discharge evenly if they are same capacity and show the same voltage when inserted in charger. Found some end-of-life batteries that were deeply discharged while the other was holding significant charge.
- Monitor battery health with charge time: same idea, take two batteries from same device, if one takes twice or more time to charge, it means that battery might have a problem.
The capability of checking battery life was worth every $ of this charger. My mp3, flashlights, toothbrush and any other battery operated devices run with fully charged healthy batteries all the time. No guessing, no cursing at mp3 dying at midday, no throwing away good batteries. Highly recommended product!
First off the bundle is quite generous. It comes with various adapters, 4 batteries and a handy carrying pouch.
I use a lot of different types of batteries with this charger and you can mix and match since each battery slot has it's own power rail and is controlled independently from the others.
So you could be charging a AAA in one, a high capacity in another, and refreshing 2 other batteries all at the same time.
The device is easy to use, but does require you to read the manual to understand the wealth of features it has.
Very highly recommended!
It definitely pays to read the informative instruction book with this item. I was a little put off at first as I didn't want to think that much about charging batteries. But it pays to understand what it will do. This is a battery charger that has a variety of modes and using the Discharge and Refresh modes is important for reaching the potential of your batteries. And the variety of current charge rates means you don't have to fry the batteries to get them charged. Slow and cool is the way to go.
I've had mine for about two months and I wish I'd had it much sooner. I tossed three chargers and at least as much $$ as I spent on this one. Plus I bought some more batteries thinking the ones I had were pooped out but they weren't at all. They were fine. They just needed to be "refreshed" which can take a few days if you do it slow but the process really pumps them back up. I'm just using mine for AA batteries for my camera and flash.
If you're going to spend the day taking pictures in the boonies, it's very nice to have some confidence that you're not hauling around dead weight. The BC-900 will make that as possible as a battery charger can.
I like it.
This is a MUST buy if you use a lot of rechargeable batteries... it will save you money easily over the long run compared to using other chargers. The extra batteries and accessories also adds value to the charger package. mine is v35 with the newer AA 2600mAh and AAA 1000mAh batteries.
Finally received it. The many positive and detailed reviews of this product are on target. Although it is relatively expensive compared to others on the market, its functionality, versatility and the information it provides on each battery justify the price. It definitely merits 5 stars.
Lots of great features for a reasonable (not cheap) price.
I originally owned a set of 4 Energizer 1700 mAH and 4 Energizer 2100mAH NiMh batteries. I had been using the Energizer quick charger that came with the 1700mAH batteries for a while and it served me well enough. Problems started when I bought a Canon Powershot A250 digital camera. This camera was notorious for being hard on batteries because it is a full featured camera that only holds 2 AA batteries. Even a set of Lithium batteries only seemed to get 50-75 shots. The first few times I used it I was getting 100 shots or so out of a freshly charged set of rechargeable Energizer batteries. Then, all of a sudden I was only able to get the camera to run for about 10-15 second. I realized that my batteries got shuffled around between the camera and a flashlight that I had been using. I had lost the pairing of batteries that were originally doing so well in the camera and realized it was going to take quite some time charging and swapping to find that pairing again. I thought, "Wouldn't it be great to see what each battery is doing and pair them accordingly?" So, I started to search around for 'top o' da line' chargers and came across the La Crosse BC-900. I felt the features advertised and the raving reviews would more than make up for the price. And you know what? It has!
The very first time I used the charger, the very first battery I put in the charger, it did what I had hoped it would do. It showed me which battery was the trouble maker in my batch. I plopped it into slot 1 and get a Null. I threw in the next battery and saw it was getting voltage. I unplugged the charger and did the paper clip jumper trick to try and jump start the dead cell. However, it still read null. So, I found one bad cell already from the get go -- IN THE TRASH! Now I can get on with life and worry about testing the batteries that actually work.
From doing a bit of research on this charger I already knew of some best practices. For instance, it is best to setup one battery at a time instead of putting them all in at once. Put one battery in, hold the mode button for 2 seconds, release the button, and then tap the mode button over and over to select the mode you need. Then, hold the charge button for 2 seconds, release, and tap the charger button over and over to select your mA. Wait 8 seconds and the display will flash. Place the next battery in the next slot and rinse/repeat. I also know that a 200 mA charging rate is a legacy setting that shouldn't be used for anything except the oldest of batteries. Most any modern NiMh should be able to handle at least 500 mA. However, hearing about the over heating issues with the charger I was a little hesitant to go full charge ahead at 1000mA and instead split the difference with 700 mA. I kept an eye on it for the next few hours and noticed that the charger stayed cool and quiet. I think 1000 mA will not be a problem one bit in the future. If it does overheat then that means there is a problem/old battery that needs to be discarded. There are better things in life to fret about then batteries and this charger lets you get these troublemakers out of your hair.
The results from my very first test showed me what was happening to my batteries. Apparently, I wasn't paying attention to mixing 1700 mAH batteries in with 2100 mAH batteries when using my Energizer charger. Mostly because they were all Energizer's and I assumed they were the same capacity. It wasn't until I got the bc-900 that I noticed the very tiny capacity marking on the side of the Energizer batteries. It appears the somewhat newer set of batteries that I bought were a bit more advanced. The 1700 mAH set tested up to 1680 mAH and showed they were doing good still. However, the 2100 mAH set only tested up to 1730 mAH. This means my old Energizer charger was shutting off all the cells when the weakest battery hit max charge. This developed a memory effect in the 2100 mAH batteries making them become 1700 mAH batteries. With the fact that the BC-900 has independent channel charging I no longer have to worry about this problem in the future.
I created a little spreadsheet and marked a number on the side of each individual battery with a sharpie. I recorded the voltage and the mAH of the battery so that I can keep records on each individual cell. This way I can pair cells together that rate equally with one another. I also can keep track of which ones that I need to send through a refresh cycle. I guess it is sad to say this, but I'm actually having a lot of fun recharging batteries now. I'm pretty sure I knew this already but this solidly places me in the Nerd category.
I just wanted to point out that I see lots of reviews where people are complaining that the new batteries that come with the charger are not holding the rated charge. New batteries MUST be sent through a refresh before doing a final test. Don't just do a single charge right out of the box and expect them to hold their full rated capacity. This is true with most any new rechargeable battery.
Now about the charger... I got the latest version as well, which is v35. The charger is pretty easy to understand, though I did have to read the manual- which is an issue for me. I've had the unit about a week now, and have played with it every day. I've refreshed a few sets of batteries, and frequently go by my desk to just play with the display button, and check the readings... what fun~
I took another reviewer's advice, and planted my unit atop two pens, just to give it some more breathing room. I have been charging at 500mAh, and notice just a slight bit of warmth- as you would expect- but certainly nothing to be concerned with.
My "old"- previous Bone-crushing-power-bruiser-15 minute charger, an energizer, has a built-in fan, which is great since the back of the unit states an output of 7.5A for AA, and 3A for AAA. Suprisingly it has done rather well with my rechargables over the past couple of years. It has toasted the rayovacs I had, but the other energizers are still going strong for the most part. I have not invested in the newer brands, as these are holding up.
I did purchase a Targus brand charger / 4AA batteries off ebay 6-8 months ago for use exclusively in my dig cam... I am anxious to check the capacities of the targus 2700mAh's in my new BC-900. I've been using, and charging these in pairs since their purchase, in the Targus charger. I expect the targus is okay for what it is.
In summary, this charger is awesome- its a very cool toy, and I'm thinking of buying another, as I still have a stack of batteries patiently lined up, waiting to be "refreshed"...
I have been a rechargeable battery user for quite some time now. I'd say close to 15 years. Every few years I get tired of buying disposable batteries, thinking that it is a pure waste of money. Then I tell myself, "you know Mike, you could save a lot of money, not to mention also keeping the landfill a little bit less full, if you would just use rechargeable batteries." So, after talking myself in to it, I'll purchase the newest and best rechargeable batteries. The ones with the highest amp HRS available at the time. And A charger that a find locally.
This has always ended up with the same outcome in the past. The batteries at first are great. The life of them is very comparable and sometimes better than their disposable counterpart. So I'm happy. But then, after some time, when a new battery is needed, It find them dead, without any charge left. So naturally, I have always thought that is just the way rechargeable batteries are. So then I give my rechargeable battery collective to somebody I feel at the time could use such a thing.
So here I am a $100 less wealthy and nothing to show for it. Of course I still have a good feeling that I tried something good. I at least know the flaws in this technology and I can tell other people what to expect, as to save them time and money. So at least I can feel that I have bought and something for my money.
But, with my persistence, I have finally uncovered the error of my ways. I was pretty sure if I kept at this long enough I could make it work. It turns out that the batteries are not of poor quality, but rather the charger. The run of the mill chargers do not FULLY charge the battery, so after a short time the battery will show up dead. The trouble is that it was never REALLY charged to begin with.
In a charger available at almost any store, there is more than one battery per circuit; usually two or four. The problem begins when using such a device, one battery might fill up first and then the other continues to charge until it reaches full. All the time, "burning" the first battery. Now this may be irrelevant for a month or two, but that's when your little collection becomes worthless to you. Each time a battery is "burned" by overcharging, it loses a little bit of its capacity. After 10-20 cycles, this can really be noticed easily.
But this little charger has a separate circuit for each battery, and you can put batteries of different domination (AA or AAA) into each circuit. And when the charging cycle is completed, the charger will switch over to a "trickle charge" mode. This will keep the battery full charge without "burning" it. It also has a refresh mode that says it will revive your old batteries which have developed a "memory" effect by not being fully charged. This is different from the memory effect caused by not fully draining batteries, of which NiMH are said not to obtain. I cannot review or this feature as the only batteries I have left in my collective are new.
Since I have not had this device for long, I will make an amendment to this article as time goes on.
So in short, rechargeable batteries do not suck, just the charger in the stores do. With a charger such as this, you WILL take on a different outlook on batteries. In combination with the advent of new "low discharge" batteries, you can keep the batteries charged for an entire year with only a 15% loss. I want as many people as possible to learn from my very costly mistake.
Once figured out, I like it allot. Highly Recommended !!
I have found that when a battery is inserted that reads "Null", I am able to pop that battery into my old cheapo charger, charge for a half hour or so and then use this unit to refresh the battery for use.
I would NEVER use my old cheapo charger again for any rechargeable battery that I own. I found that after I "thought" a battery was charged with the old unit, timing the charge, the battery wouldn't last any time at all, even in a wireless mouse!
Great unit and well worth the cost. If you are going to expend the money for more costly rechargeable batteries, spend a few bucks more to make sure you get a good charge, consistently! Highest Recommendation for an all around great charger!
Some users may just want to use it as a battery charger, and for that purpose it's still about the most flexible unit available -- certainly at this price. It can charge any number of cells up to four, AA and AAA mixed and of different brands and capacities if desired, and at different user-selected charging rates for each cell if desired. Outstanding!
One of the things that I was wondering, and you may be as well, is specific information on the capacities of the included batteries. Reading through the reviews it looks like La Crosse bumps up the included battery capacity periodically. The shipment I received today had 2600 mAh AA batteries and 1000 mAh AAA batteries and the charger had firmware version 35 on it. The side panel of the box does state what capacity the included batteries are. That's handy if you're in a brick & mortar store and have the box in your hands and can read the side panel, not so handy when you're ordering online and can't pick up the box.
The adapters are the same as before: AA goes into the C adapter which then goes into the D adapter. I doubt if that will change since it saves space. The case is the same as well. I agree with one of the other reviewers that it would be nice if the main compartment was actually segmented and padded to protect the charger. Not a huge thing but it would be nice.
The display is mighty handy for picking out suspect batteries. The La Crosse charger immediately showed two of my Powerex batteries were at a much lower voltage than the others even though they were all charged a few days ago. I'm pretty sure that at least one of them my old Maha 401 charger periodically didn't like. I've currently got the BC-900 putting them both through a refresh cycle.
And yes, you could check the voltage with a multimeter as well. That assumes that you have a multimeter, know where it is, that it has charged batteries, and that the cat / dog / other pet / child hasn't chewed through the test leads. I don't know about you, but by the time I manage to find the multimeter & it's pieces I've already forgotten why I was looking for it. Having the information in the charger itself means I (and probably you too) can check out suspect batteries when you're charging them without getting sidetracked and forgetting.
Programming the thing is a little clunky if you want to make it do different things to different batteries at the same time, but if you want to do the same thing all inserted batteries, it is very easy to use. So far, I'm very happy with the unit.
I do wish I'd saved some money and gotten the BC-700, because I really don't need the extras.
One note: full reconditioning of old or unused batteries can take days... No two ways around that, it's not the fault of the charger, and very very few chargers do a real reconditioning.
Honestly, I don't see any reason to buy any other charger for A or AA batteries. And, no, I have absolutely no ties to this company nor its distributors.
Nice charger, but it doesn't charge C or D cells.
"Except for the color, the BC700 looks exactly the same as the better-known BC900. However, it is actually a "handicapped" version of the old charger. Its charging current can only go up to 700mA in three steps (200/500/700). The BC900, on the other hand, can go up to 1000mA for 4 cells, or 1800mA for 2 cells. Also the BC900 package includes eight NiMH rechargeable cells (4 AA and 4 AAA), eight C/D cell adaptors, and a carrying case. The BC700 does not come with any bonus items. "
by battery makers. But, it offers more features. I like that u can charge batteries of different capacities and
they can be charged in individual sockets. The batteries that come with the charger seem to work very well.
I ended up charging up all of my RIP VAN100 batteries. Unfortunately, as some other reviewers stated a couple of my rechargeables were reading NULL. And, they won't charge up. Not sure if they are ACTUALLY dead or the charge is just not recognizing them. I haven't used the REFRESH function nor the drain and recharge functions. Overall, this charger is a little better than most. I havent read the manual in detail, and perhaps that would help to understand the readings on the meters. I can't really tell how much time is left before the batteries are full. It would be nice if a charger had that type of reading. At least you would know when to check it, and you could see how much time is left. Perhaps the meter is telling you, but, i am not really understanding 1200mh.... vs. 1550mh..... blah.....blah..... I just know that u can charge them at various
settings. They recommend slow charging as it is. So, I tend to charge them at 200 or 500.
This charger also comes with C & D adapters; But, I am not sure if i will ever use those at all.
Perhaps, in a bind and if i need a C battery it would be good to have. Overall, a pretty good deal.
The charging unit is compact and quiet. The LCD on the charging unit works great but could use a mode which cycles all readings. The buttons on the charging unit could be better. It could use a charging mode between 200 & 500 mAh for higher capacity AA batteries.
The manual is thorough in its description of how it should be used.
The storage bag is nice but a divided & padded main compartment to protect the more fragile charger would be better.
I have never charged any batteries over 500 mAh. The included batteries 4 AA 2400 mAh and 4 AAA 800 mAh work fine and are the only batteries I own/have used so far. The AA's can the larger than some alkaline and other NiMH rechargeables in girth. I ran the TEST feature on the BC-900 and here are the results:
AA (in mAh): 2390, 2330, 2560, & 2430.
AAA (in mAh): 756, 821, 807, & 805.
The battery adapters I have not used yet. I dislike having to use the 'C' inside the 'D' in using the 'D'. They could better made more sturdy.
SMALL FEET MAY MAKE FOR BIG HEAT:
The item of greatest importance is the small feet on the unit and the heat that can be produced. I took the advice of another reviewer and used two #2 pencils. This kept the heat from becoming an issue when running the test on the 2400 AA batteries at 200 mAh which took several days to charge, discharge, and charge again. I have not had heat problems when using the charger alone but wish to be safe.
I have since bought square 1/2" clear bumpers (about 1/4" thick) and put them up against the feet on the interior long sides of the unit. The bumpers also are right on the from and back edges of the unit. This position keeps them from blocking vent holes and also providing support under the buttons. The brand is Waxman #1841 and it comes with six 1/2" and six 3/4" bumpers. I got them at L*we's.
The bumpers work great and the desk I set the BC-900 on gets only slightly warm after having the working unit on it for long stretches of time. The unit itself is only mildly warm on the bottom also. Charging at 200 or 500 mAh the AA batteries are cool to the touch except maybe close to the end of charging.
The inverted metal 'V' shaped strips near the positive charging terminals are almost certainly the temperature gages used to shutdown the unit in case of overheating. If the unit is too low (its normal state with its small feet), then its internal temperature will be too high to notice overheated batteries before they meltdown.
I also bought a Sanyo NC-MQNO5U charger to do most of the charging so I can save the BC-900 for diagnostic work and refreshing batteries. It charges more moderately but heats batteries more near the end. Battery temperature is what I believe is used to tell Sanyo unit when to terminate normal charging.
The only issue I have seen with the unit is that batteries with a very low voltage are not charged. I drop them into another charger I have for a short bit and then they can be charged in the BC-900. This issue does not happen often, though.
The only cons I have are:
- lack of fan which causes the charging process to stop when batteries are overheated. Charging starts automatically once the batteries cool down.
- capacity - only 4 batteries. It would be great to have one larger unit instead of buying two small ones.
Overall it is a great product. Definitely worth the money. One of the best and one of the least expensive on the market.
but I read of many happy MAHA customers so I may have just gotten a bad one. While I would not personally buy another MAHA product I would however not hesitate to but another LaCross BC-900, and I would recommend it to my friends, just don't expect it to depart from the laws of physics, all batteries have a life cycle.
The testing function for cells is really useful for identifying weak cells. I've dumped several based on the test results. However, it can't easily diagnose cells that have rapid self-discharge characteristics.
About a couple of months ago, the trouble started. Whenever I tried to charge 4 AA batteries at the same time, the charger would continuously reset every 10 seconds or so. This problem has been reported by at least one other reviewer. This problem renders the product virtually useless. If I wait long enough, say overnight, the display would say Full. But since the charge is always shown as 0 mAh, there's no quick and simple way to tell whether the batteries are actually fully charged or not.
I discovered that a workaround is to charge only 2 batteries at a time. Nevertheless, because this is a serious problem that occurred after only a short time and infrequent usage, I'd give this product only 1 star.
I highly recommend this charger.
Revitalized our half-dead AA and AAA rechargeables and is extremely easy to use.
Definitely go for this kit, which includes the charger, a nice case, 4 AA and AAA rechargeables and 4 pretty nifty adapters that allow you to convert a AA battery for use as a C or D size.
Seems durably made and really makes a difference by giving you so many charging and "refreshing" options -- an infinitely better alternative to the el cheapo quick-charge chargers that come with the batteries you buy at Wal-Mart or Target, which also happen to destroy the batteries by charging so fast.
Buy this charger, stock up on the batteries, and then use this unit to deliver a controlled charge -- the best thing to maximize battery capacity and longevity.
I was also warned about gotcha with dead, or very low charge batteries.
Though I was SHOCKED that in the second generation product, this was NOT Address by LaCrosse. You do have to trick it into charging, reconditioning a low voltage battery, by hooking another good one to the dead one (outside the charger) (plus to plus, minus to minus) for about 30 seconds to 2 minutes, then the charger will take it, otherwise, NO.
This borders on silly, for a premium unit solicited to recondition problem, or old batteries.
I did not buy the other unit with the lighted larger LCD based on the warnings that while impressive abilities, the number of button pushes needed are maddening...though now I would advise you to at least consider it, until LAcrosse comes out with newer version (larger LCD, better status indication, dead battery handling.
ON the plus side unit has VERY solid battery contacts latching system, and is small, light, and I had NO heat issues. Hope that helps.
I saw this product for 38$ shipped last week and now it is 45$... i dont justify the price hike. If u are going to spend 45$ gof or the Maha C9000 instead for few more dollars.
I read the review of the Maha Powerex MH-C9000 WizardOne Charger-Analyzer by Powerex vs the BC-900 on NaturalNews.com. The author bashes the BC-900 because he couldn't operate the mode keys. If you read the manual, you have to hold the mode key down to activate it before using it. I bought the BC-900 because it was cheaper than the MH-C9000 and I like the multi-LCD's for each battery. I didn't want to cycle through to display to see info about each battery. I accidently reset my battery test (charge-discharge-charge to test the mah rating) when I added another set of AAA for testing and restarted the test process for all four batteries (started with 2) - that was because I didn't read the manual on how to select the compartment to change mode when inserting the batteries.
About the manual, it was easy reading. Small fonts and looks thick, but there are multiple languages on there so there isn't that much reading.
Keep in mind that 700mah is a rapid rate for 2600mah batteries. The 1000mah rate is really high for most common batteries out there. Charging too fast can shorten battery life.
Mine has the 35 version firmware and came with 2600mah AA and 1000mah AAA batteries.
I really like the display and ability to use all the functions individually for each slot.
Quite a deal for everything you get.
I haven't needed to "Refresh" any batteries other than some old Rayovac 1800mAh AA batteries I used to use in a digital camera. It brought them back to full capacity from around 1400-1500mAh. I have since switched to the Low Self Discharge batteries in my camera but the Rayovacs are fine as a set of backups.
Also, for those who do not like to read the manual it does state you should run your new rechargeable batteries through the "Refresh" cycle once to get them to full capacity. Do not assume they are defective or of lower quality if you haven't done this and they do not charge to full capacity. Once through the refresh and they will be good to go :)
Just a little info for those who care. There seems to be a lot of reviews based on the v33 and v32 models. I am not sure what they changed but it looks like my unit is v.35. When I first turn the charger on three of the LCD displays have numbers being displayed. The first slot displays the number 06, the second slot displays the number 04, the third slot is blank and the fourth slot displays the number 35, which I assume to be the version number. Maybe the first two numbers are a build date or something...I am not sure since I purchased this just a couple weeks ago. (Maybe a June 4th or April 6th build date? Unless it was built some years ago which I doubt.)
I have not charged using current higher than 700mAh and my unit doesn't get too hot at all. It has not had to stop charging due to heat that I know of.
The AA batteries that came with my unit are 2600mAh and the AAA batteries are 1000mAh batteries, so it appears they have increased the battery capacity when compared to some of the other reviews I have read.
After reading so many good reviews about it, I took the plunge when the price dropped to $35 a while ago at Amazon, even though I had plenty other simpler chargers. I used it to refresh some older batteries. None of them seemed to be renewed. Some of the batteries seemed to get charged to pretty good mAh after a refresh, but they discharged very quickly. The battery brands I have are Maxell, Nexcell, Energizer and Powercell. I have a feeling that the charger actually shortened the life of these batteries because they all become almost unusable after one refresh in this charger.
One of the 2400mAh AA battery came with this bundle is defective (short circuited, think of a metal bar) and can't be charged when I first used it. Too bad I waited longer than 30 days before using the set, so now I left with 3 AAs that can't be used as a set of 4. I may have got a bad unit of a good product, but I am extremely disappointed with this purchase.
CONS: Says NULL to some batteries that work fine when charged with a Rayovac charger, maybe does not charge as fully as other chargers and.. ..
DAMN THING ALMOST CAUGHT ON FIRE!
I have lots of AA and AAA Energizer NIMH batteries. They are NOT CHEAP and NEVER MISTREATED.
I was smelling burning plastic like something was on fire and after sniffing around there was my La Crosse charger that I spent extra $$ on smoking with bulging bursting 'don't wanna get close to them because they may explode' batteries in it.
I unplugged the item and left it well alone till it cooled off. I have chargers for my RC vehicles and a cheaper Rayovac charger that does 8 at a time as well as C and D batteries and they have sensors that SHUT THEM DOWN when the batteries get too hot. This damn thing MELTED THE PLASTIC in the middle and kept on burning.
WHAT THE HELL?? La Crosse must = La Crummy and certainly LA SCARY. Not going to buy them again after reading that I AM NOT ALONE!
I would La Skip La Crosse or charge your batteries on a non flammable surface away from anything that may catch on fire.
WTF?! This is dangerous~! Bad La Crosse, Bad.
There are some wonderful reviews on here, so I wouldn't be able to give an in depth review as some of these battery enthusiasts! I highly recommend the charger because it is wonderful to be able to see all the specs about your batteries on a screen. NO more guessing if a batterly is fully charged or if it has any charging potential. I love the refresh button to get older batteries back to life.
Another great thing is that you get 4 C and D sized battery converters. You can take your double a or triple a batteries, put them in the C/D converters and now you have a C or D sized battery. Wonderful!! IT comes in a nice case that fits everything. Buy it!
The batteries that came with this charger are decent - not great, not bad, and for the price, average is pretty good. The kids' toys never stop running.
The case is useful, and the little adapter thingies are pretty cool too.
Strongly recommend these.
This is a very nice kit. It includes 4 AA NiMH & 4 AAA NiMH batteries. It includes 4 AA-C adapters and 4 adapters to adapt the C adapters to D.
These C/D adapters ALMOST make up for the fact the BC-900 cannot recharge true C & D size cells. The usable life of the batteries in the C/D adapters are somewhat lower than true C & D cells.
There is also a nice nylon carrying case for the entire kit included.
Now that I've gotten the limitations out of the way, I can say for a AA/AAA charger, the BC-900 is truly tops.
It is small and compact so it is easy to carry.
It can charge one single battery or two, three or four at a time! That alone makes the BC-900 worth having. This is the first charger I've seen that will charge one alone (or three at a time.)
Each battery can have its own individual settings or all can use the same settings.
You can select the charge rate - up to 1000 maH for 4 batteries or up to 1800 maH for two.
Of course using the lower charge rates is less taxing on the batteries, but if you are in a hurry, it is a great feature to be able to reduce the charge time for a "quick" charge.
The BC-900 has four operating modes: Charge, discharge, refresh or check.
The discharge is a real boon for NiCAD cells which suffer from "memory" effect.
The refresh mode is very time consuming, up to a few days to continually discharge and recharge batteries to improve their capacity, but is a wonderful feature to give new life to your old batteries.
The bottom line is, yes, you can get AA/AAA chargers cheaper, but you can't find a better one than the BC-900 for your AA/AAA charging needs.
It charges, discharges, refreshes and maintains all kinds of rechargeable AA and AAA batteries (NICD/NIMH). My previous chargers often burned up my new NIMH batteries in a short amount of time, while this one works like a charm. It does to some extend bring back life to used up older batteries, but do not expect miracles. Low quality batteries that loose their power real quick like those of Energizer maybe kept at max when charged only with this charger from the beginning, but once they begin to loose power fast, they cannot be saved for long... Buy quality rechargeable NIMH batteries and use this charger and you will enjoy your batteries for ages...
It comes with a load of extras and I especially liked the converters that allow you to use normal AA batteries for nearly all sizes from AA to D cell batteries. You simply can't do wrong with these... for traveling the carrying case comes in vry handy as well...
Also like that I can use the fully-discharge-and-charge function.
And yes, no complaints about the very purpose of such tools - to charge rechargeable batteries.
Someone had posted a way to kick start seemingly dead batteries - very useful. It has saved me at least 4 batteries! Thank you!
This charger packs lots of great features in for an incredibly low price: LED display, variable charging current (charge safer or faster) refresh mode, universal input (so it will work in the US, EU, Japan, South America, Africa, and the International Space Station), a carrying case, and even a starter pack of AA and AAA rechargeable batteries.
It is awesome to watch your batteries charge, since you can page through data on each battery including current load, input voltage, and charging time thus far. But the killer app of this charger is refresh mode, where the charger rapidly cycles between discharge and charge, fully draining the battery many times, then finally charging it all the way up. This feature is designed to combat the memory that NiCD and NiMH batteries can build up, and I am happy to report that it has worked as advertised for eight old batteries that I had that would not hold a charge. Now the sets hold 1400mA and 2400mA, respectively (their original capacity rating).
This charger is easy on your wallet, easy on your batteries, and thus easy on the Earth. Eco-Geeks of the world, let your powers combine and... buy this charger. (Wow, I miss Captain Planet!)
Keep an eye on the price though. It fluctuates wildly. I've seen it in the mid 30's regularly. Just add to cart and when it hits 35 or so, buy it.
It handles four batteries, each separately, and tells me the condition they are in, allows me to choose a charging rate, gives an option to do a charge/discharge reconditioning cycle, what the voltage is at any point and the amp hour capacity of each battery.
I'm new to this 'high end' segment of chargers, but nothing has come to mind I want to do or know this charger does not already supply.
It has operated flawlessly for several months now.
Here is the problem: If an otherwise good battery is discharged too much, the charger will think that it is damaged and will refuse to charge it. You put the battery in, and the indicator just reads "null", which is its way of indicating that the cell should be tossed. I have to wonder how many perfectly good batteries have been thrown away because of this. The only way I have found to get the charger to recognize the battery is to first put it in another charger to get a little charge on it before putting into this one! Then, it will happily charge the cell. This is an option if you have another charger (not the BC-900, of course). If you don't, and you're feeling brave, you can take one partially charged "good" battery and use it to put a small charge on the "bad" one. Do this by connecting the positive terminals of the "good" and "bad" batteries together using a paper clip or coin, and the negative terminals together using another paper clip or coin. Hold the cells like this for 30 seconds or so, then put the "bad" cell back into the charger to see if it will start charging. You may need to repeat this a few times before the "bad" cell gets charged enough to be recognized by the BC-900. Be careful and stop if the batteries get hot or you notice a spark when you connect the jumpers.
If you never completely discharge your batteries, you will not see this problem. But it is pretty easy to completely discharge batteries if you leave something on and forget about it. I left my radio-controlled dragonfly on for a couple days, when I got to it, 4 of the 6 cells would not charge unless I did this jumper-charge trick.
Prior to this charger I was using an Energizer 15min charger, which i like if I need a quick charge, but it gets the batteries really hot after charge and does not provide a full charge, about 90%-95%. The first time I tried to use my LaCrosse charger it charged 2 of 4 of my 2 year old Energizer 2300 batteries to a dismal 800mAh so I knew that these batteries were shot. Because of this I decided to use the Charge/Discharge feature on these batteries to see if it can bring these batteries back to life. To my amazement it worked, these batteries now read 2150mAh and 2300mAh respectively (By the way, it took 6 days in charge/discharge cycle to get to this level).
My second pair of the Energizer batteries were initially charged to a level of 2200mAh and 2250mAh respectively. I placed them on the same Charge/Discharge cycle and after 3 days they were reading 2350mAm and 2550mAm respectively. I could not believe it because the rating of the batteries was only 2300mAh. It makes me thing that Energizer placed wrong type of batteries in my batch.
Because of the performance of this unit in reviving my old batteries, I will highly recommend this unit for all of your energy uses. You will not regret it.
Due to the many modes and options, the user interface can be difficult to navigate, but ultimately utility wins.
Beside the advantages of being able to refresh the batteries in various modes and the ability to program individual batteries with specific settings, I found that the individual display with the current power reading (mAh) gives you good indication of "weak" batteries (the weak ones have low mAh readings). This would help a great ideal to avoid surprises that power drains quickly due to these weak batteries. Just this feature alone is well worth the price in my humble opinion.
The kit also comes with C and D batteries adapters which uses the AA batteries. However, we would need to use AA batteries with high mAH to make them work properly.
Although basic operation is easy, I had to read the manual first to understand the full functionality.
BC-900 can charge a mix of batteries of various capacities in one go - both AA and AAA. The only thing you have to do is to sort them down by charging current.
One thing to know: if batteries are deeply discharged, they will not charge in this device until you apply a trick with shortening the contacts, or until you pre-charge them with a "normal" charger.
It is well worth the money spent! Especially the freebies that come with the charger, The Travel Bag, C Size D Size Battery adapters, 4 AAA and 4 AA NiMH batteries itself makes up for the shortfalls one might encounter with this product.
PROS
[+] Compact Size, Charges both AA and AAA NiCD and NiMH batteries
[+] LCD display to show each individual battery capacity and Voltage which takes the guess work out of the picture when Typical RED or GREEN LED's are involved.
[+] Programming is possible for each slot or you can press couple of buttons and get all the batteries charged/discharged or tested, you can read the current status of the charging or discharging of each battery at a glance nice!
CONS
[-] No Backlight for LCD, It is impossible to see this charger in action in a dark room!
[-] Buttons can be sticky at times - May be my unit is flakey
[-] Only two slots (Slot 1 and Slot 4) can be used to super charge with 1800ma current when this mode is enabled, the Slot 2 and Slot 3 gets disabled by the microprocessor.
[-] It is not a fast charger, Average time for 2700mAH AA Batteries can take up-to 3-4 hrs depending on what charge state the batteries were to begin with.
[-] The Separate Power Adapter is needed (Included in the package) to get the unit to function, Portability could have been greatly increased if they had Power Switching unit built right into the charger.
[-] Build quality is so and so... seeing those tiny SMD resistors taking all that discharge load of all four slots makes me wonder won't they just fall off from the board when they overheat? - May be I am just too paranoid!
Overall, this is a good product - Go buy it as soon as it becomes available on Amazon!
This highly rated battery charger does what it says. I like that fact one of the settings - "refresh" charges the battery to its full capacity. Once the battery if full, then the charger continues in trickle mode. No more burned out batteries because you over-charged them.
Note: one of the included batteries was 'bad'. The charger said "NULL" and it would not charge one of them. LaCrosse technology says that the charger will not charge a battery if it has less than .9 volts. They recommended charging the battery in another charger to get it above this limit and then put it in their charger.
The battery still would not charge. I emailed LaCrosse which responded after 4 days. I left them a phone message to call me. They never did return my call. I got thru to them on the phone on the second try and was given a return authorization number. A week after returning the battery, a new one was received.
Nice display and charge level for each battery and you can define exactly charge for it.
This charger does not charge size C and D batteries. It does however come with adapters to run electronics that require C and D batteries off of AA batteries...that is to say, the adapters are not for charging C and D batteries. I should have read more.
It seems that a lot of thought went into charging AA and AAA batteries the proper way while completely neglecting C and D batteries. This will be great to charge my GPS and external flash high output batteries, but I'll have to pick up yet another charger for C and D size batteries. Bummer.
Update (5/12/08)- The charger is still great, but the batteries that came with it no longer charge in the unit. When I put them in, it says "null" and does nothing.
I am very satisfied with the product.