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Outdoor Living : La Crosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower Battery Charger
Rating: 
- Five Stars!
Ignore the 2-star rating, that was due to the previous review I had listed below because I didn't understand how the charger worked. It is well worth the money and the extras help make it worth it!
I'll quote one of the most helpful posts in the discussion about this product:
*********
The capacity value reported by BC-900 (or any other charger) during charging is not reliable. It calculates the amount of charge (product of charging current and time) going INTO the cell, not the amount of charge retained by the cell. If a cell is leaky or haven't been used for a long time, it takes a lot longer time to get it fully charged. That is probably what happened to your #4 cell which was charged to 1200mAh.
If you put in a cell that still have some charge in it, then less charge is required to fully charge it. That is probably what happened to your #3 cell which only charged to 717mAh.
When you use the BC-900 to TEST a cell, it calculates actual capacity using product of discharge current and time. So this number is more reliable.
When you swap cells between slots, the capacity number may vary by 1-2%. This is also completely normal.
*********
My old review:
Beware when using these products with Duracell AAA rechargables:
Duracell DC2400B4N Rechargeable Batteries, NiMH, AAA Size, 4-Count Packages (Pack of 2)
While this recharger is so high-rated that I'm surprised I had issues, I did have issues and it possibly caused permanent damage to those AAA recharables that I'd purchased. While charging the provided AAA and AA batteries (4 each) that came with the charger, I had no issues and charging was superb. However, while charging the Duracell AA's I was wondering if it would do the job, and it did its job quite well!
The problem came when charging the Duracell AAA rechargables (1000 mAh). I'm lucky I had the charger set to view the total battery charge, how much mAh the battery should have stored due to charging, and it updates dynamically while its charging. For the Lacrosse batteries, they were only 'charged' about halfway due to already being partially-charged when they were shipped, but the AAAs for some reason climbed all the way to 1000 mAh and then kept going! I didn't think anything was wrong with the charger, I never touched it during charging (other then to change the display) and didn't figure a brand-new charger would have issues. After noticing the batteries climb to almost 1200 mAh, I cut the power to the unit and removed the batteries, which were warm to the touch. I waited about 10 mins then plugged in the unit and tried all 4 AAA batteries and got the message that they were 'Full'.
So TELL ME WHY this stupid charger was charging these batteries when they were FULL!? I bought this charger to be a SMART charger and be a 'set and forget' type of thing. I don't want to have to worry about battery damage/overheating, that's why I had it charging at the default 200 mA charging rate and didn't change any default settings for it!
If you use the provided batteries, you should have no issues, otherwise beware of this charger. I only give it 2 stars because it worked fine with its provided batteries, plus the accessories are a pretty good value. I'd recommend though to get the 'updated' version of this charger, the BC-700 has newer circuitry/firmware compared to this and even without the extras I'd say its well worth it to make sure your batteries stay ok!
Rating:
- Great product.
This is by far the best battery charger I have ever owned. It is great for all rechargable batteries, and was even able to restore my old batteries to like new! If you buy this battery charger you will not regret it.
Rating: - LaCrosse BC-900 Battery Charger
I've owned several NiM battery chargers in the past few years and this is by far the best. I've been able to recover several batteries that were destined to be discarded.
Thanks for a great product
Rating: - Great Charger
I don't really have anything to add to the many reviews on this product.
I have two BC-900 and I'm mightily satisfied.
Rating: - Easy to use, lots of info about your batteries
I like this charger because you can just stick any combination of batteries in, and walk away. Or, you can check any parameter, on each of the four slots. Or, you can program for 'refresh' which will bring many old batteries back to a useful life, or 'test' which tells you the capacity of the cell being tested. This unit brought back to life some AA batteries I had bought a year ago with a cheapo charger, that would no longer operate my camera. It's a smart charger that will take care of your batteries.
- Five Stars!Ignore the 2-star rating, that was due to the previous review I had listed below because I didn't understand how the charger worked. It is well worth the money and the extras help make it worth it!
I'll quote one of the most helpful posts in the discussion about this product:
*********
The capacity value reported by BC-900 (or any other charger) during charging is not reliable. It calculates the amount of charge (product of charging current and time) going INTO the cell, not the amount of charge retained by the cell. If a cell is leaky or haven't been used for a long time, it takes a lot longer time to get it fully charged. That is probably what happened to your #4 cell which was charged to 1200mAh.
If you put in a cell that still have some charge in it, then less charge is required to fully charge it. That is probably what happened to your #3 cell which only charged to 717mAh.
When you use the BC-900 to TEST a cell, it calculates actual capacity using product of discharge current and time. So this number is more reliable.
When you swap cells between slots, the capacity number may vary by 1-2%. This is also completely normal.
*********
My old review:
Beware when using these products with Duracell AAA rechargables:
Duracell DC2400B4N Rechargeable Batteries, NiMH, AAA Size, 4-Count Packages (Pack of 2)
While this recharger is so high-rated that I'm surprised I had issues, I did have issues and it possibly caused permanent damage to those AAA recharables that I'd purchased. While charging the provided AAA and AA batteries (4 each) that came with the charger, I had no issues and charging was superb. However, while charging the Duracell AA's I was wondering if it would do the job, and it did its job quite well!
The problem came when charging the Duracell AAA rechargables (1000 mAh). I'm lucky I had the charger set to view the total battery charge, how much mAh the battery should have stored due to charging, and it updates dynamically while its charging. For the Lacrosse batteries, they were only 'charged' about halfway due to already being partially-charged when they were shipped, but the AAAs for some reason climbed all the way to 1000 mAh and then kept going! I didn't think anything was wrong with the charger, I never touched it during charging (other then to change the display) and didn't figure a brand-new charger would have issues. After noticing the batteries climb to almost 1200 mAh, I cut the power to the unit and removed the batteries, which were warm to the touch. I waited about 10 mins then plugged in the unit and tried all 4 AAA batteries and got the message that they were 'Full'.
So TELL ME WHY this stupid charger was charging these batteries when they were FULL!? I bought this charger to be a SMART charger and be a 'set and forget' type of thing. I don't want to have to worry about battery damage/overheating, that's why I had it charging at the default 200 mA charging rate and didn't change any default settings for it!
If you use the provided batteries, you should have no issues, otherwise beware of this charger. I only give it 2 stars because it worked fine with its provided batteries, plus the accessories are a pretty good value. I'd recommend though to get the 'updated' version of this charger, the BC-700 has newer circuitry/firmware compared to this and even without the extras I'd say its well worth it to make sure your batteries stay ok!
Rating:
- Great product.This is by far the best battery charger I have ever owned. It is great for all rechargable batteries, and was even able to restore my old batteries to like new! If you buy this battery charger you will not regret it.
Rating:
- LaCrosse BC-900 Battery ChargerI've owned several NiM battery chargers in the past few years and this is by far the best. I've been able to recover several batteries that were destined to be discarded.
Thanks for a great product
Rating:
- Great ChargerI don't really have anything to add to the many reviews on this product.
I have two BC-900 and I'm mightily satisfied.
Rating:
- Easy to use, lots of info about your batteriesI like this charger because you can just stick any combination of batteries in, and walk away. Or, you can check any parameter, on each of the four slots. Or, you can program for 'refresh' which will bring many old batteries back to a useful life, or 'test' which tells you the capacity of the cell being tested. This unit brought back to life some AA batteries I had bought a year ago with a cheapo charger, that would no longer operate my camera. It's a smart charger that will take care of your batteries.
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