Update 12/22: $33.24 LaCrosse BC900 NimH Battery Charger v33 in stock

[OhNoPoPo]

These were long out of stock after they cleared out a bunch of the v32 (which had overheating problems). Now they are back in stock, and according to a review, these are the NEW v33 firmware chargers. A great price for a charger with an LCD screen, carrying case, batteries, C/D battery adapters!

LaCrosse BC900 Charger $39.99 shipped at Amazon

LaCrosse BC900 Charger/Case/Batteries/Adapters set $39.99 v33 Firmware!

 

[edro]

Sweet deal! I hadn't heard about these before!
I just bought one and can't wait to use it.

I know a thing or two about battery cycling and conditioning from my old R/C car racing days, and this is the first charger I have seen that actually does some of the things chargers have been doing for years in the R/C world.

The reviews are awesome for this charger.
I have about 16 older NiMh AAs that I would like to recondition.
My old generic charger sucks and just has a few LED indicators, but even after they are green, my batteries don't have a full charge according to the battery indicators on some of my electronic devices. (yeah, I know they are only 1.25v)

 

[Basilisk]

Loooong out of stock. I've finally ordered it, so Thanks OP.

For anyone unfamiliar with this product, DO READ THE REVIEWS on Amazon. This is the gold-standard of AA/AAA chargers as it has multiple modes: importantly, it can cycle the battery to seriously restore a battery's capacity and it can report just what that amp-acity is for each battery. As I have lots of NiMH's and they're beginning to age (and fail) these features are very beneficial to me.

AT has had lengthy prior threads on this charger but they seem to have aged out as I can't find them to link to.


PS: The ad's indicate this comes with C and D cell adapters: this doesn't mean C/D niMH's can be CHARGED -- I'll have to use my other charger for those -- it means you can slip an AA battery into the adapter and use it in place of a C or D... for the limited time that an AA will run a C/D load. 'Might find some use, if only as a stop-gap.

 

[RobsTV]

This thing is loaded with everything you could want.
The idea and features are GREAT.
But......... Quality control is terrible.
Most are fine, yet far too many perform badly.
I've tested 4 of latest firmware and only two worked well.
The problem units do not fully charge batteries or the slots have uneven charging rates when charging.
For example, slots 1 2 3 might charge a battery to 2000, while slot 4 charges same battery to 1200.
Or slots 2 and 3, etc.
I number and label each battery and slot while recording results.
Move batteries around, and it's easy to see it is NOT the batteries, but is the charger itself.
I can live with the erratic button behavior, but the charging/discharging on the poor quality units drops this charger down to the lowest end you might want to use.

If I could be sure of getting one of the better quality units, it is worth the price.
But, if you get one of the lower quality units, it's not worth $15.
EDIT: Thinking more, even the poor quality units still have some nice features, and I guess are worth at least $20-$25, but still not as good as they should be. If you don't mind exchanging, then you should end up with a great unit!

 

[Coraanu]

Highly recommended for anyone that uses NiMH's.

 

[fishbudgreg]

RobsTV, are you saying this is true of even these v33 firmware chargers? I too have been waiting a long time to pick one of these up.

 

[RobsTV]

Originally posted by: fishbudgreg
RobsTV, are you saying this is true of even these v33 firmware chargers? I too have been waiting a long time to pick one of these up.

Yep, just plugged them all in to confirm, and last readout shows they are all v33.

I spent hours researching these before purchase, and the results were the same.
Most get great units, like two of mine, but many others get screwy units, like the other two of mine.
These do not get hot. It's the other issues they have.

V33 might be the newest, but it is not new, since I purchased these with v33 well over 6 months ago, and perhaps over a year ago (can't locate order history).

 

[Basilisk]

You're breaking my heart, RobsTV!

Can you post a link to instructions for testing one's unit? Sounds like a necessary first step when mine arrives. [I Googled for such a test, but didn't hit any mention of the problem.]

 

[RobsTV]

Originally posted by: Basilisk
You're breaking my heart, RobsTV!

Can you post a link to instructions for testing one's unit? Sounds like a necessary first step when mine arrives. [I Googled for such a test, but didn't hit any mention of the problem.]

If you do not have a good charger now, even the poor units will be decent. Just don't expect the end all or greatest flawless charger. You could always exchange if it does not work as well as you desire. I would still get one, even if just for the "cool toy" factor.

Huge thread from December '05 through May '06 at Fatwallet that has links to tests, as well as posts from others that have exact same results of uneven charging slots. In that thread, posts from April mention v33, so it's at least that old.

my tests were simple.
Numbered batteries 1 through 4.
Ran the discharge/refresh at different rates to see how much power the "new" batteries had left.
Recorded results. Used batteries in digital camera.
Repeated discharge/refresh using exact same slots, to confirm first results, which was close enough.
Recorded results. Used batteries in digital camera.
Rotated batteries one slot, discharge/refresh.
Repeat above for a couple weeks.
Varied charge rate to see if it created a sweet spot.
Tested simply charge and discharge same way.
Frowned at results that showed two of the chargers have slots that will not properly charge.
20% difference in slots with larger capacity batteries.
(for example, the same 2400mAh may show actual 2000mAh when full in 2 slots, 2100mAh in 3rd slot, and 1600mAh in 4th slot.)
I don't like sticking in 4 batteries and seeing those results in the display.

The chargers actually work best for me with older lower power batteries, such as 1600mAh.
Many of my newer 2000, 2200 and 2400's rarely hit 2000mAh, and some only hit 1200mAh.
Problem is, my camera's choke with batteries less than 2200mAh.
The chargers did let me throw out several questionable batteries.

 

[mindless1]

Originally posted by: RobsTV
This thing is loaded with everything you could want.
The idea and features are GREAT.
But......... Quality control is terrible.
Most are fine, yet far too many perform badly.
I've tested 4 of latest firmware and only two worked well.
The problem units do not fully charge batteries or the slots have uneven charging rates when charging.
For example, slots 1 2 3 might charge a battery to 2000, while slot 4 charges same battery to 1200.
Or slots 2 and 3, etc.
I number and label each battery and slot while recording results.
Move batteries around, and it's easy to see it is NOT the batteries, but is the charger itself.
I can live with the erratic button behavior, but the charging/discharging on the poor quality units drops this charger down to the lowest end you might want to use.

If I could be sure of getting one of the better quality units, it is worth the price.
But, if you get one of the lower quality units, it's not worth $15.
EDIT: Thinking more, even the poor quality units still have some nice features, and I guess are worth at least $20-$25, but still not as good as they should be. If you don't mind exchanging, then you should end up with a great unit!

Not to nitpick or anything, but considering these results I wouldn't take one for free. Any random $15 charger doesn't have this problem, it seems the increased complexity has resulted in problems where there shouldn't be any.

[Random $15 charger and $25 worth of addt'l batteries] > [defective charger]

 

[aimanzym]

sweet deal. these are super chargers. thanks OP

 

[RobsTV]

Originally posted by: mindless1

Not to nitpick or anything, but considering these results I wouldn't take one for free. Any random $15 charger doesn't have this problem, it seems the increased complexity has resulted in problems where there shouldn't be any.

[Random $15 charger and $25 worth of addt'l batteries] > [defective charger]

You think?
The LCD readout is part of the question.
You "think" you see charging capacity because it shows a number in the display.
Is that number the true results, or is that slot section measuring wrong, and the slot is charged same capacity as others?

In a cheap charger with no display, how do you know that all slots charged the same?

If all the same features were in this unit except LCD readout, I would not think there was anything wrong.
There might not be anything wrong, and all batteries might be equally charged capacity, but display incorrectly shows otherwise?

Is it possible that a "smart charger" will stop charging at say 80% if it thinks it is at 100%?
Is it possible for a dumb overnight charger to charge to 110% capacity?
Batteries charged with the LaCrosse do not seem to last as long as those charged in overnight chargers.

Tests of v32 and v33 that show bad design appears to be root cause.

 

[mindless1]

Originally posted by: RobsTVThe LCD readout is part of the question.
You "think" you see charging capacity because it shows a number in the display.
Is that number the true results, or is that slot section measuring wrong, and the slot is charged same capacity as others?

I don't think we need to draw a distinction here, either way it's malfunctioning.

In a cheap charger with no display, how do you know that all slots charged the same?

If all the same features were in this unit except LCD readout, I would not think there was anything wrong.
There might not be anything wrong, and all batteries might be equally charged capacity, but display incorrectly shows otherwise?

Is it possible that a "smart charger" will stop charging at say 80% if it thinks it is at 100%?
Is it possible for a dumb overnight charger to charge to 110% capacity?
Batteries charged with the LaCrosse do not seem to last as long as those charged in overnight chargers.

Tests of v32 and v33 that show bad design appears to be root cause.

It's possible and preferable for a smart charger to stop at 80% if not slightly higher, but then trickle, if one wants longest life from their cells. I'm not that hung up on longest life though, as these are common and cheap cells so a minor reduction in number of cycles isn't significant, nor is 110% charge if at a low enough rate. My needs may not be the same as someone else's though, I suppose it's possible someone has a need to carry only very few, least # possible of batteries with them and charge as fast as possible. I always find a spare set or two of batteries is no larger than (taking) the charger in such cases, since they're only AA or AAA cells.

In a cheap charger one can take the batteries they have previously matched, use them in a device that places them in series and measure their voltage after large % drain. It's a bit less likely to have these problems with the cheap chargers in the first place as they tend to require charging a pair or two of cells at a time, but it could be a matter of whether you kept same pairs of batteries together or started mixing and matching cells at different discharge states. In other words, continuing to follow best practices and only substituting the cheaper charger, one can expect it will work but special situations like odd # of cells require a more sophisticated charger.

That also excludes true rapid charging, but I'm never in that much of a hurry, not with so many batteries around and especially now that cells like Sanyo's eneloop exist so there's not that constant maintence issue to have any available near full capacity.

More to the point, if a product charges extra for a feature, that feature should work rather than introduce new issues.

 

[marulee]

 

[OhNoPoPo]

Originally posted by: OhNoPoPo
These were long out of stock after they cleared out a bunch of the v32 (which had overheating problems). Now they are back in stock, and according to a review, these are the NEW v33 firmware chargers. A great price for a charger with an LCD screen, carrying case, batteries, C/D battery adapters!

LaCrosse BC900 Charger $39.99 shipped at Amazon

LaCrosse BC900 Charger/Case/Batteries/Adapters set $39.99 v33 Firmware!

Now $34.99. Check your gold box, it might be $33.24

 

[Engineer]

Back in stock and back to $34.99 shipped (plus possible tax). Great charger. Version 33 is better than 32, but once you learn the "quirks", both run great.

 

[lordbob99]

Looks to be out of stock.

EDIT: It's back in stock as of now (4:27 PST).

 

[deadken]

I just ordered mine. A buddy at work wanted a charger and some batteries, so I sold him one of mine for 1/2 of what he would pay new. Then I put that $20 towards this charger. I hope we both end up happy!

Thanks OP!

 

[A1CSpence]

Can you plug this thing into 240V with a plug adaptor?

 

[arcas]

There are some reports of meltdowns (literally) using this charger. Seems the charger's temperature cut-off circuit might be set too high (160F). Be careful if you use this charger.

Link

 

[RobsTV]

Couple of the menu buttons finally failed completely.
Took it apart, cleaned the heck out of it, and resoldered some iffy spots.
Now the thing works GREAT!
All slots charge properly and show proper results.
So boils down to great product but may have quality control issues.
I've used mine nearly everyday since I got it (newest rev).