Maha MH-C9000, the Wizard One Charger

[Bones]

talked to maha today and both mine are in need of update.

snakebite,

Do you know how Maha determined that your chargers were in need of an update?

Hopefully it's something that will assist others in making the same determination.

 

[snakebite]

version on mine is 0fab01
that how they determined they were in need of update.

 

[jtr1962]

I took a 1/2" dowel about 1" long and a couple of brass bolts and nuts. I drilled holes in the end of the dowel and screwed the bolts in with the nuts threaded on first. This allows me to clamp my wire to the bolt. I adjusted everything to the length of an AA cell and popped it into the charger.

The D cell was clamped, along with the other ends of the wires, in a clamp. I am looking for a good battery holder and think they are available from Mouser.

I did something very similar except that I drilled holes lengthwise into the dowel at both ends, and another set of holes going from the outer surface to the lengthwise holes. I snaked wire into the latter set of holes, making a bend so that the ends come out of the lengthwise holes. On the negative terminal I soldered a round piece of brass to the wire end. On the positive terminal I just made a solder blob on the wire end. I soldered the other ends of the wires to the Mouser C-cell holder. Voila-capability to use my AA chargers with C cells!

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Joe,

Excellent...

I had to modify my set up. I was charging at 2 amps and noticed that my wooden dowel was heating up. It must have picked up some moisture. I changed to plastic spacers and everything works fine now.

Tom

 

[Desert Rat 23]

So are these a good buy or is there something better out there?

 

[koala]

It goes well with quality cells. It may not like very cheap cells with high internal resistance.

 

[not2bright]

A quick note:

I sent my early production (pre-order) C9000 back to MAHA and received a replacement unit in 6 business days!

My C9000 would miss termination on low quality cells. I haven't tested the new unit, but hopefully this is corrected.

 

[N162E]

A quick note:

I sent my early production (pre-order) C9000 back to MAHA and received a replacement unit in 6 business days!

My C9000 would miss termination on low quality cells. I haven't tested the new unit, but hopefully this is corrected.

Please let us know how this works out. I would also like to know how termination works at lower rates like 2 or 300 ma. My early C9000 is not reliable typically below 700 ma while my BC-900 is close to 100% reliable at its default of 200ma. I am very rarely in a hurry and like to use the 200 rate on the BC-900. Essentially all I am getting out of my C9000s (Two of them) is discharge info (By itself worth the price)

 

[wptski]

Hello Joe,

Excellent...

I had to modify my set up. I was charging at 2 amps and noticed that my wooden dowel was heating up. It must have picked up some moisture. I changed to plastic spacers and everything works fine now.

Tom

Tom:

That's why they banned wooden handle screw drivers for the military electronic usage in the sixties!

 

[Gazoo]

So are these a good buy or is there something better out there?

I received mine a few days ago and so far I am very happy with it. It is the first charger I have owned with all the features it provides. I really like the LCD on it....very easy to read, and programming is a cinch. The only feature I haven't used yet is the break in feature. For me, and I am sure many others, the best feature is the charger's ability to display the actual battery capacity.

BTW, I did have some false readings when I first tried refreshing some older Nimh AA's. This was not a problem with the charger. It was the battery's positive and negative ends were dirty. After cleaning the batteries, the charger performed flawlessly. Just a heads up for anyone that has or is thinking of getting the C9000.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Bill,

Yes, I should know better than that, but I just grabbed what was readily at hand and ended up with wood. The plastic spacers don't seem to have that problem.

Tom

 

[x2x3x2]

Where would be a good place to get these chargers at a reasonable int'l shipping rate?

Thomas' is a little high, about $30+..

 

[Bones]

Where would be a good place to get these chargers at a reasonable int'l shipping rate?

Thomas' is a little high, about $30+..

Maha Energy maintains a list of international dealers:

http://www.mahaenergy.com/store/buy.asp

As well, there is a very well respected forum member providing an international forwarding service:

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/t=141638

 

[Trancersteve]

Hi all, how well does the C9000 detect batteries that have been left laying around for 8~ months? I'm getting abit fed up with these "smart" chargers that don't even attempt at charging cells with a very low voltage. Many times i've had to turn to a 'dumb' charger to raise the voltage up abit then put them back into my not so smart charger

If the C9000 is good at detecting lower than norm cells im def game for getting one .. Thanks all.

 

[Power Me Up]

It will attempt to charge cells with an initial low voltage.

I've put a few really old cells in my C9000 - one cell was reading 0.00V! For cells with a low initial voltage, the charger will start charging at 125mA until the voltage builds up high enough, then it will start charging at the selected rate.

If the cell voltage doesn't rise, I think it'll just keep putting 125mA into it until you take it out...

I'm not sure if it would attempt to charge a cell that has been reverse charged though...

 

[Trancersteve]

Thats great it does that! Ah i think i need to get this charger! The smart chargers i've used beforehand don't even attempt at giving low voltage cells abit of current.. Thanks for that power me up

 

[Gazoo]

Thats great it does that! Ah i think i need to get this charger! The smart chargers i've used beforehand don't even attempt at giving low voltage cells abit of current.. Thanks for that power me up

Of course if your batteries are shot the display will read HIGH. Then you can buy a bunch of eneloops like I did and start to go broke...thanks to this forum of course..

 

[AndyTiedye]

I wish there were a charger like this for C and D cells.

 

[paulr]

Does the 9000 have a way to monitor self-discharge of cells? I.e. it should have a mode where it:

1) charges the cells completely;
2) stops charging (i.e. disconnects cells, charge current of zero, NOT trickle charge);
3) Once a day or so, loads cells to 250 mA or so for a few seconds and measures voltage under load

Running such a test for a month or two should reveal cells with self-discharge problems.

I haven't been following this thread too closely either but a feature like that in an 8 or 12 bay charger would be great.

 

[barkingmad]

Does the 9000 have a way to monitor self-discharge of cells? I.e. it should have a mode where it:

1) charges the cells completely;
2) stops charging (i.e. disconnects cells, charge current of zero, NOT trickle charge);
3) Once a day or so, loads cells to 250 mA or so for a few seconds and measures voltage under load

Running such a test for a month or two should reveal cells with self-discharge problems.

I haven't been following this thread too closely either but a feature like that in an 8 or 12 bay charger would be great.

Think that's a bit too specialised and not really sure it is accurate since self discharge tends to be highest in the first few days after being charged etc.