tacoal said:
Does the firmware 32 indicate also the temperature (like the firmware 33)?
See https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/104220
What is your board revision?
La Crosse BC-900 Charger Warning
- Thread starter SilverFox
- Start date
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Does the firmware 32 indicate also the temperature (like the firmware 33)?
See https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/104220
What is your board revision?
Sigman said:
Unfortunately, there are not many options. The LaCrosse is the only charger with multiple independent channels that give many options for testing, refreshing, etc. cells.
I really wish there were more options, but all the other chargers just charge, or maybe dis/charge, but give no quantitative data. The much more expensive ones like Triton are great, but can't tell you about the differences between individual cells, unless you charge one cell at a time.
Well, I am happy to report that my replacement rev 33 is working fine. I have been charging various cells with various states of charge and have not been able to produce a runaway overcharge. Mostly Energizer 2500mah cells but some others as well, and all seem to end up with as much charge as my Maha charger. Also the buttons work much better now, more responsive.
wptski
Flashlight Enthusiast
La Crosse received my BC-900 on Monday and shipped something to me the same day! I assume another BC-900 but I wonder what version and will I be able to trust it again?
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wptski
Flashlight Enthusiast
Got it today! Brand new in a box, batteries and all. It's the newer V33 too. 
SilverFox
Flashaholic
Hello Bill,
Great news... Time to do some tests to see if version 33 runs cooler.
Tom
Great news... Time to do some tests to see if version 33 runs cooler.
Tom
Freedom1955
Enlightened
I've had my V33 for awhile now and have never had a problem with it over heating.
wptski
Flashlight Enthusiast
Tom:SilverFox said:
Somewhere it was said that this newer version will cutoff at 120F and when I tested my older one at 1800mAh it got up to 130F. At 1000mAh it got up to 110F. We'll shall see!
wptski
Flashlight Enthusiast
Freedom1955 said:
When my melted the cells weren't warm!
Can you tell me the max charge temperature in RAW?wptski said:
see
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/104220
Tomas
wptski
Flashlight Enthusiast
Tomas:
Doesn't it say in the link you provided that it's 35 in RAW format?
Doesn't it say in the link you provided that it's 35 in RAW format?
wptski
Flashlight Enthusiast
Tomas:
I checked two 2300mAh Duracells at 1800mAh but it appears that they weren't run down enough as it terminated at around 40 min with 124F. I'll have to try that again with a discharged set.
I discharged another 2300mAh Duracell on a Duratrax ICE first at 2A down to .9V, then again at 1A, again at .7A and finally at .5A. Charging at 1000ma, it terminated in 76 min going by the highest temperature of 107.2F on my Fluke 54-II. Now that should have took longer to charge. I never really checked the charging times on my old BC-900 though! Hmmm, it finished a bit soon at 1800mAh too. Wonder if the charging current is really what it's set at?
The only way one could check the RAW-Wert value at max temperature is too catch it when it did shut down, pull the plug and replug it in to look at the values, correct?
I checked two 2300mAh Duracells at 1800mAh but it appears that they weren't run down enough as it terminated at around 40 min with 124F. I'll have to try that again with a discharged set.
I discharged another 2300mAh Duracell on a Duratrax ICE first at 2A down to .9V, then again at 1A, again at .7A and finally at .5A. Charging at 1000ma, it terminated in 76 min going by the highest temperature of 107.2F on my Fluke 54-II. Now that should have took longer to charge. I never really checked the charging times on my old BC-900 though! Hmmm, it finished a bit soon at 1800mAh too. Wonder if the charging current is really what it's set at?
The only way one could check the RAW-Wert value at max temperature is too catch it when it did shut down, pull the plug and replug it in to look at the values, correct?
wptski
Flashlight Enthusiast
Well, here's something that I don't remember raeding about in V33!
You can charge both a single AA or AAA in Slot 1/4 at 1800mAh and the other slot will show "null".
I also looked at it's signal. As was mentioned in another thread, it's PMW but it's very fast. I'll post a screen of the signal some time later. I tried reading current with a good low current clamp probe and probably because of the PWM, I assume, the reading was way below the set current!
You can charge both a single AA or AAA in Slot 1/4 at 1800mAh and the other slot will show "null".
I also looked at it's signal. As was mentioned in another thread, it's PMW but it's very fast. I'll post a screen of the signal some time later. I tried reading current with a good low current clamp probe and probably because of the PWM, I assume, the reading was way below the set current!
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minimig
Newly Enlightened
Xe54 said:
Hello,
There are some options, but in Germany
There's a brand, Voltcraft AccuTrainer AT3+ that does what the BC900 can do, but I don't know how extensive is it's capabilities. Then there's the Voltcraft ChargeManager 2010 and 2020 that can handle C, D and 9V. Look here (UK Conrad site) for more info.
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minimig said:
they are pretty popular here in the EU.
the cm2020 is also not perfect :-/
http://cm2020.sourceforge.net/
No timer to limit charging time.
wptski
Flashlight Enthusiast
I discharged two 2300mAh Duracells, connected my Fluke 54-II dual input temperature probe with K-type wire beads to the cells. One in Slot#1 and the other in Slot#4. Set the charger for 1800ma charge and kept and eye on it too.
I was there at about an hour into it and Slot#1 had passed 127F the listed cutoff point but Slot#4 was lagging by 10F. The temperature in Slot#1 was climbing fast and what I've seen before it had passed Dt/dt cutoff which was normal for -deltaV termination which normally terminates a few minutes after the Dt/dt point. It hit 133F in Slot#1 and it cutoff, so I plulled the plug and reinserted it. I got a RAW, 46/48 but the cells showed FULL so I didn't bother restarting the cycle. Where did that RAW value of 35 for cutoff come from??
Funny, I've rechecked the RAW values from time to time and they are all over the place! Last check was 04/09. Part of the cooling process? Ah, back to normal 20/21 when I started!
I did notice one thing now though. The button for Slot#3 doesn't work but I'm not sure if it worked right out of the box. I hardly ever used those buttons on my old BC-900 either.
I was there at about an hour into it and Slot#1 had passed 127F the listed cutoff point but Slot#4 was lagging by 10F. The temperature in Slot#1 was climbing fast and what I've seen before it had passed Dt/dt cutoff which was normal for -deltaV termination which normally terminates a few minutes after the Dt/dt point. It hit 133F in Slot#1 and it cutoff, so I plulled the plug and reinserted it. I got a RAW, 46/48 but the cells showed FULL so I didn't bother restarting the cycle. Where did that RAW value of 35 for cutoff come from??
Funny, I've rechecked the RAW values from time to time and they are all over the place! Last check was 04/09. Part of the cooling process? Ah, back to normal 20/21 when I started!
I did notice one thing now though. The button for Slot#3 doesn't work but I'm not sure if it worked right out of the box. I hardly ever used those buttons on my old BC-900 either.
wptski
Flashlight Enthusiast
I ran another temperature test on two 2300mAh Duracells at 1800ma charging rate.
This time I let it run the whole course while watching closely at the higher temperature. Slot#1 shut off at 134F but Slot#4 was again lagging, I'll have to check the K-type bead for placement, etc. Slot#4 followed at 124F. About 15 minutes later at 113F Slot#1 restarted again and at 108F, Slot#4 restarted. After five minutes or so more charging both cells show FULL.
This time I let it run the whole course while watching closely at the higher temperature. Slot#1 shut off at 134F but Slot#4 was again lagging, I'll have to check the K-type bead for placement, etc. Slot#4 followed at 124F. About 15 minutes later at 113F Slot#1 restarted again and at 108F, Slot#4 restarted. After five minutes or so more charging both cells show FULL.
wptski
Flashlight Enthusiast
I installed four made in Japan 2300mAh Duracells from the same batch that melted my old BC-900 in my new BC-900.
Set to charage at 700ma. I wasn't watching it but took a look and was surprised to see it had cycled off for high temperature at 1:57 into the charge for 1100mAh. About ten minutes later it resumed and about twenty minutes later it cycled off again. About seventeen minutes later, it resumed at around 1400mAh.
It looked safe enough to hit the sack but woke up to find three cells FULL at 1600mAh for three hours. The last cell cycles off again. Later on, the last finished at 1800mAh for 3:47!
This might be the first time that I've charged four cells in this BC-900 and for sure it's the first time with 2300mAh cells. I didn't think that it would hit the high temperature limit while charging at 700mah!
Set to charage at 700ma. I wasn't watching it but took a look and was surprised to see it had cycled off for high temperature at 1:57 into the charge for 1100mAh. About ten minutes later it resumed and about twenty minutes later it cycled off again. About seventeen minutes later, it resumed at around 1400mAh.
It looked safe enough to hit the sack but woke up to find three cells FULL at 1600mAh for three hours. The last cell cycles off again. Later on, the last finished at 1800mAh for 3:47!
This might be the first time that I've charged four cells in this BC-900 and for sure it's the first time with 2300mAh cells. I didn't think that it would hit the high temperature limit while charging at 700mah!
SilverFox
Flashaholic
Hello Bill,
This almost sounds like bad, old, or marginal cells...
Tom
This almost sounds like bad, old, or marginal cells...
Tom
