SOLVED: Maha Powerex MH-C9000 fails start test!

[Schermann]

HELP!

I have had my Powerex MH-C9000 for about 12 years and has charged hundreds of batteries usuall only on 200-300 mA slow charge but today it did it's start up test and then nothing! Repeated the start up and each time it counts to 9 and then switches off...

Test with my Fluke the power adaptor, ok. Tried another adaptor, same thing!

As the digits count up to 9999, is there a way to tell if the numbers can indicate a particular fault?

Is it a throw-away or is there a repair to this awesome charger!

Cheers... 😎

 

[snakebite]

any stuck buttons?
i have had to clean mine a few times.
the fit between the button and panel is close.

 

[Archangel]

I'm curious to hear if you end up getting it working. I ended up scrapping mine, which was a bummer.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Schermann,

One thing you can try is to reach out to MAHA and see if they can help.

Powerex Rechargeable Batteries & Chargers by Maha Energy

Maha Energy is the maker of Powerex batteries and charging solutions. Powerex batteries offer the highest performance available today. Powerex chargers use advanced techniques for optimized battery charging and to optimize battery life

mahaenergy.com

Tom

 

[Schermann]

I'm curious to hear if you end up getting it working. I ended up scrapping mine, which was a bummer.

It's working again!

I pulled it apart and finger wiggled every component, tapped reasonably hard with a screw driver handle each surface mounted device on the board (not recommended), ran my fingernail along each IC's solder mounts and looked for any bulging caps (none).

I found that two of the four coil's glue mounts had separated from the board, no big deal! But what I did find on closer inspection was the board solder joints on the main metal terminals to the batteries had hollowed out with obvious pitting holes in the solder joints! Without resoldering I used a screwdriver blade to scrap over the pitting, smoothing it over... it worked and the charger re-functions normally again!

A proper resolder of 'these' pitted joints (picture) will follow if it fails again (as it surely will) but for now its a real 'tell' by any measure!

Previously it would seem that when batteries were placed in it to recharge, the pitted joints would resist and force the charger to reject the placed battery, meaning the unit would revert to a display light OFF inert and non functioning state but when you viewed the display closely you could still see it was active just not 'mode' activated!

I have to reglue the coils to the board and here is a picture of where the main solder joints had 'presumingly' failed... Hopefully this 'is' the issue and could help others!

Till then stay tuned... 🎲🎲

---------------

PS: Don't ever bin it, just bench retest it and check for dry solder joints... as this is a top quality item worth a simple 10 year service!

PPS: I did find an interesting article on this charger when the Mosfets failed! Its a great repair article and may help others in the future...

https://samuelpinches.com.au/blab/m...x-c9000-faulty-aa-nimh-charger/#comment-19023

Cheers... 👑

 

[Schermann]

If I had to replace it... then:

 

[Schermann]

C9000 still going strong, now with upgraded 2450 LADDA batts for a beefier recharge rate... 👑