La Crosse BC-900 charger

I've been following the posts on this charger, and the overheat issues. Does anyone know if these have been fixed by the MFG or not? I don't mind soldering in some caps if I need to though. Is this still a recommended charger? I love some of the features that it has. Is there something else that is better in the same price range?

TIA

I had my smoked version 32 charger replaced by La Crosse with a v33 and have had no overheats or run away overcharges. I have tried to induce the original runaway charge problem and have not been able to. For me the problem is fixed and the BC-900 is once again my favorite charger.

regnim said:

I had my smoked version 32 charger replaced by La Crosse with a v33 and have had no overheats or run away overcharges. I have tried to induce the original runaway charge problem and have not been able to. For me the problem is fixed and the BC-900 is once again my favorite charger.

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regnim:

Are you charging cells of at least 2300mAh? Are you using a external fan? Does it ever cycle OFF for high temperature?

I charged four fairly new 2300mAh cells at 700ma and it cycled OFF for high temperature twice for three of the cells and three times for the last one!

The temperature cutoff on v32 was reported to be 160F, I think. The v33 it's supposed to be 127F although I found it to be a bit higher, maybe 133F. The design is what makes it run hot and by lowering the cutoff temperature doesn't really fix that problem, it's just supposed to keep it from melting!

wptski said:

regnim:

Are you charging cells of at least 2300mAh? Are you using a external fan? Does it ever cycle OFF for high temperature?

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Energizer 2500mah cells charged at 700ma, no fan, and not that I noticed. In fact, the cells do not seem to get as hot as my Engerizer 15 min charger.

regnim said:

Energizer 2500mah cells charged at 700ma, no fan, and not that I noticed. In fact, the cells do not seem to get as hot as my Engerizer 15 min charger.

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regnim:

Does it cycle OFF for high temperature? Are they stamped "HR" on the negative end?

The cells that I speak of are the same batch of 2300mAh "Maded in Japan" Duracells that melted my old BC-900! They may be the problem too. I have some Titanium 2000mAh and some new Energizer 2500mAh "HR" stamped cells that I'm going to try yet.

wptski said:

regnim:

Does it cycle OFF for high temperature? Are they stamped "HR" on the negative end?

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HR stamped on end, never SEEN it cycle off but I don't sit there and watch it either,

regnim said:

HR stamped on end, never SEEN it cycle off but I don't sit there and watch it either,

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regnim:

Rebranded Sanyo cells. Never turn your back on a La Crosse! :tsk:

I have a version 32 La Crosse 900. I had a meltdown a few weeks ago - almost. I always watch this revision due to overheating of the batteries so I caught it just as display turned black and plastic got soft. Charger still works but three batteries are trash. It will not stop charging a cell unless it sees delta v or exceeds 1.53 volts (per some posts) If it sees temperature over 160 F then it will shut down the two batteries on the sensor and start charging agin if temp goes down. Now all this is not too bad except the 160 degrees F is a little high and 1.53 volts is a little high for some cells. I have acutally watched my charger shut down and restart when a battery got very hot to touch! I think I know what happened to me. Not a charger failure but probably I did not push one of the batteries into the slot to contact the temperature sensor (left an air gap perhaps) and it did not shut down - just kept charging and thus very hot battery (not the pcb or charger - the battery). IMHO you should be sure to get a La Crosse with revision greater than 32. 33 changed some of the parameters. The newer models seem to be a repackage - some BC 9000 and BC 9009 have a different pcb - and even higher revision firmware. The new parameters shut down at a lower temperature (see other posts) and may stop charging at a lower voltage if it sees that prior to delta V ( I do not know). So get a la Crosse 9009 or (1000?) or check out the competition the maha C9000. The newer firmare is more forgiving of different cells and dumb operators - IMHO.
Does anyone have record or the 9000 or 9009 overheating a battery and melting?
I have not seen such a post.

The newer BC900 and BC9009 that have been shipping since the beginning of this year are supposed to be "fixed" so it won't burn out. The BC1000, which I just ordered, is supposed to have new internals to further prevent a meltdown.