BC900 - Refresh Mode - when done ?

[ps56k]

After trying the TEST mode on my BC900 with some samples of my batteries; Eneloops, Nexcell, Duracell, RAV Hybrid, Energizer, etc

I wrote on the battery the resulting mah for future comparison/reference.

Next - am now running them thru the REFRESH mode. I'm not sure what this is supposed to look like on the screen during the various cycles. At this point, several of the slots are showing FULL, but the mah displayed when the Display button is pushed is quite a bit lower than what was achieved in TEST mode.

SO - is FULL the end of the REFRESH mode, or is there some other screen indication ?

Lastly - one of the batteries being tested currently shows "000" for the mah, yet powers a 3w light for a couple of hours ?

 

[moldyoldy]

When the LaCrosse BC-900 or BC-700 are complete with a Refresh cycle, the display shows "FULL". By pressing the "Display" button you can cycle thru to read the MAH for the batteries. If the Refresh cycle is still active for a slot, the display will show only the current achieved MAH capacity.

Concerning the "000" indication for MAH capacity when a Refresh cycle is complete: Is the problem isolated to a specific battery or a specific slot? Does this behaviour follow the battery or is it dependent on a specific slot? For example, if you repeatedly press the "Display" button, is one slot always at 0 MAH?

When you state that you are performing a "Refresh" or "Test", please indicate either the charge or discharge current. In the LaCrosse BC-xxxx models, the discharge current is fixed at 1/2 the charge current. In the Maha C9000 you can set both charge and discharge currents.

FYI: The MAH (ampacity) of a battery/cell will vary rather a lot depending on the age of the battery and the discharge current. Typically the battery rating is at a C/10 discharge current. ie: for a 2000mah Eneloop, the rating of 2000mah would be achieved after breakin with a discharge current of 200ma. By comparison, the current draw on a modern R2- or R5-based LED flashlight is somewhere around 1.5 - 1.8A or even higher. Certainly well above 1.0 A. Even a Zebralight H501 (my copy) on high pulls 1A from the battery. In any case, the displayed MAH capacity in any BC-xxxx charger is not likely to match actual usage in a flashlight.

Another problem with a displayed battery capacity is that the voltage from an older battery/cell may be depressed. Meaning that you will decide the light is "dim", when in fact a fair amount of battery capacity remains. Such are the difficulties of testing batteries in flashlights and using visual means of determining discharge state.