best d cell charger/tester

[jasonsmaglites]

i love my new lacrosse 900 aa charger and tester.
it's cool to test and sort my aa and aaa batteries based on their REAL mah ratings.

this thing will show a batteries true colors.

my question is, what charger do i need to do that for d cell batteries.
is there a charger made that will charge and test and refresh d cell batteries. if i could do more than four at a time that would be even better.

anyone know of a charger and a link would be even better?
thanks,
jason

 

[Anders]

Hello jasonsmaglites.

I think it is hard to find a charger that accomplish your demands.

There is a lot of chargers that will test a single D cell, not several.

Shultze, Hyperion and Triton and more, does it.


Anders

 

[jasonsmaglites]

hmmm...
confusing reply.
it's hard to meet my demands but there are a ton of options?
what kind of money for these units are we talking?
can you gimme a link or two, i've searched high and low.
thanks,
jason

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Jason,

Here are some Schulze chargers...

Tom

 

[Zero_Enigma]

i love my new lacrosse 900 aa charger and tester.
it's cool to test and sort my aa and aaa batteries based on their REAL mah ratings.

this thing will show a batteries true colors.

my question is, what charger do i need to do that for d cell batteries.
is there a charger made that will charge and test and refresh d cell batteries. if i could do more than four at a time that would be even better.

anyone know of a charger and a link would be even better?
thanks,
jason

http://www.mahaenergy.com/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=408&cur=specs#mid

If I'm reading it right it can charge 8 x D 11,000mAh in 5hrs. But it's fricking $110.

I guess if you need the good kit you gotta fork over.

 

[Anders]

Hello jasonsmaglites.

You wrote "charge and test and refresh" besides that, in the title you want the "best".

There is some chargers as MAHA C808M that would charge and refresh 8 D cells but not with comparative test results, if you also wan't that sort of info you have to go up in price range and I don't know if they test them at the same time independent.(several cells at the same time).

Maybe Silverfox can tell us if his Schulze will do it?


Anders

 

[Darkpower]

http://www.mahaenergy.com/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=408&cur=specs#mid

If I'm reading it right it can charge 8 x D 11,000mAh in 5hrs. But it's fricking $110.

I guess if you need the good kit you gotta fork over.

That charger (MAHA MH C808) is available from Thomas Distributing for $88. I order one a few days ago, should arrive Tuesday. I also ordered Low-Self-Discharge (LSD) D-cell rated at 10000mAh made by Accupower Evolution D. I also have the LaCrosse charger and I enjoy the test diagnostic features. The La Crosse has become my favorite charger for AA and AAA.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Anders,

The Shulze is usually considered a pack charger. It will do individual cells and has the ability to charge two cells at a time, but that is about it.

Tom

 

[jasonsmaglites]

the schulze is not what i need and the maha doesn't test them.
any others?
i thought for sure i could test a d cell.

 

[Anders]

Thankyou Silverfox for the clarification.:wave:

Anders

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Jason,

If you want to test D cells, I would recommend the CBA II from West Mountain Radio.

Tom

 

[hoffner5]

So this raises an interesting question. Both the LaCrosse and Maha AA/AAA chargers estimate the mAh capacity of the batteries they charge. However, they only tell you what they put in, not the total capacity. So you have to discharge the cell completely, then charge it to get a capacity estimate.

Anyone know how accurate these estimates are? Anyone know of a way to measure this without using such a charger? Does anyone know how the Maha/LaCrosse generate this estimate? Is it simply the Microprocessor accumulating a series of current measurements (say, one a minute), adding them all up and multiplying by a known efficiency factor (say 85%) to come up with a capacity rating?

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Hoffner,

Actual capacity ratings are based on discharge capacity. Charging amount is interesting, but that's about it.

The battery manufacturers use a constant current discharge to rate their cells. I believe the Maha and the LaCrosse use some pulsing during the discharge, so they have to incorporate some integration.

To test the capacity of a cell, you first charge it, let it rest for around 30 minutes, then discharge it. The capacity is based on the discharged value.

Tom

 

[hoffner5]

Actual capacity ratings are based on discharge capacity. Charging amount is interesting, but that's about it.

And since the LaCrosse and Maha do their capacity based upon charging amounts, these numbers are pretty rough?

 

[jasonsmaglites]

hmmm... that west mountain radio thing is not for me either.
no way to test d cells like the lacrosse and maha test aa cells?

 

[Anders]

Hello hoffner5.

You wrote:"And since the LaCrosse and Maha do their capacity based upon charging amounts, these numbers are pretty rough?"

With C-9000 it is several disharge modes, one of them is "Break-In" mode.


Question: Does the MH-C9000 have a Charge/Test that follows the proper IEC standard procedure (rest period of one hour, IEC standard) ?
Answer: Answered by: William Chueh of Maha Energy : The MH-C9000 does have a built-in "IEC" capacity program under the "Break-In" mode.

The sequence is:
1. Charge for 16 hours at 0.1C (user inputs capacity - though for safety reasons, temperature monitoring will be enabled, but no voltage termination).
2. Rest 1 hour.
3. Discharge at 0.2C (up to 1.0A).
4. Rest 1 hour.
5. Repeat step 1 to 4 for four times.
6. Last discharge capacity is saved.
7. Charge - battery ready for use.

Anders

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Hoffner,

Both the LaCrosse and the C-9000 give you both charging and discharging capacities.

Tom

 

[jasonsmaglites]

someone should make a charger to test d cell batteries.
if you build it, they will come!

 

[HWman]

Someone should make a:

re-programmable (by software updates) charger,
universal (for all common cell form factors such as AAA, AA, C, D, 9 volt),
for NiCad, NiMh, Li-ion, etc.,
4-cell or more,
charges (and optionally trickle charges, to avoid blowing up sensitive cells),
conditions (charge then discharge),
tests discharge capacity (in mAh) .

And, costs less than $50...

We can dream...

.

 

[jasonsmaglites]

id' pay over 50, and not require li-ion
just the same thing they do for the aa/aaa's, bumped up to the d size.
if they have the circuitry, why not build it?