I have a LaCrosse BC-900 that I have used in the past to revive some gumstick batteries. Gumstick's are basically flat AA NIMH batteries. The LaCrosse BC-900 has a refresh mode that will keep charging/discharging until the max charge is reached. Some of these batteries took days on the refresh cycle and did come back. I need to do this again and have tried over and over again on my Xtar VC4 & Zanflare C4 with limited success. Since these chargers only charge/discharge a limited amount of times. Unlike the BC-900 that continues until the max obtainable charge is reached. Sadly the BC-900 has short slots for the batteries. Too short for the gumstick batteries. So I had to make a adapter that only can do one battery at a time. I would like to find a charger that has 2 3/4" battery slots and a smart refresh cycle.
Charger That Has A Refresh Mode Like The LaCrosse BC-900
- Thread starter Dimt
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ChrisGarrett
Flashlight Enthusiast
I've had my LC BC-700 for now a decade and it's really no 'miracle worker, IMO.
I bought it along with my MAHA C-9000 and this charger is a bit more flexible and has never thermally ceased charging like my LC does.
This being said, the best I can hope for is maybe a little bit of improvement, but once the I.R.s get high, the batteries/cells are toast and it's time for me to move on to new stuff.
My two Opus BT-3400s (v. 2.2 & 3.1) allow me to run 'cycles.'
Chris
I bought it along with my MAHA C-9000 and this charger is a bit more flexible and has never thermally ceased charging like my LC does.
This being said, the best I can hope for is maybe a little bit of improvement, but once the I.R.s get high, the batteries/cells are toast and it's time for me to move on to new stuff.
My two Opus BT-3400s (v. 2.2 & 3.1) allow me to run 'cycles.'
Chris
Can you put a 21700 in them? My Opus BTC100 can open wide enough for one.
I agree that my LC is no miracle worker over all it has restored a lot of capacity on damaged nimh batteries but the same batteries usually lost considerable capacity and were more prone to problems after that. I still like the charger because my older junk cells I keep in lights I rarely use that I often just sit and blink in my Duracell mobile charger and I do use the refresh option when I feel batteries are not lasting long enough and compare the capacity after a complete refresh cycle.
Now that I've gotten more used to lithium ion tech I've gotten to the point of more annoyance with nimh and when I have to do refresh cycles to restore capacity to cells or test them and find out they lost considerable capacity I'm glad I've made the switch. I still have a few AA/AAA lights but they are not my workhorses I rarely use nimh lights even the one in my pocket that is AAA I only use once every few months.
Nether is my MAHA charger a "Miracle Worker".
The Opus DISCHARGE REFRESH cycle discharge and charge the battery 3 times period. Just like my Zanflare & Xtar chargers cycle 2 times period. I have to come back & restart with these chargers every few hours. When I remember. This usually ends up taking a week and I have to write down the mA's and guess when to stop. With the LaCrosse it will be persistent and keep going until no gain is achieved. All I have to do is "look in on it" it every day. My problem is the homemade LaCrosse gumstick adapter I made. It will only do one battery at a time and I have play around with screws to get a good connection. If I could find a D cell adapter for the LaCrosse charger possibly I could do more cells at a time, I have never seen the LaCrosse D adapter so I do not know. I wish I could move on to new Gumstick batteries but all the new Gumsticks I have bought are junk. Worse than the old Sony/Panasonic Gumsticks I have been rejuvenating. My collection of 30+ Gumsticks are now down to two maybe three reliable batteries. If I could do more at a time I could possibly clean up a couple/few more batteries.
If you are comfortable with the 2A mode on the charger I would just use that as it only works on 2 of the channels and using 4 channels drops the output to half or 1A I believe which means you only need to set up for charging 2 cells at a time. Magnets may be an idea for connecting to the charger and batteries.
I suppose I could make another adapter, and I might if I can't find a charger with a persistent refresh mode. I was really hoping to find a charger but It looks like that's not going to happen. Humm magnets. Can I solder a wire to a magnet? I have never tried.
I've not tried but there have been people that have done it. You could also use a dowel rod with screws on the end to connect wire that will be a fake battery in the charger.
I agree, the Maha is no cell necromancer either. It helps to keep the cells healthy, but it won't bring them back from the dead, and when they are on their way out, there's no stopping it.
ChrisGarrett
Flashlight Enthusiast
yeah I doubt protected 21700s would fit at all in most chargers not specifically designed with it in mind.
