Determining mAh of used cells

[fluoronator]

Is there a NiMH charger on the market which will...
1. Report the current mAh capacity of a cell after doing a recondition?
2. Report the mAh required to bring a cell to full charge after a normal recharge?

This would be a great feature to monitor the condition of aging cells. If there is not currently one available, could you determine these values simply by integrating the charge current over time or are there too many power losses (heat) durning recharge to get an accurate number of how much power the cell accepted?

Unrelated question...
Will the eneLoop cells be damaged by complete discharge? Are there any ultra-lows which are protected from this?

 

[Mr Happy]

The Maha C-9000 will do that. The LaCrosse BC-900 may do so too, but I don't own that one.

 

[shadowjk]

BC900 does it too.

Re #2, With a C/10 charge current the charger has to put in 1.6 times the capacity the cell will hold in order to fully charge the cell... I've understood that this 1.6 becomes somewhat smaller at higher charge rates though?

 

[Mr Happy]

Re #2, With a C/10 charge current the charger has to put in 1.6 times the capacity the cell will hold in order to fully charge the cell... I've understood that this 1.6 becomes somewhat smaller at higher charge rates though?

Actually, the 1.6 is more than enough, possibly much more than enough. It may vary both with charge rate and with the specific cell type.

Experiments I've done with Eneloops suggest they become fully charged after about 1.1 times the capacity has been put into them, 1.2 at the most.