Eneloop / La Crosse BC-900 'Meltdown' Failure

[kramer5150]

My cousin is visiting for the holiday and was charging his eneloops in his lacrosse charger.. when this happened.

The charger + cells were SCORCHING hot, nearly burned my hand when I touched the cells. The LCD screen turned black, and stank to all he11 and back.

What could have caused this? He uses this charger all the time for nearly 6-7 years. I always use it to charge my energizer 2450 cells when I visit his place.

:thinking:

 

[Black Rose]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

It sort of looks like the meltdown problem without the oozing pile of plastic.

Do you know what charge rate he was using? What version is the charger?

 

[TranceAddict]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

this is the firmware bug in older version, newer firmware update is purposely to address this problem. google for "bc-900 melting"

 

[Turbo DV8]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

It sort of looks like the meltdown problem without the oozing pile of plastic.

Do you know what charge rate he was using? What version is the charger?

If it's 6 - 7 years old, it's gotta be the version 32 with the bonus-added "meltdown" feature! 🙁

 

[Light Sabre]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

I have 2 of the version 3.2 BC-900's that are 3 1/2 years old. Only problem I have had with either was 2 or 3 weeks ago I was charging 4 AAA's at 200ma and channel one voltage was acting kinda weird so I pulled the batteries. The other 3 had already finished charging, but channel 1 was taking forever. Now I use 500 ma for AAA's. Will keep a closer eye on the chargers. They're well ventilated and sit on a flat surface that's probably fire resistent. Smoke alarm is 9 ft away and would go off if anything happened. Have considered making or buying a temperature senser to go underneath the units or a remote sensor that would go under the batteries to remove AC power or the DC adapter if things get too hot. I could just buy a couple of new ones with the better firmware. I'm an electronic tech, so making my own sensor sounds more fun.

 

[kramer5150]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

ok thanks!! I'll tell my cousin the bad news:sigh:

FWIW he was quick charging the cells at 500mah.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

ok thanks!! I'll tell my cousin the bad news:sigh:

FWIW he was quick charging the cells at 500mah.

more like slow charging for AAs IMO I charge AAs at 700 or 1000ma myself because the charger picks up the termination of the charge better

 

[MarioJP]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

wow what happened? How did it get that hot in the first place?

 

[vali]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

wow what happened? How did it get that hot in the first place?

:shakehead

 

[Mr Happy]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

more like slow charging for AAs IMO I charge AAs at 700 or 1000ma myself because the charger picks up the termination of the charge better

Is true, 500 mA is slow charging, borderline too slow. OTOH, it would take a long time after missed termination at 500 mA before the batteries got that hot. So I still think it was a charger malfunction. Why didn't the temperature sensor cut in?

IMHO that charger is badly designed. On failure it apparently puts the maximum current through the cells, whereas a fail safe design would cut the current to zero on failure.

 

[Lite_me]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

wow what happened? How did it get that hot in the first place?

Some enlightenment here...
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=103802
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=129250
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=224231
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=191052

 

[Bones]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

this is the firmware bug in older version, newer firmware update is purposely to address this problem. google for "bc-900 melting"

Although LaCrosse may have introduced updates that vastly reduced the frequency, please note the meltdowns do continue, even with their newest offering, the BC-9009:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com ... post3165721

http://www.candlepowerforums.com ... post3168416

Unfortunate reminders that, as with all chargers, precautions should be taken when choosing a charging location and/or preparing a charging station.

 

[Bones]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

...
So I still think it was a charger malfunction. Why didn't the temperature sensor cut in?
...

Whatever is causing these meltdowns, it overrides the 3000mAh maximum capacity cut-off too.

 

[Black Rose]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

Maybe LaCrosse should stick to weather stations and clocks and sell the battery charger business to someone that will step up to the plate and resolve this issue once and for all.

 

[MarioJP]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

is this still a problem with version 35??. mines does not overheat unless you are charging really crappy cells. The thermal sensor should of trip and display 000.

Not sure about the earlier version though

 

[Mr Happy]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

is this still a problem with version 35??. mines does not overheat unless you are charging really crappy cells. The thermal sensor should of trip and display 000.

Not sure about the earlier version though

There appears to be a design weakness in this charger. It can fail in such a way that it feeds the maximum current from the power supply through the batteries with no limit on time or temperature. This is a fault condition, not a normal circumstance. Not every sample will fail in this way, in fact most won't, but any charger could (if you are unlucky).

 

[alfreddajero]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

I guess its time for your cousin to get a new one......at least the charger gave him all these years of charging. And im also glad no one got hurt.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

I would contact Lacrosse about it, they could give you another one to replace it as it is defective, not broken.

 

[Black Rose]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

I would contact Lacrosse about it, they could give you another one to replace it as it is defective, not broken.

Apparently LaCrosse is a PITA to deal with when the chargers are within the 1 year warranty period....I doubt they'd do anything about a 6+ year old charger.

 

[N162E]

Re: Eneloop / LaCross failure

Maybe LaCrosse should stick to weather stations and clocks and sell the battery charger business to someone that will step up to the plate and resolve this issue once and for all.

LaCrosse doesn't back up or support anything they sell. That being said, I still think their BC chargers are the best on the market.