Z
z__joe_
Guest
Hellp I'm new to this forum and the thing that got me here is the Lacrosse BC-9009 Meltdown thread and all the complaints it was receiving. Trust me i read them all.
A little parenthesis (you can skip this part if you want):
January the 2nd 2011
I live in the Mediterranean and I had a friend traveling to New York so i had little time to read and think about what i wanted to get (since i had 17 items to buy online) So basically typed: smart charger in amazon and the one with the most comments and more usage was the winner and you guessed it. It was the Lacrosse.
So i placed my order, and while waiting for my friend, i started reading about the metldowns, the Roman IV on the AC adapter, the overheating, and .. and..
Contacted my friend, asked to check my AC Adapter, and it had the Roman IV on the back, so i immediately contacted Amazon, which did a great step, they knew about the Lacrosse problem and they want me to be a happy customer, so they refunded me the Lacrosse (although my friend received it) and changed my order to the MAHA C-9000 (upon my request).
Bottom of line: i have both now. And i was preparing myself to do something to the Lacrosse in order to use it, replacing the AC Adapter is a no no since its a problem sending it from where i live and all that.
So i received them both, and didn't even bother using the lacrosse, the MAHA is mighty, better built, i love the feel of it, it feels like a power tool and it's a product that i'm proud of using, the Lacrosse felt cheap, my energizer charger has better plastic.
I started by reading both manuals, and they offer the same usability, except for some features, like top off charge, refresh on the lacrosse is a bit different than the break in on the maha (basically the refresh keeps charging and discharging until the charge is stable), the maha break in is a cycle of 16 hours charge 4 hours rest, discharde, 16 hours charge. A Cycle mode on the Maha is available in order to have more breakins on the like.
I didn't use the Lacrosse cause i was waiting for a reply from the support team, my main question was about the Roman IV on the AC adapter, as i recall that was a problem back in 2010 when they delivered faulty adapters, and i wanted to make sure why the Roman IV is still on my Adapter. that was the reply:
Quote:
(...)
If your BC9009 has a Roman numeral IV on the A/C cord and www.lacrossetechnology.com on the display, please provide your complete address for a replacement cord.
BC9009 chargers sold after January 15, 2010 may have an A/C cord with the Roman numeral IV but will have www.lacrossetechnology.com/support on the back of the charger. These chargers do not need a replacement A/C cord as they have a different circuit board inside.
(...)
I checked my BC-9009U unit and indeed i had the www.lacrossetechnology.com/support on the back, meaning it's the new board.
Does anyone has this version? (V37) with the support link on the unit? (not the ac adapter)
Anyways, now that i know that the Roman IV is not that big of a deal (although it delivers 3.2V), i didn't want to risk it at all, and i had a couple of tricks under my sleeve.
So here am i explaining my mod (which is pretty simple) of the Lacrosse BC-9009U V37 bought in January the 2nd 2011
While i was waiting for the unit, i looked in my garage at my old computer cases and took from them (from 2 computers) 2 heat sinks.
1 from my P1 computer bought in 1994:
And the other one from my P3 computer bought in 2000?:
i thought that i need a fan for the batteries, and a heatsink for the bottom of the Charger to dissipate the heat that is produced on the board and the headers. i wanted to protect the screen too(remember the black screen reports).
I build a small stand for the heat sink, just enough to raise the whole fan from the table (for noise purposes since it was noisy and for better airflow). I used a plastic CD (the one that comes on top of a CD or DVD blank tower box). and i used 2 screws to mount the heatsink, made a bigger hole in the platic CD(just to reduce the noise) and raised the platform using rubber feet.
Here is the setup:
I'm using a universal AC adapter for the heatsink, with variable voltage, so i can actually change the speed of the fan,
Luckily enough those chargers come with a + shaped head (for different sizes) so i can actually plug the 2 fans on the same charger head.
Here is a picture of the final setup (you can see the MAHA on the right):
I tested a charge at 1000Mah and i can tell you, both the device (plastic) and the batteries were cold, and yes cold, not normal temperature.
When i'm discharging, i remove the top fan and just keep the Charger on the heatsink platform, it looks cool anyway.
Now i would like to ask:
Although building that setup was fun, is it required for the new V37 with its new board as specified by Lacrosse?
I'm not always using the Upper fan since i think is an overkill, the batteries remain cold and i'm afraid this will affect the charge and heat sensor (i dont know). Can anyone please advice on that? Does the upper fan affect the charging? (since the batteries are cold), i.e. does it affect the energy transmitted, or anything of the sort?
I thank you for reading, i hope that this thread received some answers and some discussions, especially regarding the new board, and my final reflection is:
Why didnt all Lacrosse BC-9009 (or 900) owners thought about adding a simple fan (not specifically a setup like mine) to dissipate the heat? Its common sense!
Joe Hannouch
A little parenthesis (you can skip this part if you want):
January the 2nd 2011
I live in the Mediterranean and I had a friend traveling to New York so i had little time to read and think about what i wanted to get (since i had 17 items to buy online) So basically typed: smart charger in amazon and the one with the most comments and more usage was the winner and you guessed it. It was the Lacrosse.
So i placed my order, and while waiting for my friend, i started reading about the metldowns, the Roman IV on the AC adapter, the overheating, and .. and..
Contacted my friend, asked to check my AC Adapter, and it had the Roman IV on the back, so i immediately contacted Amazon, which did a great step, they knew about the Lacrosse problem and they want me to be a happy customer, so they refunded me the Lacrosse (although my friend received it) and changed my order to the MAHA C-9000 (upon my request).
Bottom of line: i have both now. And i was preparing myself to do something to the Lacrosse in order to use it, replacing the AC Adapter is a no no since its a problem sending it from where i live and all that.
So i received them both, and didn't even bother using the lacrosse, the MAHA is mighty, better built, i love the feel of it, it feels like a power tool and it's a product that i'm proud of using, the Lacrosse felt cheap, my energizer charger has better plastic.
I started by reading both manuals, and they offer the same usability, except for some features, like top off charge, refresh on the lacrosse is a bit different than the break in on the maha (basically the refresh keeps charging and discharging until the charge is stable), the maha break in is a cycle of 16 hours charge 4 hours rest, discharde, 16 hours charge. A Cycle mode on the Maha is available in order to have more breakins on the like.
I didn't use the Lacrosse cause i was waiting for a reply from the support team, my main question was about the Roman IV on the AC adapter, as i recall that was a problem back in 2010 when they delivered faulty adapters, and i wanted to make sure why the Roman IV is still on my Adapter. that was the reply:
Quote:
(...)
If your BC9009 has a Roman numeral IV on the A/C cord and www.lacrossetechnology.com on the display, please provide your complete address for a replacement cord.
BC9009 chargers sold after January 15, 2010 may have an A/C cord with the Roman numeral IV but will have www.lacrossetechnology.com/support on the back of the charger. These chargers do not need a replacement A/C cord as they have a different circuit board inside.
(...)
I checked my BC-9009U unit and indeed i had the www.lacrossetechnology.com/support on the back, meaning it's the new board.
Does anyone has this version? (V37) with the support link on the unit? (not the ac adapter)
Anyways, now that i know that the Roman IV is not that big of a deal (although it delivers 3.2V), i didn't want to risk it at all, and i had a couple of tricks under my sleeve.
So here am i explaining my mod (which is pretty simple) of the Lacrosse BC-9009U V37 bought in January the 2nd 2011
While i was waiting for the unit, i looked in my garage at my old computer cases and took from them (from 2 computers) 2 heat sinks.
1 from my P1 computer bought in 1994:
And the other one from my P3 computer bought in 2000?:
i thought that i need a fan for the batteries, and a heatsink for the bottom of the Charger to dissipate the heat that is produced on the board and the headers. i wanted to protect the screen too(remember the black screen reports).
I build a small stand for the heat sink, just enough to raise the whole fan from the table (for noise purposes since it was noisy and for better airflow). I used a plastic CD (the one that comes on top of a CD or DVD blank tower box). and i used 2 screws to mount the heatsink, made a bigger hole in the platic CD(just to reduce the noise) and raised the platform using rubber feet.
Here is the setup:
I'm using a universal AC adapter for the heatsink, with variable voltage, so i can actually change the speed of the fan,
Luckily enough those chargers come with a + shaped head (for different sizes) so i can actually plug the 2 fans on the same charger head.
Here is a picture of the final setup (you can see the MAHA on the right):
I tested a charge at 1000Mah and i can tell you, both the device (plastic) and the batteries were cold, and yes cold, not normal temperature.
When i'm discharging, i remove the top fan and just keep the Charger on the heatsink platform, it looks cool anyway.
Now i would like to ask:
Although building that setup was fun, is it required for the new V37 with its new board as specified by Lacrosse?
I'm not always using the Upper fan since i think is an overkill, the batteries remain cold and i'm afraid this will affect the charge and heat sensor (i dont know). Can anyone please advice on that? Does the upper fan affect the charging? (since the batteries are cold), i.e. does it affect the energy transmitted, or anything of the sort?
I thank you for reading, i hope that this thread received some answers and some discussions, especially regarding the new board, and my final reflection is:
Why didnt all Lacrosse BC-9009 (or 900) owners thought about adding a simple fan (not specifically a setup like mine) to dissipate the heat? Its common sense!
Joe Hannouch
