La Crosse RS900 acting up?

[RepProdigious]

Hi all,

I recently treated myself to a nice big bunch of Eneloop cells (i got tired of my NiMH cells being empty at the time i needed them) but i noticed something strange when i tried to 'top' a couple of these cells today...

I knew my cells were far from empty so i decided to give em a go at 200mA but charging took way longer than i expected (kept displaying 200mA instead of the expected 'Full') so i took the batteries out and they felt warm... When i put the cells back in the charger immediatly displayed Full in all bays, cells were at 1.44 volts when i measured them I did read a bit about this charger and learned a lot about older models going so id like to be sure here...

Here's some info on the charger:

La Crosse
MODEL:BC-RS900
05/2007 V14

On startup bay 4 displays firmware v33
bays 1 and two display between 13 to 15 when cold and up to 96 with warm batteries inserted, is there a way to convert this to real world temperatures? And at what temperature should the charger shut itself down?

I would also love to know if the charger 'overcharged' the cells and if this something i should be worried about? Or should i just avoid the lower charge currents for these cells because the charger will not detect the end-of-charge?

I'd hate to ruin my nice new eneloops so any help and/or tips would be great!

 

[Quension]

I knew my cells were far from empty so i decided to give em a go at 200mA but charging took way longer than i expected (kept displaying 200mA instead of the expected 'Full')

How long is "way longer"? I've had cold charged Eneloops take around half an hour at ~200mA to signal end-of-charge in various chargers.

so i took the batteries out and they felt warm...

Warm is normal. Only worry if it's uncomfortable to hold, or plastic/labels warp.

When i put the cells back in the charger immediatly displayed Full in all bays, cells were at 1.44 volts when i measured them

They'll easily reach 1.5V during charging, and settle afterward.

I'll let others respond to the rest.

 

[RepProdigious]

Thanks for the reply, ive run the charger through a couple of cycles on a set of old batteries and it seems OK. Ill try to trip the temperature protection today just to make sure its safe and ill give the eneloops another go!

 

[mfm]

Thanks for the reply, ive run the charger through a couple of cycles on a set of old batteries and it seems OK. Ill try to trip the temperature protection today just to make sure its safe and ill give the eneloops another go!

There is a greater risk of overchanging when using a low current than if you use 1A or more.

 

[RepProdigious]

There is a greater risk of overchanging when using a low current than if you use 1A or more.

Well, ive been charging/discharging and refreshing all my cells at higher currents in the past days to make matching sets and find the rotten apples and it looks like a false alarm! The overheat-protection kicks in nicely when something goes bad and all the cells get charged perfect! I guess this was just a case of me being spoofed by all the La Crosse horror stories here on this board

:twothumbs