Received my BC-900 - couple ?'s

[rhymemaze]

How should I handle the new LaCrosse cells (2600AA, 1000 AAA). Manual says to form them at 200ma. Am I gaining a lot of cell life by doing this to these cells or would 500ma be sufficient? Also, after a few cycles, should I up the charge rate at all?

Also, I have some new Eneloops. Same questions apply...or should I just throw them in my devices (without an initial charge), use them, and charge them at a lower charge rate (500ma) for a few cycles before charging them at a higher rate?

Thanks for the guidance.

 

[VidPro]

i dont think you can form on the 900, you would risk it not terminating.
and i wouldnt worry about it, run the AAAs at at least 200 more likly 500, and the AAs at at LEAST 500, more likly 750- 1000.

the Maha 9000 is capable of this forming stuff, the la cross 900 is always trying to spot a voltage drop before termination. and it can rarely cause some bad issues when run at 200, just not worth it IMO.

and when bats are NEW or old and unused remember termination with v-drop is harder for the machine to see, so use a ample current.

usually someone who bought a 900 also has a slower charger, which can easily be used to form instead of that.

and nothing i am saying is intended to be negative about the charger, just pointing out the best tips for using it.

 

[rhymemaze]

Thanks for the information. Good point about the "other charger." I do have an older Sanyo charger that charges AA @ 350ma and @ AAA t 150ma as I recall.

 

[VidPro]

slower
like 200-250max for AA, and 80-120max for AAAs for a slow dumb "forming" type charge
at least when it comes to the END of charge, which some of these things rated higher than that do, because they have a MAX voltage of about 1.5 , so they usually slow down when it hits the end. you can check that with a meter pretty quickly. and some of the newer stuff, that says 250ma has a short pulse timeout that actually makes them and averaged 230ma

 

[rhymemaze]

I decided to just charge the LaCrosse AA's at 500ma for the first charge (charging now). No forming on these guys.

 

[rhymemaze]

Re:?'s

I had one cell say FULL after putting ~890mah in, meanwhile the other cells said full after putting ~2150mah in. I took the first cell off that said FULL and it started charging again....for an hour plus now and it is still going. So far it added ~500mah to the original 890.

What is going on here? Why would the cell say FULL and then take so much more "juice" in after I pull it off the charger and place it back to charge?

 

[SilverFox]

Re: ?'s

Hello Rhymemaze,

You experienced a premature termination signal. You should have taken the time to form the cells first. It is a good way to avoid this.

Another good way to avoid this is to charge in the (0.1 EDIT: this should be) 0.5 - 1.0C range. With your 2600 mAh cells, that would be in the 1300 - 2600 mA range.

Tom

Oops, I listed the wrong charging range. It has now been edited and is correct.

 

[rhymemaze]

Thank you for the reply. A little late to form these cells now, though I will heed your advice on the charging currents.

What about the 1000mah AAA cells? I can't really form them in the BC900 though my older Sanyo charger can charge AAA @ 150ma. Is that the best route to start them out?

And with the Eneloops, I take it I should form them @ 200ma first before regularly charging them @ 1000ma?

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Rhymemaze,

I think you may be better off just charging them and keeping an eye on them. 150 mA is a little high for those cells, and it would be possible to do some damage as you try to form the cell.

Charge them up. If they terminate early, run a discharge, then charge them again. Eventually they should charge right up.

Tom

 

[VidPro]

no problem just throw the lacross batteries in the trash, you wont be needing them and use the LSD cells instead.
or use them to test the charger a bit, then give them to your little brother.

 

[rhymemaze]

no problem just throw the lacross batteries in the trash, you wont be needing them and use the LSD cells instead.
or use them to test the charger a bit, then give them to your little brother.

I ended up putting the LaCrosse cells in a John Deere remote control dump truck for my 2 year old . They are performing really well. Previously, I put some alkaline in and it only lasted 5 minutes. I think I got a good batch of cells there. I do want to test the cells for capacity at some point...hopefully this weekend.

 

[TakeTheActive]

Re: ?'s

...You experienced a premature termination signal. You should have taken the time to form the cells first. It is a good way to avoid this....

I agree, especially with non-LSD, 'lower quality' cells.

...Another good way to avoid this is to charge in the 0.1 - 1.0C range. With your 2600 mAh cells, that would be in the 1300 - 2600 mA range...

He meant 0.5C - 1.0C range.

 

[SilverFox]

Re: ?'s

Hello TakeTheActive,

Thanks for pointing that out. I have edited my post to reflect this correction.

Tom

 

[N162E]

no problem just throw the lacross batteries in the trash, you wont be needing them

+1