Surefire Charging Systems 8X, 8AX, 9AN, etc.

[RebelRAM]

I was wondering what is the difference between the various charging systems that Surefire has released over the years for 8X, 8AX, 9AN, etc.
I have a C300 and have read that C400 and CN411 were later revisions. My question is, what exactly was changed over the years. Was there a problem with the C300?

Currently on my C300 if I check it with a volt meter the output is 15.2 volts cold. And then after it has been charging a battery it reads 16.5 volts. The transformer plug is marked 12 volts output. So what should I be getting at the charger?

Also according to the instructions packaged with the B90 battery it mentions that on a C300 charger that it takes about 2 hours to fully charge a B90 and that the battery should not be left on the charger for more than 3 hours because it will degrade the performance of the battery. After a 2 hour charge on a B90 I got 4.15 volts. What should the voltage be on a freshly charged B90?

I have been using Surefires with primaries for several years, but now I am finally beginning to understand what you guys mean when you say "guilt free lumens"

 

[SilverFox]

Hello RebelRAM,

The early chargers had a tendency to cook the B90 battery packs. I am not sure if the charge rate was too aggressive, or if the trickle charge was set too high.

The newer chargers do a bulk charge, followed by at top off charge, then go into a trickle charge. Since the introduction of the new chargers, the stock B90 batteries have been performing a lot better. I am not sure if the termination values were changed or not. The early CN411 chargers had a switch to select between NiMh and NiCd charging, but the later units no longer have that switch.

A fully charged B90 battery comes off the charger at around 4.3 - 4.5 volts.

Tom

 

[RebelRAM]

Ok it sounds like I should have left my B90 on the charger for closer to 2.5 to 3 hours to get the full 4.3-4.5 volts. It will probably take a couple cycles to get the NiCads where they should be for full charge.