What is the current firmware of the Lacrosse BC-900 and Maha C9000??

[jkraus]

Maha MH-C9000 charge termination, firmware update

There were issues with charge termination in the Maha MH-C9000 charger, when it was first issued in Sept. 2006. Maha changed their firmware in March 2007 (serial # starts with 0G).

I purchased one recently and have so far only used the break-in mode...in which the charge terminates according to time. One of my 2500 mAh Energizer batteries (new) is problematic in that it only has recorded capacities of 1925, 1888, and 1848 mAh after running the break-in mode three times.

So I tried to rejuvenate the battery by cycling: charge rate 900 mA (0.36C), discharge rate of 500 mA (0.2C), 10 cycles.

Result: Cycle one ran overnight and was not finished in the morning...when subtracting the recorded discharge time and the hour of rest, the battery must have been charged for 5 hours. That is, the battery did not produce enough heat, negative voltage, in order to terminate charging and was pumped full.

Sounds familiar. In the absence of other testing, I wonder whether the charger has still issues or whether the battery is to blame.

 

[oldvultureface]

Re: Maha MH-C9000 charge termination, firmware update

jkraus: I wonder whether the charger has still issues or whether the battery is to blame.

My guess would be the cell. My newer C9000 hasn't failed to terminate with charge rates between 200mA and 2A with many different brands and capacities of batteries (including E2500's). I did have one Energizer 2500 (out of a set of 4) fail to terminate on a Maha C401FS at high rate while the other 3 terminated normally.

 

[NiOOH]

Re: Maha MH-C9000 charge termination, firmware update

What is the serial number of your unit. Did you note the cell voltage at the end of charge?

 

[SilverFox]

Re: Maha MH-C9000 charge termination, firmware update

Hello Jkraus,

Welcome to CPF.

It sounds like you have some "crap" cells...

Normally a cell that drops below 80% of its capacity is considered suspect and is well beyond its peak performance. I recycle cells that drop below 80% of their initial capacity.

The Break-In mode should give you the best capacity for the cell, and it should give you close to the labeled capacity. There are some brands that label "optimistically," but that is a topic for another discussion.

You have 2500 mAh cells that are now averaging 1887 mAh. They have dropped to 75% and are damaged. It is not unusual for damaged cells to behave abnormally and you end up with the results you have observed.

It is always recommended to attend to your charging and keep a look out for this type of abnormal behavior. The results of overcharging NiMh cells is minimal, but other chemistries may not be so forgiving.

Cells that do not behave normally will continue to give you problems. I believe it is not worth the hassle to continue using them. However, it is interesting to play with them to see just what they will do.

The improved C-9000 units have a serial number starting with 0G. The rest of the serial number is a lot code, and I don't believe there have been any changes in the firmware since the 0G units were introduced.

Tom

 

[wptski]

Re: Maha MH-C9000 charge termination, firmware update

Hello Jkraus,

The improved C-9000 units have a serial number starting with 0G. The rest of the serial number is a lot code, and I don't believe there have been any changes in the firmware since the 0G units were introduced.

Tom

Tom:

How many more times will you have to repeat this statement before they listen to you?:thinking:

 

[BentHeadTX]

Re: Maha MH-C9000 charge termination, firmware update

How many more times will you have to repeat this statement before they listen to you?:thinking:

I used 2500mAH cells from Powerex, Energizer and Sony and they all had the "HR" stamp on the negative end. They are without a doubt the utter crappiest cells I have ever used! All of them went down the crapper in one year. The self-discharge rate was about 90% in three to seven days. We are talking about two dozen cells and I was not a happy camper!

All those cells hit the recycle pile, I relaxed and pressed on with life. 16 Powerex 2700 cells were pressed into service and over a year later, they keep running and stay in balance. The Powerex 2700's get hammered in "turbo" mode at least 35 minutes a day in the Fenix LxD series of lights as bicycle lighting. They get recharged every three days and have gone through at least 100 cycles. No problems like the 2500mAH "HR" series garbage cells.

I have standardized on two brands of cells for my AAA/AA needs: Powerex 2700 for high use lights (bike lights and EDC work lights) and use Sanyo Eneloop 800mAH AAA and 2000mAH AA low self-discharge cells for my other needs.

Tested one of my AAA Eneloops and it returned 609mAH in discharge mode to 0.9 volts. The cells were made over 9 months ago and charged to 80%. My 8-pack of Eneloop AA cells have a manufacturing date of September 2006 and I can't wait to analyze them. Alas, the Cadex 7400ER battery analyzer has not hit the dock at work yet so I have to wait to see what it does. Once it arrives, I can test the Eneloops to see their capacity, how well the forming charge works and all that fun battery stuff.

 

[chiphead]

Re: Maha MH-C9000 charge termination, firmware update

I'd just gotten my C9000 in this week, should I be concerned about this?

chiphead

 

[SilverFox]

Re: Maha MH-C9000 charge termination, firmware update

Hello Chiphead,

I would only be concerned if your charger did not work.

I must say that I have been corrected...

The chargers available since early February are the "improved" units. The 0F and 0G leading digits on the serial number are also part of the lot coding.

It looks like the best way to determine which unit you have is either to take Maha's word that all the units since February are the "improved" units, or you can do an extensive series of tests and see if your results are similar to the extensive testing that has already been done.

Tom

 

[chiphead]

Re: Maha MH-C9000 charge termination, firmware update

Hello Chiphead,

I would only be concerned if your charger did not work.

I must say that I have been corrected...

The chargers available since early February are the "improved" units. The 0F and 0G leading digits on the serial number are also part of the lot coding.

It looks like the best way to determine which unit you have is either to take Maha's word that all the units since February are the "improved" units, or you can do an extensive series of tests and see if your results are similar to the extensive testing that has already been done.

Tom

Thanks for the feedback, I'd learned years ago never to by version one of anything. I love this thing, but I'm quite sure I'm charging my cells to their labeled capacity.

chiphead

 

[jkraus]

Re: Maha MH-C9000 charge termination, firmware update

What is the serial number of your unit. Did you note the cell voltage at the end of charge?

Serial: 0G0D01; I did not note the voltage at the end of charge but it was at 1.47 towards the end.

I went away for the weekend and cycled the damaged battery: charging at 1000 mA and discharging at 500 mA; 9 cycles.

Firstly, the rest time between charge and discharge was 120 mins instead of 60 mins, secondly, the battery capacity dropped into the 1770 mAh. So I will return it to Energizer on warranty.

 

[Zero_Enigma]

Thanks in advance.

 

[bcwang]

I believe it's v33 for the Lacrosse and 0G0IA for the Maha

 

[jkraus]

I believe it's v33 for the Lacrosse and 0G0IA for the Maha

How do you know that 0G0IA is the latest?

 

[bcwang]

How do you know that 0G0IA is the latest?

Only because I got it recently directly from maha, and very few people have mentioned having it yet. Plus, it looks like the repeating digit but is fixed in it while the other OGxxx have not had it fixed.

 

[Mr Happy]

Repeating digit bug? What's that then?

 

[TorchBoy]

Repeating digit bug? What's that then?

This sort of thing:

See http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1891712&postcount=142

 

[BlackDecker]

My LaCrosse BC-900 is using firmware ver 32. Many folks reported meltdown problems with this firmware version, but I've never had any problems at all with mine.

 

[servaas]

How do you know that 0G0IA is the latest?

The stock we received from Maha last week has 0G0IA firmware, confirming that it is the latest version.

 

[Zenster]

How do you know that 0G0IA is the latest?

Because it begins with "OG".

It is only the first two digits that designate the firmware version.
All of the units that begin with "OG" all have the same firmware.
The rest of the characters after the first two have absolutely nothing to do with firmware.

This info came from a technician at the Maha company in California.

If anyone has any difficulty with a particular C-9000 unit (with the "OG" firmware) and how it works, it's not the firmware, it's the individual charger itself that may be defective and should be exchanged under warranty.

 

[Rzr800]

"...If anyone has any difficulty with a particular C-9000 unit (with the "OG" firmware) and how it works, it's not the firmware, it's the individual charger itself that may be defective and should be exchanged under warranty.."

Who gives the best service on these things anyways?

Edit: It appears as if somebody from Calgary bought direct; maybe this is the way to go.