Why buy a Maha MH-C9000?

[Apollo Cree]

I need someone to help corrupt me.

I'm thinking about getting a Maha MH-C9000. It looks like a really neat gadget. I'm sure I could waste endless hours playing with it.
However, I already have several lesser, but adequate, chargers. The Maha will probably cost about $50. For that price I can buy 10 or so Eneloops or 40 or so Rayovac 4.0s.
I don't really don't have to recharge my existing batteries that often. Perhaps the Maha charger will let me get more lifetime out of my cells. How long is it going to take me for me to save the equivalent of 10 or 40 batteries worth of lifetime?
Yes, it may get me more charge into the cells. However, I can just keep some extra cells around to handle any less than full cells.
If I simply throw away any cells that become weak, I can go through a lot of cells before I've earned enough to pay for the Maha charger.
I'm trying to do my flashaholic duty and buy one, but I need help rationalizing the purchase.

 

[Mr Happy]

It will tell you more precisely which cells are below capacity and by how much, assisting you in deciding which cells to replace and which cells to keep.

The discharge and break-in functions can make your existing cells perform better by decreasing their internal resistance and restoring lost capacity. This is especially true of shelf queens and lightly used batteries.

It can charge batteries fast in one or two hours while keeping them cool. This is handy if you are impatient.

Once you get used to seeing the actual voltages and capacities on the display it is hard to go back to a charger that just has a status light.

 

[357mag1]

I didn't buy the C9000 to save money I just like the idea of knowing exactly what my batteries are doing. I found a lot of batteries in my collection were sagging down to 1.05volts or lower under loads as low as 300ma. Something I wouldn't have known without the C9000.

Unless you are a high volume battery user it probably won't pay for itself but im my mind the information the unit provides makes it a steal at $50.

 

[JaguarDave-in-Oz]

I figured I'd never need the technical abilities of the Maha so I bought one anyway, just to keep up with the Joneses.

Now it's the only NiMH charger that I use (and I have a couple of others) because it has that nifty discharge function (with mAH readout) where I can create a simulated rundown and find out the true capacity of my batteries (as well as drain before charge if I want).

What I discovered through the discharge function was that one each of my AAA's and AA's was only carrying half the capacity of the rest and thus was letting the side down in my 4 x AAA LLP7 and my 2 x AA Quark Turbo. My LLP7 is noticeably better for chucking that dud AAA battery out.

The discharge function also allowed me to do self discharge tests on various batteries and I made some interesting and useful discoveries about my batteries.

That discharge ability as well as the ability to hammer in a really heavy fast charge if need be really makes me happy that I splurged on the Maha.

I'll have a Duff, you have one too.........

 

[OneBigDay]

I wasn't sure if I needed this charger when I bought it, but I can say now that I think this is an excellent charger. These are the points I especially like about it (already mentioned by others).

1) Break In Mode - good for breaking in cells.
2) Discharge Mode - I have gotten into the habit of always running a discharge first on whatever I am going to charge, then follow with a charge cycle. Use for both break in charges with new cells or just a routine charge cycle. Picked up this tip somewhere here on CPF.
3) You set the charge rate so it can be fast or slow depending on your needs.
4) You can always cherry pick your best performers because the capacity is listed for each individual cell - post charge. So if you buy a 4 pack of cells and 2 go into lights immediately and 2 are spares, you can at least put the 2 highest capacity cells into your lights

Not sure about paying for itself, but if it fits into your budget I agree that it's got $50 worth of features.

 

[ValVe]

You don't buy things like this to actually save money.

You buy 'em because you like 'em. You like how they work, you love to touch the buttons, to observe them at work and know they're doing something clever teh pr0p3r 1337 way.

And, of course, just for the sake of geekiness.

Otherwise, you absolutely do not need any gadgets. They always make your life more complicated. And they will not survive the impending global thermonuclear war.

 

[alfreddajero]

You've already read the posts above......so whats stopping you.

 

[Apollo Cree]

The point about knowing which individual cells of a batch of cells is weakest is a good point I hadn't thought about.

I do already have a charger that will run through a single discharge/charge cycle, so that somewhat reduces the need for the Maha. I can run batteries through an occasional discharge cycle. It doesn't do any measurement like the Maha, though.

I have another charger that has individual lights to indicate which of a batch of 4 takes longest to charge, so that also gives some indications of cell vs. cell.

I don't currently have any significant multi-AAA/AA cell flashlights, so that reduces my need for a charger like the Maha, too.

Thanks for the info on pros and cons, keep it coming.

 

[Russel]

[Scratching my head]

A Maha MH-C9000? Don't you know you should order at least two at a time!

Kidding aside, the two things that I value the most from the C9000 is the break-in mode and the capacity measurement. The break-in mode doesn't need to be used very often, but can help keep rechargables vibrant. I keep a record of the capacity that is displayed at the end of the break-in process so that I can keep track of each cell's relative heath.

Some other things that I like about the C9000:

I love the fact that you can just drop Eneloops in the charger to recharge with no button pressing required.

I love the spacing that allows some convection cooling of the cells.

I love being able to take a look, mid charge, and see how much "fuel" has been pumped in the the cells.

I love the fact that the charger runs well powered by the 12V car batteries in my solar power system.

I love that the charger rejects cells with high internal resistance so that I know it's time to recycle them.

 

[Wrend]

Otherwise, you absolutely do not need any gadgets. They always make your life more complicated. And they will not survive the impending global thermonuclear war.

That's what you think...

I love the fact that the charger runs well powered by the 12V car batteries in my solar power system.

...Oops...

Old thread.

Yeah, not 2010.

 

[rick45acp]

The Maha was pretty high priced so I looked at the LaCrosse and it has done everything I needed and has works perfectly. It seems to do everything the Maha does. Is there something the Maha does that the LaCrosse can't do or does better?

 

[vali]

Break-In

In fact there was a thing the MAHA didn't do but the LaCrosse did... melting.

 

[lwien]

Break-In

In fact there was a thing the MAHA didn't do but the LaCrosse did... melting.

The MAHA melted at one time as well. Both manufacturers have addressed this issue.

 

[EngrPaul]

I've used mine to determine that eneloops are the most reliable NiMH ever made. All my non-eneloops are long gone, and I haven't had to discard one eneloop yet, despite some of them being taken down to 0V.

I wish somebody made a version for li-ions!

 

[Wrend]

I wish somebody made a version for li-ions!

Just get a nice hobby charger. No need for separate ports since you can parallel or balance series charge LiIon/LiPo cells on them. Well, I guess you could technically include the balancing ports, but they don't handle the bulk of the current.

What I'd like is an MH-C9000 with 8 Ports and more customizable settings and functions. Going from a high end hobby charger to a high end 4 port NiMH/NiCd charger is a bit of a let down. Still though, it has some features I like, since parallel charging NiMH/NiCd cells isn't really an option.

Otherwise, on my hobby charger I can set peak voltage, voltage drop, temperature, capacity, and time values for termination as well as charge/discharge rates, and number of cycles for NiMH/NiCd cells.

 

[EngrPaul]

For the same price? Anything for li-ions seems to be 3X the cost, I can't justify that. :ironic:

 

[Wrend]

Something like the Dynamite Passport Ultra is a nice all-in-one charger for about 2x the cost. Only thing extra you'd need are the parallel charging cables.

You can find cheaper ones from Hobby City/King, but then you have shipping from China, and Chinese service to deal with.

 

[menoceros]

As a newbie to the CPF i was reading this thread to see if this was a charger I wanted to buy. I already own a MAHA charger I bought years ago for my camera. After reading some of the posts about whether or not you "need" a charger like this, I'm reminded of a comment Bill Cosby made years ago. When asked why he owned a Ferrari, Bill said, "I need a Ferrari because it will do 180MPH and I live three miles from work".

 

[rick45acp]

The LaCrosse does a "refresh" which is the same as a break-in and my LaCrosse has charged hundreds of batteries with no problem.

Break-In

In fact there was a thing the MAHA didn't do but the LaCrosse did... melting.

 

[45/70]

The LaCrosse does a "refresh" which is the same as a break-in and my LaCrosse has charged hundreds of batteries with no problem.

The "Refresh" on the La Crosse "BC" series chargers is not the same as a "Break-in" on a C9000. A break-in is a continuous charge at a 0.1C rate for 16 hours, followed by a rest period, then a 0.4C discharge, followed by another rest period, and then another 16 hr continuous charge at 0.1C. The 16 hour 0.1C charge purposely overcharges the cell at a safe charge rate, so as to redistribute the electrolyte more evenly throughout the cell.

You might be able to get a La Crosse charger to "sorta" do a break-in on 2000mAh cells charging them at 200mA.....maybe. You would have to time the charge manually and count on the charger missing termination, which these chargers do most of the time, at low charge rates anyway. Then manually terminate the charge at the 16 hour mark. I thought about trying this to see if it works, but have never gotten around to it.

Dave