Why buy a Maha MH-C9000?

[snakyjake]

I just want a simple charger. I want to drop batteries in the charger, and come back hours later (4+) to full charged batteries, and no damages. I also want a charger my family can use easily, without relying on me or a manual. There's nothing else a charger should do.

And that's my idea of a "smart charger".

 

[45/70]

I just want a simple charger. I want to drop batteries in the charger, and come back hours later (4+) to full charged batteries, and no damages. I also want a charger my family can use easily, without relying on me or a manual. There's nothing else a charger should do.

And that's my idea of a "smart charger".

Well, for all AA NiMh cells anyway, and probably most modern day AAA cells (800-1000mAh) you could get away with it, you just described the Maha MH-C9000. All you have to do is place 1-4 cells in the charger, come back about 3 hrs later and remove them. No button pushing or reading the manual whatsoever.

As with any electronic device however, I personally think it's highly recommended to read the manual. It never hurts to know and understand what you're using. Also, reading through the C9000 manual opens up a lot of other possibilities as to how you can preserve cells and keep them performing a their best. That really is optional though. As I said, to simply charge cells, you just place them in the charger and remove them about three hours (or more) later.

The C9000's default charge settings cover most any cell you place in the charger. That's how I use mine, most of the time. As I said for AAA cells, it'll work, but personally, I prefer a charge rate about half that of the default, for AAA cells, but it'll get the job done, as is. Then again, I did read the "manaul" as it is spelled on the label affixed to the back of the C9000.

Dave

 

[EndlessFields]

I think this thread has convinced me to buy a C9000. Thanks everybody.

 

[ledilluminate]

OK,

So I'm a NOOB, but will it charge 18650's? Is there a better charger for those? Or doesn't it matter if they are "protected"? Sorry for the confusion...

 

[HKJ]

OK,

So I'm a NOOB, but will it charge 18650's? Is there a better charger for those? Or doesn't it matter if they are "protected"? Sorry for the confusion...

NO. It is for NiMH cells, not for LiIon. You can see a couple of LiIon charger reviews on my website. They are a on the technical side, but read the conclusion and look for what size 18650 each charger support.

 

[ledilluminate]

HKJ,

Great reviews. Thanks for the links. Have you found any better large charger than the Xtar WP6 II?

 

[lightsandknives]

The Maha is a great charger. I have some old Rayovac Hybrids I'm running through a Refresh/Analyze cycle right now. You won't regret buying it.

 

[HKJ]

HKJ,

Great reviews. Thanks for the links. Have you found any better large charger than the Xtar WP6 II?

I will not answer here, to avoid starting a discussion about LiIon charges in this thread about the MH-C9000 charger, please ask the question in another thread.

 

[tomasaur]

One thing that I've never quite gotten a sense about it how to respond to some of the options that the Maha c9000 gives me. For instance, I put in a AA Eneloop to charge, I can charge rate from 2000 mAh to 200 mAh in increments of 100.

The manual says that I should charge between .33 and 1.0 x the battery capacity. The Eneloop's capacity is 1900mAh, so that means that I should charge between 627 (round up to 700) and 1900 mAh. The default is 1000, and every since I bought it, I've just gone with that. What I don't have a clear picture of is why I would go with a different rate. If I go up to 1500, am I just doing this to save time? And if so, is this shortening the life of the battery?

I run into the same problem with discharge rates. Again, I just go with the default, but it would be nice to know a little more so that I could make a more informed decision.

This is why there are chargers with no controls.

If there's a thread that I've missed that goes over this topic (for the 1000th time) feel free to just send me there rather than waste your time answering this.

Thanks, you guys are the best.
Tom

 

[Mr Happy]

Charging Eneloops at 1000 mA is good. That's what I always do.

If you charge at a faster rate like 1500 mA the charge will complete quicker, but the batteries will get slightly less charge (although if you wait for the 2h top-off to complete after Done appears the difference will be minimal).

The story is similar with discharging. If you use a lower discharge rate you will record a slightly higher capacity but it will take longer. I usually discharge AA at 500 mA and AAA at 200 mA; this seems to be a reasonable compromise between accurate results and not waiting for ever.

 

[Chidwack]

I just ordered the Maha MH-C401FS. They won't ship til tomorrow and I could call them in the morning and change the order so I'm wondering if I made a mistake and should have ordered the Maha MH-C9000? It's only $10 more.

 

[Mr Happy]

I just ordered the Maha MH-C401FS. They won't ship til tomorrow and I could call them in the morning and change the order so I'm wondering if I made a mistake and should have ordered the Maha MH-C9000? It's only $10 more.

Do you want to travel with the charger? The C9000 has many more functions than the C401FS, but it is what you might call a "desktop" charger. It's big. It's not something you are just going to tuck in your bag and forget it's there. Also, are you of an inquisitive nature? Do you have a desire to find out how things work and discover exactly what your batteries are doing and how well they are working (and prepare to be dismayed when you find out how badly your old batteries are performing), or could you not care less about that?

If you are the plug it in and forget it kind of person, or if you will take the charger traveling, then the C401 is for you. However, if you want one of the most capable chargers you can get and you want to get the best out of your batteries, then the C9000 fits the bill.

 

[Chidwack]

I decided that I would rather have the MH-C9000 so I called Thomas Distributing and caught them before the shipped my order. I will be getting the C9000. Thanks everyone for the imput as you have convinced me.

 

[DJM]

Hi I'm a new member from the UK, I have spent the last month reading the threads and now feel I have a complete and unacceptable lack of Maha C9000!

My question is simple- does anyone know where it is best to buy this charger in the UK? I'm after the Thomas Distributing CS standard. I know there are UK members on CPF but I can't PM yet as this is my first post. Thanks for your help in advance.

Fantastic forum BTW!

Dave

 

[darkpeak]

Hi DJM


:welcome:. Just bought a C9000 myself from Maplin electronics after being convinced by the posts on CPF that I really needed one. The C9000 is a great charger that gives you a lot more information about the condition and performance of your cells which allows you to either select the best cells, pair up the best cells or just concentrate on the poor performers to try to enhance and improve them.
The offical UK distributors that are listed on the MAHA UK website as Maplin, CPC and Nevada Radio or you can also buy direct from MAHA UK themselves.
Hope this helps.

 

[samgab]

Further to the post above, http://cpc.farnell.com seems to be the only UK supplier selling it for less than 49.95. They have it for £39.95 at the time of typing this...

Also, good choice! :thumbsup: and :welcome:

 

[DJM]

Thanks for the info & the welcome! Will take a look & hopefully be the proud owner of a C9000 really soon.
Just a thought as its coming up
to Christmas a present for my wife... Best not- she'll have to settle for a few packs of eneloops! (but then again I'd prefer a Happy Christmas!!)

 

[DJM]

Hi guys, my C9000 has arrived- bought from CPC- thanks again for the advice. I am really pleased with it. Inserting both AA & AAA is not as difficult as I was expecting (I insert them as recommended by Mr Happy- thank you)- maybe Maha have made changes to the tangs? - my serial number is 0K0DA. The information given is absolutely fantastic- a real eye-opener to the state of my cells. I haven't used the break-in mode yet but will do soon. Some posts indicate a risk of using this charger unsupervised but Maha doesn't recommend this- puzzling as the break-in takes over 39 hrs, maybe some folk are just cautious. I'm really pleased with my purchase, I now have a charger which makes using nimh cells so easy! Buying primary cells now seems like burning money.

 

[45/70]

Congrats on your new charge purchase, DJM.

Buying primary cells now seems like burning money.

There's really more to it than that. Many who don't use rechargeable cells think that those who do, do it to save money. While this may be true, once you add up the expense of the charger in addition to the cells, it may seem like your not really saving anything. In the long run I think rechargeable cells are cheaper though.

What most don't realize however, is the superior performance that rechargeable cells deliver. Back in the old days this wasn't so apparent, although even then, NiCd cells outperformed alkaline cells in respect to their ability to hold voltage under load, they just didn't run the device as long. Nowadays though, particularly LSD NiMh cells, not only outperform alkaline cells in all but very low current drain devices, but their capacity is superior as well.

It is this performance difference that started me switching over to NiCd cells back in the '80s, not the money savings. Heck, with all the cells and chargers I've invested in over the years, alkaline cells would probably have been cheaper! Probably not though, and besides, that still wouldn't make up for the fact that their performance sucks.

Dave

 

[DJM]

What most don't realize however, is the superior performance that rechargeable cells deliver. Back in the old days this wasn't so apparent, although even then, NiCd cells outperformed alkaline cells in respect to their ability to hold voltage under load, they just didn't run the device as long. Nowadays though, particularly LSD NiMh cells, not only outperform alkaline cells in all but very low current drain devices, but their capacity is superior as well.

Dave

Thanks Dave, really loving the control the C9000 gives me over my cells. I stumbled upon CPF when trying to find out if my new LED Lenser MT7 was faulty as the run time was shocking. I had no idea that the lowest capacity cell dictated the run time of devices powered by cells in series. Thanks to the outstanding contributions made by members (such as yourself) who are happy to share their wealth of knowledge I have learned so much. I realise the benefits of rechargeables are more than just financial. I'm currently running break in cycles on my cells- a lengthy process but worth it! It's a shame Maha don't make a similar charger that supports C & D cells too. The benefits of being able to match capacities in larger cells would definitely interest me. I wonder
If anyone has heard of any new developments?

Dave