LaCrosse BC-900 and Mignon Batts

High all! I just got my new LaCrosse BC-900 charger recently with the purported junky batteries (mignon brand?) which accompanies it. There are a few posts on the batteries not being too good so I refreshed them in the charger to see what my set of AA's would get and here it is below. So far this charger (firmware V33) has not dissapointed and resurrected some real clunker Powerizer batteries I bought 3 years ago when I was totally ignorant about good vs bad batteries. The only thing I'm still unclear on is on some batteries I saw the Ah depiction of maximum capacity at 1.82 and other times the maximum capacity after discharge (which it learns after discharge on the charger) represented in thousands at mah 1821. Shouldn't this thing be consistent and always represent it in the same thing either mah or Ah? 2.45 or 2450? etc

Why do you keep it on a dish?

As a meltdown precaution. There are many reports of the version 32 firmware charger melting. Although I have version 33, I'd rather not take the chance. So far so good for two weeks. Of course it is still too premature to see if this problem has been fixed in the latest charger.

Hey, you already knew why in your info here: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/146525

I put my chargers on a ceramic plate as well for the same reason, but also simply to protect the wood surface if the bottom of the charger becomes hot.

The first digit in the display can only be a 1 so it switches from mAH to AH at 2.00 and above.

I actually found the included batteries to be fairly decent. They tested a little low compared to their ratings but have held up well in use.

I've got a v32 that has seen heavy use for two years without a meltdown. The buttons have gotten very bad though with a lot of contact bounce or not sensing presses.

Mike

Mike, thank you so much for your help. I thought that might be the issue and you explained it perfectly. They should have put that in the manual unless I overlooked it. You need a magnifying glass for that manual at my age. Luckily I found it online with a PDF. I bought some energizer 2500's which were made in Japan and another set in China. Both sets are only 6-12 months old and have been charged about 40 times or so. Strangely (to me) even though my new LaCrosse has refreshed/gotten the capacity up to 2.3 and above on all Energizers the Damn things will only do about 100 photos before dying. The new Duracell 2650's I just bought BELOW just gave me more than 400 photos. Is it likely that even after a few cycles and a few months that certain brands will deteriorate that much? And why so few shots out of the camera if the LaCrosse had restored the Energizers to a respectable Ah. Maybe I got a bad batch but both the Japan and the China Energizers are doing the same thing. Hmmmm Thanks again! Great forum here...

Hello Hoarybat,

Welcome to CPF.

Your Energizer batteries are not working in your camera because the voltage under load drops below the cut off voltage of the camera. This can be caused by an increase in the cells internal resistance, but we have also observed that the Energizer 2500 cells seem to develop a high self discharge rate. They work fine "hot" off the charger, but if they sit for a few days, they have greatly reduced capacity.

If I had to guess, I would say that your cells may be suffering from the high self discharge rate problem. 40 cycles should not depress the voltage enough to be an issue.

Tom

Thanks for the insight. Ya I see why those relatively new hybrid/slow self discharge batteries are becoming enticing. Is there any evidence on the forum that the duracell's or rayovac 2500's I just purchased will fare any better than the Energizers when it comes to the self discharge issue? I found my energizers only sat for a few days and they had lost much of their oomph... Thanks

Hi guys! I bought a two packs of Sanyo eneloops months ago because Circuit City online had them for half off. Wow after 50 cycles they're going great! I had the batteries in my Canon S3 for 3 weeks without use and was still able to take more than 300 shots at full resolution with half of them using the flash. It is nice to know that my camera is ready when I am. Using the other non-hybrid batteries was always frustrating for me having them dead within a few shots after not using the camera for 3 weeks. Quite pleased with this lower mah but lower self discharge eneloops. I'll never go back. I may go forward with rechargable lithiums in the future should they find their way affordably into AA's etc. Any comments on that welcomed..