MH-C9000 wish list

Some here have posted some suggestions for ways to improve the already very nice MH-C9000 in other threads. I thought it a good idea to put all the suggestions in one thread. Some of course may be unfeasible to do at a reasonable cost. Others may not be. Here's my list:

1) A switch to turn off the backlight or perhaps a way to dim it. My concern isn't so much that I want the backlight dimmer but rather that I'm concerned long term about the LEDs degrading in brightness if it's on constantly.

2) Have a discharge-charge cycle in addition to the plain old discharge cycle. By all means though keep the discharge only cycle. This is one of the things I like best about this charger.

3) Read out the cell voltage to 3 decimal places instead of two. The display already has enough digits to do so. This would let the user see minor changes when the cell is almost finished charging. Perhaps the cells which fail to terminate properly don't exhibit enough voltage drop. At least the end user would be able to see if that's the case.

4) Have the temperature readout for each cell as part of the information screen. Since each cell has its own thermistor it should be a simple matter to display temperature (perhaps as an option only rather than by default).

5) Have a way to program all four slots simultaneously. This isn't that imperative since programming is quick and intuitive but it might be nice if it can be done without too much recoding.

6) Have a reconditioning cycle similar to the one on the Cadex where a cell is discharged at 0.1C or 0.2C until 1V, then discharged at 40 mA or so until it reaches 0.4V and then recharged at 15 mA until it reaches 1.1V. This would then be followed by a normal 0.1C forming charge for 16 hours. Have a provision to program the number of times to repeat this cycle. I've heard this process will sometimes rejuvenate a cell which even forming has failed to help. Also, since any cell which was put through this cycle would probably be in lousy shape it would be desireable to skip the internal resistance check so that it could work with any cell. At the end of the cycle(s) the charger could give information on the discharge capacity.

Other than those admittedly picky suggestions, and fixing anything which may not be working properly, this is a great charger. It's much better out of the box than the BC-900 was.

Perhaps all of them could be implemented in software, without any extra buttons.

#1 Allow holding both up/down buttons to toggle or dim the backlight (would require a hardware change).

#2 Changing the current Refresh/Analyze setting to Refresh (discharge, charge) only would allow it to function like other chargers and anyone who wanted to do what Refresh/Analyze does now could just select Cycle setting for one cycle.

#5 Change the bootup sequence so that if the charger is plugged in with cells already in the charger, it will prompt for an action that will apply to all slots.

#6 could be added by having programmable discharge endpoint voltages in the Discharge and Refresh modes. Discharging current already drops off as the cell approaches 1.0v now, and making sure that it continues to do so down to whatever voltage is selected below 1.0v would be close enough. Then no matter the charging current selected, automatically limit things to 15mA until 1.0v.

In addition I'd like as #7 to be prompted in Break-In mode whether I want to run the IEC test or not. That way I could specify if I want to run one forming charge or two.

And for #8 I'd like to see an "auto" number of cycles setting like the BC-900 Refresh mode.

#1 is unlikely since it requires a hardware change, and #4 isn't going to happen either because MAHA shouldn't risk returns from people who can't understand why 4 thermistors are all going to read differently.

Edit: #9 is for the WizardTwo, and that's added C/D cell capability.

jtr1962 said:

1) A switch to turn off the backlight or perhaps a way to dim it. My concern isn't so much that I want the backlight dimmer but rather that I'm concerned long term about the LEDs degrading in brightness if it's on constantly.

Click to expand...

LEDs (if not run hard) can be on constantly for 100,000 hours, or 11.4 years and still be 50% as bright. That'll still be more than enough to read the screen. They make quite a nightlight tho.

I have to admit I got tired of the pulsing white LED on the front of my sleeping Mac lighting up the room at night sooner than I thought I would.

Some ideas to add--

Remembers settings when power goes off, or "does nothing" after power is restored.

If you put the first battery in while holding an entry button, the setting you program will apply to all slots.

Recharge and analyze should work by inputting the battery's capacity, so that the charger can terminate based on 150% of C instead of 20 Ah, and I don't have to calculate the charge and discharge currents.

If the battery is still being topped off after "DONE" is displayed, either flash "DONE" or show the live charge current.

jtr1962 said:

6) Have a reconditioning cycle similar to the one on the Cadex where a cell is discharged at 0.1C or 0.2C until 1V, then discharged at 40 mA or so until it reaches 0.4V and then recharged at 15 mA until it reaches 1.1V. This would then be followed by a normal 0.1C forming charge for 16 hours. Have a provision to program the number of times to repeat this cycle. I've heard this process will sometimes rejuvenate a cell which even forming has failed to help. Also, since any cell which was put through this cycle would probably be in lousy shape it would be desireable to skip the internal resistance check so that it could work with any cell. At the end of the cycle(s) the charger could give information on the discharge capacity.

Click to expand...

It is very satisfying being able to do that (and I include myself in those who like doing that sort of thing) but I have to wonder if any cell that was in that lousy a shape is really worth rejuvenating. What cells would you use it with? What equipment would you use it in? A new cell is only about US$3 and will work really well.

On that subject I hope everyone recycles old cells properly instead of just discarding them. :thanks:

jtr1962 said:

Other than those admittedly picky suggestions, and fixing anything which may not be working properly, this is a great charger. It's much better out of the box than the BC-900 was.

Click to expand...

I think it shows you like to know the why and how as well as what. Or something like that. And it is a great charger.

Wrong "charger". :twothumbs for the WizardOne.

I'd simply like all the information for a slot to be shown on screen at once. I'm spending way too much time staring at the screen.

And yeah, C and D for WizardTwo (although I don't think I'd get it myself).

Geez, three place decimal points, so you can watch for termination? I have better things to do! I don't know how much if any all these added features would add the price but how much are you willing to pay for this super-duper do-all charger??

I don't have mine yet, so I'll keep my list short for now...

I'd really like to be able to program all four slots the same, without having to do each one individually... 99% of the time, this is what I will want, all four slots doing the same function.

Adding a discharge-> charge cycle would be OK, but I would not want it to replace the discharg only function... I have no strong feelings for adding this feature, I just don't want the discharge function to go away.

User selectable cutoff voltage would really be nice... say from .8 to 1.3 volts... in .1 volt increments, or better yet .05 increments.

also as others have said... make the default for power up of this device to do nothing... that is don't re-start a charge cycle after a power outage.

wptski said:

Geez, three place decimal points, so you can watch for termination? I have better things to do! I don't know how much if any all these added features would add the price but how much are you willing to pay for this super-duper do-all charger??

Click to expand...

I would only watch on cells which are getting too hot. IMHO though since this charger has a separate temperature sensor for each slot it should terminate based on rate of temperature rise, followed by a top-off charge. Terminating primarily on -delta V can be problematic.

I'd say on my list #3, #5, and #6 can be done by just reprogramming. #2 and #4 require reprogramming plus adding a few annuciators to the display (this is cost effective since LCD displays are often retooled between product revisions anyway). For #4 (cell temperature readout) it might be nice to have a separate smaller display to read temperature continously for the slot whose info is currently being shown. As it is it takes a bit long for the info for a slot to cycle. Adding something else in the sequence would make it take even longer.

#1 would definitely require a hardware change, albeit a fairly minor one, in order to turn off or dim the backlight. If the LEDs used can really last 100,000 then this might not be needed. However, I don't know what kinds of LEDs are used here. They may be cheap commodity ones with a half-life of a few thousand hours.

To add one more thing to my list, I would like to have a current readout and perhaps another annunciator to indicate when the charger is done but topping off a cell.

In a charger that generates so much heat, dT/dt wouldn't be reliable enough. I have a post with graphs in the other thread where Slots#2/3 terminated without showing the dT/dt 1.8F/min rise. It was a oddball/flawed test but it shows what can happen or rather not!

All good suggestions. For the record to Maha, I would be willing to spend around $100 street price for an upgraded or super type C9000.

My suggested changes should not change the mechanical content of the charger, just the programming.

Along those lines, the light could dim when it's been 3 minutes since you pressed a button. Press slot when you want it to come back on.

I'd like to see a similar device, yet with much more user settings... Have a USB interface and the ability to download data and to make changes to the programing using the USB interface.

I just got my MH-C9000 today... and I have to re-state my earlier comments that I would like to see some ability to configure ALL four slots the same way... The simple way I can think of is... When you insert and/or program the first slot, the other three should duplicate that setting, yet allow the user to override this setting and/or reprogram the other slots as they start to insert more cells... Better yet, have all the unused slots take on the settings of the last programed slot and allow for override of those as the cells are inserted, regardless of wether or not this was the first, second or third slot programed...

I have said this first in the MH-C9000 threads earlier too... let me say it here again... there should be an USB PC Interface to monitor and control apart from standalone mode. through USB, the computer takes charge of the monitoring also records the readings over the time and stores them on to the database. this database can further be 'uploaded' to the MH guys to further analyze (especially in case of termination failures etc) and then they could come up with another refined algorighm. the Software of MH-9000 V2 will also be upgradable through USB, posibility of custom programming and giving API reference would be helpful...

let them manufacture hardware with sensors and processor... let users customzie the software... (making s/w opensource will lead to loads of revolutions)

Sure you don't want BlueTooth, satellite control or updated text messages to your cellphones? A wishlist of features is one thing but I think that some of you are going a bit overboard! My $0.02.

I agree, perhaps we could have a separate "ultimate battery charger" thread (I mean what's $500 when a Cadex is 7x more... my vote is to name it the HAL9000) and limit this one to just features that can be changed in software only.

Of course fixing the charger part might not be possible without a hardware revision...

Well... to me there are wish list items for things that could be done in a revised firmware version of the current MH-C9000, and then there is also a need for a wish list for a second generation and/or completely new charger of this nature... Asking for USB interface in a firmware upgrade is stupid... but suggesting it should be in a future charger of this nature is not... I think there is no harm in suggestions of both types... However the minute you ask for a item that can't be implemented by a firmware change alone, then you are in essence asking for a feature in a new device.

This isn't a C9000 wish list anymore, it's just a wish list! It seems to me that if you ask for all these fancy features it's aimed more at battery packs not just cells!

Genuine wish for the MH-C9000: A way to turn off/manually override the high impedance check when rejuvenating aging AAA NiMH cells.

DynoMoHum said:

Better yet, have all the unused slots take on the settings of the last programed slot and allow for override of those as the cells are inserted, regardless of wether or not this was the first, second or third slot programed...

Click to expand...

That sounds like a good idea. If you've just overridden the default setting you're much more likely to want the same again than you are to want the default for the next slot.

When setting the capacity of cells under break-in or the safety measure in future revisions use the Slot button as a 100/1000's swapper there's no need even to print it on the case and hopefully easy to change in the firmware.