Anyone got a Maha MH-C9000 Wizard One Battery Charger?

I'm disappointed with mine.

For one thing it can't even correctly multiply the current by the
time to get the number of mAH.

The number of mAH is consistently about 10% below what it should be
(both for charging and for discharging).

e.g. 501mA for 66mins it says = 503mAH !!

The number of mAH is consistently about 10% below what it should be (both
for charging and for discharging).

On Sat, 11 Sep 2010 01:22:45 +0100
"Brian Gregory [UK]" <ng_at_bgdsv.co.uk> wrote:

The number of mAH is consistently about 10% below what it should be (both
for charging and for discharging).

I suspect that this includes the charging efficiency, so it is the
capacity that you can extract from the cell after charging is complete.

"Brian Morrison" <bdm_at_fenrir.org.uk> wrote in message
news:20100913211609.563e7350_at_peterson.fenrir.org.uk...
On Sat, 11 Sep 2010 01:22:45 +0100
"Brian Gregory [UK]" <ng_at_bgdsv.co.uk> wrote:

The number of mAH is consistently about 10% below what it should
be (both for charging and for discharging).

I suspect that this includes the charging efficiency, so it is the
capacity that you can extract from the cell after charging is
complete.

But it does it when discharging too.

And the instruction leaflet mentions that the capacity figures are
expected to exceed the actual capacity by 20-30% when charging.

On Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:26:06 +0100
"Brian Gregory [UK]" <ng_at_bgdsv.co.uk> wrote:

"Brian Morrison" <bdm_at_fenrir.org.uk> wrote in message
news:20100913211609.563e7350_at_peterson.fenrir.org.uk...
On Sat, 11 Sep 2010 01:22:45 +0100
"Brian Gregory [UK]" <ng_at_bgdsv.co.uk> wrote:

The number of mAH is consistently about 10% below what it should
be (both for charging and for discharging).

I suspect that this includes the charging efficiency, so it is the
capacity that you can extract from the cell after charging is
complete.

But it does it when discharging too.

And the instruction leaflet mentions that the capacity figures are
expected to exceed the actual capacity by 20-30% when charging.


I used the break-in mode on some batteries, and when the process was
finished the cell capacity showing was about 15% of the marked
capacity. Now, I'll grant that these batteries might not be usable any
more, but that seemed a long way out from what I expected. I shall have
to see if they're usable and see what happens after a cycle.

You could enquire of their tech support people as to what's going on....

--

Brian Morrison

On Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:26:06 +0100
"Brian Gregory [UK]" <ng_at_bgdsv.co.uk> wrote:

"Brian Morrison" <bdm_at_fenrir.org.uk> wrote in message
news:20100913211609.563e7350_at_peterson.fenrir.org.uk...
On Sat, 11 Sep 2010 01:22:45 +0100
"Brian Gregory [UK]" <ng_at_bgdsv.co.uk> wrote:

The number of mAH is consistently about 10% below what it should
be (both for charging and for discharging).

I suspect that this includes the charging efficiency, so it is the
capacity that you can extract from the cell after charging is
complete.

But it does it when discharging too.

And the instruction leaflet mentions that the capacity figures are
expected to exceed the actual capacity by 20-30% when charging.


I used the break-in mode on some batteries, and when the process was
finished the cell capacity showing was about 15% of the marked
capacity. Now, I'll grant that these batteries might not be usable any
more, but that seemed a long way out from what I expected. I shall have
to see if they're usable and see what happens after a cycle.

You could enquire of their tech support people as to what's going on....

--

Brian Morrison

very good but if the battery is dead it needs jumpstarting first before it
will attempt to charge it.

On Tue, 14 Sep 2010 20:03:22 +0100
"Jon" <nospam_at_ntlwurld.com> wrote:

very good but if the battery is dead it needs jumpstarting first before it
will attempt to charge it.

Yes, the break-in mode on the C9000 is supposed to help recover sick
batteries. So far the jury is out, I think the cells I'm testing are a
bit high on internal resistance so I'm going to disharge them, cycle
them and then recharge.

I have often recovered whiskered-up S/C nicads and equally S/C NiMH

... but I have to say that my reason for buying it was to allow me to
resurrect some batteries that have been run flat to the point of being
unable to charge in my other chargers. So far the C9000 seems to be
able to sort out 3 out of 5 that I've tried, with another 3 to go.

Brian Morrison wrote:

... but I have to say that my reason for buying it was to allow me to
resurrect some batteries that have been run flat to the point of
being unable to charge in my other chargers. So far the C9000 seems
to be able to sort out 3 out of 5 that I've tried, with another 3 to
go.

Wouldn't it have been more cost-effective to buy new cells?

While there are some good techniques about for reviving ones that are
otherwise defunct, as mentioned elsewhere in this thread, the cost
these days even for good quality cells is not high.

If the use to which the recovered cells is in any way critical, then
that's another argument for replacement.

The effectiveness of chargers with a brain depends very much on the
charge-discharge algorithm; I have a 'smart' USB charger here that
flags up nearly any almost-new cell as defunct. While the concept of
the charger is a good one, it is impossible to overcome the inbuilt
algorithm and make the unit a useful item.

These days I stick to Eneloop cells; I find their very long (by other
rechargeable cell's standards) charge-retention times more useful than
outright capacity - 95 percent after 6 months and 80 percent after a
year is a useful bonus in occasionally-used gear.

On Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:46:53 +0100
Spike <Aero.Spike_at_S&T.invalid> wrote:

These days I stick to Eneloop cells; I find their very long (by other
rechargeable cell's standards) charge-retention times more useful than
outright capacity - 95 percent after 6 months and 80 percent after a
year is a useful bonus in occasionally-used gear.

Are they the Sanyo ones? If so I have heard of other reports about
their benefits. Never actually seen any on sale though, I assume you
have to search them out on-line.

Brian Morrison wrote:

On Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:46:53 +0100
Spike <Aero.Spike_at_S&T.invalid> wrote:

These days I stick to Eneloop cells; I find their very long (by
other rechargeable cell's standards) charge-retention times more
useful than outright capacity - 95 percent after 6 months and 80
percent after a year is a useful bonus in occasionally-used gear.

Are they the Sanyo ones? If so I have heard of other reports about
their benefits. Never actually seen any on sale though, I assume you
have to search them out on-line.

Yes, they are by Sanyo, and there's another make as well, GP ReCyko.

Sanyo (various deals) are avalable from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=eneloop&x=19&y=23

and the ReCyko ones are in the list somewhere.

On Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:49:26 +0100
Spike <Aero.Spike_at_S&T.invalid> wrote:


Brian Morrison wrote:

On Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:46:53 +0100
Spike <Aero.Spike_at_S&T.invalid> wrote:

These days I stick to Eneloop cells; I find their very long (by
other rechargeable cell's standards) charge-retention times more
useful than outright capacity - 95 percent after 6 months and 80
percent after a year is a useful bonus in occasionally-used gear.

Are they the Sanyo ones? If so I have heard of other reports about
their benefits. Never actually seen any on sale though, I assume you
have to search them out on-line.

Yes, they are by Sanyo, and there's another make as well, GP ReCyko.

There are also some called Hybrio I think, I saw some on a site
reviewing these type of cells.


Sanyo (various deals) are avalable from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=eneloop&x=19&y=23

and the ReCyko ones are in the list somewhere.

I have bought 4 from a trader on Ebay, at a shade under 7 GBP. I do
like the idea that they hold their charge for a long time, I had not
realised that hybrid NiMH did that. The capacity is a little lower than
I'd like, but I suspect more of it may be usable so it may not be such
a loss.

"Brian Morrison" <bdm_at_fenrir.org.uk> wrote in message
news:20100915160950.00004a2d_at_surtees.fenrir.org.uk...
On Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:49:26 +0100
Spike <Aero.Spike_at_S&T.invalid> wrote:

Sanyo (various deals) are avalable from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=eneloop&x=19&y=23

and the ReCyko ones are in the list somewhere.

I have bought 4 from a trader on Ebay, at a shade under 7 GBP. I do
like the idea that they hold their charge for a long time, I had not
realised that hybrid NiMH did that. The capacity is a little lower than
I'd like, but I suspect more of it may be usable so it may not be such
a loss.

I use Vapex Instants.
http://www.vapextech.co.uk/acatalog/High_Power_Consumer_Batteries.html#a18