Looking for quality charger for my AA/AAA Ni-Mh's

Batteries and Chargers Chargers
1

...on a budget, as usual :)
As some of you might have seen I started a thread about cheap DMM/volt meter to test my batteries before I get good smart charger that can give me actual capacity and voltage of batteries, but today I accidentally stumbled upon LaCrosse BC700 charger clones under these names:

IPC L1 from Conrad, Accupower IQ-128, Technoline BC-700.

Perhaps there are other names too.

Is there anything else on a cheap that has all the option BC700/Maha C9000 have, aside from safe overcharge protection Im interested in battery capacity reading option, charger that can determine and output real battery condition on LCD screen and show actual capacity in mAh is a must for me since Im going to buy heaps of LSD NiMh's and I want to know how good those cells are freshly out of the box so to say and how they maintain their capacity and quality over their lifetime, in other words I want to be in 100% control over my batteries.

Ive read that Maha C9000 is golden standart for AA/AAA battery recharge and that LaCrosse have had QC problems with their chargers exploding batteries or melting down. But Ive also read that some Maha C9000 have not stopped charging batteries despite their built in safety circuits or not charging older cells at all. So it looks like there is no 100% safe charger.

I will also be looking for either cheap 8xAA/AAA smart charger or two 4xAA/AAA smart chargers to charge my future AA NiMh's army, but I guess Ill start separate thread for that, so to keep this thread simple and clean lets stick to Maha C9000/LaCrosse BC7000 look alikes on the cheap!
Thanks!

2

*cough, cough*
What do you guys think about this one?

http://www.accupower.at/iq328_en.php

Whos clone is this?

3

the clones were discussed earlier. i have the C9000 and its true that it doesnt charge "old" NiMH cells because of the higher internal resistance. The trick then is to completely discharge the cell at a high rate (e.g. -600mA) to heat it up. After the discharge the C9000 accepts such old cells. the other minor disadvantage of the C9000 is that the cell wrapper (wrap) does get hurt with frequent/fast removal of the cells. The contact plates are very sharp and can scratch the wrap open. My Eneloop AAA's with which i did hundreds of runtime tests look like shit now because of this. I dont mind because next time i buy 8xAAA Eneloops i will take better care of them ;)

the BC-700 clones are reasonably priced. the C9000 affordable at 40€ shipped (within DEU). intellicharger i4 V2 has no display and i wonder why.

4

Thanks for pointing to that thread.

Still looks like nobody here has anything to say about IQ328 charger and its clones from DX and from Japcell and/or Goobay(its a brand name and not Chinese Ebay ripoff) :D

Ill do some more research in coming days and see if I can get one of them for less than 40$ shipped to my place.

I know I should just buy MAHA C9000, but dont want to invest twice as much into it at the moment ;)

5

If you're looking for a quality charger for AA/AAA Ni-Mh's then the only way to go is with the Maha C9000 imo. I have 2 of them and I'm thinking about getting a third. They're about 20 bucks cheaper now than what I paid 1.5 yrs. ago.

6

I really like my LaCrosse bc700. I also have a beat up bc1000' but it melted a bit and now the lcd is messed up.

Got the 700 from amazon 6 months ago for $26.00. Its at $32 now and goes up and down often.

link to Amazon

7

I also have a La Crosse BC-700, and I like it.

I chose it over the Maha Powerex Wizard One MH-C9000 because of information found in customer reviews on Amazon.

8

+1 on BC700. Bought it from amazon.de for 20€.

9

I know that MAHA C9000 is the best out there function-quality wise, but I dont want to spend almost twice on a charger, still need to buy bunch of LSD batteries so really its 50% going to charger and other 50% towards LSD batteries so I cant afford 50-60euro(delivered) charger right now ;)

The cheapest one Ive found appears to be IQ328/clones.

Shipping to Latvia usually kills the deal, so Im still searching for other options, be it BC700 clone or IQ328 clone.

10

Ok, after all, I might get myself MAHA...

BUT, could anyone of you recommend me charger or battery+charger set from DinoDirect:

http://www.dinodirect.com/se-charger-minprice-0-maxprice-8-2021Grid/?d=23068523

It must be priced below 8$ and I will be either using it as complementary charger to charge my NiMh's(finally ordered a bunch on the cheap, will tell you later how, around 50 NiMh's total so Ill need something to charge them with) or it can be lithium battery charger/combo.

Price range is limited due to necessity to simply make 20$ total with other item Im ordering at the moment(will tell about that later also) so I can use my 2$ cash coupon, so not higher than 8$ offers here folks, thanks!

11

once you decide to get a C9000, please let us (or me) know what your total (in €) is. Since summer 2011 the C9000 is officially distributed in our country and prices are comparable to amazonDOTcom (see akkushop.de, FREEE shipping).

if i ship stuff to your country (with DHL) it's 8.90€ i think. (~49€ would be your total if i shipped the C9000 to you)

12

Bought it@Ebay, 39+8e shipped, awesome deal!

Thanks K for chiming in, appreciated ;)!

Germans do charge an arm and a leg for shipping within EU, mostly its 12-19 euros for shipping, thats crazy high!

13

Have any of you had issues with the buttons on your BC700? Mine used to work fine, but now I have to press very hard on a couple and it is still iffy. Never any spills or such on it.

14

I just stumbled on the AccuPower IQ328 as well and am surprised no one has anything to say about it as well. Seems like a good value at $32.63. I was considering the BC-700, because I think the C9000 is just a bit too much to spend. I'm looking for capacity testing ability. I also read the BC-700 gives inflated results in it's tests. The BC-700 also only discharges at 350mA whereas the IQ328 discharges at 500mA.

-Garry

15

Hey guys, Ill just continue it this thread, anyone used this one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180862497461?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649#ht_2428wt_952

It supposedly charges 1.2v/3.6v and 4.2v batteries.

16

Well, I just went ahead and ordered the AccuPower IQ328 from Ebay. I'd say I will report back, but I don't have anything to compare it to really.

-Garry

17

Mind sharing a link? I’d love to get a 2nd one for price so low.

18

Garry, post back review, its a must :D!

Shadowww - sure teng, it was sold out after I bought it so I didnt bother to post link but its back up for sale, pretty good deal for those living in Europe and not located in Germany, shipping is reasonable too:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Powerex-Prozessor-Ladegerat-Analyzer-fur-4-AA-AAA-MH-C9000-WizardOne-/261019513258?pt=DE_TV_Video_Audio_Akku_Ladeger%C3%A4te&hash=item3cc5f9b1aa

Hurry up while they last ;)!
Seller description says slightly damaged boxes in transit, I sent him a message and it turns out that those are all brand new and only some of them might come in SLIGHTLY damaged boxes, everything else is top notch and warranty isnt affected.

Mine came in perfect condition ;)!

BTW, guys, while were still on it, anyone tested this one?

http://www1.buyincoins.com/2a-aa-3a-aaa-lcd-rechargeable-battery-quick-charger-us-product-2225.html

I like its somewhat reasonable speed for the price, four individual channels, 1x1800/2x900/4x500 and LCD screen with charge level indication seems like a good deal for 9$.
Im in talks with one Ebay seller to buy 2 or 3 for 7.72$ a piece, so if youre interested shoot me a PM, I'll see if I can hook you up with the seller after he sells me mine, its confirmed that 7.72 is the lowest he will go to.

Seller wrote back informing that he made a "calculation" mistake and that each charger would be around 8.50$. Not that tempting anymore, still cheaper than anywhere else.

Thundercells seller on Ebay.

Id buy it to charge my AA/AAA NiMhs, I should receive 30+ Turnigy's/Eneloops within couple of weeks(HB) and month(DD) thats why I need something cheap, with reasonable charging speeds and at least judging by specs and looks this seems to be better than 5$ Omnipotent charger reviewed by sb56637 :D!

19

I can post back my comments and maybe test a few cells. I'm not sure what else I can do to "test" it. Perhaps I can verify charging currents. This will be my first "smart" charger.

-Garry

20

Well, if theres something you can say about it, say it, thats all :D!
Shouldnt be anything scientific, but if you could compare it to other chargers you have and post how good it is build quality wise and how accurate it is at charging and termination then it will be great :)!