A new battery charger……………

It came with all this
 Julie has lots AA batteries she uses and most if not all are rechargeable and she has been up to this point just using a cheap wall charger. There has been many times when these AA batteries have let her down with regard to her flashes. I was online and found some nice chargers the one I decided to purchase was the LA Crosse BC 1000 . This sure is a gem of a charger and for the price 60.00 shipping included at Amazon.ca as well it came in 2 days via UPS. From the picture above you can see the unit came with a carry case, wall adapter, 4 AA 2600mAh, 4 AA 1000mAh, provision to charge D and C cell batteries and finally the
unit....not bad for 60.00 and 2 day shipping to boot.
So what is so great about this charger, each cell can be charged, discharged/charged, refresh/charge or finally test/charge. Each cell can have it's own custom type of charge done to it. The charging rates can chosen from 200mA to 1800mA and again each cell can have it's own charge rate. The unit will let you
Charge and test mod results


TEST/CHARGE complete
know if the cell is defective and will not charge or allow the batteries to overheat. Once the charging is complete it goes to trickle charge. At this time you have access to the voltage of each cell, the capacity of the cell in mAh's, how long the charge time was and depending on the charge mod you chose other info as well. You can also charge different battery sizes at the same time and again program what type of charge you wold like for each cell. So I put Julies AA cells to the TEST!! As they were charging I could see at least one cell that was getting a failing grade at only 120mAh for a 2600mAh battery not good. I am running all her batteries through the test/charge and will dispose of the cells that don't cut it. I have my Elecraft KX3 with the Ansmann AA batteries and will be using this charger too look after those batteries. Now speaking of Elecraft I did purchase there internal battery charger. I have to admit I was disappointed that up to this point the software has not been introduced to trickle charge the AA cells, offer selectable mAh charge rates and so on. Think I may just use the LA Crosse and if I do then end up selling the internal charger. Live and learn I guess......anyway back to the subject at hand......up to this point many of Julies batteries have not met with a passing mark and have been tossed.
With this charger you are able to get the most out of your not so cheap rechargeable batteries and make your hard earned money go as far as it can.

And the testing goes on
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

6 Responses to “A new battery charger……………”

  • Bill N5AB:

    Mike,
    I have the earlier version… the BC-900.
    It is a nice sturdy unit. I did not have much luck refreshing balky cells.
    I think when a cell is flaky, it’s just flaky and that’s it.
    The LACrosse is great for determining which cell out of a group is bad.
    An amazing little unit.

  • Tom KB3HG:

    BC-1000 is 89.95 from LA CROSS BC-700 is 39.95and is the only one amazon in the states sells as of 8:51pm EST. looks neat though.

  • Matt W1MST:

    I thought Eneloops were the only rechargeable battery to buy? Anyone have experience with these or others?

  • Mike VE3WDM:

    Good evening Bill, thanks for stopping by to give the post a read over. At this point the unit is being used to see what cells of Julie’s are worthy of keeping. She is a photographer and it’s important to have cells that are reliable. As what I can see it’s true this is an amazing unit.
    Mike

  • Mike VE3WDM:

    Top of the evening to you Tom, here is the link to the site in Canada that I used and for the price of 60.00

    http://www.amazon.ca/La-Crosse-Technology-BC1000-Battery/dp/B004J6DLD4.

    I hope it works for you and if so I would email Amazon U.S.A and let them know you would like the same price…that is if you are looking for one.
    Have a great weekend Tom and thanks for the feedback.
    Mike

  • Mike VE3WDM:

    Hi Matt, I have had both the Sony cells that are in the post and the Ansmann that I speak of in the post. I know the Eneloops are good for shelf life and do not loose their charge when they site ideal waiting to be used. I do know the Sony’s are not good that way but the Ansmann’s are great for sitting and holding the charge.
    Mike

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