Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Maha battery chargers

Hey folks: After reading a zillion post on chargers I like what I have read on the Mahas. I want a simple charger that does not fry my AA and AAA NiMH. It does not need to be super fast. I will give up speed to preserve battery life and quality. Here's a chart on some of their battery chargers. I am clueless on some of the info and its importance such as:
type of charging
detection
charging current importance
trickle current importance
discharge capability
battery conditioner
Here's their comparison chart
http://www.thomasdistributing.com/mh-compare-maha-nimh-aa-aaa-battery-chargers.htm
thanks for any info, Charlie
FWIW most batteries will be used with bike lights or cameras

I never understand these issues. I have been using Double and Triple A batteries with an expensive Energizer charger for going on 5 years. Sure they take a few hours to charge but they are cheap and they work FOREVER! I don't see the need for an expensive charger, seems like a waste.

I've been using Maha chargers from Thomas Distributing for about 3 years. I have a AA/AAA charger and a 9V charger. No problems with either.

Ray-O-Vac PS3 works like a charm and will do C and D batteries also. Can mix and max sizes - 4 slots of 2 for AA and AAA, 4 slots of 1 for C and D. Also leave batteries in charger without harm.

I have a 30 minute Energizer charger that's about three years old. I think it's breaking down. for now it refuses to recharge particular batteries. I have 2300 batteries that would barely keep my Canon PowerShot running past 15 photos. I bit the bullet and bought the La Crosse charger, and so far everything is great.

At lot depends on your budget and if you are looking at only AA and AAA batteries.

If you've got a budget that would accommodate about $60 and if you're looking at just AA and AAA batteries, the Maha C9000 is probably a better choice than any of those on the comparison chart.

Maha C9000 (http://www.thomasdistributing.com/maha-mh-c9000-battery-charger.php)

It's a bit more complex in operations than some others, but it's a superior charger (and is on sale for good price). Same seller (Thomas Distributing) as the other ones you listed. They'll also throw in a couple of extra goodies for you as freebies with the purchase. I might even have a discount code you can try for another 5 percent off. (This is usually a $70 charger, on sale for about $57.)

At lot depends on your budget and if you are looking at only AA and AAA batteries.

If you've got a budget that would accommodate about $60 and if you're looking at just AA and AAA batteries, the Maha C9000 is probably a better choice than any of those on the comparison chart.

Maha C9000 (http://www.thomasdistributing.com/maha-mh-c9000-battery-charger.php)

It's a bit more complex in operations than some others, but it's a superior charger (and is on sale for good price). Same seller (Thomas Distributing) as the other ones you listed. They'll also throw in a couple of extra goodies for you as freebies with the purchase. I might even have a discount code you can try for another 5 percent off. (This is usually a $70 charger, on sale for about $57.)

Varuscelli,

When I use my MH-C9000 in normal charge mode it has a few stats at the end of the charge cycle for each battery, does the Mah number represent how much additional charge has been added to the battery by the recent charging ?

Varuscelli,

When I use my MH-C9000 in normal charge mode it has a few stats at the end of the charge cycle for each battery, does the Mah number represent how much additional charge has been added to the battery by the recent charging ?

If I'm not mistaken, the MAH that you see displayed the end of the charge cycle represents the overall capacity of the battery in question (and not the additional charge that has been added).

If the final capacity reading seems to be low (compared to the stated capacity of the battery), then the batteries in question probably just have an overall diminished capacity. If that's the concern (batteries not getting close enough to the desired capacity) you can always run them through the Refresh and Analyze cycle two or three times and then -- if necessary -- the Break-In cycle IF the Refresh and Analyze doesn't bring them back up to a good capacity. (The Break-In cycle can take a couple of days, though.)

I'm playing around with a few older sets of rechargeables right now trying to bring a bit more life out of them by running different combinations of cycles and seeing how they do. I have some older ones that I don't get much use out of since the capacity is so low that they won't keep anything operating long. I'm hoping to breath some new life into them with this charger. And if it doesn't work I'll know I can get rid of them and not worry about them any longer. ;)

I have used Thomas Distributing charges for years, and I think they are some of the very best.

I got their name years ago when I was first getting into digital photography and have not looked back.

I highly recommend them.

wll

Varuscelli,

When I use my MH-C9000 in normal charge mode it has a few stats at the end of the charge cycle for each battery, does the Mah number represent how much additional charge has been added to the battery by the recent charging ?

If I'm not mistaken, the MAH that you see displayed the end of the charge cycle represents the overall capacity of the battery in question (and not the additional charge that has been added).

If the final capacity reading seems to be low (compared to the stated capacity of the battery), then the batteries in question probably just have an overall diminished capacity. If that's the concern (batteries not getting close enough to the desired capacity) you can always run them through the Refresh and Analyze cycle two or three times and then -- if necessary -- the Break-In cycle IF the Refresh and Analyze doesn't bring them back up to a good capacity. (The Break-In cycle can take a couple of days, though.)

I'm playing around with a few older sets of rechargeables right now trying to bring a bit more life out of them by running different combinations of cycles and seeing how they do. I have some older ones that I don't get much use out of since the capacity is so low that they won't keep anything operating long. I'm hoping to breath some new life into them with this charger. And if it doesn't work I'll know I can get rid of them and not worry about them any longer. ;)

Whoa! I'd better revise what I said.

I think that you're right, kleng. It looks to me that when used in normal charge mode, what is displayed for MAH is actually the charge added. I don't think this is addressed at all in the user's documentation and most of the time that I've been using this charger (only about a month now), I have been doing just about everything but normal charging -- so all I've been seeing are full capacity readings after completing whatever cycle I've been running.

But, after running a couple of standard charge mode tests, I see what you are saying.

So, it seems like after any of the other available modes are complete, what is displayed is the full capacity of the cell. But, if you use standard charging mode, what seems to be displayed is the added charge. That's sure what it looks like to me after testing.