After purchasing a lot, the question arose which batteries or accumulators to use. All of them use AA or AAA rechargeable batteries / batteries, so in this regard, these purchases in the United States did not cause problems. Regular batteries are of course cheap, but they don't last very long. appeared quite recently, and it requires trips to stores, which, coupled with the high cost of disposal, does not make batteries attractive in terms of environmental friendliness.
On a Panasonic cordless phone, I have tried regular Panasonic, Duracell and GP batteries. The latter were the most economical, but, unfortunately, after a year they could be thrown away. This option did not suit me for toys. Fortunately, there are low self-discharge nickel metal hydride (Ni-Mh) batteries on the market. They do not lose their charge for a long time, and you can recharge them a decent number of times. After reading the reviews, I settled on batteries.
I also bought a smart charger Maha PowerEx MH-C9000(I also considered the La Crosse BC-900 charger, but decided not to save). Unlike conventional chargers, this greatly extends the battery life. The essence of the charging method is that it does not analyze the maximum voltage on the battery, but the maximum of the voltage derivative with respect to time. The fast charging of the battery is terminated when the voltage rise rate becomes maximum. This allows the fast charging phase to be completed earlier before the battery temperature has risen significantly. This is followed by recharging for two hours with a current of about 200 mA.
Initially, the cost of batteries and a charger is very high, it will all pay off only after a few years. Although, of course, when using batteries for radio-controlled models, cameras, radio telephones and other frequently charged equipment, the situation changes dramatically. At the same time, for flashes and other powerful equipment, instead of standard ones, it is better to use Sanyo Eneloop XX.
Both the charger and the batteries were purchased abroad, mainly from the American Amazon. The Maha PowerEx MH-C9000 charger supports 110-240V, 50 / 60Hz, so no transformers are needed (especially since using step-down transformers with charging technology is not the best solution).
For 3+ years of operation, the Maha PowerEx MH-C9000 charger together with the batteries proved to be excellent. The capacity of the batteries almost did not decrease, which, to be honest, I did not expect at all.
However, I failed to restore old GP, Duracell and Panasonic batteries using the Break-In mode. Which is certainly not surprising after merciless use in a Panasonic cordless telephone. As for the latter, the usual Sanyo Eneloop AAA for my Panasonic handsets did not fit, showing a low charge, regardless of whether the phone itself charged them or the Maha PowerEx MH-C9000 charging.
Also, the disadvantages include the impossibility of applying settings for all four slots at the same time (you need to set the mode and parameters for each battery), although most often you have to charge the same type of batteries in the same mode. In addition, I did not like that the display backlight does not turn off automatically. In addition to the fact that this leads to an increase in power consumption, the backlight is bright enough, which interferes at night. But some modes are very long. Let's consider them in more detail.
After turning on the charger, it automatically switches to CHARGE mode (if there is at least one battery). In this case, the charging process itself does not start, you first need to select the settings. If the settings are not selected within 10 seconds, then the battery will start charging with a current of 1A. If there are no batteries in the slots, the charger will go into standby mode, the display backlight will turn off.
To switch between modes, use the up and down arrows, they also allow you to change the mode parameters. The Enter button allows you to select the mode (Charge, Refresh / Analyze, Break-In, Discharge, Cycle), and after changing the settings using the arrows, starts it. The Slot button is used to move to the next slot where the battery is located. When charging, it can be used to view the charging / discharging data for each individual battery slot.
Modes:
- CHARGE allows you to charge the battery. To start charging, select the current strength (from 200 mA to 2A). It is recommended to use a current equal to half the battery capacity. If the battery is 1900 MAh, then choose a little less than half - 900 mA. This is the fastest mode. It is not recommended to use 0.33C or less current for charging (except for Break-In mode), since the charging process will end prematurely.
In the first few seconds, the charger uses a high impedance test to detect unsafe batteries for charging, including non-rechargeable batteries. This mode applies a high current and measures the voltage to calculate the impedance of the battery. After a while, the voltage value returns to normal, so you should not be afraid of too high values in the first few seconds.
- REFRESH / ANALYZE (Update / Analysis) allows you to restore and analyze batteries that have been idle for some time. In this mode, the charger charges the battery if it has not been charged, then takes a break. Then the battery is discharged, and in the process its capacity is measured, after which there is another break. At the last stage, charging takes place. The manufacturer claims that the break allows the electrochemical processes in the battery to come into balance.
In this mode, in addition to the charge current, you need to set the discharge current. The recommended charge current is still equal to half the capacity, while the discharge current is 1/4 of the battery capacity.
Charge / discharge currents for the most common AAA and AA batteries:
Battery capacity
Charge current
Discharge current
2700 mAh 1300 mA 700 mA 2650 mAh 1300 mA 700 mA 2500-2400 mAh 1200 mA 600 mA 2300-2200 mAh 1100 mA 600 mA 2100 mAh 1000 mA 500 mA 2000 mAh 1000 mA 500 mA 1000 mAh 500 mA 200 mA 900-700 mAh 400 mA 200 mA - BREAK-IN (Workout) allows you to charge new batteries or batteries that have been stored for more than 3 months. The battery capacity is set as parameters (we round it up to hundreds).
In this mode, the batteries are first charged with a current of 0.1C (1/10 capacity) for 16 hours, after which one hour of rest. Then discharge with a current of 0.2C and again for 16 hours of charge with a current of 0.1C. The process is quite long (about 2 days). Moreover, in the event of a voltage surge or after it is turned off, the charger will reset the mode (and of course, automatically after ten seconds, charging with a current of 1A will begin). It is this mode that is most suitable for restoring the battery capacity close to the passport one. - DISCHARGE allows you to discharge the batteries. It allows you to measure the residual capacity of batteries as well as measure the capacity of non-rechargeable batteries. In this mode, it is necessary to set the strength of the discharge current.
- CYCLE allows you to set several charge / discharge cycles, as a result of which you can track the behavior of the battery under continuous load. A total of 12 cycles are available, each of which is stored in the charger's memory.
After completion of any of the modes on the display for each slot separately lights up the inscription DONE (Ready). To view the parameters for the required slot, you can click on the Slot button.
After purchasing the Maha PowerEx MH-C9000 charger and Sanyo Eneloop batteries, I began to keep a journal in which I note the Break-In date, charging, as well as the received capacity of each battery. To distinguish between the batteries, I put a permanent marker on each number.
Here's a smart charger. Now I would again buy it for toys, and the same batteries, since I was very pleased with the quality.
Update (March 4, 2015)
Alternative to Maha PowerEx MH-C9000 charger
In the Opus BT-C3100 charger, the drawbacks of the Maha PowerEx MH-C9000 charger have been fixed:
- The settings can be set for all batteries at once (which greatly speeds up the process in most cases) or for each one separately.
- The charging mode is remembered and not reset to default.
- The backlight turns off after 10 seconds, and does not stay on continuously.
- Charging parameters are visible for each battery at once, there is no need to wait for a screen update.
Unlike Maha PowerEx MH-C9000, Opus BT-C3100 V2.2 is capable of charging Li-ion in addition to NiMh, NiCd batteries. Opus BT-C3100 with a European plug sells for a little over $ 30 (price includes shipping to Russia).
When buying a MAHA POWEREX MH-C9000 charger with a set (4 pcs.) Or more any ENELOOP / MAHA batteries, a discount on the charger is 100 rubles. For blog readers, the discount is constant.
Since I started using flash for my photographs, the problem with the enormous consumption of batteries has become urgent for me. Especially when you consider that there are only one or two reception points for these very waste batteries.
A good solution would be to switch to batteries, and I began to study this topic in more detail.
Conventional chargers charging 0.1 of the battery capacity (and in fact, generally about 60-100 mAh) did not suit with their speed. Therefore, I decided to turn towards smart charging.
The basic principle of their work is as follows.
Until the end of the charge, the voltage always increases, and immediately after a full charge, it decreases. The controller in the charger constantly measures the voltage on the battery, and after a voltage jump down, it reduces the charge current to about 10mA to compensate for the self-discharge. Batteries are always ready, even if left in charge for a day. To protect against overheating, there are thermal sensors for each battery, which temporarily turn off the charging process if the battery is very hot.
There is a so-called inflexion method for determining the end of fast charging. The essence of the method is that it is not the maximum voltage on the battery that is analyzed, but the maximum of the voltage derivative with respect to time. Those. fast charging will stop at the moment when the voltage rise rate is maximum. This allows the fast charging phase to be completed earlier, when the battery temperature has not yet risen significantly. However, the method requires measuring the voltage with greater accuracy and some mathematical calculations (calculating the derivative and digital filtering of the obtained value). This is the method used in the swing.
And now, before you is an overview of perhaps the most advanced charging for AA and AAA nickel batteries - MAHA Powerex MH-C9000.
Device characteristics.
4 separate channels for battery charging.
Manual selection of charge current: from 200 to 2000mA in 100mA steps.
Manual selection of discharge current: from 100 to 1000mA in 100mA steps.
Possibility of automatic selection of charging / discharging parameters.
Exercise - cyclic discharge / recharge of batteries.
Restoration of old batteries.
Identification of faulty batteries.
Testing batteries to determine their real capacity.
Battery temperature control with automatic shutdown in case of overheating (4 temperature sensors).
Indication of the charging mode of each battery: voltage, charge / discharge time, charge / discharge current, battery capacity.
"Drip charge" of batteries: after the batteries are charged and left in the device, their capacity will be automatically maintained at the required level.
The charger comes in a box like this.
The complete set is shown in the photo below. In fact, this is the device itself and a 220-12 volt power adapter. The charger can also be powered by a cigarette lighter.
The design of the device is rather laconic. Control buttons, large bright screen and battery slots.
The plastic case is made reliably, the fit is good, nothing creaks. All surfaces are full of ventilation holes.
Connector for the power adapter.
Charger bottom with information on power supply.
There is a wire stand at the bottom. It can be opened for better ventilation.
Plus contacts
Negative contacts and temperature sensor outputs.
Please note: the batteries are well spaced from each other, which reduces the effect of heating on each other.
It's time to turn on the swing.
When the adapter is connected, all the symbols light up and the numbers change from one to 10. After switching on, if there is a battery in at least one slot, then within 10 seconds it is necessary to select the operating mode of the device. If this is not done, the charging mode (charge) with a current of 1000 mA will automatically turn on.
If all slots are empty, the device will go into standby mode.
Now I will tell you about all the modes in turn. I want to note that the choice of the mode must be carried out for each slot separately. This is a plus if you need to apply your own settings to each slot. But if a set of four identical batteries is installed, it becomes boring.
Charge mode.
In this mode, you must select the current strength in the range from 200 mA to 2A. It is recommended to set the amperage at 0.5C (nominal battery capacity).
Charge mode is suitable for frequently used batteries.
The second mode is "Refresh / Analyze".
In this memory mode:
1) charges the battery
2) takes a break of one hour
3) discharges while measuring the capacitance
4) break again
5) charges again
According to the manufacturer, the break allows the electrochemical processes in the battery to come to equilibrium.
After the end of the cycle, the charger will give out the battery capacity.
This mode is useful if you need to find out the capacity or charge batteries that are not used for up to 3 months. It is also recommended to apply this mode every 10 charge cycles.
In this mode, the charge current and the discharge current are adjusted.
The charge current, as I said, should be 0.5C, and the discharge current - 0.25C.
Break-In mode.
It is used to "tune" new batteries, as well as to restore old and non-working ones.
This mode produces:
1) charging the battery with a current of 0.1C for 16 hours,
2) then an hour break,
3) discharge with a current of 0.2C
4) a new charge within 16 hours.
The process is long, at least two days. But it allows you to swing even ancient batteries.
Also, this mode allows you to most fully determine the capacity of the batteries.
Before starting it is necessary to set the rated capacity of the power supplies.
Discharge mode.
The mode in which the power supplies are discharged with the set current. Useful for determining residual charge.
For example, right now I am testing the capacity of popular AA batteries. There will be a separate large article.
Cycle mode
The discharge and charge currents are set, as well as the number of cycles (up to 12).
This mode is suitable for cycling the batteries and testing their behavior under load.
To summarize, I will say: this is a unique and versatile solution for the home. The functionality is huge: charging, recovery, training, capacity determination.
I did not find any cons. Great thing for nickel batteries. I want a similar one for lithium.
That's all. Thank you for your attention!
The smart charger was purchased on eBay from a seller rdana, the lot was called "Powerex MH-C9000 Battery Charger Analyzer Tester NiMH NiCd AA AAA Maha Europlug" charging was taken in the version with a euro plug. I bought it for a long time, the price was a little cheaper, but delivery is a little more expensive and in total the price with delivery to Russia turned out to be $ 78.60. This is the most expensive charger of its kind, given the shipping and lack of it in Chinese stores, so you have to take it on eBay or on. At the moment, the seller on eBay has a lot with a Euro plug, judging by the photo, most likely comes with a regular adapter.
If you have a lot of batteries in your "household" and you want to extend their life and always be aware of their condition, then you should think about purchasing this MAHA MH-C9000 device (or one of the cheaper products from competitor La Crosse Technology or BC-700).
Also in MAHA C9000 it is possible to charge batteries of sizes C and D, but for this you need it, which is not included in the standard delivery.
Main features MAHA MH-9000
Main characteristics of the MAHA Powerex MH-9000 smart charger:4 independent charging channels
Charge, discharge, analysis, recovery functions (5 different modes: Charge, Dischare, Analyze & Refresh, Break-In, Cycle)
Independent selection of operation for each channel (slot)
Supports AA and AAA Ni-MH and Ni-Cd rechargeable batteries
Selectable charge current: 200 mA to 2000 mA in 100 mA steps
Discharge currents: from 100 mA to 1000 mA in 100 mA steps
Supported battery capacity: from 100 to 20000 mAh (20Ah)
Quartz stabilization for 1% capacitance accuracy
4 independent thermocouples for temperature control of rechargeable batteries
Control of the end of charge by delta V
Large LCD display with backlight
Charger supply voltage: 12V 2A (possibly powered by)
Power supply: 100-240V 50/60 Hz
Package
The packaging measures approximately 17 * 13 * 10 cm.Weight - about 630 g with packaging, 508 g - the charger itself with a power supply.
A box made of high-quality thick cardboard.
On the box is a list of the main advantages of the charger, as well as the inscription
Charger-Analyzer from the Future- i.e. charger from the future.
Manufacturer identified by Maha Energy Corp., Made in Taiwan. The name on the box and in the instructions is referred to as POWEREX MH-C9000 WizardOne Charger-Analyzer.
Photo of Maha Powerex packaging from above:
The box contains the charger itself, additionally wrapped in a bubble wrap envelope, an AC power supply and detailed operating instructions in English on a folded sheet of paper.
Appearance
The device has 4 slots for batteries, located at a fairly large distance, which minimizes the heating of the batteries. In the upper part there are ventilation holes for passive ventilation (there is no cooler, but it is not needed, since the device practically does not heat up). Below is a large monochrome LCD-screen with backlight (factory film is glued on the screen). Below the screen are four buttons (increase, decrease, SLOT and ENTER)
There are a lot of vents on the bottom, 4 rubber feet and a metal step that allows you to position the device at an angle to the surface and increase the flow of air for cooling. 
With the stand installed, the device looks like this (AAA batteries are inserted in the foreground, AA batteries in the back - you can see that they are well surrounded by air): 
Charger contacts
This is what positive contacts look like: 
Minus contacts: 
Power adapter type
Power adapter with Euro plug, connects to the main charger unit with a round plug 
Power supply lettering: 
The power supply has a model number: MAHA AC Power Supply MHS-CO1202000SEP.
The device looks gigantic compared to its other siblings. For example, this is how the Maha Powerex C9000 charger looks like next to the Sanyo charger (also with 4 channels). 
In the photo, for clarity, batteries of different sizes are inserted at the same time, Sanyo Eneloop AA and AAA.
Charger operating modes
The device can simultaneously work in a different mode with each slot. Also, different slots can contain batteries of different sizes and capacities. All slots are completely independent.During operation (when at least 1 battery is inserted), the device turns on a fairly bright white backlight. The backlight is not switched off. The backlight goes out either when all the batteries are removed or when the charger is disconnected from the mains.
On the left side of the screen, the possible modes of operation are displayed (all 5, with the arrow indicating the active mode for the current slot), below the number of slots from 1 to 4, and on the right, information about a specific slot is cyclically displayed, which is currently marked with an arrow under the corresponding number on the display ... Those. with a quick glance at the screen, we can see information about only one slot, and only one of the values: voltage, (current) capacity, current, operating time. After about a second, the next value is displayed. After several displays on a cycle of all values for one slot, the device begins to display this information for the next slot in which the battery is located. If work with any slot is completed, then next to its number the inscription "DONE" is displayed, therefore the battery from this slot can be removed and work in this slot with another battery. If you want to quickly view the information for a slot, you can use the SLOT button, which switches the active slots in order to be displayed. The sequential display of slots can be attributed to the lack of the interface, because information about all batteries is not immediately visible. For example, La Crosse chargers do not have this disadvantage.
Charge - charge
A mode that is present in all charges. Mach invites us to select a charge current for each battery in the range from 200 mA to 2000 mA, the default value is 1000 mA. The current is selected by buttons up down and then ends by pressing the ENTER button.If you just put the battery in and do not select anything, then after a while the battery will start charging with a current of 1000 mA.
In the instructions, the manufacturer recommends charging the batteries with a current of at least 0.3C and no more than 1C, i.e. from 30% to 100% of the battery capacity. Those. for example, charge a 2000 mAh battery with currents from 600 mA to 2000 mA. It should be remembered that high currents speed up the charging process, but reduce the battery life faster. Also, very high currents can lead to overheating of the batteries.
This is how the charger display looks during charging with a current of 300 mA (the current value of the current is displayed, which may differ slightly from the specified one). In this case, the display shows that the battery is being charged in the 4th slot with a current of 298 mA: 
This charger is equipped with independent temperature sensors for each channel, which should protect against possible overheating of the batteries during charging. If the battery overheats, it will stop charging and then resume after it cools down.
You can find data that Maha undercharges the batteries a little, but then, after the stated end of the charge, recharges the batteries with a current of 100mA for 2 hours. After that, the charge is maintained at a small current of 10 mA.
Discharge - discharge
This mode allows you to discharge the battery with a current from 100mA to 1000mA (2 times less than the possible charge currents) and thereby find out the real capacity of the batteries. Using this mode, you can find out the residual capacity of old batteries or determine how honestly the manufacturer claims the capacity of batteries when buying new ones. Old batteries unevenly lose their capacity during operation, and knowing their capacity will allow you to sort them by similar capacity for use in pairs / triplets / fours in various devices.The default is 500mA discharge mode. During the discharge, the current drained capacity can be observed. The process ends when the voltage reaches 0.9 volts on the battery. After that, for this slot, the full drained capacity, the discharge current, its current voltage (which will be more than 0.9, since the load from the battery will already be removed) and the time it took to discharge will be displayed.
Mode Discharge can be useful in order to find out the residual capacity of batteries that have been left for some time after charging in order to evaluate self-discharge. To obtain information about the full capacity of the batteries, they must first be charged and the mode is more suitable for this. Refresh & Analyze.
Refresh & Analyze - recovery and analysis
In this mode, the battery is first fully charged, then "rests" for 2 hours, then discharges, rests again, then fully charges.At the end of the process, the total battery capacity is shown (drained, i.e. calculated during discharge).
This mode allows you to find out the capacity of a fully charged battery, regardless of its initial state. Resting the battery between charging / discharging operations allows you to more accurately determine its capacity, because the battery has time to cool down to room temperature and other chemical processes are completed.
It was also previously recommended to discharge NiCd batteries before charging to prevent memory effect. This mode can be used for this purpose, although you will have to wait 2 times for 2 hours for the rest mode, so it is easier to first discharge and then charge the batteries for this purpose, and use the Refresh & Analyze mode for its intended purpose - to determine the capacity.
The manufacturer also indicates that this mode is useful for batteries with degrading capacity, and also recommends using it every 10 cycles for NiMH batteries.
Break-In
Mode Break-In also referred to as "IEC capacity analysis", i.e. serves to determine the battery capacities according to the IEC standard. Recommended for brand new batteries or those that cannot be recovered using Refresh & Analyze... Also, the charger manufacturer suggests using it every 30 cycles for NiMH, but given that it takes up to 45 hours, hardly anyone wants to do it regularly.This mode works as follows:
rest 1 hour
discharge current 0.2C
rest
charge with current 0.1C for 16 hours
Mode Break-In really helps in a number of cases for recovery killed batteries, for example, those that have been left uncharged for a long time.
To save batteries, the manufacturer recommends the following steps:
1. Refresh & Analyze 1 to 3 times
2. If capacity has not recovered, try Break-In mode
3. If after steps 1 and 2 the capacity has increased by> 10%, try repeating the Break-In mode up to 3 times. If the capacity has not increased, then the battery life is coming to an end.
Cycle - cyclic charge / discharge
In this mode, the discharge / charge cycles are performed cyclically for a specified number of times with the specified parameters of the charge and discharge currents. At the end, the battery is fully charged.In this mode, you can view the battery capacity after the first cycle is completed. You can also view the capacity history after each cycle to determine if it makes sense to continue further cycles and to see if the battery performance improves or degrades depending on the number of cycles.
conclusions
Maha Powerex WizardOne MH-C9000- possibly the best of the representatives of chargers for NiMH / NiCd batteries with many useful functions and wide ranges of charging / discharging currents, which will help you extend the life of your batteries, restore old ones and simply monitor the condition of all existing batteries. The device will also help to identify dishonest battery manufacturers claiming a very high capacity on the packaging, such as the infamous BTY batteries.Of the minor flaws, one can note the large size (for those who are going to take the charger with them on vacation), the high price and the non-switchable backlight. But all these disadvantages are so insignificant, since there are much more advantages, especially when compared with existing competitors (personally, I liked Maha more than devices from La Crosse).
The recommended charging current is 0.5C, or a current equal to 0.5 times the battery capacity. The recommended discharge current is 0.25C, or 0.25 times the battery capacity. Below are the values for common batteries:
2700mAh Charge: 1300mA Discharge: 700mA
2650mAh Charge: 1300mA Discharge: 700mA
2500mAh Charge: 1200mA Discharge: 600mA
2300mAh Charge: 1100mA Discharge: 600mA
2200mAh Charge: 1100mA Discharge: 600mA
2100mAh Charge: 1000mA Discharge: 500mA
2000mAh Charge: 1000mA Discharge: 500mA
1000mAh Charge: 500mA Discharge: 200mA
900mAh Charge: 400mA Discharge: 200mA
850mAh Charge: 400mA Discharge: 200mA
Is there a way to charge batteries without pressing any buttons?
Yes! The charger will operate in CHARGE mode with a current of 1A if the button is not pressed within 10 seconds after installing the batteries. This mode is automatic and does not require charger programming.
My new batteriesPowerexshow a capacity lower than indicated on the label? Do I need to return them to the seller?
If you test batteries in REFRESH / ANALYZE mode, their capacity will be lower than stated. To get results close to the stated, use the BREAK-IN mode, which is the same as the manufacturer's methods used when testing batteries. Moreover, most batteries have a nominal and minimum capacity. For example, Powerex 2700mAh batteries have a nominal capacity of 2700mAh and a minimum capacity of 2500mAh. Therefore, Powerex 2700mAh batteries, which are tested in BREAK-IN mode, show a capacity of more than 2500mAh, confirming the value indicated in the specification.
My charger (inBREAK- IN) allows you to enter the capacity in 100 mAh increments. My battery is 2650 mAh. How do I enter its capacity?
Just go to the next container. For 2650mAh battery, enter 2700mAh capacity
Can I leave batteries in the charger at the end of my work? Will it keep them charged?
Upon completion of the charging process, the MH-C9000 will begin to deliver a very low current (less than 10mA) to keep the batteries charged. The so-called "trickle charge" ends when the batteries are removed. It is okay to leave the batteries in the charger as they will always be ready to use. However, this makes sense when the power supply is permanently connected to the mains and there are no voltage surges.
Using the modeBREAK- IN, I see that the capacity is much higher than the one I programmed. Why are batteries being overcharged?
When using BREAK-IN mode, the charger delivers 1.6 times the battery capacity (entered at the beginning). This does not harm it as the charge current is very low (only 10% of the battery capacity). The excess capacity is compensated by the loss of energy expended during heating. This charging scheme is recommended by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
I charge old batteries and see that the capacity is much higher than the one programmed by me. Why won't the charger stop charging?
The charger stops charging based on voltage and temperature parameters. Old (as well as low quality) batteries do not provide the appropriate -delta V signal (small voltage drop, at the end of the charging process) required to stop the charger. At the same time, the temperature of the batteries did not reach a critical point, as the charging current may have been too low. To avoid this, make a BREAK-IN first. In addition, you can select a higher charge current.
When charged with a higher current, the capacity appears to be less. Is it okay?
When charging with an increased current, the completeness of the charge decreases. This is to prevent overheating of the battery. This usually happens at a charge current above 1500mA. Generally speaking, the 1000mA charge current is close to the optimum current for AA batteries. At the end of charging (DONE appears on the screen), the charger will recharge the batteries with a safe current, and then switch to float charge. If the capacity on the screen does not increase, the batteries are fully charged. If you want to achieve greater full charge at higher currents, you can use a small fan to further cool the batteries.
When charging with a current below 0.33C (except for the BREAK-IN mode), the batteries may not give the charger a significant signal of the end of the charge in order to stop it in time. Although temperature sensors prevent batteries from overheating, low charging current may not cause the batteries to heat up enough for the sensors to trigger. If a low charge current is still required, you must use the BREAK-IN mode. The charge in this mode is limited only by time (current is transmitted equal to 1.6 of the battery capacity) and temperature.
Why do I see a high voltage on the screen after starting charging (from 1.6V to 2.0V)?
For the first few seconds, the MH-C9000 performs a “high resistance” test to identify unsafe batteries to charge, including batteries that cannot be charged. For this, increased current and voltage are applied to determine the resistance of the battery.
Why are the charging and discharging currents not exactly the same as the set values? I thought the charger was supposed to be accurate.
The charge and discharge currents are pulsating, so the displayed value changes up and down. The capacity calculation is based on the actual current, not the set value and therefore remains correct.
INCORRECT USE OF THE DEVICE COULD DAMAGE THE BATTERIES. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FULLY BEFORE USING.PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES
- The charger is designed to charge only NiCd and NiMH batteries. Check with the battery manufacturer about the possibility of using the selected charging and discharging currents. Designed for indoor use, keep away from moisture to avoid fire.
- Do not switch on the charger if it has been damaged in any way.
- Always install batteries with the positive terminal facing up. Incorrect polarity may cause fire or explosion. Study the illustrations with the polarity marking on the device case.
- Do not expose the product to direct sunlight. Use in well ventilated areas. Do not place on carpets.
- Do not short-circuit the battery compartment terminals.
- To reduce the risk of damage to the power cord, always pull on the plug, not the cord.
- Use Maha Energy Power Supply and Car Adapter. The use of non-original accessories will void the warranty.
FUNCTIONS AND SPECIFICATIONS
- Four independent channels for AA and AAA batteries.
- Backlit LCD screen.
- Display of capacitance, voltage, time and current in digital form.
- Five operating modes: Charge, Refresh & Analyze, Break-in, Discharge and Cycle.
- 19 options for charging current from 0.2A to 2.0A.
- 10 options for discharge current from 0.1A to 1.0A.
- Universal power supply.
* Always check that the batteries support the selected values.
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT BATTERIES
What does 0.1C, 0.2C mean?
"C" indicates the capacity of the battery and the numbers show the fraction of the total capacity. For example, 0.1C means 0.1 of the battery capacity. For a 2700mAh battery, 0.1C is 0.1 of 2700mAh, that is, 270mA.
Correct selection of charge and discharge currents
- Charging with a current below 0.3C and above 1.0C is not recommended
- Charging with too little current may prevent the correct determination of the end of charge. Charging too high a current can damage the battery.
- In general, charging with a low current contributes to better battery performance, but takes longer. Rapid charging can lead to incomplete charging and overheating of the battery.
- The discharge current should not exceed 1.0C.
Battery selection
Most devices usually use two or more batteries at the same time. When batteries are used in an assembly, performance is limited by the worst of them. In other words, one poorly performing battery can dramatically decrease the operating time of the device.
Matching consists of grouping batteries with the same "actual" capacity. To do this, use the Refresh & Analyze mode to determine the capacity of the batteries. Group them with a capacity deviation of no more than +/- 5%.
"Forming" batteries
New batteries and those that have been stored for a long time become chemically inactive. Battery molding is a charge-discharge-charge cycle that fully charges the battery with a small current. This process activates the battery. Sometimes you need to repeat it two or three times. The batteries are molded using the "Break-In" mode.
OPERATING MODES
This section describes the different modes of operation and recommendations for their use. For information on enabling each mode, see the Control section.
Charge Mode
- Charge the battery with the selected current.
- Useful when you need to charge the battery without determining the capacity. Suitable for batteries in good condition and constant use.
- It takes the least amount of time.
Refresh & Analyze Mode
- Battery charge, pause 2 hours, discharge, pause and then charge again. Charge and discharge currents are programmable.
- At the end, the capacity determined during the discharge is displayed.
- Used when it is necessary to determine the capacity of the battery. Also useful for degraded batteries.
- Recommended to run every 10 cycles (for NiMH batteries).
Break-In mode (capacitance analysis according to IEC)
- Charge for 16 hours with a current of 0.1C (0.1 of the battery capacity), a pause for 1 hour, then a discharge with a current of 0.2C, a pause, and a final charge for 16 hours with a current of 0.1C.
- Recommended for new batteries. This process is also known as battery shaping. Also recommended for batteries that cannot be recovered by Refresh & Analyze.
- Recommended to run every 30 cycles (for NiMH batteries).
- Lead time from 39 to 45 hours.
- This process complies with the IEC standard used to determine battery capacity.
Discharge Mode
- Discharge the battery with the selected current.
- Used to determine the residual charge in the battery. When finished, the battery will not charge.
Cycle Mode
- Charge-discharge cycles are performed a specified number of times. Charge and discharge currents are also selected. At the end there is a final charge,
- Can be run several times in a row.
Battery recovery steps
For batteries whose performance has not improved by following the above recommendations, the following sequence of steps can be used.
- Refresh & Analyze 1 to 3 times.
- If capacity remains low, use Break-In mode.
- If capacity increase (> 10%) is observed, repeat Break-In 1 to 3 times. If you do not notice any improvement, the battery may have worn out.
CONTROL
Step 1
Connect the power supply to the charger. When the unit is used in another area, simply connect the appropriate adapter (travel adapter kit code MHS-TC400). No transformer required.
Step 2
Unfold the stand on the back of the device.
Step 3
Install an AA or AAA battery. In the case of AA batteries, set the positive terminal first. For AAA batteries, set the negative terminal first, as in the image below. If charging two batteries, install them in the first and fourth battery compartment for better cooling
NOTE. Heating of batteries during charging and discharging. and also a little noise from the charger during operation is normal.
Step 4
After installing the battery, the LCD will display an arrow under the compartment number and a blinking prompt to select the mode.
Use the UP and DOWN ARROW KEYS to select a mode. Press ENTER to confirm your selection. If no key is pressed within 10 seconds, the device will start working in the default mode - charging with a current of 1000 mA. If more than one battery is installed at the same time (without pressing any keys), the device will offer to set the mode for each of them in the order in which they were installed.
Step 5
If Charge mode is selected
SET CHG RATE... Use the keys UP and WAY DOWN ENTER to confirm your selection. Refer to the General Battery Information section to select the appropriate value.
When Refresh & Analyze mode is selected
The device will prompt you to enter the charge current, a flashing inscription will be displayed SET CHG RATE... Use the keys UP and WAY DOWN to select the required current. Click on ENTER to confirm your selection.
SET DISCHG RATE... Repeat the above steps.
When Break-in mode is selected
The device prompts you to enter the battery capacity to automatically calculate the charging and discharging currents. A flashing caption will be displayed SET BATTERY CAPACITY... Use the keys UP and WAY DOWN to select the required value, Press ENTER to confirm your selection.
When DISCHARGE is selected
The device will prompt you to enter the discharge current, a flashing inscription will be displayed SET DISCHG RATE... Use the keys UP and WAY DOWN to select the required current. Click on ENTER to confirm your selection.
When CYCLE is selected
The device will prompt you to enter charge and discharge currents. The number of cycles will also be requested, a flashing text will be displayed SET CYCLES Use the keys UP and WAY DOWN to select the required current. Click on ENTER to confirm your selection.
Step 6
For safety reasons, the device performs a battery internal resistance test before starting operation. If the battery fails the test, the screen will display HIGH and the process will be interrupted. 
Usually batteries and very old accumulators will not pass this test. For batteries in this case, it is recommended to discontinue use. If the test results seem unreliable to you, perform discharging in DISCHARGE mode first.
NOTE. This check is not performed in DISCHARGE mode.
Step 7
During operation, the device sequentially displays the status of each battery. The screen below shows the active compartment and information about it. And so on for each battery. At any time, you can switch to the next occupied compartment by pressing the key SLOT... Press this button several times if you want to go to a specific compartment. This screen displays the following information:
Current
MA... This is the approximate charge or discharge current. Please note that this number can change in one direction or another depending on the stage of the process.
Capacity
The value is determined by the numbers in front of MAH... This is the capacity accumulated during charging or discharging. The charging capacity will display CHARGE on a black background. Discharge capacity will display DISCHG on a black background.
Please note that the capacity accumulated during charging is usually higher than the actual capacity of the battery. some of the transferred energy is released as heat. This capacity cannot be used to assess battery performance. It is intended only to assess the progress of the charging process and may exceed the actual one by 20-30%.
The charger stops charging by voltage and temperature. Some old (and poor quality) batteries do not produce an end of charge signal (this is a small voltage drop) necessary for the charger to stop the process. At the same time, the temperature of the batteries is not sufficient to interrupt the charging, because the selected charge current is too low.
Therefore, the capacity shown by the device is higher than the one that you have programmed. To avoid this, make a Break-In first. In addition, you can select a higher charge current.
When using the Break-In mode, the device transfers energy 1.6 times the battery capacity (which is indicated before starting work). It is not dangerous for the battery, as the charge current is very low (only 10% of the rated capacity). The excess energy is consumed in the form of heat.
Time
The value is determined by the numbers in front of MIN... This is the time elapsed since the beginning of the process of charging, discharging, pause.
Voltage
The value is determined by the numbers in front of VOLT... The current voltage of the battery. If you compare this voltage with what the voltmeter showed during charging, they will be different, because The voltmeter is unable to correctly measure the battery voltage during charging or discharging.
DONE to the right of the compartment number. With the exception of DISCHARGE mode, a post and trickle charge will begin.
- For mode CHARGE the total capacity accumulated during charging will be displayed.
- For modes REFRESH & ANALYZE, BREAK-IN, DISCHARGE the total capacity determined during discharge will be displayed. The caption will be shown AVAILABLE CAPACITY.
- For mode CYCLE the capacity determined during the last cycle is displayed. The caption will be shown CYCLE HISTORY... Use the keys UP and WAY DOWN to view the capacity determined during each cycle.
- Battery capacity information is stored as long as the battery is in the device. It is erased after removing the battery.
