NiMH batteries and chargers

I'm looking at two Powerex AA smart chargers. Either MH-C800S (8 at a time) or the MH-C9000 Wizard One (4 at a time but better features).

The Wizard One is far more sophistocated and can, for example, do 16 hour charge cycles that recondition a battery for a week (charge / discharge), test the batteries more completly, yada yada. It can bring old batteries back from the dead and really maximize their health.

The MH-C800S does do pulse charging (a huge plus) and rudimentary testing and rejuvination cycles. Just not near as good as the Smart-One. For example; the MH-C800S "deep charge" is 500ma (4 hour charge) - not nearly as effective as a 16 hour true trickle charge.

However; great features too complex to ever use are useless to me. I'm a push-button guy. (8 at a time is also a plus)

Question: Is it (the Wizard one) so sophistocated (complicated) that I'll never really get the benefit?

Anyone experienced with these? Thumbs up / down?

Thanks!

I have both of them and they are both very good chargers. I find I use the C800S the most as it is so simple to use ... just put in the first battery, select the mode you desire, then put in the rest of the batteries and they all will use the preselected charge mode.

I mostly use the C9000 with problem cells that I am trying to salvage. It is a lot of fiddling to get it set up as each battery has to be configured separately. I don't require it much anymore as I have pretty much quit using NiMH batteries in favor of Eneloops which seem to need much less attention to keep them useable.

I buy my chargers at Thomas Distributing:
http://www.thomasdistr​ibuting.com/

-howard

ps: If you search I think there is an older thread here on this same topic with more opinions and information.

hfgarris wrote in post #10430734
I have both of them and they are both very good chargers. I find I use the C800S the most as it is so simple to use ... just put in the first battery, select the mode you desire, then put in the rest of the batteries and they all will use the preselected charge mode.

I mostly use the C9000 with problem cells that I am trying to salvage. It is a lot of fiddling to get it set up as each battery has to be configured separately. I don't require it much anymore as I have pretty much quit using NiMH batteries in favor of Eneloops which seem to need much less attention to keep them useable.

I buy my chargers at Thomas Distributing:
http://www.thomasdistr​ibuting.com/

-howard

ps: If you search I think there is an older thread here on this same topic with more opinions and information.

Thanks for the info and perspective.

Eneloop is just the Sanyo brand of NiMH, right? Are you saying their claim (link here) to have beat the decomposition and non-use discharge isn't just hype? That they beat even the Powerex NiMH's? I'll give them a try.

Also; good call on using an authorized dealer. I'm about done buying anything on EBAY - they don't seem to care one bit about counterfeitters.

I ordered that Wizard One because I have about 25 old batteries to rejuvinate. I need to weed out the bad ones and throw them away and this seems to be the best unit for that.

Like you, I'll probably get the 8-cell charger too, just for convenience. I've collected a few 4-cell chargers but I was unaware of the problem with quick-charges before this stint of research.

The Powerex 2700mah batteries are better than the eneloops, up to about 3 weeks.

Read post 8 of SYS's excellent battery review.

https://photography-on-the.net …highlight=aa+ba​ttery+test

" . . . up to about 3 weeks." Speaking for myself, I don't like going on charging marathons. The batteries in my SX1, A630, and assorted flash units get replaced when and as needed. And with Eneloops, it's because I've drained them, not because they've self-discharged.

I guess it depends on the usage, if you can be bothered charging up the Powerex's then they are going to give you a better performance due to their extra capacity and faster recycling. If you don't recharge often then Maha imedions or eneloops are the better option.

I use Maha imedions in the grip and for the flashes, but I have powerex's as well. Like Jon said the low self discharge batteries are very good for convienence.

NBEast wrote in post #10432093
Thanks for the info and perspective.

Eneloop is just the Sanyo brand of NiMH, right? Are you saying their claim (link here) to have beat the decomposition and non-use discharge isn't just hype? That they beat even the Powerex NiMH's? I'll give them a try.

Also; good call on using an authorized dealer. I'm about done buying anything on EBAY - they don't seem to care one bit about counterfeitters.

I ordered that Wizard One because I have about 25 old batteries to rejuvinate. I need to weed out the bad ones and throw them away and this seems to be the best unit for that.

Like you, I'll probably get the 8-cell charger too, just for convenience. I've collected a few 4-cell chargers but I was unaware of the problem with quick-charges before this stint of research.

They are high purity, very low discharge NiMH. Their claims are accurate and they are the only NiMH I buy now. After a year they will still have 80% of their charge remaining.

J.

Wow. This is quite an education. I should have held off on getting that fancy charger and 2700 Powerex batteries. Oh well.

So; we have a new acronym; "LSD - Low Self Discharge".

Leave it to those German engineers. Another leap-frog in technology just last month (May 6, 2010), article here. Release announcement here. Unfortunately; it's Europe only for now. This (newer) Sanyo Enevloop takes 1500 charges and the charge lasts 3 years (at 75%)! Also usable at -20C.

Still only 2000 mAh, compared with 2100 for MAHA. Bummer. According to this guy (see 1st review), Sanyo may be under-stating their 2000 though.

The improvement doesn't seem worth waiting for so I'll place my Costco order of pre-charged ones now.

Thanks for the help!

Eneloop is probably understating theirs too.

However, traditional NiMH lose 1% of their charge per day. So after three days they are pretty much equal.

On my smart chargers, I've never seen the max capacity stay on a traditional NiMH for more than a month. After that they seem to be right around 1900-1950 just like the Eneloops.

J.

Maha AA Imedions have been upgraded they now have a 2400mah capacity

http://protog.com.au …batteries-4pack-p-72.html

lannes wrote in post #10445580
Maha AA Imedions have been upgraded they now have a 2400mah capacity

http://protog.com.au …batteries-4pack-p-72.html

Thanks. Good call.

They're still limited to 1000 recharges, mfg link here, but the bump up to 2400 still makes it a winner. Few of us except maybe a full-on pro photographer actually recharges a AA battery 1000 times, except maybe in a household phone.

The new (European only for now) Eneloops have 1500 recharges (pdf link here) and retain 75% charge after 3 years. It's still 2000 mAh.

I think I'd opt for the higher mAh over the extra charge count.

EDIT: Dang. I just noticed that link is charging $21.95 per 4-pack in that "Protog" link. Straight from Powerex they're $16.95.

NBEast wrote in post #10450307
Thanks. Good call.

EDIT: Dang. I just noticed that link is charging $21.95 per 4-pack in that "Protog" link. Straight from Powerex they're $16.95.

Protog is any australian supplier so the prices are in AUD, hence they are higher.
I notice the photos are different, the 2400mah have a bluish cap.

lannes wrote in post #10451832
Protog is any australian supplier so the prices are in AUD, hence they are higher.
I notice the photos are different, the 2400mah have a bluish cap.

Really! That's nice.

I went onto Thomas Distributing last night for the 2400 LSDs and abandoned the order because I was afraid I'd get them confused with my non-LSD ones because their photo looked identical.

I decided I'd wait until the new Eneloops are available in the US because they're white.

Mixing differing capacity batteries could be a real problem. White is also a better color for things like indelible ink markings - not to mention less prone to sunshine heat.

I'm quite intrigued by the latest Powerex Imedion 2400mAh. This would be indeed a great breakthrough in battery technology and certainly fantastic news for us consumers! I'm going to, however, remain on the side with a bit of skepticism... When I tested eneloop 2000 vs. Imedion 2100, I learned that, while Imedion's extra 100mAh did provide additional flash pops, it did self-discharge a bit faster than eneloop. In other words, not all "LSD" batteries discharge at the same rate. This didn't surprise me, though. Although I'm certainly not a battery expert, it didn't take a scientist or an engineer to figure out that higher the mAh, faster the discharge, so a certain degree of compromise has to be reached. Hence my skepticism with regards to how "LSD" Imedion 2400 could be... I've been dreaming of the day that battery technology could offer us consumers with the power of 2700+ mAh with the LSD level of eneloop. If the latest Imedion 2400 has indeed the same rate of LSD as eneloop, then my dream is going to be actualized a lot faster than I had anticipated.

And yes, I did take a look at the company provided "brand comparison" chart regarding the LSD rates, but for now I'd trust my own personal, real life, hands-on test and use.

NBEast wrote in post #10434907
Wow. This is quite an education. I should have held off on getting that fancy charger and 2700 Powerex batteries. Oh well.

So; we have a new acronym; "LSD - Low Self Discharge".

Leave it to those German engineers. Another leap-frog in technology just last month (May 6, 2010), article here. Release announcement here. Unfortunately; it's Europe only for now. This (newer) Sanyo Enevloop takes 1500 charges and the charge lasts 3 years (at 75%)! Also usable at -20C.

Still only 2000 mAh, compared with 2100 for MAHA. Bummer. According to this guy (see 1st review), Sanyo may be under-stating their 2000 though.

The improvement doesn't seem worth waiting for so I'll place my Costco order of pre-charged ones now.

Thanks for the help!

of course! i stock up on eneloops and now there's a newer and better one coming out.

3 years! that's crazy.