The LaCrosse BC900 Battery Charger Review

Value

LaCrosse BC900 Battery Charger Value

The various modes of operation of the LaCrosse BC900 Battery charger allow you to control the charge rate and condition of the battery. You can CHARGE, TEST, DISCHARGE or REFRESH your batteries, each individually in any mode and at any rate. You're no longer stuck waiting to add or change one or more batteries without interrupting those batteries that are not finished their cycle.

The complete flexibility of the LaCrosse BC900 Battery charger and its precise 3 digit LCD display keeps you informed of each battery's individual state and mode of operation. No other product offers such detail, functionality or flexibility.

 

 

 

 

Price

LaCrosse BC900 Battery Charger Price

We found the LaCrosse BC900 Battery charger unit selling for under $50 US, sometimes even $40 US. Considering the charger's features alone, this is a fantastic deal.

Some AAA/AA chargers with a basic 3 level LCD display go for well over $25 US. These simple chargers sometimes only allow for 2 charge rates and a basic discharge.

So what is the value?

Consider the fact that you get:

• 4 AAA NiMH batteries (value $6US);
• 4 AA NiMH batteries (value $8US);
• 4 C adapters (value 3 $US);
• 4 D adapters (value 3 $US) and;
• a really well made travel bag (let's call it a free bonus).

Note that the values we've used are very reasonable, and you don't have to get them separately (that's convenient). It's a well thought out package.

That is approximately $20 US in practical and useable extras. If you paid $50 US for the LaCrosse BC900 AlphaPower Deluxe Charger Kit, the charger really only cost you $30 US bucks. That's a steal for this level of sophistication.

 

Features

LaCrosse BC900 Battery Charger Features

Charge Mode

The LaCrosse BC900 Battery Charger Charging automatically starts at 200 mA. The user can select 500, 700, 1000, 1500 or 1800 ma charge rate settings. Batteries will be charged until they reach their maximum capacity. The four mode display shows voltage, current charge, time elapsed and accumulated capacity. The La Crosse BC-900 battery chargers Thermal safety circuit will detect excessive temperature of your rechargeable batteries during charging.

Discharge Mode

The BC900 Battery Charger discharge mode discharges the battery completely before recharging to full capacity. In reality, the NiMH battery does not suffer from the so called "memory effect" ( see NiMH Battery FAQs ). We have noticed that NiMH batteries can show signs of reduced capacity when they are left unused for extended periods of time.

 

Refresh Mode

LaCrosse BC900 Battery Charger automatically starts charging at 200 mA and is user selectable. Batteries will be discharged and recharged up 20 cycles or until batteries are refreshed to maximum capacity.

Rechargeable Batteries are run through a series of CHARGE and DISCHARGE cycles. Charging stops when no further increases in battery capacity are obtained. The charger tracks the results in each cycle. This is basically the DISCHARGE mode seen in most other chargers, except the process is automated for you.Updated :

We've used the LaCrosse BC900 Battery Charger refresh mode regularly. We've also tested several batteries in refresh back to back and have noticed slight increases in capacity. Automatic refresh does help to restore a NiMH rechargeable battery that has been stored or left unused over extended periods of time.

 

Test Mode

The LaCrosse BC900 battery charger Test Mode first charges the rechargeable battery to full capacity, then discharges completely to measure rechargeable battery capacity for display in mAh or Ah, and then recharges each rechargeable battery to full battery capacity.

 

Advanced Temperature Sensor Circuit

The LaCrosse BC900 battery charger will stop the charging if the battery temperatures reach 127F. As soon as the rechargeable batteries have cooled the automatic charging will resume.

 

LaCrosse BC900 Battery Charger User Guide

 

Specifications

LaCrosse BC900 Battery Charger Specifications

• Charges Rechargeable Battery Sizes and types: AA & AAA NiCd and NiMH
• 4 Modes of Operation : CHARGE, TEST, DISCHARGE or REFRESH ( left
  
• 4 Independent Charging Channels : mix any mode, any rate and any battery type in each channel.
• Battery Charging Rates : 200mA, 500, 700, 100, 1500, or 1800mA
• AC adapter Input Voltage: 100-240 VAC 50-60 Hz
• Overall BC-900 Battery Charger Dimensions: 3.0" x 5.1" x 1.5"
• Each individual channel switches to trickle charge when the battery is full. The trickle rate is determined by the charging current that was selected for that battery.
• LCD shows capacity for each battery when charging is complete
• Charges AA & AAA rechargeable batteries simultaneously
• Will not charge defective batteries.
• Select different charging current for each channel
• Automatically switches to trickle charge when charging is complete to ensure maximum battery capacity
• Automatically defaults to 200mA charge (the optimal setting for prolonging battery life)
• Overheat detection to protect over-charging
• 7 Easy to Use Function Keys
• Charge Mode (charging current)
• Discharge Mode (discharging current)
• Refresh Mode (time elapsed)
• Test Mode (accumulated capacity)
• Included Accessories: 4-AA NiMH 1.2v Batteries
• 4-AAA NiMH 1.2v Batteries
• Durable Nylon Travel Bag
• AC Power Adapter
• 4-C Size Battery Adapters
• 4-D Size Battery Adapter

 

Tests

LaCrosse BC900 Battery Charger Tests

1. Battery Charge Capacity Tests
2. Battery Charging Temperature Tests
3. Charging Characteristics
4. Feature Tests

 

 

LaCrosse BC900 Battery Charger Capacity Tests

During the review, we tested our reference batteries after being charged in Charger #1 and in the LaCrosse BC900 battery charger. As you can see, the LaCrosse had no problem charging and topping up the batteries.

	Charger #1	LaCrosse BC900
Battery #1	> 99%	> 97%
Battery #2	> 99%	> 98%
Battery #3	> 95%	> 99%

( tested results in % of rated capacity, i.e.. for a 2000mAh battery 99% = 1980mAh )

 

LaCrosse BC900 Battery Charger Temperature Tests

The LaCrosse BC900 Battery Charger did well during the temperature tests. The 1800mAh charging rate didn't overheat the LaCrosse 2000 mAh battery.

 

 

The LaCrosse BC900 Battery Charger also kept the temperature below 40 Celsius during Refresh for the LaCrosse 2000 mAh AA Battery at 1000 mAh and the LaCrosse 700 mAh AA Battery at 500 mAh.

 

 

 

LaCrosse BC900 Charging Characteristics

 

 

The temperature effect for any C-Rate is harder on batteries with smaller capacity. So if you use a quality 2500 mAh battery, the stress on the battery will be less, and therefore the temperature.

 

 

LaCrosse BC900 Charger Feature Tests

We tested all the The LaCrosse BC900 Battery charger modes and found that they all functioned as described. We used the Refresh mode several times as we did receive dead or defective batteries from some of our suppliers. These "dead" batteries resulted in a "null" display. Other chargers also rejected these batteries.

The Refresh mode along with the detailed display added a great deal of convenience. We managed to resurrect several batteries.

The other mode not found in other chargers is the Test Mode. We found that these results varied +/- 5% from our test results. As the Test mode progressed, we could see the current reading changing. To be quite honest, this is more than acceptable. It is enough to give the user a good idea of the state of the batteries.

The other great feature of the BC-900 Charger is the choice of charging options. Chose the length of time you are willing to wait for a full charge and the BC900 gives you an overnight, medium or 1 hour charger in one package.

 

Conclusion

Overall Conclusion

The LaCrosse BC900 AlphaPower Battery charger is a professional grade product at a consumer price. There really is nothing bad to say about the AlphaPower Deluxe Battery Charger package, quite the opposite. It packs all the features of every charger we have seen on the market plus many extra professional features.

A very small note though, pressing the buttons to change the mode, display or current took a little getting used to. The delay can be misleading, so just hold the button until you see a change.

The added options such as AA, AAA batteries, C and D battery adapters and the carrying case just goes over the top.

What we think would be an interesting add on, not that it is crucial, is a refresh cycle count. In other words, a display of the number of times each battery went through a refresh cycle.

To all the other chargers out there, you're going to have to start bundling more in your battery charger packages. We're talking AA and AAA batteries at a minimum.