I've owned a number of battery chargers over the years. Enough of them that I doubt I'm actually saving money using rechargeable batteries, despite managing over a hundred batteries. I've been a long time fan of Powerex/Maha energy and pulled the trigger on this one as soon as it became available. I ordered it directly from Maha Energy as they released it earlier than Amazon did and also Amazon is not exactly known for "fast" shipping to Alaska. As a rechargeable battery geek, of course I was going to have a finely tuned version of the popular 9000 series charger!
If you're not familiar with the ins and outs of chargers, a common misconception is there are "smart chargers" versus "dumb chargers." That used to be true in the old days, with time based chargers, but practically any charger out there today should be "smart enough" to properly handle rechargeable batteries. What it really comes down to is there are basic chargers and then there are advanced devices that help you analyze and maintain your rechargeable battery collection. This unit performs in both categories, but particularly the latter category. It's the degrees of intelligence and general best-practice that are applied to this process that distinguish truly "smart" versus "less smart" chargers.
The reality of rechargeable batteries is they have certain weaknesses when compared to non-rechargeables. Due to their chemistry, the capacity of a rechargeable battery can be negatively affected over time through usage conditions, such as long term storage or very low drain rates. They do really well when you can guarantee relatively quick and regular exercise, but not as well when you treat them like most of us treat batteries. That's where battery analysis and refresh capabilities, like this charger provides, come in.
This charger is certainly one of the most advanced out there. While a lot of truly "smart" chargers have similar features, this one solves a lot of the problems that have plagued previous generations, including issues found even in Powerex's own products. This charger also builds on the older 9000 series charger in all the right ways.
First, let's talk about the display! On all my other "smart" chargers (Powerex, LaCrosse) it's sometimes hard to see the text, especially without direct lighting. The backlight and large (1.5" x 3" ish) display handily solves this. I also like how they changed the orientation of the display to vertical, so you don't have to be right on top of the charger to see it. It's easy to get an eye on status, even from across the room. The backlight can be set to turn on at the press of a button and there's also an option to have it on all the time.
Second, I was glad to see them ditch "cycle" mode from the former model, it made almost no sense. (Losing this feature is not a downgrade IMO. I much prefer basing the decision of what to do based on a rated MaH value, especially in the era of "pro grade" batteries.) This unit has the four most important modes you need for battery management. Break in, refresh, charge and discharge. The uses of these modes are well described in the manual. Basically, these four modes will allow the user to restore "bad" batteries to their former glory, determine truly "bad" batteries and also just generally keep your batteries ready for service.
The biggest upgrade over the older Powerex 9000 series charger is the memory function. It's true, this unit will remember your previous settings that you used, including the mode and charge/discharge values down to each individual slot. This is quite helpful as often, I'm using this charger for a specific purpose such as refreshing a bank of quite a few batteries at a given time. If you are looking at this as an upgrade to the older 9000 series, it's not the most ground breaking step forward - but a very, very convenient one.
This particular charger does apply a small, but consistent charge once a charging cycle is complete. The purpose is to continually "top off" the battery and ensure it's 100% ready for service. This is a controversial subject in the rechargeable battery world, some think this shortens battery life. I see both sides and both make sense. To me, this feature isn't a deal breaker as I always have the option of removing the batteries from the charger.
As a general impression, I am quite happy with this charger. I really like seeing how much energy I'm putting into or pulling out of each battery in real time. I like being able to see the current voltage of the battery. It is very clear what the charger is doing at various stages, per slot, which isn't the easiest thing to communicate. I was also super happy to see recommended charge/discharge rates in the manual based on total capacity, I didn't know this was a thing! Batteries are easily inserted and removed from the unit, thanks to the design. This charger will definitely elevate my general battery management practices that comes with operating a lot of rechargeables.
The most similar charger I have to this one is the LaCrosse BC900, which has been my preferred charger for restoring older batteries that weren't up to par. It has very similar features, so why would I want to upgrade? Beyond the vastly improved display, this charger fully integrates "rest" periods into charging and discharging cycles. These cooling periods are good for your batteries. Second, and most importantly, the LaCrosse refresh process will cycle the batteries until no improvement is seen, whereas this unit requires you to manually restart the process when needed. (This is important for high grade rechargeables that have highly limited recharge cycles.) Next, navigation on that unit is just plain difficult compared to this unit, I always had to remind myself how to access the modes and such. Another gain is this model allows truly independent modes per slot, whereas the LaCrosse treated all slots the same. This unit also has well thought out thermal features, the batteries are very well ventilated on all sides which prevents significant heat buildup. Lastly, I love the real time information (mAH input, voltage level, time in state, etc) this unit gives you, it's light years beyond what the LaCrosse can do.
My only wishlist is that this same charger and feature set came in an 8-bay version, as I would love to have just one battery charger. I also have the Powerex C800S for when I need to bulk charge a lot of batteries at once. It seems, at least for now, that there are tradeoffs when it comes to 4 vs 8+ bay chargers. The larger chargers just don't have as many advanced features for truly restoring batteries. There is simply a difference in the results you can get from a generic "conditioning" mode and following an IEC guideline to provide battery forming processes.
Some of the modes of this charger (e.g. break-in) can take 40+ hours per battery, which means sometimes you're locking up the charger for multiple days. Even longer if you have to run multiple cycles to improve battery health. So, perhaps this is the silver lining for having separate "bulk charging" from "analysis" with my general battery strategy.
Lastly, some brief tips from someone that has a large collection of rechargeables in service. When I run my batteries through a refresh or break-in cycle, I put a label on that battery. It includes the month & year of the refresh, along with the mAH rating I get from the analyzer. This allows for "battery matching" by similar capacity and also gives me a sense of when to next run a refresh cycle. I generally try to refresh every 12-18 months, give or take. I also refresh after taking a battery out of longer term storage that was greater than 6 months. If a battery performs under the rated value, that's what the break in process is for.
Today, rechargeable batteries are quite good. I have entirely replaced every AA/AAA battery with them and don't run any regular batteries anymore. I have standardized on Eneloops and they are incredibly consistent batch to batch, last a long time and do well even in cold temperatures. I run "pro grade" batteries in mission critical applications (e.g. my electronic door locks) and use standard Eneloops in everything else.
I think that's it for now. I'll update this review with any major changes or revelations. For now, in the early days of adoption, I'm very happy with my choice to upgrade to this charger!
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From the manufacturer
FEATURES
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Charge AA and AAACharges 1 to 4 AA or AAA NiMH rechargeable batteries. |
4 Independent Charging SlotsIt has 4 independent charging slots to charge 1, 2, 3, or 4 AA and AAA NiMH rechargeable batteries. |
Backlit LCD DisplayIt has a large backlit LCD display with a On/Off option. |
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Memory SettingsIt will remember the last settings that was used. |
Easy SetupSet the settings for 1 slot and apply the same settings to all slots. |
Charging TimeCharge 1 to 4 AA or AAA NiMH rechargeable batteries in 1 hour. |
4 Modes of Operation
The MH-C9000PRO has 4 Modes of Operation to choose:
- Charge Mode: For Normal Battery Charge
- Break-In Mode: For Batteries that couldn't be rescued by the Refresh & Analyze Mode
- Discharge: To analyze the amount of charge stored in the battery
- Refresh & Analyze: To determine the available battery capacity and performance
What's In The Box
- MH-C9000PRO Professional Charger-Analyzer
- Compact 100-240V 50/60Hz Power Adapter
- User Manual
Compare with similar items
|
Amazon Basics Ni-MH AA & AAA Battery Charger With USB Port for Rechargeable Batteries
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Powerex MH-C800S 8-Cell Smart Charger for AA / AAA NiMH / NiCD,Grey
|
Powerex MH-C980 Turbo Charger Analyzer for AA/AAA Batteries
|
Powerex Maha MH-C808M Charger for Eight AA/AAA/C/D NiMH/NiCD Batteries
|
La Crosse Technology BC1000 Alpha Power Battery Charger
|
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| Customer Rating | (79) | (16702) | (814) | (84) | (374) | (1202) |
| Price | $64.95 | $15.00 | $39.95 | $63.07 | $129.99 | $49.95 |
| Sold By | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Onlybatteries-com | Amazon.com |
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2020
If you're not familiar with the ins and outs of chargers, a common misconception is there are "smart chargers" versus "dumb chargers." That used to be true in the old days, with time based chargers, but practically any charger out there today should be "smart enough" to properly handle rechargeable batteries. What it really comes down to is there are basic chargers and then there are advanced devices that help you analyze and maintain your rechargeable battery collection. This unit performs in both categories, but particularly the latter category. It's the degrees of intelligence and general best-practice that are applied to this process that distinguish truly "smart" versus "less smart" chargers.
The reality of rechargeable batteries is they have certain weaknesses when compared to non-rechargeables. Due to their chemistry, the capacity of a rechargeable battery can be negatively affected over time through usage conditions, such as long term storage or very low drain rates. They do really well when you can guarantee relatively quick and regular exercise, but not as well when you treat them like most of us treat batteries. That's where battery analysis and refresh capabilities, like this charger provides, come in.
This charger is certainly one of the most advanced out there. While a lot of truly "smart" chargers have similar features, this one solves a lot of the problems that have plagued previous generations, including issues found even in Powerex's own products. This charger also builds on the older 9000 series charger in all the right ways.
First, let's talk about the display! On all my other "smart" chargers (Powerex, LaCrosse) it's sometimes hard to see the text, especially without direct lighting. The backlight and large (1.5" x 3" ish) display handily solves this. I also like how they changed the orientation of the display to vertical, so you don't have to be right on top of the charger to see it. It's easy to get an eye on status, even from across the room. The backlight can be set to turn on at the press of a button and there's also an option to have it on all the time.
Second, I was glad to see them ditch "cycle" mode from the former model, it made almost no sense. (Losing this feature is not a downgrade IMO. I much prefer basing the decision of what to do based on a rated MaH value, especially in the era of "pro grade" batteries.) This unit has the four most important modes you need for battery management. Break in, refresh, charge and discharge. The uses of these modes are well described in the manual. Basically, these four modes will allow the user to restore "bad" batteries to their former glory, determine truly "bad" batteries and also just generally keep your batteries ready for service.
The biggest upgrade over the older Powerex 9000 series charger is the memory function. It's true, this unit will remember your previous settings that you used, including the mode and charge/discharge values down to each individual slot. This is quite helpful as often, I'm using this charger for a specific purpose such as refreshing a bank of quite a few batteries at a given time. If you are looking at this as an upgrade to the older 9000 series, it's not the most ground breaking step forward - but a very, very convenient one.
This particular charger does apply a small, but consistent charge once a charging cycle is complete. The purpose is to continually "top off" the battery and ensure it's 100% ready for service. This is a controversial subject in the rechargeable battery world, some think this shortens battery life. I see both sides and both make sense. To me, this feature isn't a deal breaker as I always have the option of removing the batteries from the charger.
As a general impression, I am quite happy with this charger. I really like seeing how much energy I'm putting into or pulling out of each battery in real time. I like being able to see the current voltage of the battery. It is very clear what the charger is doing at various stages, per slot, which isn't the easiest thing to communicate. I was also super happy to see recommended charge/discharge rates in the manual based on total capacity, I didn't know this was a thing! Batteries are easily inserted and removed from the unit, thanks to the design. This charger will definitely elevate my general battery management practices that comes with operating a lot of rechargeables.
The most similar charger I have to this one is the LaCrosse BC900, which has been my preferred charger for restoring older batteries that weren't up to par. It has very similar features, so why would I want to upgrade? Beyond the vastly improved display, this charger fully integrates "rest" periods into charging and discharging cycles. These cooling periods are good for your batteries. Second, and most importantly, the LaCrosse refresh process will cycle the batteries until no improvement is seen, whereas this unit requires you to manually restart the process when needed. (This is important for high grade rechargeables that have highly limited recharge cycles.) Next, navigation on that unit is just plain difficult compared to this unit, I always had to remind myself how to access the modes and such. Another gain is this model allows truly independent modes per slot, whereas the LaCrosse treated all slots the same. This unit also has well thought out thermal features, the batteries are very well ventilated on all sides which prevents significant heat buildup. Lastly, I love the real time information (mAH input, voltage level, time in state, etc) this unit gives you, it's light years beyond what the LaCrosse can do.
My only wishlist is that this same charger and feature set came in an 8-bay version, as I would love to have just one battery charger. I also have the Powerex C800S for when I need to bulk charge a lot of batteries at once. It seems, at least for now, that there are tradeoffs when it comes to 4 vs 8+ bay chargers. The larger chargers just don't have as many advanced features for truly restoring batteries. There is simply a difference in the results you can get from a generic "conditioning" mode and following an IEC guideline to provide battery forming processes.
Some of the modes of this charger (e.g. break-in) can take 40+ hours per battery, which means sometimes you're locking up the charger for multiple days. Even longer if you have to run multiple cycles to improve battery health. So, perhaps this is the silver lining for having separate "bulk charging" from "analysis" with my general battery strategy.
Lastly, some brief tips from someone that has a large collection of rechargeables in service. When I run my batteries through a refresh or break-in cycle, I put a label on that battery. It includes the month & year of the refresh, along with the mAH rating I get from the analyzer. This allows for "battery matching" by similar capacity and also gives me a sense of when to next run a refresh cycle. I generally try to refresh every 12-18 months, give or take. I also refresh after taking a battery out of longer term storage that was greater than 6 months. If a battery performs under the rated value, that's what the break in process is for.
Today, rechargeable batteries are quite good. I have entirely replaced every AA/AAA battery with them and don't run any regular batteries anymore. I have standardized on Eneloops and they are incredibly consistent batch to batch, last a long time and do well even in cold temperatures. I run "pro grade" batteries in mission critical applications (e.g. my electronic door locks) and use standard Eneloops in everything else.
I think that's it for now. I'll update this review with any major changes or revelations. For now, in the early days of adoption, I'm very happy with my choice to upgrade to this charger!
The Best Battery Charger Out There In 2020
By J. Whiteside on October 2, 2020
I've owned a number of battery chargers over the years. Enough of them that I doubt I'm actually saving money using rechargeable batteries, despite managing over a hundred batteries. I've been a long time fan of Powerex/Maha energy and pulled the trigger on this one as soon as it became available. I ordered it directly from Maha Energy as they released it earlier than Amazon did and also Amazon is not exactly known for "fast" shipping to Alaska. As a rechargeable battery geek, of course I was going to have a finely tuned version of the popular 9000 series charger!By J. Whiteside on October 2, 2020
If you're not familiar with the ins and outs of chargers, a common misconception is there are "smart chargers" versus "dumb chargers." That used to be true in the old days, with time based chargers, but practically any charger out there today should be "smart enough" to properly handle rechargeable batteries. What it really comes down to is there are basic chargers and then there are advanced devices that help you analyze and maintain your rechargeable battery collection. This unit performs in both categories, but particularly the latter category. It's the degrees of intelligence and general best-practice that are applied to this process that distinguish truly "smart" versus "less smart" chargers.
The reality of rechargeable batteries is they have certain weaknesses when compared to non-rechargeables. Due to their chemistry, the capacity of a rechargeable battery can be negatively affected over time through usage conditions, such as long term storage or very low drain rates. They do really well when you can guarantee relatively quick and regular exercise, but not as well when you treat them like most of us treat batteries. That's where battery analysis and refresh capabilities, like this charger provides, come in.
This charger is certainly one of the most advanced out there. While a lot of truly "smart" chargers have similar features, this one solves a lot of the problems that have plagued previous generations, including issues found even in Powerex's own products. This charger also builds on the older 9000 series charger in all the right ways.
First, let's talk about the display! On all my other "smart" chargers (Powerex, LaCrosse) it's sometimes hard to see the text, especially without direct lighting. The backlight and large (1.5" x 3" ish) display handily solves this. I also like how they changed the orientation of the display to vertical, so you don't have to be right on top of the charger to see it. It's easy to get an eye on status, even from across the room. The backlight can be set to turn on at the press of a button and there's also an option to have it on all the time.
Second, I was glad to see them ditch "cycle" mode from the former model, it made almost no sense. (Losing this feature is not a downgrade IMO. I much prefer basing the decision of what to do based on a rated MaH value, especially in the era of "pro grade" batteries.) This unit has the four most important modes you need for battery management. Break in, refresh, charge and discharge. The uses of these modes are well described in the manual. Basically, these four modes will allow the user to restore "bad" batteries to their former glory, determine truly "bad" batteries and also just generally keep your batteries ready for service.
The biggest upgrade over the older Powerex 9000 series charger is the memory function. It's true, this unit will remember your previous settings that you used, including the mode and charge/discharge values down to each individual slot. This is quite helpful as often, I'm using this charger for a specific purpose such as refreshing a bank of quite a few batteries at a given time. If you are looking at this as an upgrade to the older 9000 series, it's not the most ground breaking step forward - but a very, very convenient one.
This particular charger does apply a small, but consistent charge once a charging cycle is complete. The purpose is to continually "top off" the battery and ensure it's 100% ready for service. This is a controversial subject in the rechargeable battery world, some think this shortens battery life. I see both sides and both make sense. To me, this feature isn't a deal breaker as I always have the option of removing the batteries from the charger.
As a general impression, I am quite happy with this charger. I really like seeing how much energy I'm putting into or pulling out of each battery in real time. I like being able to see the current voltage of the battery. It is very clear what the charger is doing at various stages, per slot, which isn't the easiest thing to communicate. I was also super happy to see recommended charge/discharge rates in the manual based on total capacity, I didn't know this was a thing! Batteries are easily inserted and removed from the unit, thanks to the design. This charger will definitely elevate my general battery management practices that comes with operating a lot of rechargeables.
The most similar charger I have to this one is the LaCrosse BC900, which has been my preferred charger for restoring older batteries that weren't up to par. It has very similar features, so why would I want to upgrade? Beyond the vastly improved display, this charger fully integrates "rest" periods into charging and discharging cycles. These cooling periods are good for your batteries. Second, and most importantly, the LaCrosse refresh process will cycle the batteries until no improvement is seen, whereas this unit requires you to manually restart the process when needed. (This is important for high grade rechargeables that have highly limited recharge cycles.) Next, navigation on that unit is just plain difficult compared to this unit, I always had to remind myself how to access the modes and such. Another gain is this model allows truly independent modes per slot, whereas the LaCrosse treated all slots the same. This unit also has well thought out thermal features, the batteries are very well ventilated on all sides which prevents significant heat buildup. Lastly, I love the real time information (mAH input, voltage level, time in state, etc) this unit gives you, it's light years beyond what the LaCrosse can do.
My only wishlist is that this same charger and feature set came in an 8-bay version, as I would love to have just one battery charger. I also have the Powerex C800S for when I need to bulk charge a lot of batteries at once. It seems, at least for now, that there are tradeoffs when it comes to 4 vs 8+ bay chargers. The larger chargers just don't have as many advanced features for truly restoring batteries. There is simply a difference in the results you can get from a generic "conditioning" mode and following an IEC guideline to provide battery forming processes.
Some of the modes of this charger (e.g. break-in) can take 40+ hours per battery, which means sometimes you're locking up the charger for multiple days. Even longer if you have to run multiple cycles to improve battery health. So, perhaps this is the silver lining for having separate "bulk charging" from "analysis" with my general battery strategy.
Lastly, some brief tips from someone that has a large collection of rechargeables in service. When I run my batteries through a refresh or break-in cycle, I put a label on that battery. It includes the month & year of the refresh, along with the mAH rating I get from the analyzer. This allows for "battery matching" by similar capacity and also gives me a sense of when to next run a refresh cycle. I generally try to refresh every 12-18 months, give or take. I also refresh after taking a battery out of longer term storage that was greater than 6 months. If a battery performs under the rated value, that's what the break in process is for.
Today, rechargeable batteries are quite good. I have entirely replaced every AA/AAA battery with them and don't run any regular batteries anymore. I have standardized on Eneloops and they are incredibly consistent batch to batch, last a long time and do well even in cold temperatures. I run "pro grade" batteries in mission critical applications (e.g. my electronic door locks) and use standard Eneloops in everything else.
I think that's it for now. I'll update this review with any major changes or revelations. For now, in the early days of adoption, I'm very happy with my choice to upgrade to this charger!
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2020
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Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2021
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Lam Chun Fee
Good and functional
Reviewed in Singapore on April 1, 2021Verified Purchase
