Versatile Charger - Great features & works as supposed to ... BUT ...

At last, a complete charger. | La Crosse Technology BC700 Alpha Power Battery Charger

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	• La Crosse Technology BC700 Alpha Power Battery Charger La Crosse Technology La Crosse Technology average customer review:based on 42 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Not an expert in the field, but great product.

I have bought this product early September, and I started to use it right away. The product is fine, the instructions are clear, and I'm looking forward to using it more as I root for renewable energy. Great product for great price, I'd say.

Versatile Charger - Great features & works as supposed to ... BUT ...

I am a medium to heavy user of AA & AAA rechargeable cells and also an early adopter - started with 300mah Panny NiCds many years ago - I remember the excitement when 450mah versions were released! :-) Over the years I graduated through the technologies and was using Sanyo NiMH 2500mah cells till I recently discovered Eneloops - they are simply amazing! Now back to the charger review - I have always been an advocate of chargers that have individual charging channels / circuits and can charge 1,2,3 or 4 cells individually. My earlier charger was a Panasonic BQ390-A that still works very well and is very portable. However, faster & adjustable rate charging currents, battery reconditioning, testing etc. drew me to the BC700.

I did not consider the BC900 as the 8 cells bundled with the package were of no use to me (I have enough to last many years) and the 1.8A charging current capability on the BC 900 is something that I would never use.

Amazon was great in it's order processing - as always. I received the charger on schedule. The quick user guide printed on the back of the charger package is a really nice touch. I was eager to test the unit and unpacked and set it up. And that is when I noticed that -ve tab for the AA cell in the 3rd channel was too far behind to connect with the cell. After looking at it closely, I figured that the tab was bent backwards - at least that is what it looked like - very dissapointing for a brand new unit that was packed so well! This is the only reason that I cannot give this Charger a better rating - poor manufacturing processes and very poor quality control!

Having never seen the innards of an intelligent charger, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to try and fix it myself. On dismantling the unit completely and removing the PCB - I discovered that the tab was indeed bent back and had not engaged with the plastic channels on the top of the case that hold these tabs in place when the PCB is inserted. After some delicate work with a needle nose pliers the tab was straight once again and it engaged with the channel.

I must warn others toying with the idea of opening their units - DO NOT TRY IT unless your unit is out of warranty AND you really have a need to AND you are a very capable and advanced electronics hobbyist - putting the BC700 back together is a very complex task - especially aligning the LCD panel contacts with the contacts on the main PCB - if that gets spoilt, the LCD display will be dead and so will the charger!

In my case I managed to put it all back together again and the charger works perfectly now. It is very easy and intuitive to use and does everything that it is supposed to. I prefer the 500mah charge rate and it charges 4 AA Eneloops in a little over 4 hrs.

So this is a happy ending to the story/review. As mentioned earlier, my only concern is with the Manufacturing and QC processes followed by La Crosse - it was indeed very disappointing to see such a basic (and visible) flaw in a brand new unit! It makes one wonder whether there are any other flaws that have not been noticed till now ... I guess time will tell ...

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At last, a complete charger.

This charger does it all, and better than anything else on the market. It provides an exceptionally controlled and monitored charge utilizing microprocesser technology; measures actual individual battery capacity; rejuvenates ni-cad batteries and identifies those beyond restoration; and, automatically adjusts to a safe trickle charge as batteries reach full capacity.

I considered the BC900 which provides a maximum 1000ma charge rate versus the BC700's 700ma. However, the customer feedback on the BC900 indicated about 10% of customers experienced serious problems, especially fire hazard type failures. It seems to be associated with the 1000ma high-charge rate feature. There were no reports of fire hazard experiences with the BC700 nor were there any feedback scores as low as the BC900. Since I have no need nor desire to charge batteries at that rate, the BC700 seemed to fit the bill.

As a further safety precaution against fire hazards, I have deliberately operated this unit virtually continuously for over a month (yes, in a safe place) between 200ma and 500ma and observed only a slight increase in operating temperature being only mildly warm to the touch. In sum, the unit has operated flawlessly. I can truly recommend it without any reservations.

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Great for the money I paid

I got my unit during a daily deal. I had been looking at this and it's big brother for the testing and refresh capabilities, I was not disappointed. If for nothing more than to refresh the battery this unit is well worth the money. It continually charges and discharges until the battery no longer gains amperage. I have "retired" a lot of batteries after getting this unit and I get less complaints from the family that the batteries don't hold up. After years of buying batteries its hard to tell which ones still maintain charge and which ones don't. BC700 to the rescue, it refreshes and lets me determine when to pitch the battery. Great product!
PS It also lets you know who is the really good rechargeable on the market. I have bought some "cheaper" rechargeable and discovered they don't measure up to the amp rating on the package, this helps me not purchase that brand again thinking I was saving money.

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La Crosse BC-700 is newer model. La Crosse BC-900 is older model.

This La Crosse BC-700 is the latest and newest model. The higher model number La Crosse BC-900 is an older model. I found this out after very much Internet research and investigation.

While researching and then deciding to replace all my rechargeable batteries with the better Eneloop pre-charged batteries, I saw this La Crosse BC-700, and the BC-900 battery chargers (and also the Maha MH-C9000 battery charger).

I initially ordered the older La Crosse BC-900 because I thought it was the newer model. But I found out later that I was wrong, and I cancelled my order for older BC-900, and ordered the newer BC-700.

If you research the older BC-900 you will read about problems with the older firmware chip versions v.32, v.33, v.34, and some instances of overheating, and actual melting. But I believe that BC-900 previous problems have been resolved with the newer chip version v.35, that is, if you are lucky to get the latest BC-900 v.35 version, if in stock.

Anyway, my newer version BC-700 has the latest chip firmware v.36. And thanks to the La Crosse engineers, for deciding, for safety and hardware reasons, to upgrade the older BC-900 to the newer BC-700. (But La Crosse still needs to get rid of its stock of older BC-900, which is why they are offering free batteries and case -- which I do not need since I now only use Eneloop batteries.)

I only use the default 200 MAH low charge rate of my newer BC-700 for charging all batteries (and I do not use the newer BC-700 other optional higher rates of 500 nor 700 MAH). (I also use my Eneloop battery chargers, which are low charge rate and gentle.) I stopped using my other older different brand "fast" and "one-hour" battery chargers which probably unknowingly ruined my older NiMH batteries (and thanks to the BC-700 "Test" function, I now know which batteries are bad). I will never charge batteries at a very high rate again.

When I plug in the newer BC-700, the following numbers appear in LCD windows slots for a few seconds:
Slot #1: 84
Slot #2: 83
Slot #3: 700
Slot #4: 36 (Probably the chip version)

As of this Dec 2008 update, I am still happy that I purchased this newer BC-700. It does not overheat, and is working fine. The BC-700 is a great charger, and is worth more than its cost.

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