La Crosse Technology BC1000 Alpha Power Battery Charger

The media could not be loaded. Edited 11-5-2012: Please see my edit shown belowIf you own handfuls of rechargeable Ni-Cd and Ni-MH batteries like I do you are always looking to extend the life of the batteries and trying to figure out when is the time to buy new ones. This battery charger is your answer to how to charge, refresh, fix and test the batteries while getting important technical data that is unavailable from almost all other chargers.I have attached a simple video to try to demonstrate the basic functionality of this product. I had to cut it short as I am only allowed to post a video of a certain size so you should read this written review for some details that are missing in the video. I am also sorry for the quality of the video in some places in the film. You have to greatly reduce the video quality to make it fit onto Amazon and what was perfect on the computer screen is fuzzy in some places on the web site.The charger can be used as a simple charger and I charged 5 sets of batteries this way so far. I also pulled out a set of 6 old NiCd batteries that are over 10 years old to test the charger's ability to refresh and rejuvenate old batteries. Two of the six batteries were simply beyond all hope and they are destined to be recycled. At least now I know that they are beyond recovery. Three of the remaining batteries reached over 70% for their original functionality and the last battery actually exceeded the original specs for mAh of capacity. I used the refresh mode to work on these batteries.Update:I reran the refresh more on the four NiCD batteries. After one more refresh cycle two of the batteries exceeded their 100% rating. I removed those two and reran the refresh mode again and the last two reached 100% of their rating. This is impressive as these batteries are over 10 years old and hadn't been recharged for over 6 years. This product delivers what it promises.This product features excellent performance and provides battery performance data that you don't normally get to see. I have already saved four Ni-Cd batteries and found two to dispose of. I hope the video is helpful to you. I love how this product performs and the quality of the charger, This is a 5 star product and I recommend it to you.BC1000 Main Features:* Works with all Ni-Cd and Ni-MH AA and AAA batteries* You can mix AA and AAA batteries at the same time* LCD multimeter displays each individual battery capacity when charging is complete if you discharge them or test them.* Four modes of operation, Charge, Discharge, Refresh and Test.* Will not over charge batteries, switches to trickle charge when charging is complete.* Has overheating protection to prevent overcharging.* You can set different charging rate for each battery as well as mode of operation. Max current set by first battery cell location.* Selectable charging rate ranging from 200 ma, 500 ma, 700 ma, 1000 ma, 1500 ma and 1800 ma.* 1500 ma and 1800 ma are only available when battery channels 1 and/or 4 are used.* 200 ma is the default charging rate.* Measures and displays the voltage of each battery.* Measures the charged capacity in mAh or Ah for each battery.* Keeps track of charging or discharging time in hours and minutes.* Detects damaged batteries.BC1000 accessories included in this kit:* Charger* AC power wall plug rated at 3 VDC and 4 Amps.* Four AA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries rated at 2600 mAh.* Four AAA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries rated at 1000 mAh.* Nylon carrying bag for charger and all accessories.* 4 C size adapters to make the AA batteries C size* 4 D size adapters to hold the C size adapters and AA batteries to make them D size.* Small owner's manual but download the one from the Web. It is much better.BC1000 modes:* Charge Mode - Charge each individual battery at your selected current rate.* Discharge Mode - First discharge and then charge to remove the memory effect of rechargeable batteries. Batteries discharge at ½ the rate at which they charge.* Refresh mode - Performs multiple discharge and recharge cycles (up to 20) to refresh old batteries. Stops when the batteries are no longer improving their capacity.* Test mode - Fully charge, then discharge and then fully charge to measure the capacities of batteries in mAh or Ah. If battery contains more than 1, 999 mAh the display shifts to Ah display like 2.6 Ah.* Each battery location can be set into a different mode and charging rate. The battery in the first slot will set the max charging limit for all slots but you can lower the charging rate for other battery slots.BC1000 Notes:* Use the charging table to select the maximum charging rate for different sizes of batteries and consider the amount of time you have before you need to use the batteries. The higher the current, the faster the charge time but the harder it may on the batteries life span/* 200 ma is the recommended charging current to extend the life of the batteries.* Damaged batteries will only display "null"* Definitely download the instruction manual from the web site, it is MUCH better than the manual included in the box! It is 48 pages long with small pages.Update: 11-5-2012I just love this charger and as an engineer it just helps to answer all the questions I have about my rechargeable batteries.I do have to comment though about the batteries that comes with the kit. The AA size is slightly larger in diameter than normal sized AA batteries and they do not fit into most devices I would use them in. They do not fit into my wireless computer keyboard or into my Maglight flashlights. You couldn't force them into some items if you tried and if you did you would never get them back out. Just don't count on those batteries being of good use to you as you will have to select what they fit into and what they won't fit into.It is sort of sad, the best charger I have ever purchased with batteries that are not of much value. I still recommend this charger as one of the best available and I love it to use with my Eneloop and Sony rechargeable batteries.Update 11-16-2012I returned my batteries to La Crosse and they sent me replacements that fit into my flashlights and electronic devices. The support was helpful and they took care of the problem. I commend them for standing behind their products.

This charger is safe for my eneloops, but it also surprised me by making my older Energizer Recharge batteries much more handy. The Recharge batteries don't hold a charge in the drawer very long (why I switched to eneloops), but I can set four of them in a La Cross and trickle charge them so whenever I need them, they're ready! No more dying flashlights lined up on the counter waiting for an over night charge. (Now with two BC-1000 I can have 8 batteries on trickle charge)But let me give some tangible key points why I love this charger so much:PROS:1) It's SMALL and COMPACT -> not as compact as an Apple charger, but about the same size as a "dumb" charger. Light as a feather.2) The display and electronics are a ton of fun! You can view anything you want with a simple tap - current voltage, time spent charging each battery, mAH added to each battery - and the differences between batteries are dramatic!3) It's simple to operate. I only recharge batteries, so I just hit one button to select the initial current. It does all sorts of stuff, but I haven't needed it.4) Accessories - it comes with 4 NimH rechargeables and some C and D adapters, plus a cool carry case I don't use. But it imputes awesomeness.5) Awesome, incredible customer service! Two months into it, one of mine went haywire. I contacted La Cross, and they immediately replaced it on RMA. I did have to pay shipping to them, but otherwise, not so bad.CONS:1) It *would* be nice if there was a selectable backlight to the display. However, I found this a transient wish. Initially, seeing the battery stats was so cool I wanted to be able to see it all the time, even at night. Now I'm fine seeing it just when other lights are on.2) Changing the charge current takes some acclimation. All the batteries get the same charge current. You have a short time when initially putting in the batteries in which to hit the current button to select a charge rate greater than 200mA. (That default is actually the healthiest, but I punch it up to 500mA). The manual says you have 8 seconds. It seems you get a bit more than that, maybe 30 seconds, but it's a bit stressful. Else you have to unplug it and replug it and you can then set the current again. Not a big deal, but can't in good conscience call that a good user interface.3) I still need to keep one dumb charger, because for the Energizer RECHARGE batteries (but not with the eneloops), when they get used up, their voltage is too low and with a couple of my oldest Energizers, the La Cross doesn't see the battery (NULL). (Other reviewers sometimes noted similar things with old batteries. ) But I found just 30 minutes in a dumb charger raises the charge to the point where the LaCross can then take over, so I don't need a different smart charger to handle this case. (I cheerfully recharged two of my oldest NIMH Energizer batteries recently - ones my daughter drew hearts on - and they worked beautifully.)This was *THE COOL* batter charger for me. I recommended it to all my friends. I chose it over the other leading charger because of it's compact size, lack of a blinding blue light, and simple user interface. I have never had the slightest heating issues with the batteries - it does its job flawlessly. Most batteries charge really, really fast, probably because Nimhs tend to look empty early in devices because they have a lower scaled voltage... IN a dumb charger, it still cooks them for 8 hours, but in the Nimh, it's more like 10-90 minutes and they're topped up again.If having something be cool high tech makes it more enjoyable to you, I can't recommend this more.LAST COMMENT: I tried to decide whether to get the BC-700, BC-900, or BC-1000, since honestly, there's no features I need in the BC-1000 that aren't in the BC-700. I finally decided that since the BC-1000 was the latest model and had new circuitry to prevent overheating, why risk it for a $20 price difference at most?IMPORTANT UPDATE: Thanks so much to the person who commented on this review with a tip that wasn't in the instructions:YOU CAN CHARGE INDIVIDUAL BATTERIES AT DIFFERENT CURRENTS! I tested it out, and here's the way it seems to work:1) Put in one or more batteries and set the current on them.2) Wait 8 seconds - you will see the display for those batteries flash. At this point, the current for those batteries is set.3) Put in one or more additional batteries - you can now set the current on those new batteries independent from the first.4) Wait until the new batteries flash, then repeat!This is a cool feature. I found it a little annoying waiting for each battery to "set" - just as found it stressful to insert all batteries before the current "set" - need to come up with some button press to "seal in" the current selection.UPDATE: Much thanks to the person who commented on this review with information not in the manual:YOU CAN SET BATTERY CHARGE CURRENT INDIVIDUALLY! (I tested it out.)Turns out the process I described above works with one or more batteries at a time. After an initial battery or set is in for 8 seconds, the display flashes, telling you the charging current is now "set" for those batteries. Insert additional batteries at this point and you can independently set their charging current in the same manner, and continue... Cool feature, but again, wish you could just press a button for "freeze charge current and continue"...