La Crosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower Battery Charger

The La Crosse Technology AlphaPower BC-900 Battery Charger is a compact, lightweight, and easy-to-use charger for AA and  AAA nickel-cadmium (NiCd) and nickel metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries. In any of its four operating modes, you can use the BC-900's automatic charging feature or manually select the charge current to accelerate the charging time. An informative LCD panel displays numeric and graphic data on the condition of your batteries. The BC-900 package includes the charging unit, an ac/dc adapter, AA and AAA NiMH rechargeable batteries, C-size and D-size battery adapters, and a travel/storage case. The AlphaPower BC-900 is perfect for home, office, and travel use.

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With the AlphaPower BC-900 battery charger, you eliminate the negatives of shortening a rechargeable battery's life by recharging it when it is not fully discharged and of overcharging it. The BC-900 is an an intelligent charging unit that provides quick and optimum charging of AA and AAA NiCd and NiMH rechargeable batteries.

Here's what the function keys on the BC-900 are used for. The BC-900 has four battery compartments, each with a numbered key. These number keys are used to select a particular battery compartment for charging and to display the operating mode. The MODE key is used to select any of the four operating modes described below. The DISPLAY key lets you scroll through the various displays. These are charging current (in mA), time elapsed (hh:mm), terminal voltage (in V), and accumulated capacity (in mAh or Ah). In conjunction with the number keys, you can select the charging mode and view the displays individually for each battery compartment. Finally, the CURRENT key lets you select the amount of charging current to be applied if you wish it to be more than the factory-default 200 mA.

The BC-900 has four user-selectable operating modes: Charge, Test, Refresh, and Discharge. Here's how they work:

In Charge Mode, when you place a battery in the BC-900, the unit displays the voltage and the charge level of the battery. The BC-900 then begins charging (at the factory-default 200mA) up to the maximum voltage and then switches to Trickle Charging when the battery is fully charged. As an alternative to automatic 200 mA charging in all four operating modes, you can manually select any of several higher charging currents, depending upon how many batteries are in the charger.

The Discharge Mode is used for removing the memory effects of rechargeable batteries. In Discharge Mode, the batteries are discharged and then recharged at lower current levels. Finally, the batteries are charged at their full capacity.

In Refresh Mode, old batteries and those that have not been used for a long time can be recharged. The Refresh Mode recovers the optimum capacity of the rechargeable batteries by repeating discharging and charging cycles until no further increase in measured capacities occurs.

In Test Mode, the batteries are first fully charged and then discharged to determine their capacities. Next, the batteries are charged again, and the capacity in  mAh or Ah (milliamp-hours or amp-hours) is shown after the charging ends.

Trickle Charging is a feature that automatically turns on when a charging cycle is complete. This keeps the batteries freshly charged until you need them.

With charging, discharging, refreshing, and capacity testing functions as well as individual displays for its four charging compartments, the BC-900 AlphaPower Battery charger is reliable, user-friendly, and ideal for use in home or office and while traveling.

Features:

• All operating modes measure and display battery voltage.
• All operating modes automatically default to 200 mA charge.
• Both AA and AAA NiCd and NiMH rechargeable batteries can be charged simultaneously.
• Four AA and four AAA NiMH batteries are included.
• Overheat detection to prevent overcharging.
• Easy-to-use function keys: MODE, DISPLAY, and CURRENT plus four battery compartment selection keys.
• Four operating modes: Charge, Discharge, Refresh, and Test.
  • Charge Mode: Automatic charging at 200 mA starts 8 seconds after batteries are placed in the charger. Depending on number of batteries being charged, you can manually select 500, 700, 1000, 1500 or 1800 mA for faster charging times.
  • Discharge Mode: Batteries are fully discharged before recharging to help preserve the life of batteries not fully discharged.
  • Refresh Mode: Batteries are automatically discharged and recharged for 20 cycles or until maximum capacity is reached.
  • Test Mode: Batteries are charged and discharged to determine and display their capacities and are then recharged to full capacity.
• Automatic switching to Trickle Charging after batteries are fully charged.
• Four C-size and four D-size battery adapters are included for using AA batteries to power devices requiring C or D cells.
• Included black nylon travel case has an adjustable and detachable shoulder strap and a belt loop.

Specifications:

• Battery sizes and types that can be charged: AA and AAA NiCd and NiMH rechargeable
• Charging current range: 200mA (default) to 1800mA, user-selectable
• Maximum charging capacity: 3000 mAh
• Input voltage for ac/dc adapter: 100 to 240Vac, 50 or 60Hz, 0.6A
• Adapter output: +3.0Vdc, 4.0A
• Charger dimensions:
  3.0 inches (76 mm) high
  5.1 inches (126 mm) wide
  1.5 inches (38 mm) deep
• Adapter cord length: 5 feet 2 inches