replacement adapter for the la cross BC 700

[adawe]

Is there a link to a replacement adapter for the BC 700? I heard it's very hard to find a replacement power adapter.

Hopefully the time and cost of finding and buying a new power adapter doesn't outweigh the cost of simply buying a new charger. But this feels wasteful since I don't need to Chargers, just new adapter.

Usually, I just go to the thrift store to dig through their pile of power adapters.

 

[nmos]

My bc900 (I don't know if the 700 is the same) has a 3v 4a power supply which is definitely an oddball.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[ChrisGarrett]

My bc900 (I don't know if the 700 is the same) has a 3v 4a power supply which is definitely an oddball.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

Yep, it's 3v for my BC-700, so he should just call LaCrosse, or look on Ebay.

Chris

 

[hiuintahs]

Is there a link to a replacement adapter for the BC 700? I heard it's very hard to find a replacement power adapter...........

As someone else mentioned it might be hard to find a generic adapter at 3.0vdc as that is kind of different......especially rated for 2.8 amps or higher.

One thing that has bothered me about this setup is the lack of being able to run off a 12v system (ie: solar or your car). So I built a 3.0vdc buck regulator that runs off of a nominal 12v power with lots of variance on the input range.

If the La crosse were powered via a 12v system then it would be easy to find replacement power supplies. The reason they do it with 3v is that is the power that runs everything in the charger and that way they don't have to have any extra circuitry to drop the input down.

I guess with my 12v to 3v converter, it wouldn't matter whether the 12v came from a wall wart, car battery or misc 12v supply. And since the 12v is like 4 times the voltage of 3v, then the input current is like 1/4th.

One thing I discovered with coming up with a 3v power supply with the high current demand is that the La Crosse charger pulses the battery which in essence is a step response load to the power supply electronics and it takes some finesse to make it stable and not too much ripple. Perhaps that is why I have seen a bunch of threads on power supply issues related to the La Crosse charger.

I've seen a 12v to 3v car adapter on Ebay for the LaCrosse and its around $9.95 but I've been suspicious of it knowing what it took me to get it right. If anyone has bought it and tried it out, I'd like to hear about it.

 

[ChrisGarrett]

I've got the LaCrosse 12v car adapter that I paid $10 shipped for, from my Ebay dealer, to run the BC-700 off my solar panels and mother battery, or any 12v female adapter.

It's out there:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Adapter...y_Chargers&hash=item35bb9aab22#ht_14756wt_887

Chris

 

[hiuintahs]

I've got the LaCrosse 12v car adapter that I paid $10 shipped for, from my Ebay dealer, to run the BC-700 off my solar panels and mother battery, or any 12v female adapter.

It's out there:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Adapter-for-AccuPower-IQ328-also-La-Crosse-BC-700-BC-900-BC-9009-BC-1000-/230780742434?

Chris

Thanks, I bought one to try out. I'll put it on the O-scope and check the signal and report back. By the way for the OP, that same seller has the replacement AC adapter for $4.47.

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Thanks, I bought one to try out. I'll put it on the O-scope and check the signal and report back. By the way for the OP, that same seller has the replacement AC adapter for $4.47.

Yes, let us know if it turns out to be junk, as I've not used mine yet. I wish that Maha and LaCrosse would have packaged the adapters with their chargers, like Xtar does, but at $10 ea. shipped, I can't complain.

Chris

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

Is there a link to a replacement adapter for the BC 700? I heard it's very hard to find a replacement power adapter.

Hopefully the time and cost of finding and buying a new power adapter doesn't outweigh the cost of simply buying a new charger. But this feels wasteful since I don't need to Chargers, just new adapter.

Usually, I just go to the thrift store to dig through their pile of power adapters.

Not sure if you are still looking, but I just saw this thread and I have a spare AC adapter for a BC1000. I was re-arranging my power cables a few weeks back and accidentally plugged a 12v adapter into my BC1000 and fried the charger. It is the same 3v adapter as the BC700 just rated for 4Amps instead of 2.8Amps. I tested it with my new BC 700 and it works just fine. If you want it PM me and we can make arrangements.

 

[hiuintahs]

I got the AccuPower AP12243 in the mail the other day and did some oscilloscope plots of the 3 volt power going into a La Crosse BC-700 from various power sources as a comparison.

1) The factory La Crosse 120vac to 3v power supply.
2) The AccuPower AP12243 12v to 3v adapter.
3) A project buck regulator that I built using TI's TL5001 switching regulator.

You will notice on all 3 waveforms a squarish pattern. The square looking waveform is because of the way the charger works where it pulses the 3v power onto the battery. This really drags down the power supply during that interval. That squarish waveform is normal for a stepped response that the charger is drawing from the power supply. All 3 recover without overshoot. The noise that is riding on the waveform will not affect the operation because its minimal. The stock power supply is the cleanest waveform.

I'd say that the AccuPower AP12243 is pretty decent. At least from looking at the output signal. The only concern I had was of heat and because of that durability. For the test, I was charging 4 Eneloop batteries at the 500mA charge rate. The AP12243 says that its capability is 4A. I'd be suspicious of this. The AP12243 was pretty warm after 5 minutes of operation and stabilized at that temperature, but it would concern me if I was drawing much more power out of it.

In contrast the power supply I designed was overkill with a bigger transformer (less resistance in the wire) and a mosfet with lower RDSon. So the heat being generated is quite a bit less. But hey for $9.95 it's pretty good and personally I'd use it as a travel adapter for my car and probably only charge 2 batteries at a time.




Ktec 120vac to 3v adapter waveform (stock adapter that comes with La Crosse BC-700)



Accupower 12v to 3v adapter waveform



Personal project buck 12v to 3v regulator based on TI's TL5001

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Thanks. I should get my solar controller doohickey out and hook up the BC-700 to one of my SLA/AGM 12v batteries and see how hot it gets at 700mA and 500mA, with four AAs installed. Until you mentioned it, I never thought that it would be an issue.

Chris

 

[wallymann]

ZOMBIE THREAD ALERT

the 3v x 4a power supply for my bc900 just died. looked high and low for a replacement, the only one i could find with good amperage was on aliexpress...switchable 30W unit, with a 3v setting @ the low end. price $8 shipping inclusive...just ordered...will advise whether one of the included tips will work or if i need to retrofit the OEM plug. OEM measures @ 5.5mm x 2.1mm, so i might be OK.

 

[wallymann]

received it yesterday. i can confirm that this power adapter works fine with my BC900. proper 3v 4a output and one of the included tips fits with proper polarity, so no need to retrofit the plug from the OEM power adapter.

 

[dennck]

Is this one good enough to charge 4xAA at 1000mA each?