# Maha MH-C9000 unimpressive charger?



## bleagh (Aug 9, 2011)

I bought a MH-C9000 because it seems to be the most recommended charger in these forums. And after playing with it for a couple months, I have decided it's 'charge' function is quite lackluster. While the other functions are okay, the 'charge' functions is just not so good. My $8 MQN05U clearly does a better job charging.

I don't want to say the MH-C9000 is bad, but for a $50 charger, it's charging is really not that good. And the problem is it's method of termination. Basically the C9000 terminates it's main charging at 1.48 volts, then follows with a 2 hour top-off charge. The problems is that as the batteries start getting full, the voltages rises fairly fast, but it rises FASTER on a cooler battery than it does on a warmer battery. So if charging 4 fairly equal batteries, the C9000 will stop charging on slots 1 and 4 before it stops on slots 2 and 3. This makes the batteries somewhat unbalanced. The top-off charge will reduce this unbalance somewhat. But the end results are still not as good as my $8 Sanyo charger.

Comparing the C9000 charging to my MQN05U charging...
If the batteries are removed from the C9000 after 'DONE' appears and before 'top-off', then the batteries (both AA and AAA) will be undercharged and unbalanced.

If the batteries are left on the C9000 for full 'top-off' then AA batteries will still be somewhat undercharged and still a little unbalanced, and AAA batteries will be failry balanced but OVER-charged.

I don't want to say the MH-C9000 is a bad charger, but a $50 charger that leaves the batteries either overcharged or unbalanced, it really is NOT THAT GOOD!

Quite frankly there are several cheap chargers, with seperate channel for each slot, that will do a better job than the MH-C9000!


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## 45/70 (Aug 9, 2011)

I'll have to agree with you to some extent, bleagh. For simply charging cells there are a few chargers that are better. For example, if I'm charging 6x AA cells for my ROP, I charge them on C9000's, but before I load them, I sometimes "top them off" with my BC900.

That said, I think the main purpose of the C9000 is as a maintenance tool/analyzer. The break-in, refresh, discharge/capacity check, and cycling functions being "best in class" for these purposes. And as for charging, I don't consider it to be all that bad. It does have 19 rates for example.

Dave


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## Battery Guy (Aug 9, 2011)

bleagh said:


> So if charging 4 fairly equal batteries, the C9000 will stop charging on slots 1 and 4 before it stops on slots 2 and 3. This makes the batteries somewhat unbalanced.


 
Hi bleagh

Interesting. I know that cells removed from the C9000 immediately after the -dV cut-off causes the "DONE" indicator to activate are indeed slightly undercharged. However, I had not heard that cells in the 1 and 4 position will be different from those in the 2 and 3 position. Do you have data to support this? I would like to see how different the capacities are. That being said, perhaps I should just try it myself!

My only complaint about the C9000 is that the "DONE" indicate kicks in at the end of -dV. I would prefer a flashing "DONE" at the end of -dV cut-off, and a solid "DONE" at the end of the 2 hour top off.

Cheers,
BG


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## bleagh (Aug 9, 2011)

In my current location, taking battery temps near end of charge cycle using laser, slots 2 and 3 and 5-6 degrees (F) higher than slots 1 and 4. And slots 1 and 4 always say 'DONE' several minutes before slots 2 and 3. (I do NOT have a fan blowing on the charger.) And yes at this point the batteries are quite imbalanced.

Allowing the full 2 hour top-off does reduce the imbalance quite a bit. And likely nothing to be concerned about at that point. But even then it is STILL not as good as my $8 Sanyo charger!

Am I nitpicking? Why yes I am!
But when I play near $50 for a charger I want it to be BETTER than some cheap $8 charger I picked up, or at least as good. But as a charger, it simply is not as good as my $8 MQN05U.


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## SilverFox (Aug 10, 2011)

Hello Bleaqh,

When you discharge the cells charged on your MQN05U what capacity do you get and what is the difference from slot to slot? When you measure the temperature from slot to slot, what values do you get?

When you do the same with the C9000 what values do you get?

Tom


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## vali (Aug 10, 2011)

bleagh said:


> And yes at this point the batteries are quite imbalanced.


 
What's the difference between total capacity of cells in slots 1-4 and 2-3 in mAh? (assuming you stop the charge when "done".


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## Mr Happy (Aug 10, 2011)

What batteries are you charging? I don't think I have seen mention of the brand, type, age and condition of the batteries so far in the thread.


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## bleagh (Aug 12, 2011)

Um, I have NOT taken temps of the betteries when charging on the MQN05U. I have always charged with the battery cover on, and based on it's method of termination I don't think is much of and issue.


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## bleagh (Aug 12, 2011)

vali said:


> What's the difference between total capacity of cells in slots 1-4 and 2-3 in mAh? (assuming you stop the charge when "done".


 
I have never actually stopped the charging on the C9000 right after 'DONE', but always let it finish the top-off. And quite frankly I don't feel the need to do such.

But based on several observations, I feel quit certian that IF I did such the batteries would be quite imbalanced. These observations include:

Battery voltage always rises faster in slots 1 and 4 than in slots 2 and 4 (both 'break-in' and 'charge' modes).

Battery temps are always higher near end of charge in slots 2 and 3 than in slots 1 and 4 (both 'break-in' and 'charge' modes).

With 4 sets of pretty new Eneloop AA vatteries, keeping each package as a group of 4. Slot 1 always finishes first, slot 2 always finishes second. Slot 1 always reports the least amount of charge, slot 2 always reports the next least. And just going from memory (I didn't right it down), slot 1 reports anywhere from 30 to 60 mAH less than slots 2 and 3.

So slot one has the lowest temp, voltage rises the fastest, stops charging first, and reports the lowest mAH.

I think if you can keep the temps between the slots more even, that it would be much less of and issue. Maybe have a fan blow directly on the batteries?


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## bleagh (Aug 12, 2011)

Mr Happy said:


> What batteries are you charging? I don't think I have seen mention of the brand, type, age and condition of the batteries so far in the thread.


 
Ok, I'll explain what I have done and maybe it will explain better my conclusions (or maybe not!).

A while back I bought a new MAHA MH-C9000 and 16 new AA Eneloops and 16 new AA eneloops. My goal was simply to do a 'break-in' on the C9000, 'charge' on the C9000, and charge on the MQN05U, discharging each time on the C9000. I wrote down the capicity reported by the 'break-in' (but not the discharge after it) and the capacity reported by the discharges after charging on both the C9000 and the MQN05U. Then I wanted to use these numbers to order and number my Eneloops from low capacity to high capacity.

I did basicly the same with both AA and AAA Eneloops, the only real difference is I use AAA more so I started with them. I did read a thread about slot 1 stopping charging first AFTER I had finished with the AAA eneloops, so I watched the AA stuff a bit more and posted some of my observations in my previous post.

So when I finish the AAA charging/discharging I had 3 sets of capacities (from C9000 break-in, C9000 charging, MQN05U charging). I then numbered each set from lowest to highest (1-16). When comparing these order numbers (1-16) between the different sets I couldn't see anything that stood out. So for the AAA Eneloops I just averaged the order numbers (the 1-16) and used that to order and number my AAA Eneloops. Good enough for me.

About the only thing I noticed with AAA Eneloops is that the 'charge' put in almost as much as the 'break-in' and quite a bit more than charging on the MQN05U. And considering that the full 'top-off' puts in 25% of the capacity of a AAA eneloop, I feel that both the 'break-in' and the 'charge' on the C9000 overcharge a bit.

But then I did the AA Eneloops, and thing were a bit different! First, after 'charge' and full 'top-off' on the C9000, the capacities were not only well under the 'break-in' capacities, they were also a bit under the MQN05U capacities. But the real kicker was how poorly the order numbers for the C9000 charging capacities lined up with the other two sets of order numbers!

For example, I numbered the C9000 'break-in' capacities 1-16 based on capacities (low to high). Then I numbered the MQN05U charging capacities 1-16 (low to high). Then comparing the 1-16, I noticed one was off by 5 and another was off by 3, and all the rest were within 2 or less (usually less). But when I compared the C9000 charging with the C9000 break-in, 8 were off by 4 or more. And when I compared the C9000 charging with the MQN05U charging, 6 were off by 3 or more.

In other words, the order from the C9000 break-in was fairly close to the order from the MQN05U charging. But the order from the C9000 charging was not that close to either of the others. And in comparing the numbers that were most out of line, and slots 1 and 4 were lower and slots 2 and 3 were higher. And when subtracting the C9000 charging capacities from the C9000 break-in capacities, slot 1 and 3 always have a bigger difference than slots 2 and 3.

It seems about the only thing consistant when looking at the differences was that with a given set of batteries, slot 1 and slot 4 would always have a bigger difference than slot 2 and slot 3 when subtracting 'charging' on the C9000 from 'Break-in' on the C9000.

I'm pretty sure somebody else can do some better testing than what I did. But it does seem quite clear to me that the MH-C9000 has temp differences between the slots (outside slots are cooler than the inside slots) and that this temp difference causes unbalanced charging (when charging 4 batteries).

It should also be noted that because temp differences does seem to affect the MH-C9000 charging, that different testing enviorment will likely provide different results. For example my charging was done in a cool room with good air circlation, but no fan blowing directly on the chargers. A fan blowing directly on the batteries while charging in the MH-C9000 may even out the temps, and give more balanced charging (but would also likely decrease the total charge put in the batteries a bit).

It is not that the MH-C9000 is inaccurate, in fact it seems quite accurate. The problems is in the MH-C9000 method of termination. It terminates charging at 1.48 volts. But it seems that the rising voltages of an Eneloop is quite tempurature sensitive. And as such the voltage of a cooler battery rises faster than that of a warmer battery. And the batteries in the outside slots are often cooler than the batteries in the inside slots. So the batteries in the outside slots reach 1.48 volts sooner and receive less of a charge.

The inbalance will likely be less of a problem when charging just 2 batteries, as long as they are either charged in the inside slots (2 and 3) or the outsides slots (1 and 4). I would recommend charging in slots 2 and 3 as they will be somewhat more resistant to room airflow and therefore maybe somewhat less temp differance for a more even charge.


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## samgab (Aug 12, 2011)

Actually, that DOES make sense to me.
The lower the (ambient) temperature, the higher an eneloop's voltage when charging.
Conversely, the higher the (ambient) temperature, the lower the eneloop's voltage when charging.
So a lower temperature would make it hit that 1.48V cutoff earlier, so it would have received less charge.
The higher the temperature, the lower the voltage when charging, so it would receive more charge before hitting that 1.48V cutoff point.
See the graph on the left from the new AA eneloop datasheet:






So to ensure a proper charge with the C9000 one wouldn't want to cool the cells, and rather; keep the ambient temperature fairly warm.


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## constipated (Aug 12, 2011)

I've consistently noticed that slot 1 on my C9000 terminates prior to other slots even with good batteries like eneloops. This thread is a good explanation why.


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## lwien (Aug 13, 2011)

Don't want to derail this thread, but I have to ask..........I wonder if the LaCrosse chargers have the same issues.


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## bleagh (Aug 14, 2011)

The La Crosse chargers use a different termination method, so they should not have this issue.

Really though, if you leave AA batteries on for the full two hour 'top-off' it's nothing to really worry about.
If I used it for AAA I would likely stop it after only maybe one hour of the 'top-off'.


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## Wrend (Aug 14, 2011)

bleagh said:


> ...
> 
> If the batteries are left on the C9000 for full 'top-off' then AA batteries will still be somewhat undercharged and still a little unbalanced, and AAA batteries will be failry balanced but OVER-charged.
> 
> ...



According to my measurements they're actually charged close to but less than their full potential. I think this is because of their higher internal resistance than the AAs. It's my understanding that the C9000 uses the same current rate but changes the duration and/or frequency of the current pulse to change the average charge rate.

While coming close, but being just short of the charged capacity potential of the AAA cells under an average "top off" charge rate close to 0.1C/h, you're not going to do significant damage to the cells, even after many charge cycles.

Test info: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...UPPORT-FAQ-continuation&p=3674635#post3674635


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## Chidwack (Aug 27, 2011)

Got me thinking so I checked the 4 new eneloops that I have charging at this time. I'm not getting your results with my new charger. I went to my records and check on each batch that I have charged and I can't find any clear indication that the slots are consistently getting the same results as far as capacity or time is involved. I will keep monitoring them as I continue to use this charger as I am keeping detailed records of all the charging and I am keeping track of each individual battery.


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## bruintennis (Feb 5, 2012)

Interesting thread that I just read (being new to CPF). Thanks!


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## fnj (Feb 5, 2012)

All right, am I going to be the first one to note that nowhere in this discussion so far does anyone state what charge rate he is using on the C9000? It seems obvious to me that the temperature rise, and hence any imbalance between inner and outer cells which may eventuate, is going to be strongly dependent on the charge rate. MaHa is at pains to note that charging either below 0.3C or above 1.0C is "not recommended" with this charger, but it is perfectly possible to manually set the charging rate well below 0.3C for an AA, or well above 1.0C for an AAA. Perhaps our original poster would be good enough to state what charge rate he has used? Anyone else?


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## Wrend (Feb 5, 2012)

> All right, am I going to be the first one to note that nowhere in this discussion so far does anyone state what charge rate he is using on the C9000?



Or any actual measured values... It's just speculation of what could potentially happen.

I wouldn't worry about it.

...

I charge at 0.5C/h and let them go through the full top off, leaving cells on the charger for a total of about 5 hours to help balance them. Based on my testing results, I do not think that doing this overcharges the AAA cells.

Ending the charge more conservatively and then topping them off at such a low rate should be good for the cells and improve their lifespan over more fully charging them quickly.

As you point out, charging at faster rates would most likely cause more of a temperature imbalance.

If it's any additional consolation, Eneloop cells that I've matched using the break in function and made series cell sets out of and then discharged at 100mA before recharged at 0.5C/h are often within 1mV (0.001V) of each other during the full range of their useful capacity, even after they're "empty." You can't get much more balanced than that.


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## Schermann (Aug 23, 2012)

*Re: Maha MH-C9000 impressive charger!*



bleagh said:


> I don't want to say the MH-C9000 is a bad charger, but a $50 charger that leaves the batteries either overcharged or unbalanced, it really is NOT THAT GOOD!
> 
> Quite frankly there are several cheap chargers, with separate channel for each slot, that will do a better job than the MH-C9000!



I certainly would like to know what other chargers do a better job as my friends have happily used the C9000 in professional situations for several years without issue. I just last night duplicated your exact situation with an new C9000 0L0EA and 4 AA & 4 AAA new Eneloops and measured them off with my Fluke and cannot duplicate your findings. 

I did find that the two inner batteries seemed warmer to touch but the capacity measured afterwards was not of a significant deviation value across all my test cells! 

I find the Maha C9000 a very impressive charger indeed!


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## bbb74 (Aug 23, 2012)

A reasonable explanation is that the warmer cells in slots 2&3 are less efficient at receiving charge and therefore need to be charged longer and receive more mAh to achieve the same charge state. From duracell datasheet:



> Temperature also affects charge efficiency.
> Charge efficiency decreases at higher temperatures due
> to the increasing evolution of oxygen at the positive
> electrode. Thus, charging at high temperatures results
> ...



From GP datasheet:


> In general, it is more efficient to charge the battery
> at or below room temperature, since the chemicals
> of both positive and negative electrodes are more
> stable at lower temperatures - resulting in higher
> ...



Energiser datasheet:


> Charge acceptance in the nimh battery decreases with rising temperature beginning below 20 degrees C, and continuing through the upper limits of normal battery operation.



Eneloop datasheet:
http://www.eneloop.info/fileadmin/EDITORS/ENELOOP/DATA_SHEETS/HR-3UTGA_data_sheet.pdf
Look at the graphs. Warmer batteries take longer to fully charge.


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## Virginian (Aug 23, 2012)

I have the Maha-9000 and am very happy with it. It seems odd to me that the MQN05U could do a better job of charging Eneloops, given that this charger only supplies about 300mA from what I have read. Especially if Sanyo recommends charging at between .3C and 1.0C, which would imply a much higher charge rate for the high-capacity AA batteries.

I am curious as to whether there are any adverse consequences to a slow charge such as this -- perhaps I am misunderstanding the numbers. It seems odd that Sanyo would make chargers for their Eneloops that do not meet the specifications they themselves recommend.


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## ChrisGarrett (Aug 23, 2012)

So should we be placing our C-9000s in the frige, or in a cooler, with a frozen ice pack?

Thanks, Chris


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## Schermann (Aug 23, 2012)

But no, to reduce the temperature will fool out the termination point in the thermal conductor, thus overcharging the batt!


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## jonkuwait (Aug 24, 2012)

That's good to know as i am looking at buy a battery charger very soon.


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## Schermann (Aug 24, 2012)

*Re: Maha MH-C9000, the very impressive charger!*



jonkuwait said:


> That's good to know as i am looking at buy a battery charger very soon.



The smart buy...


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## Verminator (Dec 22, 2012)

So I'm a bit confused here by your chart and your words. The charts seem to suggest that if you use the C9000 in a cool environment (say in your unheated garge) you'll get better results from your batteries than if you charge them at an ambient indoor temperature of say 25C? Or am I reading this wrong?


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## Mr Happy (Dec 22, 2012)

Verminator said:


> So I'm a bit confused here by your chart and your words. The charts seem to suggest that if you use the C9000 in a cool environment (say in your unheated garge) you'll get better results from your batteries than if you charge them at an ambient indoor temperature of say 25C? Or am I reading this wrong?



I'm not sure what post you are responding to? If you are referring to samgab's post #11 then the effect of temperature is not that simple. Mostly charging will work best at a moderate temperature, not too hot, not too cold. Indoor room temperature would usually be better than a cold garage.


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## lwknight (Dec 22, 2012)

Just put a small fan on it at room temperatures. That way all cells will be the same temperature.


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## B-52 (May 3, 2013)

In my C9000 i Discharge my PowerEX 2700, eneloop 2000mAh's and eneloop XX @ 100mA 

When i charge a set of my Batteries say like my PowerEX 2700 i charge them any were from 1000mA to 1300mA i charge mine at these different levels so the Sets are getting a slight bit difference in charge @ each charge. To me it helps season the battery more because your not throwing the same mA into the battery all the time. I'v had some good results in doing this my 2700 PowerEX are Lasting 12 hours on a charge in my BCD396xt the batteries get warm but not to wear you can't touch them..


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## tripplec (Jun 25, 2013)

Is that the PowerEX 2700 image shown above? Does it charge each cell independantly such that you can do 1 or 3 cells?


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## Bumble (Jun 25, 2013)

thats a picture of the maha/powerex MH-C9000 charger... a powerex 2700 is infact a nimh battery (aa sized)

EDIT ! yes it can charge 1 or 3 cells  it does a whole lot more too


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## tripplec (Jun 28, 2013)

There are so many threads on charges and I have read so many via Google abroad also many link back to the Forum in different threads.
The Accupower IQ-328 is not available in Canada dispite my best efforts. Amazon USA sells it at a good price $33 at the moment but does not ship to Canada.

I can get the C9000 which looks similar to the IQ-328 (whats the difference) almost a clone. I can also the the larger C800S which appear to be programmable for various charge rates and individual channels. I am not sure if the rate for different batteries in it at the same time can be applied. EG AAA & AA would require different currents unless the AA are just going to be charged <500mA to be safe. Current I have only Eneloop cells 2000mA and the AAA (not sure but guessing they're 900mA).

I may wait for the source to put one or the other on sale and continue with my existing chargers. I don't want to have to do a lot of programming each time I have a few to charge.


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## Mr Happy (Jun 28, 2013)

tripplec said:


> I can get the C9000 which looks similar to the IQ-328 (whats the difference) almost a clone.



The C9000 is a completely different charger; different manufacturer, different design, different performance.

It charges AA Eneloops perfectly (just drop them in and let them charge). For AAA you need to set the charging current at about 500 mA, but this is really so easy to do.

Unlike the IQ-328 the C9000 can operate smoothly without overheating on all settings in all ranges with any number of batteries. I did not like the IQ-328 when I tested it and find the C9000 far more usable.


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## tripplec (Jun 28, 2013)

OH, Ok I thought the review here in another thread was favourable. I guess I'll have to re-read it. Probably due to the vast amount of detail.

Thx


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## Mr Happy (Jun 28, 2013)

tripplec said:


> OH, Ok I thought the review here in another thread was favourable. I guess I'll have to re-read it. Probably due to the vast amount of detail.
> 
> Thx



Some people like the IQ-328 more than others. There may also be differences between samples. My sample seemed to be significantly flawed.


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## Yamabushi (Jun 28, 2013)

tripplec said:


> ... I may wait for the source to put one or the other on sale ...



You'll wait a long time. I doubt that The Source will ever sell either. For NiMH chargers, they sell Energizer products. 

AFAIK, the only authorized Canadian distributor for Maha/Powerex is PaulsFinest.com in Lachine, Quebec. They handle a complete line of chargers and batteries.


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## tripplec (Jun 28, 2013)

Thanks, Canadacomputers.com carries the C9000 and the price is the same. There is a location 5 min from me.


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## Rosoku Chikara (Jul 3, 2013)

Well, as a new owner of a MH-C9000, I was a bit taken aback by this thread. I hated to think that after all my research, I had ended buying, an "unimpressive" charger.

But, having read all the posts, let me just say that I (for one) am not experiencing any problem with the 1st and 4th slot charging my batteries to some significantly different capacity than the 2nd and 3rd slot. Take, for example, the following results from 5 sets of 4 brand new Eneloop pro AAA batteries:

CAPACITY->BREAK-IN->DISCHARGE->ANALYZE
900 mAh-->979 mAh-->860 mAh---->945 mAh
900 mAh-->966 mAh-->850 mAh---->931 mAh
900 mAh-->962 mAh-->852 mAh---->932 mAh
900 mAh-->965 mAh-->847 mAh---->930 mAh

CAPACITY->BREAK-IN->DISCHARGE->ANALYZE
900 mAh-->969 mAh-->845 mAh---->944 mAh
900 mAh-->970 mAh-->845 mAh---->941 mAh
900 mAh-->959 mAh-->843 mAh---->936 mAh
900 mAh-->964 mAh-->843 mAh---->937 mAh

CAPACITY->BREAK-IN->DISCHARGE->ANALYZE
900 mAh-->982 mAh-->860 mAh---->945 mAh
900 mAh-->955 mAh-->814 mAh---->926 mAh
900 mAh-->969 mAh-->832 mAh---->937 mAh
900 mAh-->976 mAh-->832 mAh---->940 mAh
` 
CAPACITY->BREAK-IN->DISCHARGE->ANALYZE
900 mAh-->952 mAh-->845 mAh---->926 mAh
900 mAh-->950 mAh-->849 mAh---->930 mAh
900 mAh-->948 mAh-->844 mAh---->924 mAh
900 mAh-->959 mAh-->852 mAh---->936 mAh

CAPACITY->BREAK-IN->DISCHARGE->ANALYZE
900 mAh-->943 mAh-->843 mAh---->922 mAh
900 mAh-->942 mAh-->841 mAh---->918 mAh
900 mAh-->936 mAh-->842 mAh---->917 mAh
900 mAh-->945 mAh-->843 mAh---->923 mAh

Granted, these are AAA batteries which offer better cooling due to their smaller size. But, I am also performing a similar Break-In/Analyze operation on a number of brand new AA batteries, and so far, I see nothing unusual. 

As you know, this is a very slow operation, with the Break-in alone taking about 40 hours, but as soon as I have enough AA batteries completed for the results to be statistically meaningful, I will also post those results on this thread.

But, in conclusion, for the time being, I see absolutely nothing wrong with my MH-C9000's charging or termination.


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## Wrend (Jul 4, 2013)

> But, in conclusion, for the time being, I see absolutely nothing wrong with my MH-C9000's charging or termination.



I agree, and actually, it's probably one of if not the best general consumer level charger of it's kind in terms of functionality, charging method, and build quality. I have two C9000s that I've been using for at least a couple years now for charging, breaking-in, and testing my Eneloops which I've been using for about four years (all of which are still performing like new).

While the slight temperature imbalance and termination does potentially pose a theoretical issue with the charger, in practice it isn't significant enough to be a cause for concern.

For general changing I've settled on 700mA for the 2000mAh AA and 300mA for the 800mAh AAA Eneloops. I also let them go through the full top off charge after they're done with the main charge to help insure that they're more balanced. The time needed to charge isn't an issue for me since I have extra sets of cells charged and ready to use.


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## Marc999 (Sep 9, 2013)

Deleted: redundant


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## un3k (Mar 28, 2014)

lwknight said:


> Just put a small fan on it at room temperatures. That way all cells will be the same temperature.



Wouldn't this affect the temperature sensor and cause earliet termination?

un3k


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## tripplec (Mar 29, 2014)

Mr Happy said:


> Some people like the IQ-328 more than others. There may also be differences between samples. My sample seemed to be significantly flawed.



Well its has been awhile but I was reading this thread with the new post in it. I saw this and since then I got an Nitecore I4, its worked flawlessly for many charges of Eneloop cells (AA & AAA). I got just recently an IQ-328 via Amazon merchant in the USA delivered to a US address since it could be brought up during a visit this Christmas to me in Canada. Got it and tried I on a pair of new AA cells run down a ways. It got them pretty hot at 500mA charge. Tried other including the New AA black high capacity Eneloops @1000mA got almost too hot to hold. Not all batteries go hot and later experiments the same cells did not get hot.

I contacted Accupower by email and they're not doing anything believing and telling me they doubt anything is wrong with this IQ328. I beg to differ. I cannot trust it to not overheat cells and cannot sit beside it while it charges each time. Needing another reliable charger I picked up another I4. Done and no worries on what I does, it does very well and handles the two 18650's I have as well. Being in Canada there no place or warranty process available. Trying to send I back via someone to the USA etc would cost more than it cost so lesson learned. There are plenty of good chargers with new ones appearing. If you're in the Market for one DON'T GET AN ACCUPOWER IQ-328. The display is hard to read without back lighting as well. There are others which would be much better now. No point chancing issues and/or battery damage from hot cells. Normally these Eneloops don't get beyond just a little warm. Hot is bad something is wrong if that is happening.


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## Russel (Mar 30, 2014)

un3k said:


> Wouldn't this affect the temperature sensor and cause earliet termination?
> 
> un3k



The MH-C9000 terminates a charge cycle by several criteria depending on the conditions of the cell being charged. There is a temp sensor that will (if I remember correctly) stop the charge cycle until the temperature drops to a certain level. Also, the charge cycle will terminate at a certain maximum voltage, or Delta V signal.


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