La Cross or Powerex?

[Overread20]

I've narrowed it down to the two following battery chargers:

La Crosse High Spec Intelligent Charger
BC-900 by La Crosse Technology - Tomorrow's Weather Today

Powerex C9000
Maha C9000 Wizard One Intelligent Charger + Analyser from mahaenergy.co.uk

However I can't find a definite answer as to which is the overall better charger to go with. So far the La Crosse is giving the overall better price and deal (by quite a long way on amazon) however the Powerex appears to look the more professional.
Certainly I've found good comments from users of both chargers - however one limitation is that a lot of the techno talk is going right over my head at present.

 

[PhotoXopher]

I have no experience with the La Crosse but I absolutely love my Maha!

 

[Dao]

I have the La Crosse BC-700 and it works fine for me.

However ..... you may want to stay away from the BC-900

Google "BC-900 meltdown"

Well, not sure if they already fix the issue or not. So check around.

 

[Overread20]

Hmm the meltdown appears to be an older problem (most forums talking about it appear to be older posts) however it does appear to be more of a problem than with the powerex.

 

[CxThree]

Yep. Thats problem was the first release of the 9009. Thomas DIstributing has a note on their site that they are selling the new ones.

Having said that, the 700 is $30 on amazon so I bought it. It's great. I am gogin to order a 2nd one and be able to charge 8 at a time.

 

[Overread20]

Well the Powerex C9000 (Maha C9000 for the US) is in the post!
It seemed to have a more reliable background than the other brand of battery charger and whilst it appears to be an older problem I didn't really want to risk it on my nice enloops

 

[Dao]

You know, I do not have any problem with my La Crosse unit ... but if I am going to buy another unit, I will buy the Maha as well. You never know.

Also, I do not know the other model, but one thing I do not like my La Crosse Unit is .... when a battery is drain all the way, it cannot be recharge by the La Crosse. I need to charge the battery with another charger for a short time, then the La Crosses will charge it.

People said it is related to the voltage of the battery being so low that the La Crosse will not charge it. And this type of problem do not exist in the Maha unit.

 

[Overread20]

odd problem that and I'm surprised it would slip through testing since drain and recharge is a pretty common usage to ensure a good lifespan of the batteries.

 

[table1349]

More expensive, but hard to beat. Love mine.
MAHA / POWEREX MH-C801D Eight Cell 1-Hr Charger
Nice being able to do more than on set at a time.

If you are looking for portable this is a great choice.
MAHA / POWEREX MH-C204W 1-Hour Worldwide Travel Conditioning Charger
The versatility if you travel is very nice.

 

[Dao]

odd problem that and I'm surprised it would slip through testing since drain and recharge is a pretty common usage to ensure a good lifespan of the batteries.

It seems like the issue is not my unit only, it happens to all others. The refresh will work, it bring some old batteries back to life after I bought the charger with the refresh function. I guess they did not drain the battery all the way down to or close to zero.