Digital Home Thoughts: LaCrosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower Battery Charger

Testing
When I first saw this charger, I was impressed by the charging functions as well as the test mode, but was a bit skeptical about how effective the refresh mode would be. So, when I received it, I tested it with a random selection of 16 rechargeable batteries of various ages. For each battery I first ran it through test mode to get a baseline for the battery. I then ran the refresh mode, followed again by the test mode. The table below outlines the results.



I was extremely impressed by these results. As you can see a number of batteries which were pretty much worthless were refreshed to being within 10% of their rated capacity. While there were 2 of the 16 batteries that the charger could do nothing to help, at least it let me identify these batteries and pull them from my rotation. Also, take note of test item #2, this was a fairly new battery that tested pretty close to its maximum capacity. For this battery, the refresh cycle hurt the capacity, so I would recommend only using the refresh cycle on batteries that really need it. Another important caveat is that the test and refresh cycles can be painfully slow on high capacity batteries since it is using the lowest charge and discharge settings. As an example, the refresh test on battery #2 (2500 mAh) took days to complete all 20 cycles. Additionally, as a tip, I found it useful to number my batteries with a Sharpie. This makes it easier for anyone who is anal retentive like me to track the performance of their batteries or keep track of which ones are the best for use in their highest demand products.

Conclusions
This is by far the best charger I have ever owned. It does everything it promises and does it well. Still, there are a couple of minor areas in which it could be improved. While not large, the combination of the unit and its power brick is not as portable as I would like. However, I don't really plan on using this as a travel unit anyway since I already have an small, collapsible quick charger. Secondly, I found the instruction manual really hard to follow. Luckily, the manufacturer has a cheat sheet on the product page that was far clearer than the instruction manual. I'd suggest the cheat sheet be included in the box.

Chris Gohlke is a Contributing Editor for Digital Media Thoughts. He loves Sci-Fi and loves to get his hands on real-life tech gadgets. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, USA with his wife and three cats.