BC 1000 Alpha Power Rechargable battery charger review
Guys love gadgets but hopefully you’re not still shelling out valuable dollars buying alkaline batteries for your portable power needs. Check out the BC 1000 Alpha Power Rechargeable charger from La Crosse Technology. This is a premium charger and works great!
The BC 1000 unit is lightweight at 9.3 ounces and measures 3.0″ L x 5.1″ W x 1.5″ H. Included with the unit is a convenient carry bag along with 4 C size and 4 D size adapters, 4 AA and 4 AAA 2600mAh rechargeable NiMH batteries. Other rechargeable battery chargers allow for C and D batteries channels, however I don’t own too many devices that even use a C or D. The up-size adapters are very convenient. Your charges won’t last as long as a 10k or 12k mAh C or D size battery, but then again how many devices do I have that utilize C and D’s? Not a lot, so I don’t mind recharging those more often to avoid buying them. Anything I can do to cut down on space is great and it allows for my pool of AA rechargeable batteries to rotate through multiple if not all of my devices.
The LCD displays the individual channel information, charging and discharging current, time elapsed and the accumulated capacity. The BC1000 is a smart little charger and accepts All NiCd and NiMH AA and AAA rechargeable batteries at charging currents of 200, 500, 700 and 1000mA, or up to 1500 or 1800mA when only channel 1 or 4 are used.
Each of the 4 channels can be individually controlled for not only charging current rates but also for test mode, charge, refreshing charge and discharge all individually displayed on the LCD. The La Crosse Technology BC 1000 will automatically trickle charge when at the battery’s capacity to ensure maximum life and keep it topped off and is capable of a max charging capacity of 3000 mAh. Overcharge and overheating protection ensures your safe and efficient charging. I bought a BC 700 years ago and it’s still going strong, never had an issue with my Sanyo Eneloops.
No need to be a tech wiz, some general principles apply here. Batteries are rated by an mAh rating, Milli Ampere Hours and bigger is better. Charge your batteries at the lowest and slowest charging current, 200mA which the device defaults to for maximum capacity and longevity of your rechargeable batteries. Should you need a faster charge, you have that option.
Discharging can be beneficial to maximize the life if your rechargeable is degrading from “memory effect”. Although NiMH batteries are not as tempermental with memory as NiCAD rechargeable batteries are, it is always good practice to use them as much as possible or discharge them down before returning to a recharging cycle state.
The unit is extremely easy to use and convenient, I highly recommend it. Simply click your rechargeable into the channel slot, select the mode using the mode button and select the charging rate.
Available through lacrossetechnology.com for $59.96
MSRP is $89.95
