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La Crosse Technology BC-700 Alpha Power Battery Charger | 
| Brand: La Crosse Technology
Category: Lawn & Patio
List Price: $49.95
Buy New: $29.99
as of 11/25/2009 12:26 CST details
You Save: $19.96 (40%)
New (10) Used (1) from $27.99
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  90 reviews
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 2 x 3 x 5
MPN: 141 0342
Model: BC700-CBP
UPC: 757456990866
EAN: 0757456990866
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Battery charger for NiCad and NiMH AA and AAA rechargeable batteries | | • | Features 4 modes: charge, discharge, refresh, and test | | • | Charges both AA & AAA rechargeable batteries simultaneously | | • | 4 separate LCD displays for simultaneous readouts | | • | Overheat-detection to prevent over-charging |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The La Crosse Technology BC700-CBP battery charger works with all NiCd and NiMH AA and AAA rechargeable batteries and can actually increase the power capacity of some older rechargeable batteries. Choose the Discharge Mode to completely discharge the batteries energy and then recharge it to full capacity in one cycle. The Refresh Mode restores the maximum capacity of your batteries by utilizing a 20 cycle discharge and charge mode. The BC700 also offers a Test Mode that determines the true capacity of your batteries. Includes power adapter.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 90
 NICE CHARGER! November 24, 2009
S. Doshi (il,usa)
Hi,
First I was a little scared to buy this costlier charger. And, costlier because i was used to other $5-$10 chargers and my eneloop USB charger's cable broke so i needed one. After reading reviews about this one and bc900 and finding that I am not going to use features of bc900, I decided to buy this one and it is really doing its job. I am using it for past 1 month and I haven't had any issues with burning or over heating. I have charged my energizers (2500) in discharge/refresh cycle and they got charged in 5 days. but they lose their charge really fast. I have eneloop 6 batteries which I charged with Test mode and they are working even better. They retain charge for long time so I am happy with charger and my personal eneloop batteries.
I'd recommend this charger to anyone with enelopp battries, It's very easy to get started and it comes with instructions which are pretty clear. Thanks to Lacrosse.
 Expert User Needed. November 24, 2009
Ekorre (SFO)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It's a good product with great features. I would recommend getting the better BC-9000(with BC-9009 charger & batteries) if you can get for it $40 or less.
You have to be smarter than the BC-700 to use it effectively. It's easy to overcharge certain batteries(ie. Duracell AA or RayoVac AAA) if you leave it on default charge rate of 200mA. Most La Crosse chargers and some similar chargers are not able to terminate (or stop charging) with low charge rates and will overcharge certain batteries. So you need to monitor the mAh(capacity)Display and/or Total charging time with new batteries or those that have known issues with overcharging at low charge rates. Even though you can set it to the its highest charge rate of 700mA to help it terminate properly, you'll need to a press 2 buttons a couple of times within the 8 sec time window.
FYI, if you overcharge your batteries, you will shorten its life or even ruin them permanently.
Most Battery manufacturers recommend between .5C to 1C for the preferred charging rate. Setting it to 500mA takes 1-2 steps. The 500mA charge rate is above .5C for most AAA batteries.
Let's say that you're charging four 2000mAh AA batteries. Using the max charge rate of 700mA, you will be charging at .35C(Or 35% of the batteries' 2000mAh Capacity). If you use a BC-9009 or BC-900, you can charge at 1000mA which is .5C or 50% of max capacity. That's more likely for the charger to terminate the charging process for each 2000mAh battery.
Pros:
+Nice LCD Display
+Sophisticated Charger that Refreshes your older batteries.
+Individual Circuits for each battery.
+Price is right when you get it for $25 or less.
Cons:
-Need 1000mA Max charge rate since most new AA's are a least 2000mA. Charging at 1000mA will alleviate overcharging issues.
-Not Non-Techie friendly, [Wish they gave a video tutorial.]
-No Fail-Safe for Overcharging. Want the ability set Max mAh Allowed. (ie. to the max capacity of your highest battery) For AA's I would set to 2600. My BC-700 allows charging over the 3000mAh Capacity even though you're not supposed to use 3000mAh batteries.
-Needs an easy option to jump start really weak batteries which end up displaying "null."
-You can't change to a higher charging rate for additional batteries placed in the empty slots since it restricts the Max Rate to the initial charging rate you set for your first battery. The only way to reset the mA charging limit is to remove all the batteries or unplug the charger.
If the BC-700 had defaulted to the 500mA charge rate instead of 200mA, I would have given it 4 stars.
Plus if it had the Max Charge Rate of 1000mA, I would've given it 5 stars.
I hope La Crosse will make updated models with a toggle switch to set higher default rates.
 Intellegent charger November 24, 2009
Seungchul Choi (Carolina)
Everything seems to be okay except to be able to kick start a complete drained battery. This is the reason to give 4 stars instead of 5 stars.
Also, refresh is not 100% accurate for certain batteries. This has to do with the battery brand and quality of the battery rather than the charger.
Excellent charger!!! November 20, 2009
B. Yu (Irvine, CA United States)
Having owned many battery chargers, ranging from overnight ones to rapid 2 hour chargers, this charger really seems to work the best. It easily accepts most batteries, even those my other chargers have rejected, and I have successfully used it to revitalize "dead" nimh batteries. And with the option to set the voltage, the speed of charging is comparable to other rapid chargers. It's a little more bulky than the tiny overnight chargers, but overall functions much better. After 6 months of use, I'm still very happy with it.
An excellent AA/AAA charger November 18, 2009
Marcin (SF Bay Area, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've owned a variety of nice chargers over the years for specialty batteries (model airplane batteries), but AA and AAA chargers always seemed cheap to me. They all had a little light that would go off at the end of a charge, if you were lucky. I've had a charger like that for years and was tired of it. I got used to a nice display and being told information about my battery from the other chargers i've owned. I did some looking on Amazon and found two frontrunners for the job. The "ultimate" AA/AAA charger seems to be the Maha Powerex MH-C9000 WizardOne Charger-Analyzer. I read others' reviews and the consensus seems to be that while it does do "everything" it's a pain to use. So, the BC-700 to the rescue....
This charger is relatively small and can be used by a complete newbie. If you simply pop batteries in and walk away, the charger will default to the lowest 200mA charge setting and fully charge your batteries. If you want more choices, you can press the "current" button within 8 seconds of putting batteries in to raise the charge current to either 500 or 700mA. If you press the 1-2-3-4 buttons... you can set different current for each battery. If you press the 1-2-3-4 buttons too many times, your doctor will call to inform you that you have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). Just kidding...
The charger also has "modes." The modes allow not only charging, but also special combinations of discharge/charge functionality. For example, old batteries may have developed a "memory" and don't hold a charge very well. This charger has a refresh mode that will attempt to bring the batteries back from the dead. It does this by charging/discharging until it does not sense an increase in battery capacity. It also has a "test" mode that allows you to test battery capacity. The modes also work with the 1-2-3-4 buttons, so you can charge batteries while testing others. Think of it as 4 individual chargers in one box. This also means you can charge only one battery if you need to, or any number in any slot. Very flexible.
The display is pretty easy to read and will show battery voltage and capacity. It will also show how long the charger has been running and the charging current. You can cycle through this info easily with the display button.
Overall, this is an excellent charger, especially for $30. The overall construction isn't top notch, but i feel it's excellent at this price. At it's most simple, you plunk in your batteries and walk away. When each cell reads "Full" on the LCD, charging is all done and you didn't even have to hit a button. If you're more of a battery geek, like me, you'll love the extra modes and the extra info the charger tells you. At this price, even if you don't use the "fancy" stuff, you'll still end up with a great charger. I like it, can you tell? :o)
It takes about 10 hours to charge a dead AA at the lowest current setting. If you crank it up to 700mA, it will charge in about 3 hours. The smaller AAAs charge even faster. If you need a quicker charge, take a look at the BC-9009. It's basically the same as this one, but can charge all four batteries at 1000mA, or just two at 1800mA. Enjoy!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 90
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