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Reviews For: MAHA / PowerEx MH-C777PLUS-II

Category: Batteries & Chargers for Amateur Radio

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Review Summary For : MAHA / PowerEx MH-C777PLUS-II
Reviews: 18MSRP: 89.95
Description:
Based on the invaluable inputs of thousands of PowerEx product users and engineers, the MH-C777PLUS-II is designed with you in mind. From its universal charging capability for almost any shape Lithium Ion, NiMH, and NiCD battery packs to its digital voltage and capacity display, the MH-C777 PLUS-II is a true winner. Best of all, with all of these advanced features the charger is available at a affordable consumer cost.

Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mahaenergy.com/products/prosumer/mhc777plus.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00182.4
KD8CN Rating: 2019-11-27
WARNING WARNING !!!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned this charger for 7 years. I have used it to charge NiCd NiMh and lithium Ion. A few weeks ago I was charging a small LiIo 3.6V battery that I had charged on this charger before. The charger failed during charging. Before I could respond the battery blew-up!!!! The resulting fire destroyed my radio station, walls, furniture, furnace, to the tune of over $25,000. The charger has no fail safe timers, over voltage checks and is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. I suggest you toss it in the trash and get a better one. I contacted MaHa to tell them about it. They connected me to their insurance company. The adjuster and fire department inspector confirmed the charger was the direct cause of the fire. MaHa told Liberty Mutual to deny my claim. I think it may because they know that a lawyer would not take the case for that low amount. I am retired and on a fixed low income. I can not replace the equipment I lost (50 years of collecting). I had to take a high interest loan to repair my house and furnace. I will NEVER consider buying a MaHa device. This one could have killed me,almost did. DO NOT USE THIS DEVICE, IT IS DANGEROUS!!!!!
VE6JMK Rating: 2013-01-24
Still works Time Owned: more than 12 months.
As I've probably had 2 of them for about 8 years and they are still working, most recently for processing harvested laptop 18650 cells, I guess I cannot complain. As noted they were too expensive and if you're reading this now it is because there's one a a garage sale you're considering. If it's $10.00 I'd probably grab one, but if I were going to be spending the same amount of money again I'd get an iCharger 106B+
N7MSD Rating: 2011-12-16
Quality control issues; can fry battery packs Time Owned: more than 12 months.
As the summary says:

1. You can fry battery packs easily with this thing due to its non-adjustable 800mA charge current (for nickel chemistry). I fried both my original Icom pack and a Maha pack with this thing. Maha themselves recommends against using this with most battery packs (at least when you call them and ask).

OTOH, this works great with large battery packs like with those Chinese drills from Harbor Freight. The "charger" that comes with them is just a transformer that will fry those packs QUICK! This thing will charge them properly, provided they're large enough. (Again, I'm talking about nickel chemistry here.)

For lithium chemistry, this thing is very, VERY slow, but work with any cell or pack that you can access the leads directly. This is easy with phone cells, but hard (deliberately, to prevent shorts) with laptop battery packs.

The thing works very well with discharge testing unless the pack is very small or large.

2. Quality control: I've had two of these. The first one seemed to work better than the replacment: in particular, the replacement seems to have trouble seeing the "knee" with NiMH cells or packs, but works fine with NiCd. With no schematic or anything, it would be hard to fix. Due to this, I haven't used it in over a year because I'm afraid of frying my NiMH cells and packs.
K9VC Rating: 2010-10-13
MH-777 Plus II Time Owned: more than 12 months.
You have to be a little patient. But this charger will charge all HT batteries. (at least it has for all of mine) The design is very flexible, and durable.
K8DXX Rating: 2008-08-10
Works for Me Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used this to charge packs of AA (4 & 8 cells), Cs (4) and a SaratogaHam battery pack made for the Icom 703. All of these are NiMH cells.

Also used this to charge both the factory and an aftermarket NiCd pack for the Kenwood TH7D/A (G) HT. Physical adjustment took about 2 minutes of experimenting but once made, placement of either pack on the charger was easy.

I've had some success rejuvenating old NiCd AA and C cells.

In all cases, I have not experienced the severe overheating that some have reported.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by K8DXX on 2007-07-08

I'm surprised to read all the negative reviews. I bought one of these mail order for $49.95. It appears to successfully discharge and recharge NiCD and NiMH betteries of varying descriptions including various packs of 4500 C-size mA/H NiMHs, packs of AA size NiMH (1600-2250 mA/H), packs of 4 NiCD cells and both factory and aftermarket NiCDs for the Kenwood THD7A/G. Usually seems to cut to trickle charge (says FULL) when the charge cycle is over. It does take some adjustment when trying to charge the Kenwood packs but then, I consider the price of a drop-in charger!

Guess I'll need to start babysitting mine!
KK8ZZ Rating: 2008-07-29
clumsy, inconvenient Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Don't waste your time or $$... awkward to use, never sure of results. Cooked a couple of batteries and sold this turkey.
K1FU Rating: 2008-05-10
Works fine Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Haven't had any problems and have owned two years. Getting the pins set up for BP-173 was a pain but I use it to charge both NiCAD and NiMH packs. This is a rapid charger so expect some heat especially when charging NiMH.
N3EOP Rating: 2007-09-04
Works well enough Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought one when I lost the charger for a power tool, and also to charge a "AA tray" for one of my HTs.

It's not perfect, but it hasn't cooked any of my batteries.

The adjustable pins are ingenous, but really only work well on pack with both terminals on the same end. Packs where the terminals are separated by a bit of distance on one face (such as my commerical Kenwood HT) are quite a balancing act.

Fortunately, they include a cable with clip leads for such things. I made a few custom terminal adapters that I can simply slip on/over the pack, and the cable clips onto those.

It works well enough for what it does. Of course, a dedicated charger for your pack would work better. Universal chargers have a heck of a time trying to figure out what you've connected. Some batteries may confuse it, but so far, none of mine have.
KA8CEJ Rating: 2007-03-09
INFERIOR PRODUCT Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased this product mainly to deep cycle ni-cad battery packs to eleminate the "memory effect" the batteries are supposed to have. The charger seemed to discharge and recharge the 2 BP-173 packs for my Icom W-32-A in good order. The trouble began when I tried to use it on a Kendoo 1,000 Mah Nimh BP173, a MAHA 1000 mah BP173, and a battery pack for an Icom T2 Sport with 8 2500 Nimh individual batteries.
Following the instructions, and hooking up the temperature sensor directly to the batteries, I watched it for a little while then became busy with other projects. By the time I smelled the "burnt electric" smell, one battery had come apart at the seam but didn't leak, one had the paint coming loose from the case, two had an orange peel
look and feel, and one had expanded ever so slightly. I had a thermometer that read to 135 degrees and it pegged it in seconds. The batteries were so hot you absolutely could not hold them in your fingers. I dumped them out of the case, fearing the case would melt or deform, and checked the voltage at 0.00 at the time. After cooling down overnight, the voltage showed 1.37 to 1.41 volts, but I have yet to try them to see if they have any reserve power. This unit is either defective, or it DESPERATELY needs a strong fan on it to keep the batteries cooler. I have set it on the shelf, as I absolutely do not trust it except for ni-cad batteries, nor will I sell it to anyone, as I feel it is an inferior product.
AI2IA Rating: 2005-07-24
Needs watching when in use. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My MH-C777Plus-88 charges nicads and NiMetal Hydride battery packs very well. The problem is that the temperature sensor is utterly useless. I never leave it unattended when charging. I use it only on a large empty table with a nearby clock, and I feel the battery pack with my hand from time to time. If it gets too hot to touch and hold, I shut it down. No packs have been damaged to date. All other functions work well for me, but I suggest that you never trust it unattended. It should be marked: "Caution - for adult use only." It works, but no, I would not buy one again.