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Reviews For: MAHA-C401FS

Category: Batteries & Chargers for Amateur Radio

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Review Summary For : MAHA-C401FS
Reviews: 3MSRP: 49.97
Description:
The most recent of the MAHA AA and AAA chargers. This unit takes four batteries at once and recharges them individually. Pretty handy.
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0034
N0XAS Rating: 2009-01-20
Finicky & didn't last long Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Worked great for the first few months. As time went by it didn't like a lot of the AA and AAA NiMH the batteries I had (that it previously charged without problems), then quit working completely after a little over a year. Any battery you put in gave the red LED. The batteries are fine, it's the charger that's no good. Into the trash...
WB9YCJ Rating: 2004-09-19
Does what it claims Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Pleasant experience. Works well on "aaa" and "aa" types and will not over charge cells. Keeps em cool. Likely the best charger for slow and complete charge of individual cells (best method). See this review: http://www.ripvan100.com/charger_comparison.htm

I would like to try the Ripvan 100 but it may be awhile.
KG6SWB Rating: 2003-11-01
A Good Buy Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought this charger about 8 months ago and I am quite pleased with it. It can charge both AA and AAA battery types (any combination - 4 at a time).

I always use cool charge to preserve battery life - this takes about 4-6 hours per battery. The advantage of this charger is that all 4 batteries are charged independently - i.e., you will see that some batteries are charged quicker than others. Once a battery is fully charged, the charger gets into 'trickle mode' where a very minor amount of current is supplied to the battery (so there is no danger of overcharging).

Some chargers have a discharge/conditioning mode which can be used to "condition" the cells before charging. There is no such option in the C401FS. I spoke to a Maha rep who said that this charger uses some smart circuitry due to which there is no need to discharge the batteries first.

I bought this charger for $42 from thomas-distributing.com. The price seems to have come down slightly to $38 now.

I would recommend the following sites for more indepth reviews on this charger:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/C401FS/C401A.HTM

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/maha_c401fs.html

Also, I would recommend Steve's great battery shootout which compares the storage capacity of varous NiMH batteries:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM

If you are planning to buy NiMH batteries, I would recommend battery-space.com. The going rate for 200 mAH NiMH batteries is about $1 each for (if you buy two dozen of them).

If you go for 2200 mAH the prices climb to approx. $2 or more each. Don't spend 90% more for 10% more capacity!

73 de KG6SWB