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Charging

The C-204W is a "smart" charger, which means it applies a high rate of charge to the batteries when first inserted, then cuts back to a "trickle charge" once peak voltage is reached. Like the 204F, the 204W again has two independent charging circuits, so it can charge batteries either two or four at a time. This is an important feature these days, as many cameras operate on just two AA batteries, and it's important to charge batteries in the same groups that they are used in, to keep from over- or undercharging cells with different usage patterns.

When fast-charging, the 204W delivers current to the batteries in two-amp (2000 mA) pulses for AA cells, 700 mA pulses for AAA ones, alternating pulses between the two pairs of batteries. With a set of four typical ~2000 mAh AA cells, this will result in a charge time of about two hours, but if only two cells are charged at once, the charging rate will be twice as fast.

While it has very a sophisticated end-of-charge detection system, the high current delivered by the 204W does mean that you shouldn't use its one-hour quick charge mode (with only two batteries in the charger) on lower-capacity cells with less than 2000 mAh capacity. If you need to charge lower-capacity cells, make sure you charge them four at a time in the C-204W.

Special Stuff: "Topping Off" Batteries

In my own testing of batteries and chargers, I found that fast chargers invariably leave the batteries in a less than "full" condition when the quick-charging cycle is over. Some chargers (like the earlier 204F) drop to a trickle charge mode after the fast charging is complete, which does help to "top off" the batteries if you leave them in the charger overnight. But even the 204F couldn't seem to get the last 2-5% of capacity into a battery: For that, I always had to resort to overnight trickle-charging in a rack that I built, that gave the batteries a straight DC input. (Actually, rectified, but unfiltered AC.)

Noting my results, Maha invested a fair amount of effort in revising their charging algorithm, with the aim of developing a charging profile that would deliver true 100% charge capacity in a single unit, without the need for external trickle charging.

What they came up with is a three-stage charging process, that's implemented in the 204W for the first time. While Maha is deliberately a little sketchy about the exact details, they did tell me that the 204W switches from a fast charge to an intermediate charge level after the charger initially detects that the battery is "full" (the point at which the 204F and most other rapid chargers would either stop entirely, or switch to trickle-charge mode). After a while in this "topping off" charge mode, the charger will finally drop down to trickle-charge mode, which in the case of the 204W means applying brief pulses of current for a few tenths of a second every 7 seconds or so. (They found that this pulsed trickle mode did the best job of maintaining battery charge, with the least impact on battery life and chemistry.)

The bottom line of this is that the C-204W does the best job of "topping off" batteries of any charger I've seen to date. When the LEDs initially turn green at the end of the fast-charging cycle, batteries will typically be at about 92-95% of maximum capacity. (As good or better than most other fast chargers.) Given just a little longer though, the 204W brings batteries very close to their absolute maximum capacities: Charging Maha's own 2300 mAh Powerex batteries, I found that the 204W would bring them to 99% of maximum capacity within about 4 hours. Leaving the batteries in overnight didn't seem to add any more capacity, but the gentle trickle cycle means you should be able to leave good-quality NiMH cells in the 204W indefinitely, to keep them fresh. (Pure DC still seems to be required to eke out the last 1% of capacity, but that's such a small increment that it's both academic and within the range of variations I see between successive charge/discharge trials anyway.)