[ghart999]

I have heard some talk about iPower and Maha. Would these be solid replacements for the plainview? The iPower is 250mAH and the Maha is 170mAH. Should the higher nunber be the deciding factor? Also which charger should I use? Is it always recommended to use the same brand charger as the battery itself? Thanks.

 

[jjcha]

I am also very interested in this question as well.

To add on top of that - I've got the SR-71/HeadRoom Coda&Overture, so the size of the batteries are important to me as well. I'm willing to file down the rechargables if that's a viable option.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Best regards,

-Jason

 

[recstar24]

The plainviews live on!

Seriously, Norm still has some, he's going to re-open headsave to sell off teh rest of his old stock of stuff, so keep an eye out for mall-fi. I was able to PM him for some, and he sent me an invoice and I should be getting some plainviews and a charger soon

 

[ghart999]

Do you have an email address for Norm. I do not know him. Thank you.

 

[MD1032]

These are rebadged plainviews, identical in every way except color. Tadaaa!!

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/mh-96v170.htm

 

[dcguy73]

I picked up the Maha (Plainview?) batteries from Thomas Distributing and am very happy with them. Thomas Distributing has a 9V recharger/3- battery (buy the fourth battery separately so you have a spare pair) deal that works quite well.

The Mahas definitely have more juice in them than standard Duracells. The volume (gain?) is louder when using the rechargeables.

 

[BRBJackson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghart999 I have heard some talk about iPower an.0d Maha. Would these be solid replacements for the plainview? The iPower is 250mAH and the Maha is 170mAH. Should the higher nunber be the deciding factor? Also which charger should I use? Is it always recommended to use the same brand charger as the battery itself? Thanks.

The Maha's/Plainview's (when used with their recommended chargers) are true 9.6v batteries, a significant factor with some amps. The Porta Corda would be running on the ragged edge at the 8.4v typical of most rechageables, so this translates to better SQ.

 

[Lisa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MD1032 These are rebadged plainviews, identical in every way except color. Tadaaa!! http://www.thomas-distributing.com/mh-96v170.htm

I have a Plainview and the MAHAs now. And I'm not so sure anymore... The Plainviews are made in Germany and the MAHAs in Taiwan. Haven't tested if one of them last longer or sounds better. The Plainview needs a couple of charges first. But my gut feeling says that the Plainview is somehow better. But I could be biased because I had the misfortune of two MAHAs dying on me.

Not something I heard anyone else complaining about so I guess it was just my bad luck...

 

[Nospam]

I've been using the MAHAs for several months. No complaints so far, and I like the color better than the Plainviews

The MAHA 4-battery 9V charger is the best I've seen. It has 4 independent charging circuits, so each battery is conditioned/charged to it max capacity. It also doesn't over-charge, so you can just leave the battery in the charger until needed. Definitely the most low-maintenance solution for lazy folks like me

 

[PhilS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nospam I've been using the MAHAs for several months. No complaints so far, and I like the color better than the Plainviews The MAHA 4-battery 9V charger is the best I've seen. It has 4 independent charging circuits, so each battery is conditioned/charged to it max capacity. It also doesn't over-charge, so you can just leave the battery in the charger until needed. Definitely the most low-maintenance solution for lazy folks like me

And it also gives a full charge in like 2 hours. Pretty neat.

 

[dcguy73]

Unfortunately, I had 3 of the 4 Maha batteries I ordered from Thomas Distributing fail on me. I was really surprised and disappointed about this. I called up Thomas Distributing and was told by a friendly customer service person that they would send me 3 new ones free of charge, and that I did not need to return the old ones.

Hopefully they'll get here soon and they won't go bad like the last batch...

 

[Lisa]

what Charger are you using. I had my MAHA's go bad on me too, and ordered a plainview. And the plainview started to act up exactly the same.
I'm using the Ansmann energy 8 which is supposed to charge them fine (I checked with Ansmann and thomas) but somehow has problems with these 9.6Vs. I'm using my old slow charger for them now. That one gets the job done. Sometimes still use the Ansmann but 1/4 th of the time there's trouble charging 9.6Vs in that charger.

I said bad things about the MAHA in the past but now know that it wasn't their fault. It was the charger.

 

[immtbiker]

I have the Plainviews, and the single Plainview charger and they don't last 15 minutes. They had a short life, and are oversized for some components.

 

[MD1032]

imminentbiker: How long are you charging them for (I'm assuming you're using the Powerizer charger from Norm's site)? You need about 12-14 hours.

 

[immtbiker]

Yes...I'm charging 12-14 hours as instructed right on the charger. They only lasted about 15 charge cycles with my RA-1. and then fuzz after 15 minutes. Same with the SR-71. It is the Plainview charger from Thomas Dist. from 2 years ago.

Imindirtbiker