Yes, the C-9000 can terminate early. It uses a combination of Negative Delta V, Zero Delta V, Peak Voltage, time and temperature to determine the end-of-charge. It also has some unsaid end of charge terminating algorithms, aka proprietary.
What it actually uses depends on the health of the battery being charged and the mode you select, the main indicator of its health is the impedance test, the voltage slope at the time of the charge, then lastly temperature.
Effectively I've never seen the batteries overheat in a C9000. Oveheat is defined as >45
oC, the temperature cutoff of the C9000 is 50
oC. The typical battery temp in a C9000 is 35-40
oC. All the above assume room temperature is 25
oC.
http://www.mahaenergy.com/FAQ-C9000/http://www.amazon.com/review/RZCMBYAN3QKN3Key to any charging is to preserve battery life [e.g. total charge cycles or calendar working life] and its mAh rating. As the batteries a C-9000 charges remain like new now over 5 years old, and its prevented deterioration of cells I still have in use from 2006, it would seem from practical purposes Maha method, is a better method. Also, the battery Ah at end of charge is within specifications, e.g. a 2000mAh eneloop specifies that its provides a minimum of 1900mAh based on the IEC test curve, after a 'proper' charge.
A cautious word. I own one working Lacrosse charger and had to troubleshoot 2 others that burned.
Insufficient cooling: The BC700 runs above 40
oC at maximum current, the BC9009, 900 and BC700 use the same chassis, it easily overheat over 50
oC at 1C charge current; it worse if all the bays are used. They simply up-spec'd the components without properly ventilating the units, which was marginal with the BC700. failure ranges from burned cells or charger components burn internally without destroying the cells, or both, either are fire hazards.
That photo is from a BC700 from 2013 we had on a expedition, ruining brand new sets of eneloops and itself. The money was one thing, that we were in a remote island was worse as replacing the lost equipment was impossible.
IMHO Lacrosse gets away with their design because the default charge current is 200mA on their units; this is far underneath its rated capacity. To program the Lacrosse incurs a >0.5sec delay between each key press, whereas on the Maha each key press is instant; so while the Lacrosse shows multiple values on demand versus the cycling of the Maha, it takes longer to custom set a Lacrosse making it more cumbersome to use. Thus, I've rarely seen a LaCrosse charger owner who use the advance functions; its often on the defaults.
The BC700 is the best of their units as its unlikely to self destruct, but it can overheat the batteries it charges at its 700mA charge current, but its not likely to burn. On the other units, if you own one use a fan on high when using 500mA or higher.
Note the unit that fried the eneloops above did so at default charge current 200mA.
The C-9000.
Just curious if that was true. The turning point for me was a review of the UI, it appears that the LaCross has a more intuitive UI, so I went with a lacross BC700, so I am no longer in the market for a charger.