Any recommendations for AA NIMH battery charger?

[<me9]

I'm using several quite happily. they definitely hold their charge better than earlier types.

[Mike Lane]

On Wed, 8 Apr 2009 18:26:38 +0100, Dave Liquorice wrote (in article ):

Leaving aside the childish sarcasm, what you say doesn't make much sense to me.

Rechargeable cells using NiMH technology are quite unsuitable for high power portable devices such as mobile phones and laptops. No one in their right minds would try to design anything like that using AA rechargeables; the various flavours of Lithium battery are obviously the way to go in this case.

Low power devices, of which most of us have many (clocks, timers, thermometers etc.) last so long with alkaline batteries that normal NiMH cells would self-discharge, and have to be changed much more frequently. You could make a case for the newer hybrid NiMh cells, but I doubt actually if they make much economic sense when you consider the extra cost.

I suppose there are some intermediate power devices where rechargeable AAs are an advantage. In fact come to think of it, the handsets of my DECT cordless phone use 2 rechargeable NiMH AAA cells each. They last a day or two in use on battery power, but in this case they normally sit in a recharging cradle when not in use (they have to go somewhere), so there's no need to change the batteries except after a couple of years when they eventually lose their capacity. I see nothing inconvenient or awkward about that and to my mind it's an example of how portable devices should be designed.

As I said, I don't possess any devices that would benefit much from rechargeable AA cells with a separate charger. I've tried that and given up. Possibly kiddies toys are where a lot of these are used, but in this case convenience is not really an issue. I suspect that fiddling with the batteries is all part of the fun here.

[chris French]

In message , Mike Lane writes

For lightness and performance reasons yes, but the downsides of that are specific chargers required, need to remember to charge it up etc. Plenty of times I've become annoyed because I've not charged up my mobile at the right time.

However, I much prefer it that my digital camera takes AA cells. We use it loads, a built in battery would need charging up all the time - sooner or alter we would be stuck with the camera with no charge. A couple of sets of NiMH cells keeps us going happily and in extremis we can use Alkalines. The is a benefit to custom Lion batteries where lightness or compactness of the camera is important.

Ditto for example my handheld GPS really.

I tend to agree with that. Though as the hybrid cells have got more common and cheaper, and since we have a charger anyway they start to make more sense.

I glad they have to go back on the cradle, we'd lose them all otherwise :-)

I've got plenty of things (bike lights, small DAB radio, some of the kids things to think of a few, where, NiMH makes sense for me). I think I prefer using NiMh in these than I would having yet more custom charger/cradles etc. to put them in. Horses for courses reallt.

Of course once we some sort of universal charging system, that will recharge in a couple of minutes, it would be less of an issue.

[Clive George]

I used to think that, but the Li-ion battery in my current camera lasts for so long that it's fine. I think that's a feature of the lower power consumption of the camera.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Both Nicad and NiMh were used for mobile phones and laptops.

The beauty of using a standard sized cell of whatever flavour is that they can be bought near anywhere and are therefore cheaper - as well as convenience when they need replacing.

Many battery packs do in fact use standard sized cells inside them.

[Mike Lane]

On Thu, 9 Apr 2009 14:06:36 +0100, chris French wrote (in article ):

I see no reason why a standard charging socket could not be adopted. In fact there's some evidence of this with GPS units for use in cars where a USB socket is often used for charging

I agree with you but digital cameras are not really high power devices. My Canon Powershot claims to get 350 pictures from a set of standard Alkaline AA cells. I use disposable Lithium AAs which are claimed to have 7 times the capacity of Alkalines. Even allowing for manufacturers' exaggeration this is a very large number of images. I certainly get at least 1000 shots from one set of 4 cells. This lasts me for so long that I see no need to bother with a charger and all that.

[Harry Stottle]

After reading some of the good comments on here about the Tronic (starfish) battery charger from Lidl, I purchased one yesterday for £12.70. This morning I received an email from Lidl and these chargers are being reduced to £6.36 from the 16th April, but it was still a good buy at £12.70, so I wont be taking it back for a refund :-)

[T i m]

On Thu, 9 Apr 2009 12:30:03 +0100, Mike Lane wrote: .

Hmm,

Someone mentioned the other day that our doorbell didn't works and that was because the 4xC NiMH's had gone flat. So I went out and treated it to a set of Duracell's and perhaps the doorbell has been used twice since (that I know of). Someone else mentioned the doorbell wasn't working and it might be down to a stuck bell push. Well, that and now 4 dead brand new Duracells.

The NiMH's are going back in. ;-)

T i m

[Mark]

You (both) need Sanyo eneloop batteries

[Rod]

My Canon seems pretty heavy - the image stabilisation, the long zoom range, flash, etc. Using Energizer Lithium Power AA disposable gave phenomenal life. I gave up carrying a spare set around whenever I took the camera out. Definitely expensive (GBP 5.70 at 7day shop). But I get the feeling that 'ordinary' alkalines actually have power left but maybe the voltage has dropped too far for the camera to be happy.

[Mike Lane]

On Thu, 9 Apr 2009 19:22:50 +0100, Rod wrote (in article ):

Yes, exactly. I usually do carry some spare Alkaline AAs when out walking though, as they'll do either for my camera or my GPS if necessary. I also keep a spare set of the Lithium AAs in the house as they're not so readily available and there's no worry about shelf life as they're said to be good for at least 10 years (I'll be dead by then anyway!).

[Dave Liquorice]

Only being sacastic as you don't seem able to take your blinkers off and see a wider world. *You* may not have a need for individual batteries and a single charger but plenty of people do for very sound reasons.

I've already said we have devices that chomp through a 6 x AAA alkalines in 4 days, even from the pound shop that just does not make economic sense.

My small digital camera runs from a propritary Li-Ion battery and it's hopeless. Very hit and miss as to the state of charge when I want to use and if it's flat or nearly flat being propritary means I'm stuffed. Now if it ran from a couple of AAA NiMH, they'd have more capacity than the Li-Ion and if they just happened to be flat I could just bung a spare set in or buy some alkalines. Space occupied by the Li-Ion or 2 x AAA's is so close as to be not a problem in the overall volume of the camera.

[Frank Erskine]

I've a Canon 300D with a Li-ion battery and I'm amazed at the battery life. Admittedly I don't use it every day but I think the battery has let me down only once or twice in about 4 years . I occasionally stick it on charge and it's invariably 'fully charged' in fewer than 15 minutes

Possibly if I was to use it intensively with much zooming it might drain the battery a bit quicker.

[T i m]

My first digital camera, a Fuji DX5 took 4 x AA and had no LCD screen so the battery life was very good (such that it wasn't an issue). That was replaced with a DX7 and it's LCD but also with 4 x AA battery life was 'ok' (but no where near as good as in the DX5). Same with the next model, the DX10.

Then I went for the F420 which came with a little pack made of 2 x

750mA AAA NiMH (it *was* actually 2 x AAA stuck together in a pack) and the battery life on that was abysmal. Not only did you have only 2 cells but they were much reduced capacity being AAA and now you had an electrical driven zoom lens and cover to drive as well! ;-(

I've replaced the std pack with a pair of 1000mA NiMH's and 'fixed' the battery sense switch so it now charges in it's cradle (done so you didn't accidentally charge Alkaline's etc).

The trouble is it's (still) actually a nice / handy little camera [1] shame about the battery issue.

T i m

[1] Flash, viewfinder, LCD screen, xD, replaceable cells, compact, metal, 3.1Mp.

[tony sayer]

I bought some hi capacity cells from RS weren't that expensive and their fine in the camera a charge seems to last for ages:)...

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember T i m saying something like:

I've noticed this too. Bog standard basic rechargeable NiMHs, which I would expect to self-discharge inside a remote, actually last much longer than I expect them to; months, in fact.

Ahah. That might be a known Fuji fault - some of them didn't like CF cards and wouldn't switch off the memory circuitry properly when powered down, flattening the batteries within a couple of days. Depending what model it is, he might be able to load a later firmware which could fix that. The native Fuji xD picture card wasn't affected, just CF.

[Adrian C]

DSLRs are like that :-) No need to electically drive the whole lens in and out, or totally provide on-line action on the rear panel LCD. Also theres more room for a meatier battery. The one in my D70 lasts me ages between charges.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Dave Plowman (News)" saying something like:

I bought one a couple of months ago - a much better way of keeping things up to snuff than the other chargers I have, some of which I'm reluctant to use as they're too fast, imo.

[T i m]

My AAA eneloops arrived this morning and I've done a crude experiment. I have two Fuji F420 cameras, one containing a pair of 1000mA NiMH's (just off charge in cradle) and put a pair of 750-800mA eneloops in the other. Set them both to self discharge and noted the first one to cut off (1hr 5m) was the straight NiMH's. I didn't see when the eneloops died as I was diagnosing / getting / fitting a replacement battery on my neighbours Focus at the time. ;-(

Anyway, I'll charge both cameras in the dock (so they get the same type / level of charge) and do the experiment again, possibly also swapping batteries between the cameras.

Hmm, well I think it's a basic Fuji A300 (series) jobbie but I can't remember what format it takes. Daughters S6000 takes both xD and CF I think. I'll ask other neighbour to check that out when I see her next.

Cheers, T i m