Need "half decent" battery charger for NiCds and NiMhs

[jg.campbell.ng]

Some time ago, I asked about replacing NiCd rechargables with NiMhs in a cordless phone. That seems to have worked fine.

Then as a follow-up I admitted bewilderment on the topic of care and maintenance of rechargables.

Dave Plowman replied: A half decent charger should cut out after the battery is charged or go to a maintenance charge - but don't expect this with a cheap power tool. There are types available which will cope with different numbers of cells and both Ni-Cad and NiMH. Mascot is one make. This might also help.

that website was a great help.

However, I could not find anything made by Mascot that explicitly met my requirements. Can anyone suggest a make and model? for AA chiefly; cut out when charged preferred.

You would think that the like of Maplin or budgetbatteries.co.uk would sell something that explicitly addressed this issue; but not that I can detect.

Incidentally. I have a universal size charger (Delta make, probably Lidl origin) that gives time indications; it also warns not to overcharge, so I guess no cut out there. I have also a small Jessop's AA/AAA charger; no mention of times on that; it does give output = (AA)

2 x (2.8V, 240--280mA) = 1.568VA; no mention of cutout.

One could be forgiven for assuming that sellers of rechargables have little or no concern for the proper use of their products; that figures, I suppose.

TIA,

Jon C.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

I've got a decent charger,alas this has no cut out when fully charged so I use one of these timers that where on offer in Aldi some time ago. I set the time for starting the charge and also ending the charge. :-)

[john2]

I had NiMH's in my BT 3500 synergy handsets and they usually ran pretty warm when charging on the base units and the batts seemed cream crackered after a year or so. I think the batteries are regarded as semi-disposable. I used to turn the hand sets right off and turn them on only when the base unit rang so as to stop them charging so much.

john2

[Bookworm]

I have a Uniross Sprint 15 bought from Batterylogic. I think it is a superb bit if kit. Fast charges NIMH (but not Nicad). Takes on battery at any state of charge and fully charges it with trickle charge at the end and cuts out when all is done. Takes 4 x AA.

Plenty of lights to tell you what is going on.

[jkn]

The Vanson 'Speedy box',

on the pricier side and has commensurate features - individual monitoring of each station, pulse charging, discharge setting, etc. etc. I have one and reccomend it.

I think Radio Control modellers rate it, which is a good sign also, as battery life & efficiency is of prime importance to them.

Jon N

[Peter Parry]

at 800mA and goes to a C/10 charge when finished which gives you a day or two to remove the batteries before they start to suffer a little.

I've used quite a few of these and they work well. They have the advantage of running off 12VDC as well so can be used in a car.

AA and AAA _only_.

[mike]

"jkn" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I've got one recommended here that looks exactly the same at about 23 quid cheaper

(watch the wrap) - mine'll be a lagertop

mike

[manatbandq]

Try reading the instructions. Mine say to not leave the handsets on the cradle all the time and let the batteries discharge regularly. Probably because the charging circuit is crap.

MBQ

[T i m]

I'm beginning to dislike the terms 'Speedy', 'Fast' or 'Ultra' with regard to all these chargers.

I translate then to read 'Cook', 'Roast' and 'Knacker'? ;-(

We have *many* battery powered devices around the house (inc cycling and camping gear) so wanted a decent, bulk, reliable, safe, gentle, flexible (D,C,AA, AAA,PP3) individually monitored charger and the only one that seemed to fit the bill was the Ansmann Energy 16.

appears their 'Energy' range of chargers are more gentle than their other models (I also have the PowerLine 5 and that's also double as a toaster). ;-(

Drop in a Nicad or NiMH and leave it to do it's stuff.

I think it first tests the battery (polarity / short cct etc) then works out roughly what state of charge it's in (indicated with the LED near each bay going Red, Amber or Green).

Then it takes it into some sort of test / discharge phase (flashing red LEDs), then charge (solid red) then charged (green).

The interesting thing is just from watching the order the LED's come up green in points out the weaker cells, allowing you to make up more balanced sets.

It has also allowed me to 'weed out' some of the faulty cells in my (ever growing) collection ;-)

Expensive? You get's what you pays for and it could pay for itself in extended battery cycle life in time ..?

All the best ..

T i m

[jg.campbell.ng]

found them pretty good for after sales backup when a charger for a video camera didn't do what was claimed).

Incidentally, I've also ordered some of those thingys that allow AA to be used as C and D.

I'll take your word about the gentility; my intuition makes me suspicious of anything faster than slow charge. Also I'll have to do a lot of recharging to make it pay its way, but ...

And many thanks to everyone else; actually, it turns out that I just wasn't looking properly.

Best regards,

Jon C.

[T i m]

Good to hear ..

On a similar vein I use a dummy AA to turn a 6 cell clip into a 5 cell pack ;-)

I have found that it sometimes takes new cells a few cycles to 'settle down' (different to gaining full capacity) so I generally keep an eye (occasional finger) on any new sets. Dirty battery ends or charger contacts can sometimes 'confuse' the charger, not detecting DeltaV etc properly. I've never had the Energy 16 'pop' a cell (yet) though .. ;-)

Well, indeed, but outside the potential money savings is the comfort that the cells will be charged probably as quick as they can be with the minimum of risk and the convenience of being able to charge 12 AA or AAA's at once. Also I believe very slow (therefore safe) charging has a bearing on how the cell release their energy .. (so that may not be good in all circumstances) ?

Yup, sometimes it's handy to know you are in the right place and hadn't missed summat .. ;-)

All the best ..

T i m.

p.s. Although I haven actually timed the Energy 16 in action I do know that the older 500mA Nicad AA's don't take long to charge, whereas my new batch of 2700's seem to be in there for ages! ;-)

p.p.s. Charging 12 x 2700mA AA NiMH's from flat simultaneously certainly makes the charger run fairly warm!