AA Battery chargers

[Davey]

Our Duracell NiMH AA/AAA recharger has died. I have recently added some
1700 mAh batteries to the mix of original 1300 mAh ones, which may or
may not have precipitated its death. I am looking for a replacement
charger, able to sensibly recharge these, preferably in any mix.
Are there any brands/models known to be good or bad?

I'll look at Maplin, CPC, etc, but personal recommendations are always
welcome.

--
Davey.

[D.M.Chapman]

I've got an Ansmann Energy 8 Plus - and it's brilliant.

Not cheap though - you didn't give an indication of price so don't know if
this is in range

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001FR6SNK

Darren

[newshound]

Well worth paying the extra for proper "smart" chargers rather than the
bargain basement: smart chargers make sure a mixed set all get "filled",
and don't destroy cells by overcharging.

[Davey]

I saw the Ansmann name (which I don't know) all over the CPC site, so
that is a good recommendation from you. Yes, that's a high price
(although they offer one used at 50p!), but Ansmann have a good range.
Many thanks.

Looking at the spec. for my dead Duracell charger, it says that its
Output was 360 mAh, but it was supplied with (4) AA NiMH batteries, each
with a charging draw of 130 mA, so it could not, in theory, even
provide full charge for a full load of (4) cells, requiring 520mA. So
adding some 170mA cells probably did for it.

--
Davey.

[Davey]

I would agree, with my little knowledge. Hopefully a cheaper Ansmann
will still be Smart enough. I don't need to charge 8 cells at once, for
example.

The Duracell was supposed to be 'microprocessor controlled', but I think
I just overloaded it by using higher capacity cells, defeating any
brain power it had by brute force.

--
Davey.

[Adam Aglionby]

7day shop 808 , had one for years:

http://www.7dayshop.com/7dayshop-battery-charger-808lcd-intelligent-and-super-fast-for-ni-mh-for-aa-and-aaa-sizes?backUrl=L2JhdHRlcmllcy1wb3dlci1jaGFyZ2Vycz9jYXQ9MTYy

[AnthonyL]

On Fri, 4 Apr 2014 12:27:52 +0100, Davey <da...@example.invalid>
wrote:

When I investigated a couple of years ago I ended up with the
Technoline BL700 intelligent, AA and AAA. I also gradually moved over
to Eneloop batteries after chasing high power batteries only to learn
that they had high internal resistance. I nearly threw away a digital
camera until someone pointed me in the Eneloop direction. Camera sits
in boot of car - months at a time and still fires up when needed.


--
AnthonyL

[Chris J Dixon]

Davey wrote:

>Our Duracell NiMH AA/AAA recharger has died. I have recently added some
>1700 mAh batteries to the mix of original 1300 mAh ones, which may or
>may not have precipitated its death. I am looking for a replacement
>charger, able to sensibly recharge these, preferably in any mix.

I have found this to be pretty good. Being intelligent, it will
also refresh tired batteries.

<http://www.amazon.co.uk/Technoline-Intelligent-battery-charger-Version/dp/B003S4JQS2/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics-accessories&ie=UTF8&qid=1396613903&sr=1-3&keywords=bl700>

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK
ch...@cdixon.me.uk

Plant amazing Acers.

[Dave Liquorice]

On Fri, 4 Apr 2014 11:30:32 +0100, Davey wrote:

> I am looking for a replacement charger, able to sensibly recharge these,
> preferably in any mix.

The Aldi charger does the business normally less than £15 when they
have them but I haven't seen one in the shops for a while. Can do 2 x
D, 6 x AA/AAA and two PP3. The bays for the D/AA/AAA are shared.
"Computerised" so checks each cell and then charges as required.

--
Cheers
Dave.

[whisky-dave]

That's not really the case as most chargers charge 2 cells at a time so yo only have 2X130ma of current being drawn at a time rather than 4X130ma


I'm not to sure about the fast 1 hour charges or whether they are worth using.
I have a couple of chargers at work that I use.

good value
http://www.rapidonline.com/Electrical-Power/GP-ReCyko-Plus-NiMH-Value-Pack-with-PB420-Charger-18-4001

and a discontinued uni-ross.

[Davey]

On Fri, 4 Apr 2014 05:38:04 -0700 (PDT)
whisky-dave <whisk...@gmail.com> wrote:

> That's not really the case as most chargers charge 2 cells at a time
> so yo only have 2X130ma of current being drawn at a time rather than
> 4X130ma

This one is specifically designed to take 4 batteries at once, either
(4) AAs or AAAs, or (2) of each. It worked fine until recently, at
about the time I added the higher power cells to the mix.

--
Davey.

[Davey]

Yes, I have read about the Eneloop batteries. But first, I need to get
a charger.

--
Davey.

[Davey]

On Fri, 04 Apr 2014 13:20:15 +0100
Chris J Dixon <ch...@cdixon.me.uk> wrote:

> Davey wrote:
>
> >Our Duracell NiMH AA/AAA recharger has died. I have recently added
> >some 1700 mAh batteries to the mix of original 1300 mAh ones, which
> >may or may not have precipitated its death. I am looking for a
> >replacement charger, able to sensibly recharge these, preferably in
> >any mix.
>
> I have found this to be pretty good. Being intelligent, it will
> also refresh tired batteries.
>
> <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Technoline-Intelligent-battery-charger-Version/dp/B003S4JQS2/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics-accessories&ie=UTF8&qid=1396613903&sr=1-3&keywords=bl700>
>
> Chris

Thanks. I did come across that one during my researching. Good to have
a recommendation, thanks.

--
Davey.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <nyyfbegfubjuvyypb...@srv1.howhill.co.uk>,

I have the Lidl version badged Tronic which is the same by your
description. One extra feature is it is self contained - no wall wart.
It's been in regular use since I bought it several years ago - excellent
device. Think I saw them in Lidl recently.

--
*Failure is not an option. It's bundled with your software.

Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Chris K]

Chris J Dixon wrote:
> Davey wrote:
>
>> Our Duracell NiMH AA/AAA recharger has died. I have recently added some
>> 1700 mAh batteries to the mix of original 1300 mAh ones, which may or
>> may not have precipitated its death. I am looking for a replacement
>> charger, able to sensibly recharge these, preferably in any mix.
>
> I have found this to be pretty good. Being intelligent, it will
> also refresh tired batteries.
>
> <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Technoline-Intelligent-battery-charger-Version/dp/B003S4JQS2/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics-accessories&ie=UTF8&qid=1396613903&sr=1-3&keywords=bl700>
>
> Chris
>

Seconded, though it can be confused by a cell that has been reverse
charged by being the weakest in a set of 2 or more used in a device.
They are rejected as dead. A few seconds in parallel with an ordinary
alkaline cell with charge them enough for the charger to recognise them
(or keep a cheap dumb charger to hand).

As it will also measure cell capacity, it is useful in grouping sets of
cells to equalise actual capacity.

Chris K

[PeterC]

On Fri, 4 Apr 2014 12:27:52 +0100, Davey wrote:

> On Fri, 04 Apr 2014 12:16:31 +0100
> newshound <news...@stevejqr.plus.com> wrote:
>
>> On 04/04/2014 11:30, Davey wrote:
>>> Our Duracell NiMH AA/AAA recharger has died. I have recently added
>>> some 1700 mAh batteries to the mix of original 1300 mAh ones, which
>>> may or may not have precipitated its death. I am looking for a
>>> replacement charger, able to sensibly recharge these, preferably in
>>> any mix. Are there any brands/models known to be good or bad?
>>>
>>> I'll look at Maplin, CPC, etc, but personal recommendations are
>>> always welcome.
>>>
>> Well worth paying the extra for proper "smart" chargers rather than
>> the bargain basement: smart chargers make sure a mixed set all get
>> "filled", and don't destroy cells by overcharging.
>
> I would agree, with my little knowledge. Hopefully a cheaper Ansmann
> will still be Smart enough. I don't need to charge 8 cells at once, for
> example.
>

It seems that cells need slow charging but chargers boast of speed.
Even buying LSD NiMH cells and charger together, from Aldidl, there's a
mismatch between them.
I always charge 4 cells together to mitigate the need for speed.

> The Duracell was supposed to be 'microprocessor controlled', but I think
> I just overloaded it by using higher capacity cells, defeating any
> brain power it had by brute force.

High capacity won't make any difference - just take longer. If the cells are
indeed high power (cordless drills etc.) then the internal resistance would
be low. Surely any worthwhile charger should be able to limit its own output
so as not to commit suicide.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

[PeterC]

On Fri, 04 Apr 2014 14:50:56 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

> In article <nyyfbegfubjuvyypb...@srv1.howhill.co.uk>,
> Dave Liquorice <allsortsn...@howhill.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, 4 Apr 2014 11:30:32 +0100, Davey wrote:
>
>>> I am looking for a replacement charger, able to sensibly recharge these,
>>> preferably in any mix.
>
>> The Aldi charger does the business normally less than £15 when they
>> have them but I haven't seen one in the shops for a while. Can do 2 x
>> D, 6 x AA/AAA and two PP3. The bays for the D/AA/AAA are shared.
>> "Computerised" so checks each cell and then charges as required.
>
> I have the Lidl version badged Tronic which is the same by your
> description. One extra feature is it is self contained - no wall wart.
> It's been in regular use since I bought it several years ago - excellent
> device. Think I saw them in Lidl recently.

Ah, that's the one I referred to above. It's charging rate exceeds the
recommended rate for the cells.
Works well though.

[whisky-dave]

Mine also take 4 cells at a time in sets of 2 only.

>
>
>
> --
>
> Davey.

[Michael Chare]

On 04/04/2014 13:20, Chris J Dixon wrote:
> Davey wrote:
>
>> Our Duracell NiMH AA/AAA recharger has died. I have recently added some
>> 1700 mAh batteries to the mix of original 1300 mAh ones, which may or
>> may not have precipitated its death. I am looking for a replacement
>> charger, able to sensibly recharge these, preferably in any mix.
>
> I have found this to be pretty good. Being intelligent, it will
> also refresh tired batteries.
>
> <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Technoline-Intelligent-battery-charger-Version/dp/B003S4JQS2/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics-accessories&ie=UTF8&qid=1396613903&sr=1-3&keywords=bl700>
>
> Chris
>

Will it charge NiZn batteries?

Is it any better than this Accupower unit which is cheaper:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004Z5XXZU/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_img?_encoding=UTF8&colid=FJMNVD508BEH&coliid=I1Y37EC4887NN8

The Accupower is not suitable for NiZn batteries.



--
Michael Chare

[Andy Burns]

D.M.Chapman wrote:

> I've got an Ansmann Energy 8 Plus - and it's brilliant.

I have one too (well, mine's not the plus), recommended

[Andy Burns]

Davey wrote:

> Hopefully a cheaper Ansmann
> will still be Smart enough. I don't need to charge 8 cells at once, for
> example.

As well as the Energy8, I have an older Energy4 Speed, it only does
AA/AAA but will work from 240V or from a cigar lighter, it has a fan to
cool the batteries as it charges them quickly.

[Davey]

Many thanks for all the replies. I have ordered a 7dayshop 808LCD, it
compared well, was well priced, and I needed to order something today.

--
dAVEY.

[Simon Cee]

On Fri, 04 Apr 2014 14:50:56 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"

<da...@davenoise.co.uk> wrote:

>In article <nyyfbegfubjuvyypb...@srv1.howhill.co.uk>,
> Dave Liquorice <allsortsn...@howhill.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, 4 Apr 2014 11:30:32 +0100, Davey wrote:
>
>> > I am looking for a replacement charger, able to sensibly recharge these,
>> > preferably in any mix.
>
>> The Aldi charger does the business normally less than £15 when they
>> have them but I haven't seen one in the shops for a while. Can do 2 x
>> D, 6 x AA/AAA and two PP3. The bays for the D/AA/AAA are shared.
>> "Computerised" so checks each cell and then charges as required.

I got the Aldi charger after recommendations here iirc. Works just
fine.

[Dave Liquorice]

On Fri, 04 Apr 2014 14:50:56 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

>> The Aldi charger does the business normally less than £15 when
they
>> have them but I haven't seen one in the shops for a while. Can do
2 x
>> D, 6 x AA/AAA and two PP3. The bays for the D/AA/AAA are shared.
>> "Computerised" so checks each cell and then charges as required.
>
> I have the Lidl version badged Tronic which is the same by your
> description.

Hum, mines "Tronic" as well, there are no convient Lidl stores for me
but there is for Aldi. I may have got the store wrong... Wanders off
to charging shelf... Kompernass KH980.

> One extra feature is it is self contained - no wall wart.

Yes I like that as well.

> It's been in regular use since I bought it several years ago

Mine has a Manufactured 10/2008 sticker.

--
Cheers
Dave.

[Dave Liquorice]

On Fri, 04 Apr 2014 16:18:45 +0100, Chris K
wrote:

<http://www.amazon.co.uk/Technoline-Intelligent-battery-charger-Versio
n/dp/B003S4JQS2/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics-accessories&ie=UTF8&qid=13966
13903&sr=1-3&keywords=bl700>

> As it will also measure cell capacity, it is useful in grouping sets of
> cells to equalise actual capacity.

I was quite keen on that (though the price is a bit steep) but to do
it it has to fully charge, the discharge and then fully charge again.
Now if it could tell you the capacity after a normal recharge cycle
it would have been better.

I currently just measure off load terminal voltage after the cells
have been off the charger for a day to group cells of nominally the
same capacity into sets. Primitive but seems to work.

--
Cheers
Dave.

[Brian Gaff]

When you say died, do you mean completely? Normally these single chip type
chargers are just four modules connected to a pretty normal supply, either
switch mode or analogue.

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Davey" <da...@example.invalid> wrote in message
news:lhm1k8$um7$2...@dont-email.me...

[Davey]

On Fri, 4 Apr 2014 23:01:05 +0100
"Brian Gaff" <brian...@gmail.com> wrote:

> When you say died, do you mean completely? Normally these single chip
> type chargers are just four modules connected to a pretty normal
> supply, either switch mode or analogue.
>
> Brian
>

It does not show any LEDs under any circumstance. It makes no
difference what batteries I install. And the Torx screws holding it
together are smaller than my smallest.
Once I have a working charger, then I'll open this one somehow.

--
Davey.

[damdu...@yahoo.co.uk]

On Fri, 4 Apr 2014 16:47:57 +0100, PeterC
<giraffe...@homecall.co.uk> wrote:

>On Fri, 04 Apr 2014 14:50:56 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
>
>> In article <nyyfbegfubjuvyypb...@srv1.howhill.co.uk>,
>> Dave Liquorice <allsortsn...@howhill.com> wrote:
>>> On Fri, 4 Apr 2014 11:30:32 +0100, Davey wrote:
>>
>>>> I am looking for a replacement charger, able to sensibly recharge these,
>>>> preferably in any mix.
>>
>>> The Aldi charger does the business normally less than £15 when they
>>> have them but I haven't seen one in the shops for a while. Can do 2 x
>>> D, 6 x AA/AAA and two PP3.

>> I have the Lidl version badged Tronic which is the same by your
>> description. One extra feature is it is self contained - no wall wart.
>> It's been in regular use since I bought it several years ago - excellent
>> device. Think I saw them in Lidl recently.
>
>Ah, that's the one I referred to above. It's charging rate exceeds the
>recommended rate for the cells.
>Works well though.

Bought one last week in a Lidl in Devon, there were a few in the bin
so it was probably a recent stock rather than an odd one that had hung
around for a while.
G.Harman

[PeterC]

The first Eneloop cells that I had (16 of them*) were, on arrival, at the
same voltage +-0.001!

*ordered 8 from 7DayShop and 3 were damaged. e-mailed, with offer of a
photo, and a couple of days later another 8 arrived! 2 of the damaged ones
are useable but the third, although sort of OK, is too deformed to go into
anything.

[Martin Brown]

On 04/04/2014 11:30, Davey wrote:

> Our Duracell NiMH AA/AAA recharger has died. I have recently added some
> 1700 mAh batteries to the mix of original 1300 mAh ones, which may or

> may not have precipitated its death. I am looking for a replacement

> charger, able to sensibly recharge these, preferably in any mix.

The capacity of the battery should not affect the charger particularly -
only the length of time they take to recharge.

They must be incredibly ancient batteries to only have a stated capacity
of under 2Ah though in AA size. I didn't think they made AA NiMH in
capcities smaller than that certainly not in the last decade.

The smallest NiMH AA I have is 2Ah and the most recent ones are 2800mAh.
These days it is worth buying the slightly lower capacity but long life
low discharge types (again Aldi/Lidl sometimes have bargains).

> Are there any brands/models known to be good or bad?
>
> I'll look at Maplin, CPC, etc, but personal recommendations are always
> welcome.

Lidl/Aldis own brand smart charger will do all sizes of battery
automatic NiMH NiCd detection and in any combination. It seems pretty
well behaved apart from being a little conservative about recharging
really badly discharged cells that have been seriously abused.

If you need an AA only on then Maplin do one that isn't too bad and
cheap - professional ones cost more and will do controlled fast charge.
I have the predecessor of this one for travel use:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-nimh-nicd-and-hybrid-aaa-and-aa-worldwide-fast-battery-charger-n42bx

It is hard to buy a dumb as a rock one that will just keep adding juice
until the battery explodes these days. Product liablity prevent them
being sold, but I expect you could find nasty Chinese ones on eBay.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

[RJH]

On 04/04/2014 16:18, Chris K wrote:
> Chris J Dixon wrote:
>> Davey wrote:
>>
>>> Our Duracell NiMH AA/AAA recharger has died. I have recently added some
>>> 1700 mAh batteries to the mix of original 1300 mAh ones, which may or
>>> may not have precipitated its death. I am looking for a replacement
>>> charger, able to sensibly recharge these, preferably in any mix.
>>
>> I have found this to be pretty good. Being intelligent, it will
>> also refresh tired batteries.
>>
>> <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Technoline-Intelligent-battery-charger-Version/dp/B003S4JQS2/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics-accessories&ie=UTF8&qid=1396613903&sr=1-3&keywords=bl700>
>>
>>
>> Chris
>>
>
> Seconded, though it can be confused by a cell that has been reverse
> charged by being the weakest in a set of 2 or more used in a device.
> They are rejected as dead. A few seconds in parallel with an ordinary
> alkaline cell with charge them enough for the charger to recognise them
> (or keep a cheap dumb charger to hand).
>

Ah, wondered what that was - get it every so often with my Lidl charger.
Quick blast on dumb charger 'fixes' it, as you say.


--
Cheers, Rob

[polygonum]

Trouble with mentions of the Lidl charger is that there are (at least)
two such beasts. The compact one which can do AA and AAA cells only. And
the larger one which can do at least C as well (and maybe others). Not
sure whether there are significant differences other than physical cell
holding?

I have a compact one. It charges cells individually. It works and has
done for several years - but I am not a massively demanding user.

--
Rod

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <bq9uk6...@mid.individual.net>,

polygonum <rmoud...@vrod.co.uk> wrote:
> Trouble with mentions of the Lidl charger is that there are (at least)
> two such beasts. The compact one which can do AA and AAA cells only. And
> the larger one which can do at least C as well (and maybe others). Not
> sure whether there are significant differences other than physical cell
> holding?

I have one of each. They both work well.

--
*Why 'that tie suits you' but 'those shoes suit you'?*

[Martin Brown]

On 05/04/2014 10:32, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
> In article <bq9uk6...@mid.individual.net>,
> polygonum <rmoud...@vrod.co.uk> wrote:
>> Trouble with mentions of the Lidl charger is that there are (at least)
>> two such beasts. The compact one which can do AA and AAA cells only. And
>> the larger one which can do at least C as well (and maybe others). Not
>> sure whether there are significant differences other than physical cell
>> holding?
>
> I have one of each. They both work well.

I have the larger newest one and it will do everything up to D-cells.
Some their Tronic low self discharge cells are a real bargain too!

It is also smart about refreshing batteries but slightly too cautious
about ones which have become seriously low voltage through abuse.

There are plenty of fast chargers these days which push batteries close
to their thermal limits. I have never known the Lidl one get my
batteries uncomfortably hot and it works plenty well enough for me.

(I am a fairly demanding user of rechargeables)

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

[Johny B Good]

I use a Nikon Coolpix MH-71 charger to fast charge 1 or 2 AA NiMh
cells (it only takes AA cells) and it's just too brainy to charge some
of my collection of LSD cells which have turned 'funny'.

It was one of the accessories in the box when I bought the 3.2Mpxl
Coolpix in Toronto back in 2005. It was designed to quick charge the
original 1800mAH cells in about 2 hours. It takes a little longer for
it to charge the 2000mAH spares I bought at the time and, of course,
even longer for the 2300mAH LSD cells I bought in subsequent years.

It's still going strong even after all this time but I suspect that's
due largely on account of its built-in 'overheat' protection. As for
trying to fool it into charging those funny cells by charging them
from a 4 cell (AA and AAA) Uniross Compact Fast[1] ( 'dumb') Charger
(AA 350mA/AAA 150mA) which can only charge pairs of cells at a time,
it's still wise to the fact that they're 'funny cells'.

Both chargers are, rather usefully, of the 100 -240v AC type which is
rather handy for overseas visits and cruise ship voyages. The original
Coolpix is virtually unusable now on account the well hidden RTC and
settings lithium cell backup 'battery' no longer works. It would need
to be reprogrammed after every single time it's switched off, not just
after a battery swap out.

However, the MH-71 charger does charging duty for a Canon PowerShot
A720 IS [2] which also, rather conscionably, uses AA cells a pair at a
time. I wasn't at all bothered by the lack of a charger in the Canon
accessories kit since I knew could rely on the MH-71 to keep the AA
cells charged up (extracting extended ROI on my earlier Nikon
investment).

[1] 'Compact' on account it's a switch mode design which plugs
directly into a wall socket and 'Fast' because it can charge the
2000mAH cells in only 6 hours as opposed to the more typical 14 to 16
hour charging time of an 'ordinary' charger.

[2] The A720 IS does at least have a user replaceable lithium coin
cell so it won't be forced into early retirement for the sake of a
'flat battery' like the little Nikon was.
--
Regards, J B Good

[Chris J Dixon]

Michael Chare wrote:

>On 04/04/2014 13:20, Chris J Dixon wrote:

>> I have found this to be pretty good. Being intelligent, it will
>> also refresh tired batteries.
>>
>> <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Technoline-Intelligent-battery-charger-Version/dp/B003S4JQS2/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics-accessories&ie=UTF8&qid=1396613903&sr=1-3&keywords=bl700>

>Will it charge NiZn batteries?

Not so far as I know.

>Is it any better than this Accupower unit which is cheaper:
>
>http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004Z5XXZU/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_img?_encoding=UTF8&colid=FJMNVD508BEH&coliid=I1Y37EC4887NN8

It can select a different action for each cell inserted, whilst
the Accupower cannot.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK
ch...@cdixon.me.uk

Plant amazing Acers.

[damdu...@yahoo.co.uk]

On Sat, 05 Apr 2014 09:53:13 +0100, polygonum <rmoud...@vrod.co.uk>
wrote:

>> Bought one last week in a Lidl in Devon, there were a few in the bin
>> so it was probably a recent stock rather than an odd one that had hung
>> around for a while.
>> G.Harman
>>
>Trouble with mentions of the Lidl charger is that there are (at least)
>two such beasts. The compact one which can do AA and AAA cells only. And
>the larger one which can do at least C as well (and maybe others). Not
>sure whether there are significant differences other than physical cell
>holding?

Fairy Nuff.
To clarify the one I got in Lidl about 12 days ago was the one whose
mention upthread was quoted in my first reply where it described what
cells it took. ,so it will be the smaller one.

Repeated below,

>The Aldi charger does the business normally less than £15 when they
>>>>> have them but I haven't seen one in the shops for a while. Can do 2 x
>>>>> D, 6 x AA/AAA and two PP3.
>>>> I have the Lidl version badged Tronic which is the same by your
>>>> description. One extra feature is it is self contained - no wall wart.

G.Harman

[Peter Crosland]

On 04/04/2014 11:30, Davey wrote:
> Our Duracell NiMH AA/AAA recharger has died. I have recently added some
> 1700 mAh batteries to the mix of original 1300 mAh ones, which may or
> may not have precipitated its death. I am looking for a replacement
> charger, able to sensibly recharge these, preferably in any mix.

> Are there any brands/models known to be good or bad?
>
> I'll look at Maplin, CPC, etc, but personal recommendations are always
> welcome.

www.battery-force.co.uk


Unrivalled in my experience.
--
Peter Crosland

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

On Fri, 4 Apr 2014 16:45:47 +0100, PeterC
<giraffe...@homecall.co.uk> wrote:

>Even buying LSD NiMH cells and charger together, from Aldidl, there's a
>mismatch between them.
>I always charge 4 cells together to mitigate the need for speed.

Beware; my Lidl Tronic multi-NiMH charger has taken to not cutting off
properly on a couple of channels. Only today I found a battery which
came off the thing with 2.0V in it. Not good - could have fried chips
on its case.
Ho-hum - that lasted well, but now unreliable and untrustworthy.

[Davey]

It arrived today, which is not bad. The 'User Manual' was printed on a
photocopier, and is barely readable, but the charger seems to work. The
manual mentions how to set it to 'Recharge' before 'Charge', but gives
no indication as to when this might be worth doing, which is very
unhelpful. I am currently (sorry) just recharging all the batteries, and
I will note any that seem to have problems of any kind.
I dismantled the old Duracell charger, and there is nothing obviously
wrong with it. Maybe the overtemp. sensor has failed. It might just
become a source of parts.

--
Davey.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <t7s5k9dqlb016sro7...@4ax.com>,

Grimly Curmudgeon <gri...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Beware; my Lidl Tronic multi-NiMH charger has taken to not cutting off
> properly on a couple of channels. Only today I found a battery which
> came off the thing with 2.0V in it. Not good - could have fried chips
> on its case.
> Ho-hum - that lasted well, but now unreliable and untrustworthy.

Have you tried cleaning the contacts?

--
*Everybody lies, but it doesn't matter since nobody listens*

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

On Tue, 08 Apr 2014 00:38:28 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
<da...@davenoise.co.uk> wrote:

>In article <t7s5k9dqlb016sro7...@4ax.com>,
> Grimly Curmudgeon <gri...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Beware; my Lidl Tronic multi-NiMH charger has taken to not cutting off
>> properly on a couple of channels. Only today I found a battery which
>> came off the thing with 2.0V in it. Not good - could have fried chips
>> on its case.
>> Ho-hum - that lasted well, but now unreliable and untrustworthy.
>
>Have you tried cleaning the contacts?

Come to think of it, that battery had a slightly rusty bottom casing.
I'd cleaned it previously, a few charges ago. Might be worthwhile
closely inspecting all the older batteries and cleaning the charger
contacts, as you suggest.

[meow...@care2.com]

On Saturday, April 5, 2014 9:08:02 AM UTC+1, Martin Brown wrote:
> On 04/04/2014 11:30, Davey wrote:

> They must be incredibly ancient batteries to only have a stated capacity
> of under 2Ah though in AA size. I didn't think they made AA NiMH in
> capcities smaller than that certainly not in the last decade.

I looked a month or so ago, capacities started from 0.6Ah.

> It is hard to buy a dumb as a rock one that will just keep adding juice
> until the battery explodes these days. Product liablity prevent them
> being sold, but I expect you could find nasty Chinese ones on eBay.

There's no risk of battery explosion. But also not much market for slow chargers any more.


NT

[Davey]

On Sat, 05 Apr 2014 09:08:02 +0100

Martin Brown <|||newspam|||@nezumi.demon.co.uk> wrote:

> They must be incredibly ancient batteries to only have a stated
> capacity of under 2Ah though in AA size. I didn't think they made AA
> NiMH in capcities smaller than that certainly not in the last decade.

We have only been back in this country since Nov. 2010, so all of our
rechargeables were purchased since then. Most likely they date from
mid-2011 at the earliest, some later than that.

--
Davey.

[PeterC]

The 'poundshop' (LSD) rechargeable cells are made to a price: >1Ah for AA
and a warm-fart's worth for AAA.

[Johny B Good]

On Sat, 12 Apr 2014 15:53:57 -0700 (PDT), meow...@care2.com wrote:

>On Saturday, April 5, 2014 9:08:02 AM UTC+1, Martin Brown wrote:
>> On 04/04/2014 11:30, Davey wrote:
>
>> They must be incredibly ancient batteries to only have a stated capacity
>> of under 2Ah though in AA size. I didn't think they made AA NiMH in
>> capcities smaller than that certainly not in the last decade.
>
>I looked a month or so ago, capacities started from 0.6Ah.
>

The very first set of AA NiCads I bought (for a Kovac calculator)
were 500mAH capacity and I think this was a 10% improvement on the
previous 450mAH generation of AAs that I had lying around.

>
>> It is hard to buy a dumb as a rock one that will just keep adding juice
>> until the battery explodes these days. Product liablity prevent them
>> being sold, but I expect you could find nasty Chinese ones on eBay.
>
>There's no risk of battery explosion. But also not much market for slow chargers any more.
>

True enough for AA sized NiCad and NiMh cells. They just tend to
overheat and vent off the excess hydrogen/oxygen when the safety seals
open up due to the excess pressure.

[Johny B Good]

Pound shops aren't a very good source for rechargables. Aldi and Lidl
are better sources for such batteries. However, when it comes to cheap
carbon zinc primary cells (particularly the 16 x AA cell packs), they
offer the 'best bang for your buck' (and likewise for the alkaline
cells - this type are horrendously expensive elsewhere).

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <b3pkk9tb5bvoc4ik7...@4ax.com>,

Johny B Good <johnny...@invalid.ntlworld.com> wrote:
> Pound shops aren't a very good source for rechargables. Aldi and Lidl
> are better sources for such batteries. However, when it comes to cheap
> carbon zinc primary cells (particularly the 16 x AA cell packs), they
> offer the 'best bang for your buck' (and likewise for the alkaline
> cells - this type are horrendously expensive elsewhere).

My local pound shop has PP3 carbon by Panasonic at a quid each. Didn't
think that good value.

--
*Failure is not an option. It's bundled with your software.

[Johny B Good]

On Sun, 13 Apr 2014 11:32:17 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
<da...@davenoise.co.uk> wrote:

>In article <b3pkk9tb5bvoc4ik7...@4ax.com>,
> Johny B Good <johnny...@invalid.ntlworld.com> wrote:
>> Pound shops aren't a very good source for rechargables. Aldi and Lidl
>> are better sources for such batteries. However, when it comes to cheap
>> carbon zinc primary cells (particularly the 16 x AA cell packs), they
>> offer the 'best bang for your buck' (and likewise for the alkaline
>> cells - this type are horrendously expensive elsewhere).
>
>My local pound shop has PP3 carbon by Panasonic at a quid each. Didn't
>think that good value.

It isn't! My local pound shops sell zinc carbon PP3s in packs of
three (just handy for making up a 27v door bell battery pack -
replaces a 24 volt 16 AA cell battery pack holder(2 x 8 AA cell
holders stuck back to back) that I'd previously used for a decade or
so).

Up until 2 or 3 years ago, it was possible to by alkaline PP3s in
packs of two. Now they're only available as a one off item in the
pound shops.

[Dave Liquorice]

On Sun, 13 Apr 2014 11:24:22 +0100, Johny B Good wrote:

> Pound shops aren't a very good source for rechargables. Aldi and Lidl
> are better sources for such batteries.

Tesco own brand NiMH are OK, probably not as cheap as Aldi/Lidl but
the price certainly isn't "how much...!". Tesco normally have them in
stock as well ...

--
Cheers
Dave.

[meow...@care2.com]

With respect this is rather unrealistic. Any dumb charger in the real world is designed such that that never happens. The unavoidable consequence is that charging is a good bit slower than an intelligent charger.


NT

[Johny B Good]

Are they selling the low self discharge types?

A few years ago, just after I'd bought a Canon PS A720 IS from
Jessops mail order with a 25 quid off coupon, I paid their shop a
visit and noticed that all the AA rechargables they had on the shelves
were just the ordinary high self discharge rate types (and over priced
at that!).

I was rather surprised at this seeming total lack of awareness of the
Sanyo Eneloop batteries which had been on the market for several years
by then. I thought that if anyone would be stocking the Eneloops, it
would be a photographic shop since it's such a 'no-brainer' match to
the digital P&S camera usage pattern. I'm not surprised that Jessops
went out of business not long after with such a lack of interest in
their customers' needs.

In the end, I landed up buying the Uniross Hybrio LSD cells from my
local Wilkinsons store (the only brand of LSD NiMH AA cells readily
available in the UK at that time). They cost £6.49 for a pack of four
which was considerably cheaper than the Argos price point of £9.99.

I think I paid £4.49 for four AA Tronic 'ready to use' 2300mAH cells
in Aldi a few years ago and about the same more recently for the Activ
branded versions that came on sale in Aldi about a year back.

I've now got a more than ample stock of rechargable AAs for that A720
IS camera . The Superzoom bridge camera, a Canon SX40 HS, uses a
proprietry 7.4v 920mAH (2 cell) Li-ion battery which precludes the
need to add any more AA cells to my stockpile.

I simply bought a cheap compatable Li-ion battery for a tenner from
play.com to use as a spare battery to cover a day's worth of heavy
'tourist' usage and this worked out just fine (I averaged 485 photos a
day(plus some movie footage) on a 14 day cruise to Norway nearly 2
years ago with one day's shooting total peaking at 1578!).

The battery charger supplied with the SX40 HS only takes about 2
hours to fully recharge each of these batteries ready for another
day's "Shoot" so owning just that one additional battery fulfils my
needs quite nicely.

Ignoring the issue of 'contact resistance', a pair of 2100mAH LSD
NiMH cells stores about 5WH, the smaller in volume (and lighter in
weight) Li-ion battery stores just under 7WH. Although a replacement
set of AAs is far cheaper than the Li-ion battery (even at the bargain
price of £9.99 - I've seen the 'genuine Canon article' priced at £23
and even higher), the much better battery contact quality(gold plated
contacts) provides a more consistent result which, at the 10 quid
mark, justifies the higher price (especially so when I only need to
carry a single additional spare in the bag and the low battery warning
actually _does_ mean 'low battery' as opposed to low voltage because
it's either low battery _or_ high contact resistance in the case of AA
cell powered kit).

I suspect the two cameras have about the same power consumption so
the 3 fold battery voltage increase of the Li-ion battery over the 2
cell NiMH battery reduces the current to one third and the contacts to
two versus four which considerably reduces contact resistance problems
greatly assisted by the use of gold plated contacts (where the higher
price of the Li-ion battery can more easily absorb the extra cost of
such a 'luxury feature').

I'm no fan of 'proprietry' battery formats but, in this case, it
would seem to be a justified practice. However, even better would be
kit designed to run off a single 3.7v Li-ion cell such as the type
used in laptop battery packs (18650C4B 2000mAH) since they could be
mass produced for such use and you'd only be throwing a battery away
for the sake of just the one and only cell failure at end of life
instead of a set of 2 or 3 or even 4 out of which only one of the
cells has to suffer premature failure to render the other cell or
three unusable.

The other advantage of single cell 'batteries' is that you can pack
that bit more WH energy capacity into a given battery volume compared
to a multi-celled battery and no need for individual cell health
monitoring and control circuitry to be integrated into the battery
itself. The monitoring can be done by the battery management circuitry
in the portable 'gadget' itself (as must be the case for most mobile
phones) which reduces 'battery' manufacturing costs to a minimum.

Taking a quick look at the wiki article on Li-ion battery technology
suggests it'll be quite a few years yet before the classic AA NiMH
cell is consigned to the pages of history so the situation in regard
to reliable and effective AA Battery Chargers seems set to remain
pertinent for the foreseeable future.

IME, the issue of contact resistance is a significant factor that
afflicts AA chargers and the AA powered kit alike. Care has to be
taken to maintain these contacts in a clean state to get the best out
these batteries in regard to their charging and use. Even a high
quality charger will suffer degraded performance from bad contact
syndrome.

All I can tell you about AA chargers is that there is a very wide
range available starting from 'cheap and cheerful' all the way up to
very expensive units that can not only charge each of from 4 to 8
cells individually but also log the AH both into and out of each cell.

These expensive chargers are useful if you're in charge of a sizeable
herd of AA cells and you're trying to keep track of the performance of
each individual cell, usually with an eye to making sure to use them
in matched pairs, triplets or quads as well as deciding when they're
past their best and in need of being culled from the herd.

I suspect the OP's needs lie somewhere between 'cheap and cheerful'
and 'Bloody damn expensive' so I can only recommend that he googles
for more info on the subject of AA chargers before choosing one.

[PeterC]

I've given up getting most alkaline cells/batteries from such places. The
PP3s lately have tended to be dead out of the pack and 2 or 3 years inside
their date and the cells have lasted about the same as length of time as a
politician's promise.
The Kodak ones from Poundland(?) are relatively expensive but goos and the
best value seem to be Ikea's at £1.50/10.

[Martin Brown]

You were done! 2000mAH is has been the norm for low grade AAs for ages!
Even the ones that Maplin sell are at elast 2000mAh and above.

NB they will rip you off the same amount for 2000mAh or 2400mAh cells.
Also that their C cells are often just padded out AA cells.

Get some half decent Tronic ones from Lidl/Aldi (can never remember
which) - they have low self discharge and are available in every size
(though they sometimes offer ordinary basic NiMH ones too).

The low self discharge ones are a real bargain.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

[Martin Brown]

On 13/04/2014 15:38, meow...@care2.com wrote:
> On Sunday, April 13, 2014 11:15:30 AM UTC+1, Johny B Good wrote:
>> On Sat, 12 Apr 2014 15:53:57 -0700 (PDT), meow...@care2.com wrote:
>>> On Saturday, April 5, 2014 9:08:02 AM UTC+1, Martin Brown wrote:
>
>
>>>> It is hard to buy a dumb as a rock one that will just keep adding juice
>>>> until the battery explodes these days. Product liablity prevent them
>>>> being sold, but I expect you could find nasty Chinese ones on eBay.
>>>
>>> There's no risk of battery explosion. But also not much market for slow chargers any more.
>>>
>> True enough for AA sized NiCad and NiMh cells. They just tend to
>> overheat and vent off the excess hydrogen/oxygen when the safety seals
>> open up due to the excess pressure.
>
> With respect this is rather unrealistic.

Not at all. The trade is between a slow charge that is always safe and a
medium charge rate that isn't. A lot of the cheap and nasty dumb
chargers use the latter as their charging strategy.

> Any dumb charger in the real world is designed such that that never happens. The unavoidable consequence is that charging is a good bit slower than an intelligent charger.

They go with a reasonable pop if they decide to go. It is the chargers
that say charge from flat for X hours that are the problem. At about
X+24 the battery has had enough and will make its displeasure felt.

Explosion is a bit too strong for it but a decent loud report will be
heard and hot caustic mist may escape when the safety seal blows.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

[meow...@care2.com]

A manufacturer/ UK seller that does that is asking to land in the small claims court


NT

[Dave Liquorice]

On Mon, 14 Apr 2014 03:24:17 +0100, Johny B Good wrote:

>>> Aldi and Lidl are better sources for such batteries.
>>
>> Tesco own brand NiMH are OK, probably not as cheap as Aldi/Lidl
but
>> the price certainly isn't "how much...!". Tesco normally have them
in
>> stock as well ...
>
> Are they selling the low self discharge types?

I don't think they are but my use of them has them fully cycled every
3 to 4 days so LSD isn't much of a concern. B-)

The point is Tesco normally have stock I haven't seen the LSD
batteries in Aldi for an long time and there isn't a convient Lidl.

--
Cheers
Dave.

[Davey]

On Mon, 14 Apr 2014 10:07:07 +0100
Martin Brown <|||newspam|||@nezumi.demon.co.uk> wrote:

> > We have only been back in this country since Nov. 2010, so all of
> > our rechargeables were purchased since then. Most likely they date
> > from mid-2011 at the earliest, some later than that.
>
> You were done! 2000mAH is has been the norm for low grade AAs for
> ages! Even the ones that Maplin sell are at elast 2000mAh and above.

These are all Duracells, some sold with the Duracell charger that just
died and prompted this thread, and as I said, since 2011.

And as for Aldi/Lidl, they haven't yet penetrated to this corner of our
green and pleasant land. Besides, I would rather buy from a British
retailer than a foreign one.

--
Davey.

[Martin Brown]

On 14/04/2014 10:50, Davey wrote:
> On Mon, 14 Apr 2014 10:07:07 +0100
> Martin Brown <|||newspam|||@nezumi.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>> We have only been back in this country since Nov. 2010, so all of
>>> our rechargeables were purchased since then. Most likely they date
>>> from mid-2011 at the earliest, some later than that.
>>
>> You were done! 2000mAH is has been the norm for low grade AAs for
>> ages! Even the ones that Maplin sell are at elast 2000mAh and above.
>
> These are all Duracells, some sold with the Duracell charger that just
> died and prompted this thread, and as I said, since 2011.

Hmmm. You seem to be right! Duracell do offer some 1300mA AA low self
discharge that play on gullible consumers belief in the brand name.

They also make decent capacity ones as well eg.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Duracell-Charged-Rechargeable-2400mAh-Batteries--Pack/dp/B00E5YSXPQ/ref=sr_1_11?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1397472782&sr=1-11&keywords=nimh+rechargeable

>
> And as for Aldi/Lidl, they haven't yet penetrated to this corner of our
> green and pleasant land. Besides, I would rather buy from a British
> retailer than a foreign one.

Your choice of course. Willing seller willing buyer.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

[Andy Burns]

Martin Brown wrote:

> You seem to be right! Duracell do offer some 1300mA AA low self
> discharge that play on gullible consumers belief in the brand name.

Perhaps it's in their interest that rechargables don't seem as good as
disposables?