Duracell 15 minute charger used with other brand name cells?

I have access to a Duracell 15 minute NIMH battery charger at work, and I'm wondering if it is practical and safe to charge Titanium or Tenergy 2700 MAH cells in the charger.
Also can the Titanium LSD or Eneloops be charged in the Duracell charger?

Thanks for any replies.

It's going to severely hurt the life of the batteries, 1C-2C charge current is best, or for 2700 mah cells, 2.7A or 1.35A

Thanks for that information. So it would be best to just charge Duracell 2650 Mah NIMH batteries in the Duracell charger correct?
Then I guess Eneloops should be charged only in an Eneloop charger.
What about the Titanium NIMH, LSD and Tenergy NIMH batteries? Is there a specific type of charger that should only be used for them?

Thanks.

.. according to the data sheet for the 15 minute charger....
the charge rates are as follows:

"AA" Primary = 7500 mA
trickle charge:
"AA" Secondary = 100 mA

"AAA" Primary = 2850 mA
trickle charge:
"AAA" Secondary = 35 mA

the trickle charge will damage your cells over time if you leave the batteries on the charger after they're done charging.

Mikellen said:

Thanks for that information. So it would be best to just charge Duracell 2650 Mah NIMH batteries in the Duracell charger correct?
Then I guess Eneloops should be charged only in an Eneloop charger.
What about the Titanium NIMH, LSD and Tenergy NIMH batteries? Is there a specific type of charger that should only be used for them?

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I used to think exactly the same way - if it's sold with the batteries, it must be good for them. I'm afraid it's not correct. Fifteen minutes is simply too fast. The manufacturer may have added some interesting things like reflex pulses to try to heal the cells but I think no matter what algorithm is used, the speed of the charge is really bad for the batteries life.

It's true that the manufacturers offer chargers with the batteries but unfortunately it doesn't automatically make every charger included a good charger. It seems to me that sometimes manufacturers think that by offering those "ultra-fast" chargers they will please consumers and simultaneously ensure that people will frequently have to buy new batteries. You may be much better off buying a good universal NiMH charger (like Maha MH-C9000 or La Crosse BC-900).

To answer your question- Yes, you can charge any of those (or any other brand) AA cells with the 15 minute Duracell charger.

But it will cost you in the cycle life of the cells. Cells charged at such a high rate will not have the same lifespan as cells charged at a lower rate. I think the Eneloops were shown to last at least 100 cycles on the 15 minute charger. Given that they are LSD though, it would pay to charge them at a reasonable rate and just set them aside for when they are needed.

Peter

wapkil said:

You may be much better off buying a good universal NiMH charger (like Maha MH-C9000 or La Crosse BC-900).

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I think people get carried away with those two advanced chargers. I wouldn't use a 15-minute charger though and I'd also get one that can charge batteries individually instead of in pairs. For $17 at Amazon you can get the Duracell CEF23. It includes 2 precharged AA's and has a USB jack that can charge USB devices while it is plugged in to the wall, your car, or with 4 charged batteries in it.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000XSBVK2/?tag=cpf0b6-20

I have an older Radio Shack NMH 2 hour battery charger and after 2 hours the batteries are too hot to hold in your hand right off the charger. Not sure of the charging method it uses, but it doesn't seem battery friendly at all. It only charged in multiple of 2's, so it was 2 in series. When I was using it, which wasn't for very long, I always used a fan to keep the batteries cool. After using that charger, I have been very leary of using any charger that will charge AA NMH's is such a short period of time. The battery and charger technologies now may be a lot different from back then. I now use a couple BC-900's. Still have my Rayovac IC3 charger and only use it for my IC3 batteries. It can charger regular NMH's, but the time is more like 12-16 hours, way too slow for me.

Thanks brted for posting that information about the Duracell CEF 23battery charger. I've read the reviews on Amazon.com but have a question. The charger includes 2 LSD Duracell AA NIMH batteries but I didn't see if it stated that regular NIMH with a higher Mah such as 2700 can be charged? Maybe it's understood that it can, but I'm not very knowledgeable about batteries.The description states it takes about 4 hours to charge the LSD 2000 Mah batteries, but assuming it can charge regular NIMH batteries, how long does it take to charge the 2700 Mah NIMH?Thank you.

Generally speaking a charger will take longer with higher capacity cells and less time with lower capacity cells, mostly in proportion.

So if it takes 4 hours for 2000 mAh, it will take approximately 2700/2000 x 4 hours for 2700 mAh, which would be about 5 1/4 hours.

All the advanced chargers work by starting to charge the batteries and then observing the process to detect when the battery or batteries seem to be full. The best chargers (like the CEF23) watch each cell individually and control the charging separately for each one.

csshih said:

.. according to the data sheet for the 15 minute charger....
the charge rates are as follows:

"AA" Primary = 7500 mA
trickle charge:
"AA" Secondary = 100 mA

"AAA" Primary = 2850 mA
trickle charge:
"AAA" Secondary = 35 mA

the trickle charge will damage your cells over time if you leave the batteries on the charger after they're done charging.

Click to expand...

the secondary charge isn't a trickle charge but a topoff charge that stop after less than one hour

anyway i'm agree that 7.5A of charge isn't good if you expect a lot of cycles

So the Duracell CEF 23 is designed to charge regular NIMH batteries safely along with the LSD NIMH?
Edit: Information found.

Thank you.

Newer model out after 4 years, yet same model # CEF15.

Seems that the AA current rate has been dropped to 6.5A per slot, and the AAA rate has been raised to 3A per slot:
http://www.duracell.com/procell/en-US/technical-reference/data-specification-sheets.jspx

4 independent monitoring leds handy - I put in a overdischarged cell and it was easy to find.

I'm not sure what the post-15 minute charge rates are, and I'm a bit afraid to start poking around without the right gear. If anyone has this newer model, and has measured the rates, I'd love to know.

This is definitely not my daily-charger, but is around for those times when it calls for it.

IonicBond said:

Newer model out after 4 years, yet same model # CEF15.

Seems that the AA current rate has been dropped to 6.5A per slot, and the AAA rate has been raised to 3A per slot:
http://www.duracell.com/procell/en-US/technical-reference/data-specification-sheets.jspx

4 independent monitoring leds handy - I put in a overdischarged cell and it was easy to find.

I'm not sure what the post-15 minute charge rates are, and I'm a bit afraid to start poking around without the right gear. If anyone has this newer model, and has measured the rates, I'd love to know.

This is definitely not my daily-charger, but is around for those times when it calls for it.

Click to expand...

Staples is offering this for 40$, but I haven't found very much to go on but 3 threads here. Sigh. I need new chargers.