Basic Battery Questions

Hi All.
Need some help getting started in this whole battery business....

About a year ago I bought one of those energizer chargers and a fleet of energizer rechargeable batteries (2500 mAH, AA/AAA's).
SInce then I've been blissfully charging without getting too much into it. I've been getting into biking and associated lighting, so now I'm trying to upgrade again so I always have some spares and everything is in tip-top shape.

I purchased a LaCrosse BC-700 charger, and have been looking at it and reading some threads here. For some reason I haven't gotten a grasp on the basics...how am I supposed to use this thing? :duh2:

Do I just slap the batteries in and hit charge? Do I want to charge and test? What numbers are important for a very beginner to look at and determine what to do? Any very basic guidelines are appreciated!

Well, you can just stick the batteries in and let it charge -- regardless of the other recommendations, that's an okay thing to do

For standard charging on those Energizers, I'd actually recommend bumping the charging current up to 500mA, both to reduce charging time and to increase the likelihood that the charger will detect any problems with the batteries. Since the default mode is Charge, with the charger empty it's as simple as putting the batteries in the slots within a few seconds and pressing the Current button until it says 500mA.

It sounds like you have gear that uses multiple AAs at a time. I would recommend finding out the current capacity of the batteries you have, so you can match them together in sets. This will give you the best runtime for the device you're powering, as well as reduce wear on the batteries, since they will drain to the same level at the same time. (Unmatched sets will result in one battery draining before the rest do, which increases wear.)

To find out the capacities, run them through a Test cycle: put the batteries in, hold Mode until it changes/blinks (about 5 seconds), then keep pressing Mode until it says Charge Test. For these Energizer AAs, I would then press Current until it says 700mA. The rationale for this number is again reducing the time it takes to run a test cycle, but also to get the discharge current up to 350mA (it's always half of the charge current you pick in Test mode), which is more likely to reflect capacity in actual usage than the other settings.

Test mode will first charge each battery, then discharge it to measure capacity, and finally charge it again so it's ready for use. Any time after it starts charging the second time, or after it's done (says "Full"), you can press Display until you get the capacity screen ("xxxx mAh" / "x.xx Ah"). These are the numbers you want to match -- just organize them in sets, so e.g. if you have a device that takes 4 AAs, pick 4 that have capacity numbers as close to each other as possible. Ideally they should always be used and charged as a set from now on, just to keep things simple. You may want to mark them with a Sharpie or similar to help.

I'd just start with that and see where you end up. If you look at the capacity numbers and they don't seem quite right to you (e.g. it reports something low like 1800mAh instead of the rated 2500mAh), just post again and you'll get further recommendations. I'm not familiar with those specific Energizers, but others on this forum are, so you might get more specific advice from them too.

Drache said:

...Need some help getting started in this whole battery business....

...I purchased a LaCrosse BC-700 charger, and have been looking at it and reading some threads here. For some reason I haven't gotten a grasp on the basics...how am I supposed to use this thing? :duh2:

Do I just slap the batteries in and hit charge? Do I want to charge and test? What numbers are important for a very beginner to look at and determine what to do? Any very basic guidelines are appreciated!

Click to expand...

Hi and :welcome:

IMHO, although it's not 'Rocket Science', proper rechargeable cell maintenance information cannot be conveyed in a quick post or two. At the top of the Index Page is a STICKY:

containing a LIST of threads the Moderators here feel worthy of reading.

Personally, I'm biased to my Sig Line LINKs (also in the STICKY) as it's a history of the path I took when I first registered here - what I didn't understand and what questions kept getting asked over and over. Grab your favorite beverage and invest a few hours reading. Then, you'll either be 'Good-to-Go' or have a TON of new questions!