Old duracell chargers

[chip100t]

I have two old 8 slot plus 9v duracell NiMH chargers. I have owned and used these chargers a lot for well over 10, probably closer to 15 years and they still work and charge AA, AAA, C, D and 9v batteries as well as they did when new.

I keep thinking maybe I should replace them, not because I want better because as far as I am concerned they work perfectly, but from a safety aspect due to their age.

Is there any merit to that argument or is it a case of if it ain't broke don't fix it (or replace it in this case) as these chargers have proven their worth having charged batteries hundreds maybe thousands of times without problem.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Without a model number and/or more info I would guess it could be a dumb charger which has some uses but not recommended for healthy cells. Some of these old timer based chargers shut off long before they can charge up a 2000mah+ nimh AA cell which can make it possibly unuseful as it could be harder on batteries either not giving them a full charge and in series having them unbalanced and discharge totally out of balance causing lower capacity cells to discharge dangerously low even reversing thus damaging them.
I would find a manual online and start reading before I would consider this your "go to" charger for todays LSD cells.

 

[chip100t]

Without a model number and/or more info I would guess it could be a dumb charger which has some uses but not recommended for healthy cells. Some of these old timer based chargers shut off long before they can charge up a 2000mah+ nimh AA cell which can make it possibly unuseful as it could be harder on batteries either not giving them a full charge and in series having them unbalanced and discharge totally out of balance causing lower capacity cells to discharge dangerously low even reversing thus damaging them.
I would find a manual online and start reading before I would consider this your "go to" charger for todays LSD cells.

Thank you for your reply here is what I have found., it says it turns off based on temperature from what I can see. Does that make it a dumb charger?

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Looks like 450ma is max charge rate which is ok for AA a little fast for AAA but acceptable and for nimh C/D way too slow and maybe too low of current to detect end of charge.
The timer mention may be for the 9V output as there is no mention of how it works.
I wouldn't toss it, give it a try for AAs and AAAs it should be fine. I mostly use a duracell mobile charger that does 350ma for AAA and 500ma for AA that I like as it also has a 500ma USB port and can run off 12vdc which is why I have 2 of these chargers. It is nice to have a charger that does 700-1000ma or more for quicker charging if you do get some 2400 or so AAs it would take about 6-7 hours at the 450ma rate to charge a 1A mode cuts that to about 2-2.5 hours or so.
I wouldn't count on this for C/D high capacity cells a 5000mah to 8000mah battery could take all day to complete.

 

[chip100t]

I don't use it for AA, AAA anymore since buying a Panasonic Eneloop charger but was still using it for C cells and 9v batteries. My Fenix smart charger will do the C cells if only two at a time, but the old duracell chargers are my only option for 9v square batteries.

 

[xxo]

It's a smart charger, but 450 mA is too slow for decent full capacity C and D NiMH cells, though it is probably about right for enerizer and duracell C and D cells which have low capacity sub C cells inside.

450 mA is too fast for AAA's for regular use and I personally consider it a bit fast for AA's even. if you are using one of Panasonic's slower smart chargers, like the cc-17, I would definitely use that for AAA's and AA's.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

It's a smart charger, but 450 mA is too slow for decent full capacity C and D NiMH cells, though it is probably about right for duracell's C and D cells which both have a sub C cell inside.

450 mA is too fast for AAA's for regular use and I personally consider it a bit fast for AA's even. if you are using one of Panasonic's slower smart chargers, like the cc-17, I would definitely use that for AAA's and AA's.

actually they recommend 0.5C charging rate for nimh batteries to get proper end of charge detection so for a 2000mah AA you could use 1000ma (1A) and be safe. At 450ma some lower quality or damaged batteries may not detect end of charge properly but I use a 500ma charger for my batteries some however are not in great shape and I have to charge on a Lacross charger that will charge anything it detects but you have to keep an eye on old batteries lest they charge for days and never complete charging.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I don't use it for AA, AAA anymore since buying a Panasonic Eneloop charger but was still using it for C cells and 9v batteries. My Fenix smart charger will do the C cells if only two at a time, but the old duracell chargers are my only option for 9v square batteries.

You could invest in a 9V stand alone charger I'm not sure what to recommend but a quick browse on Amazon yielded a Tenergy 9V smart charger that is about $10.... YMMV but reviews look decent and it will charge 2 batteries up to 500ma even. If I were using 9v batteries a lot I would probably look into lithium ion ones but they may be rather costly compared to nimh ones.

 

[chip100t]

It's a smart charger, but 450 mA is too slow for decent full capacity C and D NiMH cells, though it is probably about right for enerizer and duracell C and D cells which have low capacity sub C cells inside.

450 mA is too fast for AAA's for regular use and I personally consider it a bit fast for AA's even. if you are using one of Panasonic's slower smart chargers, like the cc-17, I would definitely use that for AAA's and AA's.

It's a panasonic bq-cc65 it seems very good but only does AA and AAA. I will keep the duracell chargers for the 9v batteries if they are good enough.

 

[chip100t]

You could invest in a 9V stand alone charger I'm not sure what to recommend but a quick browse on Amazon yielded a Tenergy 9V smart charger that is about $10.... YMMV but reviews look decent and it will charge 2 batteries up to 500ma even. If I were using 9v batteries a lot I would probably look into lithium ion ones but they may be rather costly compared to nimh ones.

I was looking at some usb lithium ion 9v batteries, and they are from a company called palo I think. Not a company I heard of.

 

[xxo]

Unless you are using it as a quick charger, such as when traveling, I would consider the panasonic bq-cc65 to be too fast, particularly when using 1 or 2 cells, which doubles the current. I think you would be better off using the duracell charger most of the time, particularly when charging 1 or 2 cells.

A good slow smart charger like the BQ CC-17 that uses pulse charge currents, will not miss termination and will maximize the life of the cells.

 

[chip100t]

Unless you are using it as a quick charger, such as when traveling, I would consider the panasonic bq-cc65 to be too fast, particularly when using 1 or 2 cells, which doubles the current. I think you would be better off using the duracell charger most of the time, particularly when charging 1 or 2 cells.

A good slow smart charger like the BQ CC-17 that uses pulse charge currents, will not miss termination and will maximize the life of the cells.

I recently disposed of all my ancient rechargeable duracell AA and AAA batteries and replaced them with Eneloop pros so bought the BQ-CC65 as I read it was Panasonic's flagship charger for said batteries and as it only charges AA and AAA thought it would built specifically around charging the Eneloop pros in those sizes rather than a universal charger. So I am very suprised to hear you say it could shorten their lifespan.

 

[xxo]

It's a good charger if you want to charge fast, which is fine if that's what you want. If you want to maximize the life of your cells, you want a good smart charger that charges slowly. Eneloops will still last a long time even if you charge at a faster rate.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I was looking at some usb lithium ion 9v batteries, and they are from a company called palo I think. Not a company I heard of.

I know almost nothing about them other than they are 2x lithium ion cells in series I think and need a special charger.
I'm guessing they are about 7.4v nominal or 8.4v max when fully charged. I'm thinking they may keep a charge longer than nimh cells and may have more capacity. My problem with 9v rechargeables is they seem to take forever to charge and self discharge on them is pretty bad such that you can't just charge them and leave them be in a device they will be of little use 6 months later without recharging them.

 

[chip100t]

Thanks for everyone's input. I will hang on to the chargers and keep using them for my 9v and c cells for now.

 

[snakebite]

as for safety i wouldnt worry.
its a major mfr not a whateverfire junker.
the very few failures i have seen were bad solder joints and dirty contacts.
every one of these older chargers i opened had thermal fuse in the transformer or if smps based a fuse resistor in sleeving along with a line fuse.
these are the things that get skipped in cheap and nasty whateverfire grade chargers.