Charger for 10440s

[Tatexi]

I have a couple of 10440s from AW but my problem is the Nano Charger. I've now managed to blow up two of those. First one died when I was charging the second battery and a replacement charger died after a minute or two of recharging the battery I had managed to charge one time with the first charger. We have 230V and 50Hz here which should be in the operating range of the Nano but apparently something is not right.. both charges made a popping noise and smelled burned when dieing.

Unfortunately AW doesn't have other types of charger for those AAA LiIons (but was kind enough to offer credit for my next purchase :thumbsup and I don't think there's much use of blowing up any more of Nanos so the question is, are there chargers capable of charging 10440s from other manufacturers that I could try?

EDIT: Doh at the typo on cell type...

 

[DM51]

Probably a stupid question, but are you sure you are getting the polarity right? The + end of the cell should go towards the end of the Nano charger where the little indicator light is. The + end of AW cells is the opposite end from the red band round the label (+ is marked, quite small, but it is there).

Did the indicator light come on at all when you were trying to charge these cells? What color was it?

What voltages did the cells read before you tried to charge them, and what do they read now?

 

[Tatexi]

Probably a stupid question, but are you sure you are getting the polarity right?

Did the indicator light come on at all when you were trying to charge these cells? What color was it?

What voltages did the cells read before you tried to charge them, and what do they read now?

As said, I was able to charge one battery completely (the indicator turned to green from red) and cell read 4.19V with my cheap'o multimeter. The cell that was being charged when the 1st charger blew up had something between 4 - 4.20V after the incident, can't remember exactly how much though. The cells were straight from AV's shipment, didn't bother checking how much they had before putting to the charger for the first time. I haven't checked how much the cell now has that was being charged when it blew my 2nd charger but when I put it to the charger, it read 4.0xV IIRC.

Possibly something goofy with the electricity in this house, we have to change light bulbs more often than in any place I've lived before. Cheap student houses...

Anyway, I think this is what I've been looking for: http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2463

 

[Lite_me]

Possibly something goofy with the electricity in this house, we have to change light bulbs more often than in any place I've lived before. Cheap student houses...

Anyway, I think this is what I've been looking for: http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2463

I have one of these chargers from Lighthound, as well as a Nano. I use the Nano. The Ultrafire tends to overcharge my (unprotected) 10440's slightly to 4.25v. This is on 110v AC. YMMV

 

[DM51]

Possibly something goofy with the electricity in this house, we have to change light bulbs more often than in any place I've lived before. Cheap student houses...

This may be the explanation. It's not the cells, and you don't seem to have done anything wrong. The only other explanation I can think of would be 2 bad Nano-chargers in succession, which seems pretty unlikely unless there was a bad batch of them - but we would have heard of other cases and I haven't heard of any QC issues with them.

The Nano charger works fine up to 240/250V, but it sounds as if you may be getting "spikes" of much higher voltage, which can blow electrical items or shorten their life - for example, your domestic light-bulbs with their shortened life.

How is your computer? They are very prone to damage from electrical spikes/surges unless you use a UPS, so if I were you I would get one, and run any delicate or expensive electrical gear through that. They have come down in price and are well worth having IMO.

 

[TCW 60]

My first Nano charger charges the first 10440 and at the second it died. I made a big black line with my edding liner in the top groove of the batterie so I can see easy the polarity. With the second charger from AW it works.
The old charger is now the bay for the robbe lipoly 300.

 

[DM51]

Interesting, TCW60, thanks. That makes 3 dud Nano Chargers, although the first 2 (Tatexi's) could have been caused by mains voltage spikes.

Has anyone else had (or heard of) bad ones?

 

[Tatexi]

How is your computer? They are very prone to damage from electrical spikes/surges unless you use a UPS, so if I were you I would get one, and run any delicate or expensive electrical gear through that. They have come down in price and are well worth having IMO.

Hmm.. getting a UPS might be something to consider. Thought I'm going to get my papers soon anyway and move away.

Computers and other sorts of electrical devices have been generally working pretty well here, only 2 incidents (may or may not be related):
- PSU went berserk and fried itself and the mobo.
- 22" TFT monitor (LG) had picture burned to screen just like with old CRT monitors after 2 weeks of use. Yes, really. I wasn't even aware that can happen. They kept replacing it for a good while, over 5 units, always the same thing. Guess that's what you get when 3rd party handles the customer service... Anyway, got refund and haven't had problems with Iiyama or Samsung TFT monitors.


Anayway, got the charger from Lighthound, has been working without problems so far.

 

[bouncer]

time to invest in ups or real good surge protectors

 

[ah-see]

I have a couple of 10440s from AW but my problem is the Nano Charger. I've now managed to blow up two of those. First one died when I was charging the second battery and a replacement charger died after a minute or two of recharging the battery I had managed to charge one time with the first charger. We have 230V and 50Hz here which should be in the operating range of the Nano but apparently something is not right.. both charges made a popping noise and smelled burned when dieing.

Unfortunately AW doesn't have other types of charger for those AAA LiIons (but was kind enough to offer credit for my next purchase :thumbsup and I don't think there's much use of blowing up any more of Nanos so the question is, are there chargers capable of charging 10440s from other manufacturers that I could try?

EDIT: Doh at the typo on cell type...

Wow, the exact thing happened to my AAA nano charger, except the cell was 10 minutes into the charge and i'm on 240V, 50Hz.

 

[DM51]

That's the 4th one to fail, I think... 2 possibly from electrical spikes, but 2 unexplained.

Just to make clear, Nano-chargers should work OK on 110V-240V. They are inexpensive items and it is possible that QC may have slipped recently and isn't as good as it might be.

Anyone else having trouble with them?

 

[DM51]

Another failed Nano charger reported here. That makes 5.

 

[Anders]

My first Nanocharger also did a popping noise and went dead.

I also have 230-240V.


Anders

 

[LEDcandle]

Add me to the list... pop and dead. 230-240v system. Happened to my DSD too.

But I believe mine was caused by the fact it was plugged in loosely into the adaptor socket, and sometimes this causes a small spark.

The spark doesn't seem to affect hardier chargers like my Nokia and Samsung and other beefy chargers, but seems to instantly wipe out chinese chargers. Maybe there is a low tolerance fuse inside that blew, but I am unable to open my Nano to see.

To use these chinese chargers, I believe you have to ensure they are plugged in very securely without any freeplay; once you get that little 'spark' in the socket, your charger is as good as dead.

 

[DM51]

This is now beginning to make a bit more sense, and I think LEDcandle may have given us the answer.

The 2 failures reported by the OP seem to have been due to electricity spikes, and it seems perfectly possible that the other 4 reported here had loose connections where they were plugged in. This could have had a similar effect.

The Nano charger is a small and neat unit, good value for ~$6, but as LEDcandle says, at that size it can't be as robust as larger units and you need to ensure it is securely plugged in - otherwise, in a loose socket, any spark could cause it to blow.

 

[LEDcandle]

To be 'safer', whatever that means, in future I'm gonna run my Chinese chargers on my 120v adaptor which I originally bought to run a NiMh charger I bought in the US (120v). Maybe any spiking at 120v might be more 'tolerable' to the Nano.

 

[Lite_me]

In relationship to this arcing - sparking theory, I have a related question concerning this Nano 10440 charger. What are your thoughts as to whether or not this charger should be plugged in before placing the battery in it. Is it alright to put the battery in it first and then plug it in, or is it possible that the charger needs to "stabilize" before seeing a load? I've tried it both ways and haven't been able to discern a difference in the charge. How do you guys do it?

 

[LEDcandle]

Personally, I would do this :-

1) Insert battery into charger
2) Plug charger into switched-off power socket and secure it
3) Switch on socket

Trying to fit the battery while the charger is plugged into a switched-on socket might cause the spike if the charger shifts around.

Just my own personal preference.

 

[DM51]

I agree with that - less risk of a problem that way. Also, be careful not to jog or disturb the charger while it is in use.

 

[ah-see]

Does anyone know the real charging current for this charger?