Compare Differences of 15 Min Chargers

[x2x3x2]

Just wanted to know what difference, if there are any, among the 15 min chargers available.

The ones that i've seen personally are those by Sony, Energizer.

Energizer and Sony look almost identical apart from the upper half design.
The spring loaded +ve contacts, cooling fan vents, as well as the indicator LED are similar.

Duracell and Sanyo look the same but i've never use either myself.

The Rayovac charger setup seems a little different since they have chips in their cells

What do u guys think?

 

[MrAl]

Hi there,

From what i read in other threads here on CPF the Duracell charger comes with
a 12v automobile cord for the charger while the Energizer does not come with
this cord even though it too works at 12vdc from the car.
I also heard Duracell comes with more cells to start you off with, while the
Energizer (i have this one) comes with only 4 cells rated 2200mAh each.

 

[wptski]

Both aren't done when the LED shows done either! If I remember correctly, the E-15 is done when the fan turns off but the D-15 isn't. I think that you get about 80% charge going by the LED's.

EDIT: Corrected typo!

 

[x2x3x2]

I've compared both Sony and Energizer 15 min cahrgers.
They seem to work the same, after 15 min quick charge the LED indicator will go off but fan remains on, then it will trickle charge after about 10 more minutes the fans turn off.

Do the Duracell/Sanyo work the same? So i guess the Rayovac is the only different one which has chips in the cells?

 

[wptski]

I've compared both Sony and Energizer 15 min cahrgers.
They seem to work the same, after 15 min quick charge the LED indicator will go off but fan remains on, then it will trickle charge after about 10 more minutes the fans turn off.

Do the Duracell/Sanyo work the same? So i guess the Rayovac is the only different one which has chips in the cells?

I've posted graphs in other threads but the charges at around 7A for the bulk part, shuts off for a minute or two, restarts at around 3.5A for several minutes and stops. After that, every so often it'll give a split second full shot but I've never seen a trickle charge, it could be so small that my probe doesn't pick it up. I have seen the E-15 skip that second part of the charge on some cells. Not different brands, etc. but ones from a same batch. I don't know why it does this.

The D-15 charges in three steps which takes about an hour all total. I'll try to post some old graphs or do some new ones.

 

[cmacclel]

Hey x2x3x2 thanks for answering your PM's. You post something for sale thats states to PM you. I PM you immediately twice......your read both PM's and never reply.

I PM you the next day to ask what was going on.....you read the PM and still don't respond.

NICE

Thanks Mac

 

[ken2400]

I know time is $$ but any idea if 15m charges shortens the life of the batts?

 

[Brighteyez]

The differences you cite with the Duracell charger/battery combo package is only applicable to the Costco Duracell SKU. The car cord does not come with that charger in the packages that you'll find in department/drug/camera stores and those packages only come with 4AA batteries (same price though.)

Hi there,

From what i read in other threads here on CPF the Duracell charger comes with
a 12v automobile cord for the charger while the Energizer does not come with
this cord even though it too works at 12vdc from the car.
I also heard Duracell comes with more cells to start you off with, while the
Energizer (i have this one) comes with only 4 cells rated 2200mAh each.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Ken,

You may find this thread useful to answer your question.

Tom

 

[x2x3x2]

@cmacclel

U talkin about the Ti Fenix?
I already stated that all 3 are taken, n no more PM's. Y do u bother to post just to complain? It wont make anymore of them more appear. I didn't accept any form of payment from u, neither did i say that u were getting one and went back on my word so i don't see what i owe u anyway.
4seven's having the raffle thing, so just try getting it from him alright?

Please understand that the 3 i had are gone, whining cos u dont get ur candy ain't helping anyone.

 

[cmacclel]

@cmacclel

U talkin about the Ti Fenix?
I already stated that all 3 are taken, n no more PM's. Y do u bother to post just to complain? It wont make anymore of them more appear. I didn't accept any form of payment from u, neither did i say that u were getting one and went back on my word so i don't see what i owe u anyway.
4seven's having the raffle thing, so just try getting it from him alright?

Please understand that the 3 i had are gone, whining cos u dont get ur candy ain't helping anyone.

You stated no more PM's??? Were??? you thread was removed by the moderator for posting a FS thread inside someone else's thread.

Why do I bother to post just to complain? Because there a thing called COMMON COURTESY which you don't have. A simple "Sorry there gone" was all that was needed. I was on the thread when you posted your add and immediately PM'd you. The probability of 3 people PM'ing you before I did is impossible but no biggy.

Mac

 

[ken2400]

Thanks for the input. I remember when I put my had on my bother-in-laws fast charging batt. Did not not the details BUT they were almost hot and thought it then that fast charging does not help batts go the distance.

Hello Ken,

You may find this thread useful to answer your question.

Tom

 

[wptski]

Here's two graphs of the Energizer and Duracell 15 minutes chargers on a Sanyo 2.7Ah AA cell. The first is the E-15 and the second one is the D-15. The cells weren't completely discharged but both came from the same cordless phone.

I don't know which is better but their cycles are different! I sort-of like the the D-15 better though. I like the cycle better for some reason.

Take your pick! 😀

Those spikes at the end are short 4ms pulses. Somebody posted that there is supposed to be a 100ma trickle. Maybe that's what they call a trickle charge.

I graphed both charges for thirty minutes but thirty minutes later the D-15 was doing a real trickle charge which varied around 400ma.

 

[Handlobraesing]

Problem with both the Duracell and the Energizer is that if it fails one cell during pre-charging evaluation, it halts the entire charger.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Handlobreaesing,

That's not a problem, its a "feature." 🙂

Tom

 

[Handlobraesing]

Hello Handlobreaesing,

That's not a problem, its a "feature." 🙂

Tom

I think it's a problem.

The Duracell 30 minute charger has an LED for each bay and if it fails one of the cells, it halts just that cell(and blinks the corresponding LED) and other cells continue charging.

The 15 minute Duracell charger uses one LED for all four cells and one faulty cell not only causes the LED to blink but charging is halted on all bays, which I confirmed by measuring power going into the charger.

 

[wptski]

I think it's a problem.

The Duracell 30 minute charger has an LED for each bay and if it fails one of the cells, it halts just that cell(and blinks the corresponding LED) and other cells continue charging.

The 15 minute Duracell charger uses one LED for all four cells and one faulty cell not only causes the LED to blink but charging is halted on all bays, which I confirmed by measuring power going into the charger.

I forced the E-15 to error with a problem cell twice while monitoring the second with a scope and current probe. The first time, it continued to charge at a much reduced rate but the second time, the charging stopped all together!

One oddity of the "my" E-15 which I've caught doing tests was that for some unknown reason, it'll skip that second step of the cycle where it charges at a reduced rate. I've caught this happening half-dozen times with different cells. How often this happens while just using the charger and not monitoring, I don't know!

 

[MrAl]

Hi there,

The reason it stops charging on one cell is because it's resistance is too high
and this would cause overheating in that one cell if it were to charge at something
like 9 amps. At lower charge rates this heating isnt as much of a problem. Why
it shuts down all bays is a question which i cant answer however, because it
makes no sense. On the other hand, if it charged 3 of my 4 cells then i wouldnt
have two dead cells to put in my slow charger, only one, which wouldnt work.
So i guess it's ok for me if it shuts down all of them. You can tell which one
it is by putting them in one at a time.
Now it's time for us to come up with a way around this 🙂
I think they should have built in some sort of secondary charging method like
30 mins instead of 15. If a cell fails for high internal R for charging in 15 minutes
(and it had been working for the 150 previous cycles) then it will probably test ok
for a 30 min charge. Likewise, if it fails for a 30 min charge then it would probably
be ok for a 60 min charge, etc., etc.
If we could get the charger to put out a reduced current of say half of what it
is now and detect twice as much internal R we could get it to charge for 30 mins
which would work on those older cells. The only other alternative is to have another
charger around that does slow charging. I have another one that does 4 hours but
that bites now that i've seen how handy a 15 min charger can be!

Or, do we just sit down and design our own 15/30/60/120/240 minute charger?
This would test internal R and make the setting one of the above to meet the
internal R max heating spec...sound good?
We would need one heck of a power supply though 🙂

Another possible is to charge for 3 mins and check heating, let cool down, charge
for another 3 mins, check for heating until the units were all charged. This would
get around the internal R problem, and at the same time the charge cycle would
take as long as it needed based on internal R (which limits either charge current
or charge duty cycle).

 

[wptski]

Al:

Just insert the problem cells into a charger like the C808M, no problem! 😀

 

[MrAl]

Hi there Bill,

Really, where can i see one online?