I Need Recomendations For A Good All Around Charger for Li and NiMH Cell's

[Funseeker]

First and foremost I am a newby to the whole "forum" thing! SO BE GENTLE. After considerable reading of a great many post's here at CPF, concerning battery chargers, etc. my eyes are starting to cross! All I want is a safe and effective way to charge the following type and sizes of cells:
#1) "C" cell NiMH #2) CRC123 and CR2's

I currently own both the UltraFire WF-138 & 9 chargers. But the adapted 139 I'm using for use with my "C" Cell NiMH's shows a solid green light on batteries that just arrived cross country from Zbattery. So I'm not sure if they are really at full charge (showing 1.21 vdc) or am I just over cautious.

I just want something that can be used by someone without the need of a EE degree...... Siscently put, HELP!

 

[HarryN]

Hi - welcome to the forum.

I just went through the process of buying a charger- always an interesting process.

My suggestion is that you consider buying a charger for a broader range of your devices, not just what you have outlined. Tools, toys, future toys. It is really hard to justify buying a really nice charger with only a few needs.

Another way to look at it, is that the availability of high volume controller chips to control battery charging is becoming so easy and common, that for many users, just about any charger will work. If you need the absolute best charger for the money, then you have another month of research to do. If you are willing to pay 10 - 20 % extra and deal with "I could have done better insight" in 90 days, then you can buy so many choices that your eyes will in fact spin.

No matter the charger, never charge a cell that you are not watching, and don't charge them indoors - except maybe on a cook stove with the exhaust on. No - I am not kidding.

For me, a Schultze turned out to be the ideal charger for my needs, but at nearly $ 500, I passed and purchased a Triton 2 instead, which will meet 98% of my needs (the others will just have to wait). It was still $ 130 plus a $ 50 power supply to make it work. It took me a long time to reach that high.

 

[Mr Happy]

First and foremost I am a newby to the whole "forum" thing! SO BE GENTLE. After considerable reading of a great many post's here at CPF, concerning battery chargers, etc. my eyes are starting to cross! All I want is a safe and effective way to charge the following type and sizes of cells:
#1) "C" cell NiMH #2) CRC123 and CR2's

I currently own both the UltraFire WF-138 & 9 chargers. But the adapted 139 I'm using for use with my "C" Cell NiMH's shows a solid green light on batteries that just arrived cross country from Zbattery. So I'm not sure if they are really at full charge (showing 1.21 vdc) or am I just over cautious.

I just want something that can be used by someone without the need of a EE degree...... Siscently put, HELP!

First and foremost, I think you need to read the instructions for the battery charger you have.

I am quite sure there is nothing in those instructions that says you can charge a NiMH cell in the WF-139 charger.

There are two major types of rechargeable battery in use:
1) NiMH
2) Lithium Ion

By and large where ordinary low cost chargers are concerned, each type needs a different charger. You cannot charge NiMH in a lithium ion charger, and you can't charge lithium ion in a NiMH charger.

So to charge your C size NiMH cells you will need a different charger, one which is designed for charging NiMH cells.