Is there a good 15min AA charger to get?

[Sean]

I'm looking to get some more NIMH AA's and maybe some AAA's as well. Here's the thing. I've Got a Rayovac I-C3 15min charger and some batteries that still work. They've got to be 4 years old now and have been used pretty much that entire time. I only had one fail on me out of 12. They've been in Digital camera's, toy's, now the wii controllers, etc. They still hold a charge well and don't self discharge excessively fast. It seems they don't make the batteries for this charger anymore or I'd buy them.

So the question is: Are there any good fast chargers out there today? I know about the Energizer 15 min charger but I have read some bad reviews on it. Is the charger ok but the Energizer batteries a problem? What about the 1 hour charger? Although I like faster.

I've been amazed that the pounding my rayovacs have taken and still work. I just want something comperable to them. Since I have more things that need batteries.

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Sean,

Both the Energizer and Duracell 15 minute chargers are very good. The downside is that charging in 15 minutes is hard on cells. If you charge with a charger that charges in 1 - 2 hours, you can expect around 500 charge/discharge cycles. Using the 15 minute chargers will reduce that to a little over 100 charge/discharge cycles.

The Duracell charger is actually a 20 - 25 minute charger, so it is a little bit easier on the cells, so that may be a good choice.

The Ray O Vac I-C3 system terminated the charge on the pressure build up inside the cell. This is a great way to terminate a charge, but there seems to have been some marketing issues.

Tom

 

[Sean]

Do you know if these chargers (Duracell and Energizer) charge cells individually or in pairs?

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Sean,

Individually...

Tom

 

[MrAl]

Hi there,


The Energizer 15 minute charger can be fairly easily modified to charge AA in
30 to 40 minutes instead of 15, which is still kinda fast but easier on the
cells. It also works better with slightly older AA cells that develop a higher
internal resistance.

 

[tarponbill]

I have got the Energizer 15 minute charger, for emergency use. The cells get quite hot. It works fine. And with infrequent use, the cells show no outward sign of problems.

I use an Eneloop charger you get with the batteries for regular use.

 

[qwertyydude]

There seems to have been two versions of the charger, I bought one when they first came out. It had a much more powerful fan to keep batteries cool and didn't reject batteries often. The newer ones have a really weak fan that though quiet will let the cells get so hot you can't hold them. Also lots of batteries that worked fine in my old energizer 15 minute charger would not charge in the newer one. I've heard the duracell charger is the better one to get.