La Crosse BC-700 or Duracell Power Gauge

[joepa150]

I need a charger for my AA "Duraloops". I want to spend the least amount possible but get a charger that will not be damaging to my batteries and will last me awhile.

I believe Big Lots sells the Duracell Power Gauge for $15. From what I have read is that this has 4 independent channels that a light will turn green when done. Simple, effective, cheap, and easy.

On the other hand the la Crosse BC-700 is $30 on amazon. What will this do better than the Duracell besides the lcd monitoring?

Any other better chargers in the less than $30 range?

 

[Russel]

Here is a link to a discussion you may be interested in:


http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=244226

 

[joepa150]

Here is a link to a discussion you may be interested in:


http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=244226

Thank you. I already read that. It praises the duracell charger but I am looking for opinions between these two which to get.

 

[Russel]

I have a BC-700 that serves me well. If I were to choose, I would choose the La Crosse BC-700 due to the fact it provides information about the charging, or discharging process. If that information isn't important, then I would choose by price.

 

[Robin24k]

I would recommend the Duracell Mobile Charger CEF23. It's pretty much the same thing, except it has a USB output so you can charge a phone or something using four charged AA's. I got one for $17 on Ebay, and the extra feature could come in handy someday.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390150003937

EDIT: Seeing another thread about the CEF21 (power gauge) reminded me. The CEF23 comes with two Duraloops (they don't say Pre-Charged on them, but they're DX1500's, just with old packaging), and the CEF21 comes with 1700mAh non-LSD. This is a pretty big advantage for the CEF23 in my opinion.

 

[joepa150]

I have a BC-700 that serves me well. If I were to choose, I would choose the La Crosse BC-700 due to the fact it provides information about the charging, or discharging process. If that information isn't important, then I would choose by price.

Are there other features of the Lacrosse that you use and like such as the refresh mode? Also do you feel that it is built to last a long time (5 +) years or is it something that in 3 years I probably will be trashing?

I would recommend the Duracell Mobile Charger CEF23. It's pretty much the same thing, except it has a USB output so you can charge a phone or something using four charged AA's. I got one for $17 on Ebay, and the extra feature could come in handy someday.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390150003937

EDIT: Seeing another thread about the CEF21 (power gauge) reminded me. The CEF23 comes with two Duraloops (they don't say Pre-Charged on them, but they're DX1500's, just with old packaging), and the CEF21 comes with 1700mAh non-LSD. This is a pretty big advantage for the CEF23 in my opinion.

The Duraloops is definitely a plus.

 

[Mr Happy]

If you get a Power Gauge charger and you feel confident you can modify it to charge AAA cells in a faster and more reliable manner; see the details here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=3251659&postcount=50

 

[Bones]

It should be noted here that the Duracell Mobile charger is bundled with two different low self-discharge cells. One is believed to be a re-badged Eneloop, the other appears identical in all respects to the Rayovac Hybrid. When ordering online, you could receive either one.

Insofar as which charger to choose, it really depends on how much effort you want to invest in optimizing the performance and longevity of your cells.

The Power Gauge and Mobile chargers are just that, chargers, albeit competent ones with independent charging channels.

Conversely, the BC-700 is deemed a form of charger, analyzer and conditioner. This enables it to do a respectable job of identifying under-performing cells and, depending on their condition, also reviving them to some degree. In turn, this could enable you to prevent a device from failing prematurely because of one or more weak cells in a set.

NiMH cells also benefit from periodic forming or conditioning charges to enhance their performance and longevity. Again, the BC-700 can provide a reasonable facsimile of a forming or conditioning charge with its refresh function.

Although there will always be exceptions, I'm not aware of a tendency for any of these charger to fail, let alone fail prematurely.