Ultimate charger?

[limecc]

I've been looking around for another charger. I own an Ultrafire WF138 that can charge 3.6/3.0v cells, and a Trustfire All-in-One charger for my 18650's.

I'd like something better next time for 1.5/1.2v charging and I discovered this: http://www.evercharge.co.uk/index.php

The claim is you can also get another go out of standard Alkaline primaries, although I wouldn't be buying it for this reason. Does anyone have any thoughts?

 

[dulridge]

Anything that claims to recharge alkalines is dubious in the extreme - take with about 45 trucks full of salt. I'd avoid it like the plague. Since the link is to a .co.uk site I am assuming you are in the UK. Most of these except the Angeleyes can be bought for considerably less in the US if you live there.

Instead, if you want cheap and reasonable quality, try 7dayshop's branded version of the Vanson BC1-HU. About 14 quid and well regarded. Will charge up to D size but is only 700mA charging so isn't the fastest thing out there. I have one and am very happy with it. It'll charge AAA / AA/ C / D / 9V PP3
http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_3&products_id=100598

If you need to charge larger capacity D cells or the like this is going to take a long time. The Maha C808M is a good gadget for this but is 70 quid.
http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/acatalog/maha-c808.html

If you want lots and lots of information about your cells it is worth looking at the Maha C9000 (AAA / AA only). It is well regarded around here and there is more information about it available than I have any intention of ever reading. However, it does cost 50 quid.
http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/acatalog/MH-C9000_WizardOne_Charger_Analyzer.html

For a third of the price you can buy a comparable device that will charge at a maximum of 2 amps (i.e. will charge 2 cells at 1065mA each, 3 at 710mA each and 4 at 532mA each - measured) in total whereas the Maha will do 2 amps to each cell. I have one of these cheapies and like it a lot. Under 18 quid delivered (eventually)
http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=1374

Another AA/AAA charger much used around here is the Lacrosse RS900 which can be found here. http://www.component-shop.co.uk/html/standard.html

Depends how fast you want your cells charged, how much information you want about them, what size/shape of cells you want to charge and how much you want to spend.

This is the ultimate charger but I spend rather less than that on a car. http://www.maximonsolutions.com/cadex.html

Very, very nice but for that price I'd expect diamond encrustation and solid platinum components.

HTH

Donald who has just typed this for the second time. I hate database errors!

 

[Fallingwater]

Or get something like a Hyperion 5i AC/DC, which costs much less than that monster and can charge pretty much anything, including LiFePO4.

 

[radellaf]

You especially should not take their advice and store 'reconditioned' alkalines for any length of time. I did use an alkaline charger for a while, but it didn't put much charge in, and made the cells more likely to leak.

I think best case, you'd recharge the alkalines before they'd been discharged much (50%?), and then finish them off, as fully discharged alkalines have very little reversable chemistry left in them.

Even the optimized for recharging Ray O Vac Renewal cells didn't last that long on the market.

---

FWIW, the 'fancy' charger I'm using with a computer for data logging is the UBA4 by these guys:
http://www.vencon.com/

At home, the MH-C9000 is great, and I also use a couple of smaller 401FS chargers. Plus whatever I've recently bought to play with

 

[dulridge]

FWIW, the 'fancy' charger I'm using with a computer for data logging is the UBA4 by these guys:
http://www.vencon.com/

Very nice, but for that price I'd expect it to be. It is roughly the same amount as I spent on my car. OK, I'm a cheapskate but there is no way one of those is featuring in my future.

 

[Mr Happy]

For my own curiosity, I wanted to experiment with recharging some partially discharged alkalines, but annoyingly the C9000 refused. I do so hate protection circuits that can't be disabled. It's my charger, I want to make it do something on my own responsibility, and I don't need it refusing to obey my instructions.

Apparently if you do charge alkalines you need to keep the current low, about 50 mA or so (which is what I tried to make the C9000 do). That means to get 1000 mAh back in the cell you would have to charge for 20 hours at least. So it's only partially practical even if it worked well.

The problem with charging alkalines is that if you feed in current at a rate faster than the chemistry can absorb then you electrolyse the cell contents and produce gases. The cell then has to be vented to let the gas out safely without bursting, and that is an irreversible loss that permanently degrades the cell.

I saw Rayovac Renewals in Fry's at the weekend for about the same price as NiMH cells. That does not seem like good value given the lower performance of the cells. The packaging is notably silent about how many charge cycles you could expect, too.

One source suggested that Duracell coppertops have much the same construction as Renewals, so they might be good cells to experiment with for anyone who is of an inquisitive nature.

 

[limecc]

Thanks for the input guys. I had never heard of battery reconditioners (or that a charger could cost so much!), but I really do like the look of the C9000. I just have to decide if I am going to limit myself to AAA/AA's or not.

Regarding charging Alkalines, which is a little off-topic I suppose, I have articles from Everyday Electronics Magazines Aug & Sep 1991, which describe how to build a DIY charger that prevents the formation of internal Dendrites using the periodic current reversal method of charging. I think the Evercharge must use the same technique. In those days the AA Ni-cad only had a giddy capacity of 500mA, so it was a very attractive idea!

 

[Mr Happy]

Ah, Everyday Electronics -- that brings back memories. I used to read it religiously every week back in the 70's (eek -- that says how old I am). I see they are still running the "Teach In" feature even now just like they did then, although they have apparently merged with Practical Electronics, and ETI too?

(Going waaaay off topic here...)

 

[cy]

SCHULZE-ISL6-330d is what I use

Triton also makes an excellent hobby charger.
for more info.. check out RC forums...

highly recommend getting a quality hobby charger right off the bat. instead of purchasing several low end chargers, then end up buying a good hobby charger anyways.

please consider reading links in my sig re this topic.

 

[dulridge]

SCHULZE-ISL6-330d is what I use

highly recommend getting a quality hobby charger right off the bat. instead of purchasing several low end chargers, then end up buying a good hobby charger anyways.

For the price of that Schulze I could buy SIXTY nano chargers, or FIFTEEN BC1-HU chargers. Or, I could charge sixty cells simultaneously, if rather more slowly (but safely if you don't know what you are doing.)

I accept that there is a big difference and I am seriously considering a hobby charger, but there is utterly no way I'd consider it a good idea to start there. I am not going to be spending what a schulze charger costs at all. I can appreciate why it is worth that much and could easily find a use for it, but it is way more than I'd consider spending on a charger.

As for something like a Triton, I may well end up buying one but I'd say it is a seriously bad idea to start there unless you also are into electric RC stuff.

 

[Beastmaster]

I'll disagree.

For $134 and some wire and solder, I put together a 4 bay charger that works with every single battery that I have - and I'm not into RC. I utilized the Great Planes/ElectriFly Triton Jr. and the Equinox balancer.

And that charger will handle pretty much everything I have - from my NiMH's that my son uses in his Sandisk Sansa MP3 player, to my AW Rechargable 123A's, to my unprotected 16340's, to my inbound SureFire B90 battery packs.

So - the money is well spent. I, for one, cannot see having a bunchaton of chargers hanging around.

-Steve

 

[dulridge]

I'll disagree.

For $134 and some wire and solder, I put together a 4 bay charger that works with every single battery that I have - and I'm not into RC. I utilized the Great Planes/ElectriFly Triton Jr. and the Equinox balancer.

And that charger will handle pretty much everything I have - from my NiMH's that my son uses in his Sandisk Sansa MP3 player, to my AW Rechargable 123A's, to my unprotected 16340's, to my inbound SureFire B90 battery packs.

So - the money is well spent. I, for one, cannot see having a bunchaton of chargers hanging around.

-Steve

Steve

Agreed, but I'm still not spending the $300 or so that a Schulze charger costs. There are cheaper alternatives, as you have just pointed out. I'd still like a Schulze or better, but it isn't going to happen.

 

[cy]

you did ask for the ultimate charger .... in fact Schulze model I'm using is no where near the best.

but I have gone the bag full of cheap chargers route. then ended spending $$ for a quality hobby charger (Triton) anyways.

consider reading thread in my sig. greatest danger of li-ion usage occurs during recharging.

IMHO folks underestimate importance of investing in a quality charger.
what's it worth not to burn down your home?

and no you don't need to spend $300... there's several hobby chargers that fill the bill at much less $$.
which one is a moving target. there's loads of other folks that way more up on what models currently gives max bang for the $$.

Schultz packs a charge into cells better than any other charger I've used. Schultz consistently gets rave reviews from RC crowd. those folks are into chargers!

For the price of that Schulze I could buy SIXTY nano chargers, or FIFTEEN BC1-HU chargers. Or, I could charge sixty cells simultaneously, if rather more slowly (but safely if you don't know what you are doing.)

I accept that there is a big difference and I am seriously considering a hobby charger, but there is utterly no way I'd consider it a good idea to start there. I am not going to be spending what a schulze charger costs at all. I can appreciate why it is worth that much and could easily find a use for it, but it is way more than I'd consider spending on a charger.

As for something like a Triton, I may well end up buying one but I'd say it is a seriously bad idea to start there unless you also are into electric RC stuff.