Battery Charger recomendations please. AA

Donald

Donald

Joined
Jan 20, 1999
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I am looking for recommendations for battery chargers capable of safely charging my 2100 mAh NiMH AA batteries to maximum capacity. At the moment most are Energizer Rechargeable. I also have a few Duracell 1800 mAh NiMH rechargeables. If you have a source with a reasonable price that would also be helpful.

My older Energizer Accu Rechargeable charger, does not seem to be up to the task. I am not sure if the higher capacity batteries are beyond its capabilities, it is failing, or it is damaging my relatively new batteries. Since the batteries have been fully discharged, and are not nickel cadmium, memory effect should not be my problem. :confused: I saw the Monster Cable digital and thought that might be the answer, but reading online suggests that it does not work well with other batteries. I saw a review of the Maha here http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/C401FS/C401A.HTM , which might be a possibility. Apparently that model amongst its pluses, has a separate circuit for each battery.

If the charger you might recommend will tell me the charge, or you have other tips regarding determining if the battery is fully charged that would be helpful too. I recently attended my daughter’s high school graduation only to have the set in the camera die, the supposedly freshly charged set die, and what I thought to be fresh regular alkalines die on me. :grumpy: My digital Olympus Camedia D-575 Zoom takes two AA batteries.

If you have tips regarding the batteries, I would be interested in those too. By the way, I noticed that some of the batteries packed with chargers, are sometimes lower in mAh capacity, than others being sold separately of the same brand, e.g. Energizer.

Thank you for you attention! :)
 
I've got the Maha MH-C401FS and it's excellent. I'm using Powerex AA 2300 mAh NiMH with it and no problems at all. The slow/fast switch is a nice choice to have. Four independent charging circuits ensures that each battery is taken care of individually. No complaints at all. :)

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/mhc401fs.htm
 
I would recommend getting the maha charger also from Thomas Distributing. It is a great charger and even comes with a 12 volt plug so you can use it in the car.
 
The Crane sounds good, e.g. that it actually has an LCD meter. Its FAQ says though, “The problem with using different battery sizes is that the QuickCharger meters the voltage entering all four cells and begins the charging process based upon the average voltage.” and then goes on to say: Q: Does the QuickCharger charge batteries in series or parallel?
A: The QuickCharger charges each cell in parallel to the same level of charge. This increases battery performance and battery life.

I don’t know about this last statement, it would seem that the Maha’s separate circuit for each battery is better. ....and as far as conditioning the Maha apparently has that covered: “The new FLEX negative pulse algorithm also significantly enhances battery life and makes conditioning unnecessary. FLEX NEGATIVE pulse charging actually removes the crystal structure formed on battery electrodes (which is the source of "memory effect") and conditions your batteries as they are being charged .”

The Cranes price is right and it has a nice digital display, but the car adapter is separate, which starts raising the price. The Maha, if you get a more complete kit is including a battery meter, although it looks like a needle model I have. The powerex 23 mHa batteries w/ the Maha are definitely better than the 1800 mHa ones Crane lists.

Thanks for the helps so far, perhaps some others will weigh in with new choices or more information on the current ones. :D
 
Skyline said:
I've got the Maha MH-C401FS and it's excellent.
Click to expand...

Me too! Excellent charger! I bought it based on the recommendations on candle power forums. Some of those guys are REAL battery nuts and I have never gone wrong with their recommendations.
 
Get the Maha later. Get the CCrane now. You can't go wrong for the price. Later on, pick up the Maha. Its good to have two chargers anyways.

Mark
 
Just an update on the Crane. It's fantastic!
I've had it for a couple, few, months and it performs really well.
Tom
 
The Maha has been working great. It is interesting to see that with each battery being charged separately, the times for each battery do vary sometimes, which would indicate to me that it is important for each battery to have its own circuit.
 
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