Battery charger recommendations?

[mklotz]

Digital cameras are battery-hungry little devils and my new camera is no exception.

I'm planning on getting some Sanyo Eneloop (tm) batteries because they are supposed to have much better charge retention when not in use. As long as I'm about it, I'd like to get a smart battery charger - one that can charge at greater than trickle current levels and stop charging when it detects the full-charge voltage drop.

Do any of you folks have personal experience with smart chargers that you would be willing to pass along?

 

[spuddevans]

I have a Maha C9000 ( <a href="http://www.mahaenergy.co.uk/product...00-wizard-one-intelligent-charger--analyser"> Clicky</a> ) smart charger and can reccomend it whole-heartedly. Smart chargers are well worth it especially when you're investing in good quality batteries.
The Maha C9000, along with others, can "break in" a new battery to get the best capacity, you can specify what the charge current is, what the discharge current is, the number of charge/discharge cycles, and probably much more.

I've had mine for about 18months now and am very happy with it. For me it was a choice between the Maha C9000 and the LaCrosse BC900, they were both very similar in features but the display on the Maha was better laid out for me anyway.

Tim

 

[Kermit]

smart chargers are what they are all called now, some kind of law allows the use of the term.

The term smart charger is supposedly reserved for chargers that can detect when full charge is reached and then trim back the charge current to a trickle charge level.

Ni-Cad and the newer Ni-MH have so-called smart chargers, but the problem is one of detection.

The higher heat and steeper voltage curve point that is the usual trigger point in a graph of the smart charger is just not very easy for the electronics to "find". Ni-cad's have a more pronounced change at full charge and this older technology is therefor more reliable as it concerns chargers for these batteries.

If you get the newer Ni-MH batteries, be aware that not all the smart chargers for this type of battery will be the same. You WILL get what you pay for in this respect.

My technique with Ni-MH batteries has been to charge for four hours(the time it takes for me to feel them start to get warm) then unplug them till they cool back off and start them again with a second four hour run in the charger. This ensures full charge but avoids the iffy stage where heat has built up and the smart feature is supposed to cut in and regulate the charge, but often doesn't. The damaging result is not noticed either! It takes several overcharge/overheat sessions to kill the battery. But it will kill the battery. Expect a new battery good for 500 recharges to give you about fifty if it gets overcharged once or twice.

Get the Ni-cads if you can. Less work watching over them! or spend the money and get a reputable smart charger for the Ni-MH

 

[mklotz]

Kermit,

NiCads are much more finicky about charging. They develop a "memory" if not fully discharged before recharging. NiMh do not have that problem. In addition, NiMh have a higher energy density - more power in the same package size.

For energy-hungry devices like cameras, NiMh is, IMO, the way to go. I've tried NiCads and they just don't last long enough. NiMh has a problem with self-discharge - thus my wish to switch to the Eneloop type since they claim much lower self-discharge rates - important with a camera that may sit unused for a long time.

A good charger is essential to get the maximum utility from NiMh - hence my original question about recommendations for same.

 

[lugnut]

Marv your right about some chargers being better than others. I can tell the difference when I use my Olympus charger vs the el-cheapo one I have.
the link below is from Amazon and is to the battery's and charger you talk about. If you continue to the bottom of the page there are some pretty good reviews on it.
Mel
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000IV0REA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[mklotz]

I have a Maha C9000 ( <a href="http://www.mahaenergy.co.uk/product...00-wizard-one-intelligent-charger--analyser"> Clicky</a> ) smart charger and can reccomend it whole-heartedly. Smart chargers are well worth it especially when you're investing in good quality batteries.
The Maha C9000, along with others, can "break in" a new battery to get the best capacity, you can specify what the charge current is, what the discharge current is, the number of charge/discharge cycles, and probably much more.

I've had mine for about 18months now and am very happy with it. For me it was a choice between the Maha C9000 and the LaCrosse BC900, they were both very similar in features but the display on the Maha was better laid out for me anyway.

Tim

That's the one I've been considering. I had been looking at the nearly equivalent La Crosse model but the several of the Amazon reviews indicated that the thing has a tendency to melt down!

Boy, you guys in the UK really get stiffed on prices. 50 UKP for something that sells in the USA for $40.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NLUSLM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Kermit]

Kermit,

NiCads are much more finicky about charging. They develop a "memory" if not fully discharged before recharging. NiMh do not have that problem. In addition, NiMh have a higher energy density - more power in the same package size.

For energy-hungry devices like cameras, NiMh is, IMO, the way to go.

The memory problem is a myth nowadays. It was true for the first generation Ni-cd cells but later builds overcame that problem. The Ni-MH are a better chemistry, BUT the difficulty in detecting the full charge point during a recharge cycle has become the problem point for this battery type. VERY FEW of the battery chargers that are called smart chargers can reliably detect this. They get away with it because they are including the older Ni-Cad chemistry when they make their advertising claims.

Ni-MH if and only if you have a TRUE smart charger.

I've got two Ni-cad battery packs that were manufactured in 1988 and STILL give me a full 7.5 volts for around 2 hours after a full charge. I've NEVER had a Ni-MH battery last longer than 2 years, even with careful charge monitoring.

Boils down to the usage of the battery (how much current) and how often cycled. Ni-MH for high drain will make it longer between battery changes. Ni-Cad (In my long experiences) will need more frequent battery changes but will ultimately give you many more discharge recharge cycles.

I've been banging my head into this problem for about a decade now with several of the devices we manufacture here at my work. When Lithium Thionyl cells came out we eagerly jumped on that bandwagon, then a defective transistor in the "required" charge controller on the battery packs shorted and we had a fire(small one) in a unit while it was on the test bench. LONG story short- we went back to Ni-cads.


From the for what it's worth dept,
Kermit

 

[spuddevans]

That's the one I've been considering.

It is well worth the money, it also can calculate the actual capacity of your battery, as opposed to what the label says, this is really helpful to see how your older nicads or nimh's are holding up and allows you to build a matched set of batteries, or at least as matched as possible.

Boy, you guys in the UK really get stiffed on prices. 50 UKP for something that sells in the USA for $40.

Tell us about it, 6 months ago it was even worse as the exchange rate was about $2 to £1 ???


If you go for the MAHA you wont be disappointed.


Tim

 

[bentprop]

Marv,I think half the problem with the Nimhs is people get cheap ones,and then expect miracles.
I've got some no-name ones that came with the charger I bought,and they last about 40 minutes of full time use.So I bought a set of Energizer 2500Mah ones,and they last a minimum of 2.5 hours!With intermittent use much longer,as they seem to revive themselves to some extent.
Of course,a decent charger will help too.my$0.02.
Hans.

 

[Stan]

I guess my story applies to both battery charging and customer service that was in another thread. Just before Christmas I bought a new telephone that came with the battery pack not installed. The instruction sheet said that if you had a Ni-Cad battery you had to use a Grey charger and a Black charger with Nimh battery.

I am in good shape with a Ni-Cad and a Grey charger. After setting up the phone I find an addendum sheet to replace the above directions with instructions that are the opposite. After spending an hour on five different 800 numbers and then a long distance number to Call Center hell I gave up. Today I went back to the store and told the story to the manager.

It only her about thirty minutes to get through to a human on the long distance number where she was told her that the chargers were all the same so it didn't matter what I had, Some discussion with the manager showed that she knew nothing about batteries but she does have an over the counter exchange for one year. Since that is about the life expectancy of a Made in China phone I am OK as long as it doesn't catch fire.

 

[Kermit]

I'm probably irking some for abusing my alotted number of "opinion" posts.

SO! I'll stop after just ONE more. ;D

(I bloodied my forehead against this brick wall for years and years.)

NEVER fully charge any rechargeable battery and then put it away for quick use. They lose charge and LIFE quicker when stored with a FULL charge. does not apply to lead acid batteries of any type

Unless you use/replace them everyday its better to store nicad and nimh with around 40-80% charge and put them in the charger just before use.

NEVER let a recharge heat the battery more than human body temp or just above. Stop the charge for sufficient time for the battery to cool back down to room temp.
A neat Kink is to put your charger on a plug-in timer with multiple on/off settings.

.Speed chargers are different and the use of battery packs for racing and the use of speed chargers is really a whole different world of batteries

Closely track usage and don't get them mixed up, once a discharged nicad or nimh battery has been allowed to sit for awhile it will show 1.2 something volts when checked - Just like a fully charged battery. Only putting it under load will reveal its discharged state! ( Don't ask how I learned that lesson )

I have found these rules give me a very satisfactory life expectancy even with some strange off brand batteries that come with purchased electronic items.


I'll shut up now