Alkaline battery recharger/conditioners -are they any good?

SpammyTheSpammer

We seem to be getting through AA batteries at an astounding rate. We DO use rechargeable but they are expensive and take time to charge. They always seem to be flat just when you need them so you end up using regular batteries while the others are recharging. Consequently, as we have so many gadgets that need alkaline batteries, I am buying packs of 12 every couple of weeks. The alkaline batteries after use, particularly in digital cameras, seem to be 90% charged and, although useless in the camera, can be used in torches and radios. The problem is that I do not use many of these so now have a small mountain of these partially used batteries

I saw on eBay that you can buy devices such as THE BATTERY WIZARD/ ECO BATTERY WIZARD which claims to be able to restore charge to standard non-rechargeable alkaline batteries. The problem here is that the charger is about three times the price of a regular recharger, starting at about £25. For that price, I can get a LOT of rechargeable batteries, and some web pages are not very complimentary about 'battery reconditioning'. I already have a NICAD/NIMH battery charger and use this on the rechargeable ones but know that I cannot use it on regular alkaline batteries.

I do not like throwing the alkaline batteries away and recycling places for these are rare. Does anyone have any ideas if these alkaline battery reconditioning tools are of use or are they are expensive snake, oops battery, oil?


Help please?

c_smith

I don't know about the one you're talking about, but I've got a Rezap Battery Doctor which charges both Alkalines and rechargeable NiMH and NiCad batteries. I've had it for over 4 years and it works great.

http://www.rezap.com.au/

I got mine on ebay and paid £25 for it. I can certainly vouch for the Rezap (if you can find somewhere in the UK that sells them now).