Best Battery Charger ?

sunshinetours

fwor wrote: »

For anyone with a charger that has this function: only use it on the (much) older NiCad cells. It's pointless using it on NiMh batteries - they don't need to be fully discharged before charging, and it shortens their overall life if you do.

Any links to that please - didn't know that

fwor

No links, but it's common knowledge. NiCads suffered from the "memory effect" which was caused by internal crystalline growth. The effect was minimised by fully discharging the cell - though it could not be entirely eliminated.

NiMh cells do not suffer from that problem, and fully discharging them means that they get hotter when you charge them, which shortens their life.

[Edit: As A.Badger points out later, I probably over-state this! The current generation of NiMh cells are very much less prone to memory effect, but not completely. Many partial discharge - recharge cycles may reduce their capacity, and a very occasional full discharge may help.]

grizzly1911

espresso wrote: »

Slow charge times.

Not Delta V.

Can only charge batteries in pairs.

You may be happy with it but technically or on value for money terms, it does not compare.

I did say it wasn't the best - but it depends how you measure it.

I don''t sit over it timing it. Quick enough in reality - charges batteries does what it says on the tin. Unless you have your multimeter and load/discharge meters I really doubt whether Joe Public will notice any difference in day to day use.

Very few things use single cells IME.

For high load devices, I pay more for it, go LIon and get a spare battery pack. Much better IMO.

espresso

grizzly1911 wrote: »

I did say it wasn't the best - but it depends how you measure it.

I don''t sit over it timing it. Quick enough in reality - charges batteries does what it says on the tin. Unless you have your multimeter and load/discharge meters I really doubt whether Joe Public will notice any difference in day to day use.

Very few things use single cells IME.

For high load devices, I pay more for it, go LIon and get a spare battery pack. Much better IMO.

I'm simply saying that it doesn't tick any of the right boxes for a good battery charger - why pay more for an inferior charger?

sunshinetours

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_3&products_id=101271

This is the one I was referring to - cheaper than I remembered as well

Norman_Castle

If you check the output of your charger and match it to the battery capacity this http://www.uniross.com/eu/help-faq-charging-times.php will give you a guide to charging times. Higher capacity batteries can take a suprisingly long time to charge fully in lower output chargers.
I had been charging 2500mah batteries for 7 hours in a timed charger and was dissapointed with them. After matching the charger output and batteries I discovered they needed over 24 hours and worked properly when fully charged.

grizzly1911

espresso wrote: »

I'm simply saying that it doesn't tick any of the right boxes for a good battery charger - why pay more for an inferior charger?

£15 or £10 if quick v £10 isn't much if it offers greater flexibility battery wise.

sunshinetours

grizzly1911 wrote: »

£15 or £10 if quick v £10 isn't much if it offers greater flexibility battery wise.

If it doesn't have delta V or intelligent charging then it simply won't be as good as you can overcharge your baterries potentially, and the option of charging singles or 3's is useful for toys where non multiples of 2 are used ( of which we have several if these)

The one I linked to takes 8 at a time as well

espresso

grizzly1911 wrote: »

£15 or £10 if quick v £10 isn't much if it offers greater flexibility battery wise.

The title of this thread is "Best Battery Charger ?" and the one that you have linked to certainly is not, for the reasons mentioned.

If you need the flexibility to charge different sizes of cells, then get more than one charger but get good Delta V controlled ones that will get the very best out of your cells over a long period.

grizzly1911

[QUOTE=espresso;48937423_but_get_good_Delta_V_controlled_ones_that_will_get_the_very_best_out_of_your_cells_over_a_long_period.[/QUOTE]


Quite possible.

What does Delta V mean and how does it charge better?

Is there any independent testing that is available to back this up?

In reality what real difference does this mean to average Joe who has probably lost the batteries by charge 50?

As it MSE why more than one charger if that one does the job 95% plus?