Cycling UK Forum

As per the title, I am looking to get a battery charger for AA and AAA batteries. Having looked around the net, as you do, its a mind field!!

However, I do know that I would like a "Smart" or "Intelligent" type of charger, so that I cannot over charge them, and also shuts of or reduces the charge once they are fully charged.

But I don't really want to pay a huge amount, say £30 to £40 max really.

What are the "for's & against's" with these quick chargers? I always thought that the battery life was extended using a slow steady tickle rate rather than wacking a huge charging current into them?

I must admit that I do like the idea of the quick charger, some are as quick as 15 minutes charge time.

Any thoughts, advice or recommendations please?

I've gone through a few here; cheap & expensive. One of the expensive ones gave up the ghost for no clear reason a while ago.

I am suspicious of the super-fast ones due to the heat generated.

I have one which is fairly expensive, and will tell me the mAhr capacity of each battery. It can be useful for matching up sets for capacity, but its so-slooooowwwww to get any answers; some tasks can take more than a day.

The one I use the most is a Uniross Global Traveller; its very small, light, reasonably fast at a few hours to charge batteries.

I use this one and can recommend it (as do others)

The 7-day shop used to sell it but are not showing it any more - they do their own model which is also very good (and good value too)

Clicky

I just use a Maplin one, think it was about £10-£14.

It's not a quick charger, think it takes a couple of hours, but whatever charger you end up with I would recommend hybrid cells. They don't lose their charge so you can charge them up and keep them in the drawer for months before you need them. Similarly if you use them intermittently or in low power goods they'll run for a lot longer.

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I've been searching for the perfect charger for years, so I feel your pain.

As you say, you really need one which senses when the battery is full - this means it can charge faster without risk of overcharging, and it means you can charge a set of batteries with unequal charge remaining. The most common way of doing it is called "Delta V" which is jargon for "it checks the voltage". The cheap ones just work on a timer, and tend to undercharge modern high capacity NiMH batteries so you never get a full charge in them.

As I say, I've had many many chargers and I'd been disappointed with them all until I bought this Link but this Link looks very good too. As Nigel says, the heat generated by the fast ones is quite alarming - I'm not sure I'd be happy to leave it on while I was out of the house, but it only takes a maximum of one hour so it's not really a problem anyway.

It's worth spending a little more on a charger because otherwise you'll be forever buying cheap ones and being disappointed like I was!

Is there any research to prove / strongly suggest a financial & environmental benefit to recharging batteries?

My supply of free batteries has almost dried up . So I've been pondering the economics and environmental consequences of buying a AA/AAA battery charger and rechargeable batteries, as opposed to 2 No. AA and 4 No. AAA non rechargeable batteries.

Or are there any dynamo / solar powered rechargers, to complement my existing green existence

I've had an Energizer 15 minute charger for two years and it is excellent. Made all the difference to charging batteries while cycle touring as its feasible to use power outlets in campsite shower blocks, etc. (you only have to hang around for 15 minutes rather than hours!). Also at home if you are going out and realize you forgot to charge your light batteries, well you only have to delay your ride by 15 mins.
They do get hot but it has a built in fan to deal with that.
Quite expensive but worth it, and the transformer unit is a fair weight for carrying in the panniers but on a long tour it is worth having, on a short tour I'd probably just take plenty spare charged batteries.
I have found it here for a reasonable price.

I got an "intelligent" type charger that charges each cell individually from Aldi for £10 (reduced from £13). The problem is they only do them in their "specials", so not much use if you want buy one when you want. It's quite bulky, it's not the small portable type that's handy for trips. I reckon it's as good as chargers costing several times the price, which are overpriced IMO, obviously priced at a price they can get away with.

Is there any research to prove / strongly suggest a financial & environmental benefit to recharging batteries?

I would have thought it's pretty self evident. In one pile there are 500 dead AA batteries, in the next pile one rechargable AA that's been recharged 500 times.

I have 2 cameras, a audio recorder, bike lights, torches, remote controls etc that all use AA batteries, so the more you use them the cost effective they are.

philg wrote:I use this one and can recommend it (as do others)

I'll recommend the Technoline BL700 too (or the similar BC900 linked from the out of stock message).

It's well worth getting a charger that will charge batteries individually rather than as pairs, as it isn't uncommon for one battery out of a set of 4 new ones to need a couple of charge/discharge cycles before it starts working properly. If your charger doesn't tell you, you just start using it and recharging it assuming it's the same as the others, and this results in damage through overcharging or reverse charging and consequently poor capacity and life.
It also allows you to use devices that use an odd number of batteries without the difficulty of ensuring that both of a pair of batteries are at the same state of discharge before charging.

I use the Maha WizardOne. I generally set it so the batteries are charged over 2 to 3 hours.

If you charge too fast, the battery gets too hot.
If you charge too slow, the "Negative Delta-V" end of charge detection isn't very clear and may get missed with consequent overcharging.
You can charge very slow without worrying too much about exact timing, but that's at a 12-hour charge rate.

Thanks everyone for the help and advice so far.

Despite the recommendations, I think that I am going to opt for the Ansmann Energy 8 PLUS unit, really on account that I do like the option to charge 8 batteries in one hit. Very useful on account of having two youngs kids!

I have also gone for the Uniross Hybrio batteries, I have found a retailer doing them for £4.99 with free P&P, so ordered three sets of four to keep us going.

Cheers again