Picking a Universa Batt. charger

[Hank Zudd]

I've been eating up my rechargeable cells & need to do something better; I have looked at the Ti BC2-HU universal, the Maha MHC808D & a few others, but the budget is the Ti BC2. What ye think about that one? Any others in the less than $40 range that will recondition my AA &AAA's that I was about to throw out? I also use C's, and some D's + 9v.

One of the main issues in the house right now is my wife's Sony digita camera; got some Duracell 2650mAh's, but at 3 months old they'll only go to 80% charge (per the ZTS tester). So I'm figuring a good charger that conditions the batts. will bring these back around.

My current charger is a big box store name brand charger that's +10 yrs. old with no discharging or any other modern features.

I'm also looking for some new low, slow discharge AA's for the camera & other uses;What about the Tenergy 2600mAh's at Batt. Junction ? seem ok?

thanks guys, these days I just don't have enough time to research this on my own, plus getting a good charger is way overdue for me.

 

[DScottHewitt]

I've been eating up my rechargeable cells & need to do something better; I have looked at the Ti BC2-HU universal, the Maha MHC808D & a few others, but the budget is the Ti BC2. What ye think about that one? Any others in the less than $40 range that will recondition my AA &AAA's that I was about to throw out? I also use C's, and some D's + 9v.

One of the main issues in the house right now is my wife's Sony digita camera; got some Duracell 2650mAh's, but at 3 months old they'll only go to 80% charge (per the ZTS tester). So I'm figuring a good charger that conditions the batts. will bring these back around.

My current charger is a big box store name brand charger that's +10 yrs. old with no discharging or any other modern features.

I'm also looking for some new low, slow discharge AA's for the camera & other uses;What about the Tenergy 2600mAh's at Batt. Junction ? seem ok?

thanks guys, these days I just don't have enough time to research this on my own, plus getting a good charger is way overdue for me.

This is right in the area I joined to get info on. Perfect timing. I am having problems with some DuraCells holding a charge for more than a few weeks. I would be very interested in input in this area, too.

 

[Russel]

Although it may be over your budget, I highly recommend the Maha MH-C808M if you can only afford one charger. The ultimate equipment, in my opinion, is the MH-C808M and a MH-C9000 charger.

I use a MH-C808M for charging and cycling C and D Nimh cells and a MH-C9000 for AA and AAA cells.

It is possible to use a MH-C9000 for all sized, AAA, AA, C, and D, but that would require you to make an adapter for external C and D cell holders. The C9000 does provide information about the charge and discharge cycles tha the C808M doesn't.

A couple of places to purchase the MH-C808M:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ies+++Chargers-_-Maha+Energy+Corp.-_-17355001

and

http://www.thomasdistributing.com/s...html?SP_id=&osCsid=fs17972mto0cepcf9ikhbatek3

and the MH-C9000:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817355014

and

http://www.thomasdistributing.com/s...html?SP_id=&osCsid=6dgp3m9tsvht77bonp78maub94

 

[Mr Happy]

By universal you mean NiMH only, but all sizes from AAA through D?

As Russel said, the Maha range would be good to look at.

Do note that a percentage reading on NiMH cells from the ZTS tester is very unreliable, and that 80% reading is essentially meaningless as a measure of the cell capacity.

Also note that any cell with a stated capacity above 2000 mAh will have a tendency to be fragile, to wear out more quickly, and to have a capacity in normal use less than what the label says.

If you are considering new low self-discharge cells (a very good plan), ignore anything with a stated capacity above 2000 mAh or so. Extra high capacity is not compatible with low self-discharge properties.

Eneloops are the benchmark for this kind of cell and to be honest you couldn't go far wrong with those.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Hank Zudd,

Just for reference, my Duracell cells register 100% on the ZTS tester after a full charge...

Tom

 

[DScottHewitt]

I'm not sure if I need to start a whole new thread, since my problem seems to be kind of related to what the OP talked about. Here's an example. I charged all the DuraCells right before Thanksgiving. {For a family gathering we ended up missing because of illness.}

First week of December, almost every set of batteries was so low that they would flash the little red "replace batteries" icon in the Canon PowerShot A530.

So, little over a week, almost dead.

I am careful to never mix MaH ratings or anything when I charge batteries. What I do {being anal} is keep each pair of batteries in a little plastic baggie inside the camera case front pocket. Those two batteries stay together for the lifetime of their use, and are charged together.

I don't think I am messing up charging them, but I would think that they would hold at least SOME charge for a week or so.

I think they are maybe three years old. Perhaps every set has just outlived its usefulness?

 

[Rexlion]

I looked at the same thing a month ago. I thought hard about the Titanium MD-3000. But in the end I liked the features of the Maha C9000 too well. I decided I could always fudge along with the old charger for the occasional C or D. The AAA and AA batteries are the ones that see the most action by far and need the most care. But if you do get a universal, consider the MD-3000. It's not much more money than the BC2-HU but can charge at up to 1600mA instead of just 700mA.

 

[Conan]

One of the main issues in the house right now is my wife's Sony digita camera; got some Duracell 2650mAh's, but at 3 months old they'll only go to 80% charge (per the ZTS tester). So I'm figuring a good charger that conditions the batts. will bring these back around.

I would consider a ZTS reading of 80% charge for 3 month old batteries acceptable. Like what Mr. Happy said, ZTS readings of NiMH batteries are not very accurate.

 

[MattK]

But if you do get a universal, consider the MD-3000. It's not much more money than the BC2-HU but can charge at up to 1600mA instead of just 700mA.

 

[Russel]

...I charged all the DuraCells right before Thanksgiving. {For a family gathering we ended up missing because of illness.}

First week of December, almost every set of batteries was so low that they would flash the little red "replace batteries" icon in the Canon PowerShot A530.

So, little over a week, almost dead...

Are they Low Self Discharge DuraCells ?

 

[Hank Zudd]

thanks for all the imput= I went with the Ti MD 3000, as I use alot C's;

how are the Ti Innovations 123's; got some of those to restock that group

 

[MattK]

thanks for all the imput= I went with the Ti MD 3000, as I use alot C's;

how are the Ti Innovations 123's; got some of those to restock that group

Titanium Innovations CR123A's are right up there with the best - see these shoot out/reviews:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/233961

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/235213

 

[HarryN]

There are different views of what a quality universal charger is. In my case, I expanded my scope to list every single charger in the house, with a goal to replace as many as possible. This included lawn and garden tools, drill chargers, r/c car, etc. I decided to keep the laptop and cell phones off the list.

The charger I wanted was a Schultze, but what I ended up with was a Triton II. It was the only charger that could actually charge every single item I have. Price wise, with a power supply, nearly $ 200, but I would have spent that much anyway on replacing some chargers that were dying, or killing batteries with their dumb chargers.

So in summary, consider making a list of what chargers you have, and if one really decent charger can eliminate most of them.

 

[Russel]

thanks for all the imput= I went with the Ti MD 3000, as I use alot C's;

how are the Ti Innovations 123's; got some of those to restock that group

If you get a chance, let us know how you like the charger once you get a chance to use it.

 

[Hank Zudd]

but of course; I've many D's that don't wanna play anymore, but I have a light I use at work all the time that uses them.