[Spec me...] Battery charger and batteries please

Gimpymoo

Gimpymoo

Gimpymoo

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This is not specifically camera related but thought you guys get through a fair few batteries and I did not want to ask in the Zoo which is GD :)

When I was a lad (I am 33 now) rechargeable batteries if I recall correctly were rather pap.

Nowadays, if I understand correctly, Alkaline is now showing its age.

I need AA, AAA, C, D batteries.

The main reason is the silly money I am spending on alkaline batteries for kids toys which do not seem to last that long. 3 kids between the ages of 6 and 1, we have batteries everywhere.

If I can get an all in one charger, then great, if I am best to get a seoerate ones, so be it.

I would like the chargers to be able to charge different batteries at the same time, so for example, the ability to charge AA and D together. Auto cut off once charged would be nice to.

Also, do any of the chargers have the ability to tell you how charged the battery is?

Many thanks.

James.
 
- Get a decent AAA/AA fast charger.. some have LCD displays (1 hour jobbies).. just googling, try "AA and AAA Battery Charger - 808LCD Super Fast AA/AAA with LCD Display" looks OK for £10 and gets a lot of good reviews on the rainforest.. (Get 2 if you need to cycle a lot of batteries quickly)

- Then buy a load of the low drain AAA/AA Ni-MH batteries (keep their charge longer when not used)

- Buy the C/D sleeves that turn an AA battery into a C/D.. if you look at C/D rechargeables they don't have a higher mAH rating, so you are actually better off getting sleeves on AA's..

I do this for our kids toys, I have a Maplins 1 hour charger with display, and a Uniross 1 hours charger with display, and a ton of various low-drain 2100maH NiMH (Panasonics/Eneloop and own brand), plus about 20 C/D sleeves..
 
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Demon said:
- Get a decent AAA/AA fast charger.. some have LCD displays (1 hour jobbies).. just googling, try "7dayshop AA and AAA Battery Charger - 808LCD Super Fast AA/AAA with LCD Display" looks OK for £10 and gets a lot of good reviews on the rainforest.. (Get 2 if you need to cycle a lot of batteries quickly)

- Then buy a load of the low drain AAA/AA Ni-MH batteries (keep their charge longer when not used)

- Buy the C/D sleeves that turn an AA battery into a C/D..

I do this for our kids toys, I have a Maplins 1 hour charger with display, and a Uniross 1 hours charger with display, and a ton of various low-drain 2100maH NiMH (Panasonics/Eneloop and own brand), plus about 20 C/D sleeves..
Click to expand...

Thanks.

Those sleeves seem a great idea, never knew such things existe - lol

Would definitely make it easier.
 
Rechargeables have got a lot better. I remember when my dad bought some a few years ago and they just wouldn't hold their charge at all.
Just make sure you get NiMH type batteries.

I've read that fast charge chargers reduces the life of rechargeables, in that they won't go through as many charges before they can't hold charge.
But seeing as they are usually rated to last 500-1k cycles and the price of batteries it's not too bad.

The all week shop (not sure if it's a competitor?) that Demon mentioned have their own brand 2900mAh which seem decent and that's the next set I'm going to get.
As good as Eneloops are (I have 8x AA and 4x AAA), they are only 1900mAh for AA and are more expensive.

As Demon said regarding C/D battery types; most companies that sell those types just use AA batteries and put a casing over it and charge a lot more. So it's a lot cheaper to just use AA and buy casing yourself. Proper C/D types are more expensive but they hold an incredible amount of charge.
 
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Razor-BladE said:
Rechargeables have got a lot better. I remember when my dad bought some a few years ago and they just wouldn't hold their charge at all.
Just make sure you get NiMH type batteries.

I've read that fast charge chargers reduces the life of rechargeables, in that they won't go through as many charges before they can't hold charge.
But seeing as they are usually rated to last 500-1k cycles and the price of batteries it's not too bad.

The all week shop (not sure if it's a competitor?) that Demon mentioned have their own brand 2900mAh which seem decent and that's the next set I'm going to get.
As good as Eneloops are (I have 8x AA and 4x AAA), they are only 1900mAh for AA and are more expensive.

As Demon said regarding C/D battery types; most companies that sell those types just use AA batteries and put a casing over it and charge a lot more. So it's a lot cheaper to just use AA and buy casing yourself. Proper C/D types are more expensive but they hold an incredible amount of charge.
Click to expand...


I use a lot of AA NiMH's (Flash/kids toys/games controllers) and the 2100mAH "low drain" are definitely my pick, they seem to last as well as any 2600/2800's I've ever had (I think some marketing over optimism applies to many larger capacity AA's) but they keep their charge in kids toys when they are infrequently used, compared to my 2800;s which are dead after a couple of months even if the toys aren't used..

And I've fast charged for years, no issues yet, batteries still hold plenty of charge, I think the more intelligent 1 hour chargers are quite good at maintaining battery condition using good charging algorithms etc..

But, it's nice to have slightly differing opnions, there are choices out there, slow/fast chargers and high capacity or low drain batteries..
 
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I use the Uniross Smart Charger which does a good job. Charge time about 4 hours, and it's stops charging when charged, so good if you forget to take them out.
 
Well, I decided to get the La Crosse BC-1000. Although for some reason, I think I should have got a MAHA charger. oh well.

Cannot find much info on the BC-1000 though, not sure why.
 
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