NiMH Rechageable battery charger

Vincent C. · Feb 6, 2002

Hello all,

I would like to buy a NiMH rechargeable battery and charger. However, I am not sure which is good. I see couple chargers at Thomas Distributing. GP PowerBank II and MAHA Powerex CR3. I also saw Rayovac PS1 at compusa who said it can charge three types of batteries. Can anyone tell me which model is better? I heard that some slow charger will not shut down by themselves, isn't it? Do you have any other suggestion? Any comments are welcome!!

Thanks in advance!

Regards,

Vince

Michael Meissner · Feb 6, 2002

Vincent C. said:
Hello all,

I would like to buy a NiMH rechargeable battery and charger.
However, I am not sure which is good. I see couple chargers at
Thomas Distributing. GP PowerBank II and MAHA Powerex CR3. I also
saw Rayovac PS1 at compusa who said it can charge three types of
batteries. Can anyone tell me which model is better? I heard
that some slow charger will not shut down by themselves, isn't it?
Do you have any other suggestion? Any comments are welcome!!

You might want to go over to:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM

for an in depth discussion about various types of batteries and chargers. Another web page is:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/nimh_batteries.html

The short summary is the Rayovac 1 hour charger is one of the best chargers out there. I just bought one myself at Walmart, where it was $10 cheaper than Compusa. The Maha and ripvan chargers are also well thought of.

Luis E Limon · Feb 6, 2002

The rayovac express charger is the best. charges your batts in 1 hour. and with full charge. It a little expensive do.

Michael Meissner said:
Vincent C. said:

Hello all,

I would like to buy a NiMH rechargeable battery and charger.
However, I am not sure which is good. I see couple chargers at
Thomas Distributing. GP PowerBank II and MAHA Powerex CR3. I also
saw Rayovac PS1 at compusa who said it can charge three types of
batteries. Can anyone tell me which model is better? I heard
that some slow charger will not shut down by themselves, isn't it?
Do you have any other suggestion? Any comments are welcome!!

Click to expand...

You might want to go over to:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM

for an in depth discussion about various types of batteries and
chargers. Another web page is:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/nimh_batteries.html

The short summary is the Rayovac 1 hour charger is one of the best
chargers out there. I just bought one myself at Walmart, where it
was $10 cheaper than Compusa. The Maha and ripvan chargers are
also well thought of.

acorntree · Feb 7, 2002

Which charger is right for you depends on what you need.

If time is important, then go w/ either the Rayovac 1hr quick charger.
The Lightning Pack 4000N would be a good alternative... but I never
tested it, so I can't really vouch for it

Even if time was not important, the bare minimum I would consider
would be the Maha MH-C204F.

Why did I not recommend slow chargers?

1 They are controlled by a timer... so no "topping off option"
2 More likely to overcharge and do permanent damage to batteries.

I guess if you compare $30 to $10, then yes the quick chargers
may be considered expensive. However, consider the time saving
features that you get w/ quick chargers.

Vincent C. said:
Hello all,

I would like to buy a NiMH rechargeable battery and charger.
However, I am not sure which is good. I see couple chargers at
Thomas Distributing. GP PowerBank II and MAHA Powerex CR3. I also
saw Rayovac PS1 at compusa who said it can charge three types of
batteries. Can anyone tell me which model is better? I heard
that some slow charger will not shut down by themselves, isn't it?
Do you have any other suggestion? Any comments are welcome!!

Thanks in advance!

Regards,

Vince

dgrogers · Feb 7, 2002

Maybe a little expensive, but you save so much on time (both rechargeing time and power on time)!

Luis E Limon said:
The rayovac express charger is the best. charges your batts in 1
hour. and with full charge. It a little expensive do.

Bob44240 · Feb 8, 2002

dgrogers said:
Luis E Limon said:

The rayovac express charger is the best. charges your batts in 1
hour. and with full charge.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the Rayovac charger produces high heat - both charger & batteries get very warm. This will shorten the number of times the batteries can be recharged.

acorntree · Feb 8, 2002

Hey Bob, the Maha 204F produces high heat compared to the Maha CR3.
Does that mean battery life is shortened when charging on a 204F?
Unless you have proof, don't spread urban legend.

I have a Maha 777plus. Depending on the number of cells being charged, it can produce more heat or less heat than the rayovac 1hr quick charger.

When I charge 4 cells, it peaks @94F. When I charge 2 cells it peaks @102F. Thats in a room temperature of 75-80F. The Rayovac AAA 650mAH NiMH batteries that I use in my 777plus has been benchmarked to hold 720mAH of power.

Maha spec states that charging temperature is 0 to 45C (32 to 113F)
So as long as its being charge w/i spec. it should be fine.

Bob said:
dgrogers said:

Luis E Limon said:

The rayovac express charger is the best. charges your batts in 1
hour. and with full charge.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the Rayovac charger produces high heat - both
charger & batteries get very warm. This will shorten the number of
times the batteries can be recharged.

dgrogers · Feb 8, 2002

The batterie and charger never get so hot that they are uncomfortable to touch. I'd be extremely dissapointed if my coffee were the same temp because it would seem very cold. I don't see how you can concider this "high heat". Does the charger and its batteries get fairly warm? Yes.

Evil Eggplant · Feb 8, 2002

I use the maha c204f charger and nexcell 1800maH batteries. Dead batteries are fully charged in less than three hours. I can easily take 50 flash pictures, all with the LCD on, and not drain the batteries. In fact, I have three sets of batteries, during a full days (and nights) shooting, I have never needed the third set of batteries. I use the zoom lots, the LCD almost constantly.

later
rich
http://geocities.com/iceninevt

Bob44240 · Feb 9, 2002

acorntree said:
Hey Bob, the Maha 204F produces high heat compared to the Maha CR3.
Does that mean battery life is shortened when charging on a 204F?
Unless you have proof, don't spread urban legend.

What's the matter? Did I offend you by saying something negative about a toy of yours? I guess you failed to read the info provided in the links provided in the second post.

Fact is: The Rayovac is one of the warmest running chargers. See these quotes from the article:

"The new Rayovac 1600 mAh cells were the slight overall winners in terms of capacity. The Rayovac one-hour charger delivers a pretty complete charge too, although the batteries get pretty hot. (I measured at 55.5 degrees C)

The Maha PowerEx 1700 mAh batteries with Maha C204 charger come in a (very) close second, at a good price. The C-204 runs the batteries a little cooler, about 48 degrees C in my measurements."

In case you don't know how to do temp conversions, 55.5 degrees C is 131.9 degrees F - that's "HOT" to me

It's hardly an "urban legend" that quick & hot charges are not as good for rechargeable batteries as a slower & cooler charge.

Bob44240 · Feb 9, 2002

dgrogers said:
The batterie and charger never get so hot that they are
uncomfortable to touch. I'd be extremely dissapointed if my coffee
were the same temp because it would seem very cold. I don't see
how you can concider this "high heat". Does the charger and its
batteries get fairly warm? Yes.

See my response above to "acorntree". "Hot" or "High Heat" is relative but I doubt that you could comfortably drink coffee at 131.9 degrees F. Besides, we're not discussing beverages here - it's not the same thing. You're analogy is misleading.

Don Hosmer · Feb 9, 2002

The Rayovac PS1 is not the new 1 hour charger. You want the Rayovac PS4 designed for Nicads or NiMH batteries. The PS1 is for their old renewable alkalines....it won't fo NiMH batteries and takes over 3 hours.

Vincent C. said:
Hello all,

I would like to buy a NiMH rechargeable battery and charger.
However, I am not sure which is good. I see couple chargers at
Thomas Distributing. GP PowerBank II and MAHA Powerex CR3. I also
saw Rayovac PS1 at compusa who said it can charge three types of
batteries. Can anyone tell me which model is better? I heard
that some slow charger will not shut down by themselves, isn't it?
Do you have any other suggestion? Any comments are welcome!!

Thanks in advance!

Regards,

Vince

Bob44240 · Feb 9, 2002

dgrogers said:
The batterie and charger never get so hot that they are
uncomfortable to touch.

Note this Q&A from Thomas Distributing:

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/wonderdesk/wonderdesk.cgi?db=faq&uid=default&from=&language=english&wdauth=&view_records=1&ID=4&ww=1

Note their definition of "almost hot" being 100 - 120 F for charging batteries. Again, it seems to me that 131.9 F is "HOT" for charging batteries. That temp might be "normal" for the Rayovac charger but that doesn't mean it's a good thing over the long haul.

larry41017 · Feb 9, 2002

acorntree said:
Hey Bob, the Maha 204F produces high heat compared to the Maha CR3.
Does that mean battery life is shortened when charging on a 204F?
Unless you have proof, don't spread urban legend.

Here's proof:

I've got a the Kodak NiMH smart charger K1000. Bought it a little over
one year ago. Got three sets (of 4) 1600 mAH batts with it.

The batts get too hot to comfortably hold in the palm of your hand
after charging (but not burning hot).

The three sets were labeled (A, B, C) when I bought them,
and have been used, and charged only as 'sets'. No mixing of
batts from different sets, which can cause problems.

The sets were charged, on average, every two weeks ( 25
charges).

Lifespan is noticably shorter than when they were new, I'd
estimate 15%. If it's too hot to hold, it's too hot!

-I- just bought the Maha C204F....

acorntree · Feb 9, 2002

"to each their own"

Yes I have read dave's article. And your laughable show of intelligence
in knowing how to convert from C to F was just that, amusing.
Yes (C*9/5)+32 = F any idiot can look it up online.

To me its all about the bottom line. Even 15% as Larry claims, is nothing
compared to the 300% reduction in charging hrs.

Here is my situation. I have a pda that eats 2 sets of 4AAA per month.
So that means 24 recharges per yr. Gee $12 (including tax)... for 4AAA
batteries.

You do know that NiMH loose capacity after each recharge. A rough
estimate of 20% over a period of 500 recharges should depict worse
case scenerio. Hmm $12/500 = 2.4cents $12/100 =12cents.

The Rayovac obviously have calculated loss of capacity into their rating
system.

Larry - I can't vouch for the K1000. My batteries charged in a 777plus
does not get to hot to hold (
most. You also have to take into consideration that NiMH loose
capacity after each recharge.

Bob said:
acorntree said:

Hey Bob, the Maha 204F produces high heat compared to the Maha CR3.
Does that mean battery life is shortened when charging on a 204F?
Unless you have proof, don't spread urban legend.

Click to expand...

What's the matter? Did I offend you by saying something negative
about a toy of yours? I guess you failed to read the info provided
in the links provided in the second post.
Fact is: The Rayovac is one of the warmest running chargers. See
these quotes from the article:
"The new Rayovac 1600 mAh cells were the slight overall winners in
terms of capacity. The Rayovac one-hour charger delivers a pretty
complete charge too, although the batteries get pretty hot. (I
measured at 55.5 degrees C)
The Maha PowerEx 1700 mAh batteries with Maha C204 charger come in
a (very) close second, at a good price. The C-204 runs the
batteries a little cooler, about 48 degrees C in my measurements."
In case you don't know how to do temp conversions, 55.5 degrees C
is 131.9 degrees F - that's "HOT" to me
It's hardly an "urban legend" that quick & hot charges are not as
good for rechargeable batteries as a slower & cooler charge.

JudyN · Feb 9, 2002

There are a couple more issues you may want to consider. I finally bought an Olympus charger (BU100). If you travel outside of the US where the voltage is not 110, you will need to figure out what you're going to do. The chargers that "conveniently" plug directly into the wall are not convenient to me away from home (or even at home, for that matter!). On our first trip with one of these we had the charger balanced on a plug converter and a voltage converter. Very precarious!

So my new Olympus charger is fast, has a cord, and is 110/220 V compatible. All it needs is a plug converter.

By the way, most foreign hotels actually have a 110 V US plug in the bathroom "for shavers." Battery chargers have very low draw, so they are fine.

My next thing to look for is a European multiple plug. We now have 3 different kinds of batteries, 3 different kinds of chargers, more than one for some battery types... And Euroepan hotels tend to be very short on plugs. We've had to unplug the TV or a lamp in order to plug things in...

Judy

Bob44240 · Feb 9, 2002

acorntree said:
"to each their own"

Yes I have read dave's article. And your laughable show of
intelligence
in knowing how to convert from C to F was just that, amusing.
Yes (C*9/5)+32 = F any idiot can look it up online.

I will not resort to name calling & further insults as you have done. (You can't even conduct a discussion on a public forum and maintain a sense of decency and respect toward others.)

For the record, I did not look up the solution to the simple conversion online, nor did I use a calculator. I can do that kind of mayth in my head - thank you.

Go ahead and respond with more smart A*S*S remarks...you are not capable of hurting or insulting me. I know your type but refuse to stoop to that level.

acorntree said:
The Rayovac obviously have calculated loss of capacity into their rating
system.

Here you have assumed that people will only charge Rayovac batteries in their Rayovac charger - an obvious fallacy.

Bob44240 · Feb 9, 2002

acorntree said:
To me its all about the bottom line. Even 15% as Larry claims, is
nothing
compared to the 300% reduction in charging hrs.

Here is my situation. I have a pda that eats 2 sets of 4AAA per
month.
So that means 24 recharges per yr. Gee $12 (including tax)... for
4AAA
batteries.

You do know that NiMH loose capacity after each recharge. A rough
estimate of 20% over a period of 500 recharges should depict worse
case scenerio. Hmm $12/500 = 2.4cents $12/100 =12cents.

Larry estimated a 15% loss after only about 25 charges. You turned that around to 20% after 500 charges. Why would the falloff be only another 5% for the next 475 charges?
Must be the "new math"

Vincent C. · Feb 9, 2002

Hi Judy,

Yep.. you made a good point on it. I have not make the final decision. I probably need to think about it. Thanks a lot!!

Vincent

Judith Nicholls said:
There are a couple more issues you may want to consider. I
finally bought an Olympus charger (BU100). If you travel outside
of the US where the voltage is not 110, you will need to figure out
what you're going to do. The chargers that "conveniently" plug
directly into the wall are not convenient to me away from home (or
even at home, for that matter!). On our first trip with one of
these we had the charger balanced on a plug converter and a voltage
converter. Very precarious!

So my new Olympus charger is fast, has a cord, and is 110/220 V
compatible. All it needs is a plug converter.

By the way, most foreign hotels actually have a 110 V US plug in
the bathroom "for shavers." Battery chargers have very low draw,
so they are fine.

My next thing to look for is a European multiple plug. We now have
3 different kinds of batteries, 3 different kinds of chargers, more
than one for some battery types... And Euroepan hotels tend to be
very short on plugs. We've had to unplug the TV or a lamp in order
to plug things in...

Judy

Vincent C. · Feb 9, 2002

Hi acorntree,

Thank you for your reply. I still thinking whether should I go for fast or slow charger. The reason I want to buy a charger is not for digital camera. I just use it for CDPlayer, MP3 Player, etc. I think that I might not need to charge the battery as frequently as Digital camera users. I am not sure whether I am right or not since I never use NiMH battery before. That's why I would like to get some suggestion/comment from the current NIMH users.

Thanks!

Vincent

acorntree said:
If time is important, then go w/ either the Rayovac 1hr quick charger.
The Lightning Pack 4000N would be a good alternative... but I never
tested it, so I can't really vouch for it

Even if time was not important, the bare minimum I would consider
would be the Maha MH-C204F.

Why did I not recommend slow chargers?

1 They are controlled by a timer... so no "topping off option"

2 More likely to overcharge and do permanent damage to batteries.

I guess if you compare $30 to $10, then yes the quick chargers
may be considered expensive. However, consider the time saving
features that you get w/ quick chargers.

Vincent C. said:

Hello all,

I would like to buy a NiMH rechargeable battery and charger.
However, I am not sure which is good. I see couple chargers at
Thomas Distributing. GP PowerBank II and MAHA Powerex CR3. I also
saw Rayovac PS1 at compusa who said it can charge three types of
batteries. Can anyone tell me which model is better? I heard
that some slow charger will not shut down by themselves, isn't it?
Do you have any other suggestion? Any comments are welcome!!

Thanks in advance!

Regards,

Vince

Click to expand...

NiMH Rechageable battery charger

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