Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => OT Knowledge => Topic started by: mrcharly-YHT on 17 September, 2014, 10:31:54 am
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It's that time of year, and my beloved fujicell charger seems to have died. :(
It charged 1,2, 3 or 4 batteries at a time, took AA and AAA.
I need something similar, that's cheap and not bulky.
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I have a Technoline BL700, which was recommended in this thread (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=77876.0). Very pleased with it. Would it be suitable?
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I was going to say Battery Logic BL700 (http://www.batterylogic.co.uk/technoline/technoline-BL700.asp) too, but they've also got a smaller model, the BL500 (http://www.batterylogic.co.uk/BL-500-Chipmunk-intelligent-battery-charger.asp) which looks good for less money.
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I have 2 BL700's. What I do find is sometimes a battery shows as null. Sticking it in a crude Hama wallwart charger seems to revive the cells.
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BL500 looks idea.
Might have another charger at home, I'd forgotten I bought one for the kids.
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The BL700's extra functions are useful. It should be the YACF official charger! :)
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It should be the YACF official charger! :)
It's certainly mine - like PB, I have a pair of them. I use a monstrous quantity of AA batteries in my camera gear (mainly Nikon flashguns) and it's great to know when I have a duff cell that'll let me down on a shoot. The BL-700 will do this and much more.
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I have two as well. I did consider a BC1000, but £43.99 is a bit too unnecessary.
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I have 2 BL700's. What I do find is sometimes a battery shows as null. Sticking it in a crude Hama wallwart charger seems to revive the cells.
Ditto, but I use a crude Maplins charger.
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I know the BL 700 is much favoured on here but sometimes it's useful to have something that will do a fast 60 min charge - when you are out and about sat in a caff or whatever.
I know you shouldn't do it often.
Is there a charger which is as battery friendly/clever as the BL 700 which will allow you to be a bit naughty now and then?
Otherwise I can see myself lugging around two chargers on tour - the BL 700 and my Maplin 1 hour fast charger - yes it's sinful but still better than throw-away batteries. And it has served me well so far.
PS - re "null" references above my Maplin fast charger sometimes shows individual cells as null. Usually unplugging it and swapping the cells around seems to make it feel happier. Though must say that I'm not entirely sure about something that can be reassured by a bit of "find the lady" trickery.
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I too have the occasional cell that reads "null". I then revive it in the old-fashioned steam charger, which shocks the battery into life again.
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I find that if I leave a 'null' in my BL700 it'll eventually un-null itself without further intervention.
As mentioned elsewhere, I used to find crudely charged batteries a hindrance. They'd take umbrage and I'd be changing the batteries in my Apple wireless stuff every couple of days. The BL700 changed my life, probably more so than the time I started to wear a dress and call myself Samantha, and now I change batteries every couple of months. And wear trousers again. Thank you, BL700!
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Refreshingly honest, Ian :D
I know the BL 700 is much favoured on here but sometimes it's useful to have something that will do a fast 60 min charge - when you are out and about sat in a caff or whatever.
I know you shouldn't do it often.
Is there a charger which is as battery friendly/clever as the BL 700 which will allow you to be a bit naughty now and then?
You can change the settings on a BL-700 to allow you to zap up to 700mA into your cells - so a set of 2100mAh should be done in three hours. Any more than that is definitely not so good. Nonetheless, if you really want to do a one hour charge, you could try one of these:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/powerex-nimh-aa-and-aaa-compact-fast-battery-charger-n42gz
I have a cheapy 7DayShop 8xAA charger for just such a need (i.e. chewing through AAs on location). It's alright, but doesn't half get hot. If I was buying one now, I might try this:
http://www.7dayshop.com/aa-aaa-battery-chargers/lloytron-ultra-fast-4ch-lcd-intelligent-battery-charger
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700mA is plenty fast enough for me. I usually let batteries discharge and occasionally discharge and refresh before charging at the standard 200mA.
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Got a BC-1000. TBH I hardly if ever use the 1000mA charge setting- I thought I might as well have the four batteries and the other little extras over the 700- pumping more current in triggers the thermal cut-out (and from time to time I get that at 700mA anyway), apart from 'slow and low' generally being better for the batteries. Dumb fast charger rarely gets used since I got the Technoline.
That BL-500 looks likely excellent VFM, can't recall seeing an intelligent charger at that price before.
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Wilkison's have a "smart" charger for just £10 including some batteries. Dunno if it's smart enough to charge the cells individually. Could be. Could be hard to find out, though.
http://www.wilko.com/batteries+chargers/wilko-smart-charger-with-batteries/invt/0343218
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I've read good things about this.
Which seemed handy as it can be switched to charge super-fast when you want.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/powerex-wizardone-nimh-nicd-and-hybrid-aaa-and-aa-battery-charger-n60cy
Would be interested in anyone's views.
Maplin has almost sold out though - none held centrally - just at some scattered (non local to me) branches.
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I have had an Energizer 15 minute charger for some years now. Still going strong. Does not appear to destroy batteries.
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Wrt BL-700, I discovered today that mine has a cunning arrangement on the contacts to take AAA as well as the normal AA. Only had it 3 years.
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Wrt BL-700, I discovered today that mine has a cunning arrangement on the contacts to take AAA as well as the normal AA. Only had it 3 years.
:) :facepalm:
It's quite a good cunning arrangement. Much better than the foldy-down bit that most chargers have.
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Incidentally, a pair of BL700s wired to a single BL mains adapter didn't work for me, despite the quoted current rating being more than high enough. (I like to save sockets and increase efficiency). So don't bother trying - unless you know for sure you'll make it work by doing something different from me.
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These http://www.custom-vapes.co.uk/product/nitecore-digicharger-d4/ (http://www.custom-vapes.co.uk/product/nitecore-digicharger-d4/) i like them so much I have one at home, and at the office. It'll charge with upto 1amp if it deems it safe to do so, and so far it's been spot on. Bargain at £25.
[img height=399 width=640]http://www.custom-vapes.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/d4-1-1_d4_en_01-e1409606328517.jpg[/img]
The Nitecore D4 battery charger has four independent charging bays and is a universal smart charger compatible with almost all cylindrical rechargeable batteries, thus eliminating the need to own several chargers. The D4 automatically detects Li-ion, NiMH and NiCd batteries, and through manual selection is also capable of charging LiFePO4 batteries.
Product Features:
• Capable of charging four batteries simultaneously
• Each of the four battery slots monitors and charges independently
• Optimised charging design for IMR batteries
• Integrated LCD panel clearly displays charging parameters and progress
• Two side buttons allow easy selection of specific battery types and charging parameters
• Detects the battery type and status before entering automatic charge mode
• Compatible with LiFePO4 batteries
• Compatible with small capacity batteries
• Automatically stops charging when complete
• Features over-charge prevention to protect batteries
• Features temperature monitoring to prevent overheating
• Made from durable ABS (fire retardant / flame resistant)
• Features reverse polarity protection
• Designed for optimal heat dissipation
• Certifications: RoHS, CE, FCC and CE
It's worth noting that I am biased however as I do sell them but honestly they are the best charger I have ever used and have charged batteries that other chargers had said were dead.
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Wilkison's have a "smart" charger for just £10 including some batteries. Dunno if it's smart enough to charge the cells individually. Could be. Could be hard to find out, though.
http://www.wilko.com/batteries+chargers/wilko-smart-charger-with-batteries/invt/0343218
It says "charging 4x AA or AAA re chargeable batteries in 2x channels over 7 hours." And it looks like there's one LED for 2 batteries.
I've got the chargers from Lidl, brand name "Tronic", and they seem to work well. They have a more expensive model with a LCD display showing the amount of charge, about £15 now I think. And a cheaper model with just LEDs, which I bought recently I think for £8, to replace a 5 year old Aldi one which suddenly just stopped working.
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Boring but another vote for the BL-700. Brought a few weeks back. The real shock was the charge level on some batteries that had come supposedly full charged out of the old non-brand supermarket charger. It had to go anyway as it insisted on only charging 4 at a time.
Also pleasant to discover that some batteries marked as 1600mAh were actually 2200mAh (either factory error or a make one battery but sell at different price levels approach from the manufacturer).
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You can change the settings on a BL-700 to allow you to zap up to 700mA into your cells - so a set of 2100mAh should be done in three hours. Any more than that is definitely not so good. Nonetheless, if you really want to do a one hour charge, you could try one of these:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/powerex-nimh-aa-and-aaa-compact-fast-battery-charger-n42gz
I'm sure the BL700 is a very good charger Charlotte but I can't see me sitting in a caff with a cappuccino for 3 hours - or a wspoons where I'd spotted a socket behind a chair for that time or I'd be pissed/missing most of the day. Or considering dynamo power.
I have a fast maplins charger - and yes it gets hot and almost certainly is not doing the batteries any good.
But I don't want to carry two chargers.
I'm really looking for a good smart charger that allows you (flashing naughty naught naught"warnings on its display if it wants to) to rapid charge in 1 to 1.5 hours if you want to.
Also, the AAs I use in the Hope Vision 1 are above 2100 - 2500 I think.
Does such a charger exist apart from the wizard one I linked to above?
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I used to have one. It had a fast boost mode, a conditioning mode and the standard mode. It was the size of half a shoebox.
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Two BL700 chargers here.
With good reason.
Without stating the obvs, there's a price to be paid for fast charging....
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I have a Uniross 15min charger it's designed for use with Unross Red AA and AAA batteries. Fook me do the batteries get hot. First time round I got scared that they were gonna explode so turnt it off and didnt try again til I had a protective screen (I've been burnt by an exploding 12v).
Anyways about 8 full cycles the batteries were fooked.
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I use one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/320749631694?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
You can charge at 200/500/700/1000mA, charge AA and AAA batteries, and it's got modes that will charge, discharge/recharge and perform a full refresh of batteries (which appears to discharge and recharge until the total charge they take remains about the same). It discharges at half the charge rate, so if you're running 2500mAh batteries and run a full refresh expect it to take 2-3 days to finish.
It's got four ports and you can use any, all or none of them. If you're putting a lot of current into batteries the recommendation is to charge two rather than four, and put them at the ends to let more air circulate around them.
The link I provided is for the US eBay site, I think you can get them this side of the water but the price will probably reflect the usual 1:1 rate between $ and £ that's so irritating.