Sick and tired of going through AA/AAA batteries in the house like underpants and so have decided to look into a proper set of recharge for the remotes/mouse/keyboard/torches/gate clicker/games consoles/kids toys/wifes toys etc……
Can anyone recommend me a good make and charger that is not going to cost me an arm and a leg.
Bike Forum
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Recharge batteries
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Posted 1 year ago #
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This charger is popular on here:
http://www.batterylogic.co.uk/technoline/technoline-BL700.asp
Cells are pretty much the same IME. Quoted capacity figures are usually pretty accurate.
Rechargables are great for low power applications like clocks and remote controls, though.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I second the Technoline BL-700 charger, it is rather good.
For batteries, I think Vapextech are good (and fairly cheap): http://vapextech.co.uk/For most uses, I think its worth going for "low self-discharge" NiMH batteries - "normal" NiMH batteries can lose a lot of their charge over time when they are not being used.
Vapextech sell these low self-discharge batteries as "NiMH+ instant". Other brands are Sanyo Eneloop or Uniross Hybrio.Posted 1 year ago # -
Get the BL700 and some high mAh batteries which last the longest - however when not in use they also discharge (without being used) the fastest.
Hybrid batteries like Hybrios have the advantage of hardly discharing at all but won't last as long as higher mAh batteries - I use Ansmann and Uniross AA - both around 1800mAH - they last ages. Got some Hybrios for less intensive powered stuff.
Get a few but do bear in mind two annoying things about rechargeables:
1) They have a lower voltage rating (usually 1.2 instead of 1.5v) compared to normal batteries - this means they won't work in some things - like our baby monitors!
2) They are physically slightly bigger in diameter - it's only a small difference but means they won't always fit in some stuff - Tesco AA Cree LED torches are a good example.Posted 1 year ago # -
7 day shop do a range of 2900 NiMh rechargeable i've been using them for a while in everything from my GPS to my bike lights. They are flawless and by far the best battery i have used for life and longevity.
Any charger will charge them.
Posted 1 year ago # -
They have a lower voltage rating (usually 1.2 instead of 1.5v) compared to normal batteries - this means they won't work in some things - like our baby monitors!
A valid point - but anything which doesn't work with them is very badly designed IMHO, and something as serious as a baby monitor I'd be taking back for a refund as "not fit for purpose" - it's just about excusable for cheap kids toys which is the only place I've come across the issue. If they don't work at all with rechargeables (which will manage 1.3V for a while at low discharge rates - at higher discharge rates they actually have higher initial voltage than alkalines) then they'll also stop working before using much of the capacity of alkalines - I'd guess less than 20%.They are physically slightly bigger in diameter - it's only a small difference but means they won't always fit in some stuff - Tesco AA Cree LED torches are a good example.
Only the very high capacity ones - I have this problem with a Garmin GPS and Vapextech 2900s. Lower capacity cells are smaller diameter in general and do fit in my GPS.Regarding low discharge cells, I can see the point for low power stuff in theory. In practice I don't own any and simply use normal rechargeables - I guess it means I have to recharge a bit more often, but in practice it's not often enough for me to worry about.
Back to the original question, I use http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_3&products_id=105029 - not as sophisticated as the other one mentioned, but it charges individual cells with proper cutoff, has a simple charge level indicator, and is a lot cheaper. Not really a lot wrong with it for general use IMHO. I use Vapextech cells for demanding applications and a mix of other things I've acquired for other stuff (7dayshop cells are OK and cheap, but not quite the claimed capacity IMHO).
Posted 1 year ago # -
The low self discharge ones are brilliant. It means that I can have dozens of sets in gear around the house that I use infrequently and not worry about it being charged when I need to use. I like eneloops.
Posted 1 year ago #
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