What battery charger do you use?

[CakeBoy]

here is a really good deal, though they are not currently stocking it. The , or the (both sold in the US as La Crosse branded units) seem favourite. The latter is capable of much higher charge currents but that is possibly superfluous for us given that a slow-ish charge is better for the life of the cells than a fast/hot one as I understand it.

There are, of course, Ansmann and Mata units, though the above seem to be good at the price point.

Does anyone have any other recommendations please? Is the above overthe top or prudent?

Thanks in advance

[Batman]

[Jim Ford]

Re: What battery charger do you use?

The

This one looks pretty good - I might go for one myself!

Jim

[AlistairJ]

Re: What battery charger do you use?

When I got the FL50R I bought a set of 4 NMh 2500mAh AA's plus charger from B&Q, can't remember the brand but it was either Energizer or Uniross (definitely not a cheap own-label brand).

I believe NMh's are the best choice for the flash, the only problem being it takes 8 hours to recharge the set

[Jim Ford]

Re: What battery charger do you use?

The

I've just bought one of these (very fast delivery). I'm very impressed with it. One of the features I like is that you can 'refresh' a battery. This mode charges and discharges the battery, measuring the capacity, until the capacity no longer increases. This is really handy for those batteries that you've had for a while, and you're starting to think that they've lost capacity.

Jim

[Jim Ford]

Re: What battery charger do you use?

Just an update.

Probably like most people, I've accumulated a mixture of rechargeable NiMh batteries over the years. I've run them through the charger (above) to test them. It was quite revealing! Some were only half or less than their stated capacity. A couple of the oldest were still holding up fine, but one of the newest was much less than half.

This charger is really proving its worth.

Jim

[CakeBoy]

Re: What battery charger do you use?

I totally agree with you Jim, the quality of charge and available information makes it worth its weight in gold. We too went for one of these in the end and are extremely pleased with it. Although we don't have any older rechargeables to test on it as yet, our new packet 2000 mAh rated Enerloops did vary a tad between 1850 and 1950 mAh when put on 'test'. Very interesting as you suggest. We have now also bought a pack of Vapex 'ready to use' rechargeables which also have a good reputation around the net. We are looking forward to testing them out

[Jim Ford]

Re: What battery charger do you use?

The Vapex 2700mah AAs (not 'ready to use') I had were all at much less than half their capacity when I checked them. I'm not sure I'd choose Vapex again.

Jim

[CakeBoy]

Re: What battery charger do you use?

Ooh, that's somewhat concerning. I'll get ours (they are 850mAh AAA) on the charger and report back as to the capacity of the 'readies'.

[meach]

Re: What battery charger do you use?

Ooh, that's somewhat concerning. I'll get ours (they are 850mAh AAA) on the charger and report back as to the capacity of the 'readies'.

[CakeBoy]

[meach]

Re: What battery charger do you use?

Now that's very interesting - as you probably noticed I just said the very same thing!! I wonder if they go down day by day somehow using your IP address or something?

[cychwr]

Re: What battery charger do you use?

I have one of these, http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6152

[CakeBoy]

Re: What battery charger do you use?

Now that's very interesting - as you probably noticed I just said the very same thing!! I wonder if they go down day by day somehow using your IP address or something?

At the time, I thought they had simply gone down in price, but after you mentioned the same thing happening to you it made me wonder. As you say, perhaps we are all seeing at least two different versions of the price based on our traffic to the site. Spooky!

I have one of these, http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6152

That looks like a really good deal for a charger capable of refreshing batteries and on an individual basis. The charge currents are quite high though and don't appear to be adjustable, though not necessarily an issue. Amazing features at a great price reading the spec blurb.

[cychwr]

Re: What battery charger do you use?

That looks like a really good deal for a charger capable of refreshing batteries and on an individual basis.

It's a smashing little charger, so good it does a round of the family every so often to do the refreshing,
It's been one of my best buys, would really recommend.