Small travel charger for AA/AAA?

I just bought some Eneloops (actually Duraloops on clearance from Target), and I don’t trust my old Energizer charger with them. I’m looking at the Nitecore i2 (it’s on sale) as an everyday charger, but I’m also looking for a very small travel charger. I don’t care if it’s not the best charger in the world, as long as it’s as small as possible (not USB, though) and won’t ruin my batteries.

Why not usb?

I have been using this as a light weight travel set for some time:

It’s not a bad idea, but personally I don’t travel with a laptop or anything that has a USB, so I need something that can plug into AC.

As you can see on my photo I have a small USB power supply with me, not a laptop. This way I can charge phone, AA/AAA batteries and 18650 batteries.

This is what I carry as AA charger, it can also supply power to USB devices from AA.

This needs an AC adaptor with mini-USB output for charging.

It is sanyo KBC-1ES.

I have also ML-102 as like HKJ’s for 18650.

This is the charger I use at office, 2-battery direct AC charger.

Most of the really small AA/AAA chargers are powered by 5V DC anyway so I’d recommend looking at some compact USB power supplies like HKJ uses.

I have a Soshine SC-F3 which is very light and small. There is also XTAR XP1.

My favorite is a Maha MH-C204W. I’m away from home right now, and looking right at it. :wink:
Excellent charger, I’ve used this one extensively for a couple of years. My wife has one as well - comes with a pouch big enough to hold a spare 4-pack etc.

I think they also come labelled as “PowerEx” . Ours have both markings.

If you buy the nitecore, and you travel by car, you can always use the 12vdc input to connect it to the car lighter

has never let me down .3 years its been on 24/7 !!!

I have the C9000 and love it (of course it isn't a small travel charger).

But looking at this one, it appears it does not do individual cells, only 2 or 4 at a time. That would be inconvenient for devices that use 1AA as you would have to carry an extra spare cell just so you had two discharged batteries ready when it came time to recharge.

That puts you in a minority these days.

Many of the small devices people "travel" with these days are moving to USB as the preferred recharge option. (Phones, tablets, music players, etc.) I think once you specify "travel" in your requirements, USB will immediately become the dominant option.

As HKJ pointed out, a small AC to USB adaptor can easily become part of your travel kit. It probably also allows the charger to be more compact since no mains converter is required inside.

Add to that the fact that many cars now have USB as standard (and if not there are cheap lighter adaptors). Planes often have USB outlets as well. Even some solar panel "travel" units output to USB.

Don't rule out USB simply because you don't travel with a laptop.

i e-mailed lacrosse and for maximum life they suggest unplugging it when its not in use (to my annoyance)

it is an excellent charger, i take it with me on travel as well

My theory has been plugging and unplugging means the circuitry temperature went cold and hot so all that expanding and contracting would decrease its life :(

i was just hoping i could avoid moving upholstered furniture to unplug and plug it in every couple of days

Read about this light bulb thats been ON for a 100 years in some US fire station !! call me crazy but that has made me Leave my electronics plugged in lol

do you know why its still burning?
not because it was seldom turned off, but because its being run at very low power, an incandescent will last much longer if run at lower current, but its a tradeoff, it less efficient but longer lasting, if i’m remembering correctly halving the power will quadruple the life, so your 1000 hour bulb would last 4000 hours, but you will get far less then half the light.

CFLs are different, they have electronic starters that have a finite number of cycles, i had posted a thread a while back about 6000 hour rated ones that were barely ever turned off and still going at 11000 hours because the electronic starter was nowhere near burned out.

Your LED flashlight that uses PWM goes on/off many times a second, the 105C runs at 4.5mHz or 4.5 million times a second, your CFL would be dead pretty quickly if you tried that, yet the LED should last tens of thousands of hours

So in conclusion you can’t use a lightbulb as an allegory for all electronics

Well, I’ll be darned! In all the time I’ve had this Maha I’ve never tried to charge a single cell, so I just tried and it won’t.

In my single cell flashlights I’ve always used lithium primaries just for the convenience and light weight. My main application is either for 4 cells in a camera, or 4 in my shortwave radio or handheld GPS.

Ha ha.

I guess every day is worth getting out of bed if you learn something new.

crap :( I hate unplugging stuff

no its still burning ! 110 years later .The bulb's long life has been attributed to its low power, near continuous operation, and dedicated power supply according to Wikipedia