I’m a relatively new member who thanks to recommendations on a different thread about Li-Ion batteries is now the owner of an XTAR VP4 along with genuine Panasonic 3400 mAh NCR18650B batteries.
I have in the past tried to use NiMH batteries for things like my son’s Xbox controllers with limited success. I am wondering if some of the same issues with Li-Ion batteries also holds true for NiMH? With this in mind I want to see if there is a better solution for rechargeable AA and AAA batteries.
I just posted a question about NiMH batteries. I also want some advice on chargers. Here are the various NiMH chargers I have acquired over the years. Are any of these worth keeping?
Ignition Enercell 2300787 (1.5V/1.0 amp per slot for AA and 0.4A for AAA)
Sanyo MC-MQN06U (1.2V/300 mA for 2 or 4 AA, 150 mA for 2 or 4 AAA)
Delkin eFilm 90 minute Quick Charger (900 mA for AA or AAA)
Duracell CEF90NC 30 minute charger (1.4V and 3.4 Amps per slot AA, 1.4V and 1.7A per slot AAA) - amps per slot much higher than all others, has built in fan.
Finally, I purchased an XTAR VC4 to charge Li-Ion and NiMH batteries. I started charging some of the Sanyo Batteries for a little while and the mAh went from 0 to around 300. I was leaving and did not want to leave the batteries unattended. So I unplugged the unit. When I started charging again the mAh started at 0 again as if nothing was done before. Is this correct? I am currently charging my first four pack of brand new RadioShack HR6 2500 mAh batteries.
Thanks in advance for your help! I am hoping that I can keep one or two of my old chargers and use them with whatever batteries you suggest I keep.
Thanks for replying. I quickly skimmed the two articles and will look at them more closely. I was surprised that the second time around it did not start counting from where I left off - around 300. I guess this is normal. Do you know if any of my other chargers are worth keeping? I have been doing some more research and have read that quick chargers are bad for batteries and fry them quickly. Is this true?
I’d have to reread them to give you the answers you want, I don’t trust my memory for this stuff.
If there’s no review at lygte-info.dk, paste the charge name into a Google search and look for a review at one of the flashlight-related sites
(and read it and the comments and see what people thought of it — and how long ago it was)
Think about the mAh number. It’s the amount of work put into the cell since the charger lit up/powered on, this time.
Before that the charger was off.
The charger doesn’t remember you, or your battery. How could it?
Turn it off, it loses its memory. Turn it on, it starts from zero.
All the mAh number tells you is about how much has been put into the cell since_you_woke_up_the_charger.
Seriously, you need to do a good bit of reading to understand this stuff well enough to make good choices.
I’m just another reader here trying to do the same thing.
For a strictly NiMH charger, I had this one for years and it was great for my Eneloops. I still have the charger and the same eneloops several years later.