Try this site for some DIY cradles. http://www.luminousdiy.com/
Or you could buy a couple of very cheap chargers from ebay - then rip out the electronics and just use the case.
Thanks for the link!
How do you charge the NiMH? Do you charge them in parallel? Or do you charge them in series - and if so, do you use a number of balancing leads? This seems pretty awkward to setup at best. Or do you simply charge 1 at a time?
Usually I charge 1 x D at a time.
Usually I´ve done 2 x C in serial, they ended up quite close to same voltages. No balancing...
In parallel, I tried once to do all 4 x C with one run but I´m not sure if my connector rod had a bad contact or something, some were not as full as others.
Get those neodymium magnet packs from DX. Arrange 2,3,4 in series and put a magnet in between. Even the smallest 8mm one gives you a very good contact and grip. Grip with the magnets + alligator clips at the end. Done. Be mindful to put it at a safe place, no issue. Really cheap, 3.40 for 20-pack shipped.
PS. This method is for charging. Try not to put magnets in flashlights. They may shift and cause a dead short in an accident. It happens easier than you think.
I was not concerned about HOW to connect the batteries. I was more concerned about the technical problems. I believe the middle batteries will not be charged the same (less) than the outside batteries unless you use balancing setup. Which is exactly what these hobby chargers are setup to do, I believe.
Still, these batteries are for things around the house (AA cells), so it is not really critical, I guess. Not like a powerpack in a HID torch, or r/c helicopter or something.
The balance mode is only for lithium batteries and can not be used for NiMH.
When charging NiMH there's no problem to charge them in series as long as they are of the same specs and have been discharged to the same amount. So when used in series, charge in series. No problem at all. This is what you do in batterypacks for power tools and such.
hobby chargers to me are the only way to go ive been using them for years in RC, i charge every thing with it, from digital camera batteries, xbox360 controller batteries, my daughters toys, 9 volt batters and my rc batteries and with a soldering iron you can make up just about any charging lead for most uses.
i charge alot of AA nimh,s in series from 2 to 8 at once, parrallel charge lipo,s upto 6 at a time and ive been getting into balance charging li-ions at the moment im doing up to 3 x 18650,s at once but once some more magnets get here ill start balance charging 6 x 18650,s at once, its so much quicker, safer.
this set up cost me around $180 dollars with the power supply but its used all the time, its more acurate then others ive had, its already payed for its self, max charge 10 amps max discharge 7 amps for features then you can poke a stick at you can check the internal resistance of the batteries, you can set the peak detection for nimh, you can upgrade the fireware online and check the calibration your self if you have a realy good dmm.
3 x 18650 balance charging
some leads ive made or modified, i have much much more then this but here are some examples maybe it will help some of you to take the plunge into hobby chargers
9v battery charging
2 x 3s in series to 6s
2 x AA in series for charging
4 x AA in series for charging
parrallel balance charging my rc lipo,s
charging spektrum and futaba RC radio,s, and a power lead i made for my old mans charger
the charger
a lead i made to charge my camera,s nimh in the car on long trips, from the 12v cigarette lighter plug.
just trying to give you guys an idea on how handy an Rc or hobby charger,s are, just spend a little more and get a good one.
now Thats how you do it!
the power supply
charging my 12v camping gear from my Ichargers power supply and charging my iphone down the shed while listen to music
some of you might of see these i made
2 x 18650 balance charging
single 18650 charging
8 x AA in series for charging
3 x 18650 balance charging
6 x 18650 balance charging lead i made.
3 x 26650 balance setup, its the same as the 18650 setup.
i can balance charge multible cells in the time it would take to charge one.
I use one of these for all of my batteries:
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/imax-b6-2-5-lcd-rc-lipo-battery-balance-charger-100-240v-us-plug-35190
$36.20 (£22.09) including PSU and free delivery makes this one of the best investments I've ever made. 
How much of current should be used in charging Tenergy Centura C´s?
I have charged them up to 2A, is it far too much? How about D size?
I have a thought, that my Imax does a bit overcharge on them since batteries get quite warm in the late of charging OR is my current just too high?
Delta-V is default, capacity cut-off is OFF.
Hi everyone, I am new here.
I need advice, I purchased a Power tech plus MB-3632 programmable lipo balance charger (cost me AU$100), to charge my trustfire flame protected 18650 batteries. These batteries came with the trustfire X6 sst-90 from DX.
Reading the manual that came with this charger under "warning and safety notes" it says never attempt to charge or discharge the following types of batteries. Gives a list of batteries, but in that list it has "batteries fitted with an integral charge circuit or a protection circuit".
Can somebody please give me some advice if it is ok to charge these protected 18650 with this charger, even though it say's not too.
Cheers.
as long as it can charge li-ions upto 4,2v or aslong as it lets you select lipo mode to charge them to 4.2v you will be fine.
you need to understand electricity, watts, volts, ampers, parallel connection, serial connection and need to be able to able to use a soldering iron and be able to solder so you can make up charge cables to suit your needs.
you also will need a power supply capible of around 5 amps really if you want to charger large batteries and both chargers you have mentioned will struggle charging a car battery.
i can not really recomend the B6 and clones for charging nimh,s and so on.
you can charge up to 50 watts or 5 amps, to do this you need to put about the same amount of amps into the charger.
to charge li-ions all you need to know is charge in li-po mode if its a 3.7 volt cell like an 18650 and positive goes to positive, negitive goes to negitive and for the best life of your li-ions dont charge any higher then 0.5 amps or 500 milliamps.
for series charging the amp,s of the charge always stays the same only the voltage goes up, the charger will sort the volts out its self.
for parrallel charging the amps double every time you add another battery and the voltage always stays the same, the charger will sort the voltage out but you need to increase the amps.
an example
series charging 6 x 18650,s is 22.2 volt at 0.5 amps will charge in the same time 1 x 18650 will charge at 0.5 amps.
parralell charging 6 x 18650,s is 4.2 volt at 3 amp and will charge in about the same time as 1 x 18650 but they all have to match in voltage and so on before connecting them up and this method is not recomended by me.
series in my opinion is better, but you need to balance charge.
B6 chargers do not like charging car batteries from my experince and they are in accurate for charging nicad,s and nimh AA,s AAA,s and D cell,s, but there are okish for li-ions and lipo,s with an accuracy around 0.04 to 0.4 volt per cell.
Why would you charge 18650s @ 3.7 volts in series and 4.2 volts in parallel?
you would not, but to get a hobby charger to charge a 3.7 volt li-ion like a 18650 with a fully charged voltage of 4.2 volt you have to use li-po mode or the hobby charger will only charge as a 3 volt li-ion.
the 18650,s are sold as 3.7 volt batteries but the fully charged voltage is 4.2v, its the same as li-po,s the hobbly charger will register 6 x 18650 in series as a single pack 22.2 volt 6s li-po, they have a fully charged voltage of 25.2 volt the same as 6 x 18650,s.
its the same as a 7.4v 2s lipo or 2 x 18650,s in series they register as 7.4 volt but they fully charge to 8.4 volt
its the same as a 11.1v 3s lipo or 3 x 18650,s in series they register as 11.1 volt but they fully charge to 12.6 volt
this goes one and one till you hit the maxium cells your charger can handle.
Just charge one battery at a time and you avoid all the complications. That's what I use my Turnigy to do. Then the only thing I adjust is the current, depending on the capacity of the battery I'm charging. I do NiMH's on chargers made for AA/AAA (Sony and Powerex), so I leave the Turnigy on the LiPo setting (3.7V, charges to 4.2V). Sometimes I'll do a storage charge or a discharge test. It's pretty easy.