Brad….some of the reviews indicate that it’s a bit flimsy. What is your opinion on that? I know that one can’t get much for $3 but it will be roughly treated where it’s going. Also have you tried it with Ni-MH batteries, or are you using it mostly for other chemistry batteries?
Thanks
Unfortunately there are no landscape lights in the Uganda village where I’m heading too. In fact there are likely no solar panels or leds at all.
This one is definitely in my price range. Is it really a smart charger or is it timer based? And are the channels independent?
Thanks
Funny that it’s called “Smart” and “Super Quick” when it’s clearly not.
By smart I mean that the charger ‘cuts off’ and has a tickle charge or something like that. Some forum member tested it and I went with his advice with it. It’s in an old thread somewhere.
About being independent, I don’t know but I can charge 1, 2, 3 or 4 AA cells without any problems.
Its definetely NOT TIMER BASED. It will have an indicator while charging (red led) which goes off once the battery is charged. You can test by using a near depleted cell and a full one. The full one will not have its led lighting implying it is fully charged and not charging more.
I think 2 bays are linked or something like that.
Here is my original post.
And a link to another post contained in my thread (REVIEWED BY ADMIN)
It’s smart according to the post/review made by the admin. I value the time and pain he has taken more to put up his review than your unconstructive comment. It might not be the fastest WHICH I POINTED OUT, but it gets the job done, is smart and is gentle on the batteries.
Of course. “Take” them there.
Ask your neighbors, friends, and contacts; not theirs. Some of them may have old lights laying around or ready to be pulled from the yard if they barely work. Mostly the contacts will be corroded.
The small 3 to 4 inch panels we can find for scrap in developed countries will at least partially charge an AA rechargeable for use at night. Put a magnet on the wires and you have instant crude charger to go with a cheap NiMH (sometimes a few decent cells will be found in the salvage).
The lights themselves are too big for efficient travel, but the panels are thin and stack reasonably well. Free power could help in a place where there is unreliable or no power …
Why not bring a few of the Duracell Crank Flashlights (or something else similar) for her to give out?
http://www.amazon.com/Duracell-60-060-Smart-Powered-Flashlight/dp/B0088V556W/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_1_2
Then people can just wind them up without having to worry about power or plugging in a charger.
These are $5 each:
http://www.amazon.com/Lewis-N-Clark-ELCRANK2-Flashlight/dp/B002XU7G6Q/ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1381775355&sr=1-4&keywords=wind-up+flashlight
This one at $10 seems to be the highest rated on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Energizer-Weatheready-3-LED-Carabineer-Rechargeable/dp/B002MFK7BS/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1381775422&sr=1-1&keywords=wind-up+flashlight
And at $15 this is both Solar and Crank:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003JILY9G/ref=oh_details_o08_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The 80 - 200 mA charge current means there can only be one out of three options
1) It is timer based, or
2) It is overcharging the cells, or
3) The cells are not properly charged (and is still disconnected by some timer or other event which is not related to the cells beeing full).
This is because there is no reliable end of charge detection at this low current, especially for older cells, so thinking it is “gentle” is totally wrong. The original review thread is also full with misinformation about “gentle charging”… It is no coincidence that both Sanyo and Duracell engineers recommend 1C current when charging.
It seems that it doesn’t work for 4 cells so at least 3) is true for that.
Make sure you teach them that they are rechargeable, I hate it when people throw eneloops away to repower them with some fresh batteries… |(
I hate that too! But all she can do is tell them that they are rechargeable and then it’s up to them. Most of the people are well educated, doctors, nurses, etc. Unfortunately well-educated in a 3rd world country is not necessarily the same as in other places.
Quality non-rechargeable batteries are extremely expensive there (as compared to income) so they will hopefully not toss the ones they get.
The odds of finding landscape solar panels in San Francisco are fairly close to finding them in Uganda. The ones getting the lights are the ones with power (even if it’s unreliable). Having them jerry-rig a charger also defeats the purpose of giving them a nice gift, at least in my mind.
Thanks for the suggestions. However the windup lights appear to be less than robust. Also I have already purchased most of the lights so I’m just looking for chargers at this point.
SIGShooter, the $3.99 universal charger that I described in post one works great on nimh, but it is for 110v American.
Here is something to look at AmazonBasics AA NiMH Precharged Rechargeable Batteries 4-Pack and Charger with Plug Adapters for the US, UK, European Union, and China
Here is that cheap little USB charger that I like, it is $2.78 here and will charge AA and AAA 2 at a time. http://kaidomain.com/product/details.S009830 it drops to $2.36 per unit if you buy 10, if you think they have access to USB.
As far as durability, if they last long enough to get people used to the idea, then if they ever need a charger, they will find a way to buy one locally.
If it’s the old HuanGao charger it works on 220-230V too (obviously since they have 220V in China). Or you mean the plug?
Wow, you are correct, I overlooked that, all one needs is the UK adapter and I would guess the locals can acquire those if they needed to.
If I am reading this correctly, here is a 99cent one (plug adapter) from ebay, shipped. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/290838967416?lpid=82
Here are the specs on the $3.99 Universal Battery Charger for 18650, 15340, AA, AAA, D Ni-MH, Lithium, Ni-Cd Batteries and Others
Specification :
Input: AC100-240V / 47-63HZ.
Output: 1.2V / 370mA, 3.6V / 320mA, 9V / 120mA.
This charger support NI-MH, Lithium, NI-CD and some other types of batteries which are 69mm long by 33mm high and it can automatically select corresponding charging mode.
Size: 4.01 × 1.38 × 1.57in(L × W × H)
1. I personally do not think it is timer based as each cell terminates (led goes off)at its own specific time based on how depleted they are.
2. I do not know how to check those.
3. I doubt I have ever got an instance where the cells were not charged. I’ve used 4 cells on them simultaneously countless times and the cells have been charged.
My non scientific test would be I consistently get about 2 nights use (about 18-20 hours) give or take out of my charged eneloops on my quark x aa 2 tactical on medium output. That is on a daily ongoing basis. I would imagine that its pretty close to the manufacturer rated:Medium: 24 OTF lumens for 20 hours.
That said, you might still be right and it might be possible that the cells can get overcharged or not FULLY charged. There is no way I can verify these at home.
Thanks everyone for a lot of great suggestions. The really cheap ones somewhat concern me because they take so long to charge and are likely not very robust. Uganda is a very poor and backwards country. From things that my daughter told me I doubt they have the option to buy a replacement if the need should arise. For example where she’s at there’s no such thing as new shoes; the stores only sell used ones. So a NiMh charger would likely be unavailable
I’m leaning toward buying a handful of the cheap ones that Brad and MoutainKing mentioned, and pairing them with the Soshine SC-F3 charger that Chloe reviewed: Re-review: Soshine SC-F3 Ni-MH LiFePO4 Charger. The Soshine’s are only $5.92 in quantity so it’s close to what I wanted to spend.
Maybe I should just bring Hybrid solar powered flashlights. Don’t have to worry about chargers and are fairly reasonable at about $12 each (for the lower lumen ones). But they don’t have the ‘wow’ factor. When she lit up her ZL SC52 one night they thought it was an alien Star Trek type device 
Do they already have USB chargers for cellphones?