I have spent quite some time going through the very resourceful discussions here and would like to ask you all for a piece of advice.
I need to charge and take good care of + try to revive a few NiMH gumstick batteries for my MiniDisc - some original Sony ones and these ones “Akumulator Gumstick do MiniDisc 1.2V 1450mAh NH-14WM NiMH Vapex - Vapex.PL” which I have seen being charged by Nitecore D4 charger on the MiniDisc reddit. Then I also have some AA Eneloops NiMH 2500mAh which need some love as well. So basically nothing special so far I guess.
Of course all in solution woud be MC3000 or possibly XTAR VP4 Plus but I do not wanna break the bank for this charger and these do not really fit the bill for the size and specs I would like the charger to have.
I wish for a universal charger for whatever may come in the future too (sizes-wise as well as chemistry-wise - ooking at you LiFePo4). I have a GaN charger with QC4+ for my USB gadgets so USB-C QC enabled charger seems like the smart way to go for me. Before falling down the rabbit hole here on the forum I was almost sold for either XTAR VC4SL or Nitecore UMS4 as they both have USB-C inputs and QC if needed. Threads here showed me that XTAR is probably not the best option for NiMH since it often uses too high current on NiMH cells so that leaves Nitecore UMS4 in the game. UMS4 does not have any of the discharge, cap test or repair functions which would be nice to have too and which I have seen on Vapcell S4 Plus.
Outside of the USB-C realm the mentioned Vapcell S4 Plus seems like a great choice for having cap test and repair functions which I find quite usefull - unfortunatelly it has an external power source which I would prefer not having to carry around… Same goes for MiBoxer C4-12 which I have looked at too but seems too bulky and probably 3A current is of no use for me.
So the question is is there any quality charger which would fit the bill for me or do I have to get USM4 for the regular charging and then i.e. Vapcell S4 Plus for some “servicing”?
I have the XTAR VP2 for quite a few years and it’s a very good charger and it can charge at 0.25, 0.50 and 1.00 A, but it can take only Li-ion batteries !
My suggestion is to find and bought the best possible challenge, so it can take almost every type of batteries, so later down the road… you don’t have any issues or battery fitting… !? I think it’s better to have it’s own power wall adapter, but on the other hand it’s a deal breaker too… !
Some old Panasonic travel razors also used this type of cell.
An older one I have had a specific gumstick charger with folding prongs that plugged into the wall.
A newer one had those prongs built into the razor itself and a captive battery.
It seems that they might still produce such card razors, but powered by AAA cells.
That could be another avenue to explore outside the MD realm, and I’m of the mind that “jack of all trades, master of none” applies in this case, and not favorable when dealing with special, or rarer cells such as these.
Most multi-chemistry chargers, designed first for Li cells, show themselves to be mediocre, at best, with Ni-MH cells, so I lean toward the better tool over convenience, even if it means a dedicated charger.
I’ve also yet to see a charger that properly implements the modern USB PD power delivery protocol. Slapping on a Type-C port, intending it for use with pre-QC4 for higher power draws, and calling it a day is not doing it correctly, and adds another obstacle.
MC3000 is indeed large and expensive, however powerful and IMO the closest there is to a “universal” charger.
I’ve had good experiences with the Fenix ARE-D1: it’s very small (I HDC one in my hiking/emergency backpack), inexpensive ($18), yet capable of charging multiple sizes (should accomodate your gumstick batteries) and chemistries (NiMH, Li-Ion and LiFePO4 were all tested and found to perform well) and can be fed by USB, and has powerbank capability to boot. It’s only issue is that its USB input is microUSB – but this is easily circumvented with a proper adaptor (this is the one I use). It doesn’t have a revive/refresh function, but this could be simulated by sequentially charging and then discharging (using its powerbank function) – not as convenient, but you asked for small and cheap, so…
thanks a lot to take a time to revive this few months old post. I have ended up getting an MC3000 since despite its size it fit the bill (got it for a decent price) and I am hoping will serve for generations to come
however thank you for a very nice tip on the Fenix charger, might be a good option for a “take everywhere” charger which obviously MC3000 is not. So might get that one eventually.
No prob, as you hadn’t posted I thought perhaps you were still undecided
And congrats on your mc3000 purchase! It’s the same one I got after staying undecided for months, and I’m very happy with it. And you’re right, it’s built like a tank – not sure it will last generations, but I’m pretty sure it will last longer than me
The ARE-D1 has been my on-the-go charger for over a year and has served me well as both a charger (in the car) and as a powerbank (for charging phone, GPS, radio, etc while hiking in the middle of nowhere). Its built-in display is also very useful for quickly checking the voltage of cells, very accurate and much more convenient than popping up the multimeter even when at home. It has its competitors (XTar PBS2) but nothing as small/light/inexpensive and with such a high level of approval by HKJ.
