Battery Chargers and what you should know about them!

[Quadophile]

Some time back I covered the rechargable battries and what you should know about them. In continuation I decided to write on merits of a good charger as well. Hope this article gives you an insight into what chargers these days are about and how to select one.

The battery driven lifestyle - Part II (The Charger)

 

[Ian]

Nice one Quad I'm an advocate of rechargeables too, we've got about 12 x 2700mAh AA's for things like cameras/wireless items - although I still buy standard 9V PP3 batteries simply because they are for things that only need replacing once every couple of years.

You can get some cheap rechargeables from the net now, so it works out very cost effective

 

[V_R]

Nice one Quad, very intersting.

I have some Uniross 2700's for my camera that keep discharging for whatever reason regardless if they are in the camera or not, is it the batteries or the charger that not so good?

This set

I also have just bought some 2500's of the same brand, could you please give me your far superior opinion of them please?

Thanks.

 

[Quadophile]

Ian/V_R,

Thanks for your comments. Yes the rechargables are surely the route to take these days as it is by far the most viable option.

V_R

I am afraid I have never come across this brand before so cannot say if the charger really is a capable one, they also do not mention any of the features that I mentioned in my article if you know what I mean. One hour charging for a 2700 mAH battery looks too quick in my opinion and from what I gather it cannot have the trickle charge feature or the recondition feature that the Maha has. I suggest you use the newer one you got and see how it performs. If it turns out to be a lemon like others I would sincerely suggest you try out the Powerex batteries that I have been using. They are great and I am very satisfied with them.

If you can afford it do get the one I went for and I am pretty sure it will pay itself off very soon and rid you of the misery of using the Uniross one. Don't worry, I have made mistakes too and many of them, we just have to get on with it and learn from our experience. Its better to learn from others mistakes than to do them yourself, its cheaper. The article I did is very much written in that spirit.

I did a bit of search and found out that the Maha chargers and batteries are available online in UK and their link is provided if anyone is interested.

http://www.mahaenergy.co.uk/

 

[WinkingPig]

Quad,

Are these rubbish? www.usbcell.com

Noticed them in PC Pro the other day.

 

[V_R]

Cheers for the advice Quad, kinda what i suspected really, 1 hour is convenient but i didn't think it would be the best way to charge them. Thanks for the link too will have a look and will also reread the two reviews as i was not in the best state to take it in last night.

You live and learn.

 

[Anon_F]

Great Review Quad.

 

[Quadophile]

Quad,

Are these rubbish? www.usbcell.com

Noticed them in PC Pro the other day.

Yes I had seen them being advertised at another place. No I would not call them rubbish. However its brand new technology and if I were you I would give it a little time to mature for reasons mentioned below:

• They take a very long time to charge, 5 hours to achieve 90+% charge, and about 7 to fully charge
• The capacity is a mere 1300mAH whereas normal rechargeables come in upto 2700-3000mAH
• Many cameras and most flashes use 4 cells at a time so for those users its prudent to have a spare set as well. This means charging eight cells will become an issue. Time as well as availability of free USB ports.
• The price is twice as much compared to normal rechargables.

Just my thoughts after a quick glance of the specification sheet.

 

[Quadophile]

Cheers for the advice Quad, kinda what i suspected really, 1 hour is convenient but i didn't think it would be the best way to charge them. Thanks for the link too will have a look and will also reread the two reviews as i was not in the best state to take it in last night.

You live and learn.

You are very welcome and if you still have questions I will be happy to assist you in anyway I can

 

[WinkingPig]

I have just bought a set of them USB Cell batteries.

I also bought a Uniross Charger + 2100mah battery set, I'm going to see how it goes, I did read the description and it looked good for the charger and batteries so they'll be for camera etc.

The USB Cell stuff can go in the Wireless Mouse / KeyBoard for a test, I'll let you know how they go

 

[V_R]

OK, so after finding time to read your reviews again Quad and checking out that link. I think i am decided on a charger and some batteries.

I saw the Maha MH-C204W Plus on their website and thought that would be the best bet as your review praised it and it will be primarily used for the camera.

Then i found Nevada-Radio's shop on Ebay and it works out cheaper ot buy form there. £40 from the website or £35.70 from their Ebay shop. Here

So i think I'll go for that. Hope you agree.

Just out of interest, could i use the uniross batteries in that charger?

Oh, and i have come to the conclusion that the 2700's are crap still discharging even when not in the camera. Could i use the Maha chargers ramp up feature to revive them do you think?
But the 2500's seem to be fine....Not sure why though....

Cheers for the help.

 

[Quadophile]

Well, buying the same thing from a cheaper source is being smart, I have certainly no objection I did not know the cheaper source, good that you found it. You have all the right to save a few bobs.

The charger will surely do its job as intended and I am sure you will find the difference. By all means use the uniross batteries and try to revive them with the charger, you own experience will be the best, there is no substitute for that.

For the benefit of all the readers, do let us know your own findings and how the charger performed.

Good luck!

 

[V_R]

Sounds good then, will do.

Off to buy it now.....

 

[V_R]

Arrived today!

Charging the Powerex batteries as i type, will leave them in the charger overnight as per the instructions, and tomorrow will see if i can improve the 2700's i am having issues with.

First impressions are good, The charger has been charging the 4 powerex batteries for almost the 2 hours and is not as hot as the Uniross charger i have. So that's a good start.

Cheers again for your help Quad.

 

[Quadophile]

Thanks for taking time to update the thread, I am as anxious about the performance of the charger as you are.

Lets see what it has in store for you when tomorrow you get the Powerex batteries out and use them, also how it revives the Uniross ones you have. I just hope that the Uniross ones are not altogether faulty for your own sake

 

[Quadophile]

V_R,

Today I managed without the nail cutter What happened ????????????

 

[V_R]

Ha, ha,

Well the chargers great, but you already know that!! The Powerex batteries are great too, Two are in the camera now with the other two ready in the case. Will see how they go in time. But i dont have any doubts that they will be very good.

I ran the revitalize function on the Uniross 2700's, It ran for the 5 hour discharge no probs, then switched to the standard charge as it should. But it only charged them for about 10 -20 minutes before it told me they were fully charged..... So i guess they are no good to put it politely. What do you think?
They were the original batteries that came with the Uniross charger if i didn't already say by the way......

I will keep the Uniross charger as it came with a car cigarette lighter lead so i can use it to charge the batteries when i cant get to a mains charger, Like when we all go camping in the summer for a long weekend or something.

So there we have it. Maha charger and powerex batteries seem very good so far.

Cheers Quad.

 

[WinkingPig]

I recently got a new Uniross charger with 2500's and they are outperforming any batteries i've had in the past, been using them for a week in the camera and it's not gone down to half battery yet so they are holding their charge very good.

It's this, but i got it a damn sight cheaper than that, got mine for £14.99.

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/s...01&langId=-1&catalogId=10651&productId=712226