Battery charger

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scollier

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Hello all

I had a vanson charger chv 6988 for 10 years which saw its last day last month. Anyone know of a good slow charger for aa/aaa nicd/mh with discharge/refresh option. Sometimes they don't always get a full cycle in the scanner. I found a tenergy 162. Claims it charges 2450s in 6hpurs and has an 8hr timer. They say it's a slow charger.

Any help is greatly appreciated and hope everyone a great safe holiday

Thanks much
Shawn
 

wtp

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Port Charlotte FL
here in the lightning capital

my radio only lives on batteries.
thunderstorms have just popped up without warning.
even in good weather the power flicks, even this morning. an accident into a pole.
if you charge in a radio they only time the charge and that would reset it for another 14 hours.
i call charging in the radio as cooking in the oven, heat does not help the radio or the cells.
so, even when i did not have a steady job i got a maha c-9000 for $70.
i would rather lose a charger than a $500 radio.
i also like the drop them in and it will give them a 1000mah fast charge.
and like was said you can go down to 200mah in 100 mah steps
it can also show true available capacity.
as the cells age the capacity drops and it is better to match them up to have the radio run longer.
after a year some of my cells go from 2500 to 1200 and it does matter to match them up .
a low cell will drain quickly and can even reverse charge as the radio runs.
ok it is more than my 2 cents
 

pro106import

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I use a Maha MH-C9000 MH-C9000 - Maha Energy

It lets you choose your desired charge/discharge rates.

+1 for this unit. It will never fry your precious batteries.I've been using it for a couple of years. Looks like the link above brings you to where it is $50. That's a good price. I obtained it slightly lower during one of Newegg.com "Shellshocker" daily deals but it only goes on there once in a blue moon.
 
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pro106import

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If Im gonna pay $50 for a 4 bay, I'll just pay a few bucks more and get the MH-C801D

Manny

I have the C-800 also Manny, and just a FYI, I don't use it to charge my best batteries, because that charger charges them very fast and they get very hot. Not good for them at all. With the 9000 I am able to set the charge rate as another forum user said, so it extends the life of the batteries. I set the charge rate for 500mah and they stay cool throughout. The default rate is 1000ma. Of course it takes twice as long to charge them at that rate though. Yeah its a little inconvenient where that you can only charge 4 at a time and you have to reset the charge rate for each cell every time, but I think it's worth it. I have been using the same 2 sets of 2700 mah Powerex batteries in this charger for a year tomorrow (got them Black Friday last year) and they still show 2450-2500 ma capacity after they are fully charged. Has to be at least 200 charges for each set so far. Yes this charger even shows you the full capacity of each cell after charged. Lets you weed out the cells that are bringing down the other ones (the bad apple so to speak).
My Tenergy 2400ma cells were actually only 1800-1900ma according to this charger when I got them new. Lets you see the true capacity, not what is written on the label.
Just my personal experiences that may help/
HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!
Bob
 

Rred

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Batteries are made to many different standards. Some are very robust and can take a lot of charging abuse, and overheating, with no damage. Like the old 600mA rated NiCd cells. Others are designed for higher capacity but can be killed easily by heat, including some 2500mA NiMhcells. Some hold a 75% charge after 12 months on the shelf, others are dead in 30 days.

So exactly what type of battery you have, and what it is intended for, makes a big difference. The rule of thumb for recharging is to recharge at 1/10th of the 'C' rate, which could be as low as 250mA for the 2500mA cells. If a charger is just a dumb timed charger, and has no thermal monitoring? Good luck matching it up. There are quite a large number of charge controller IC chips on the market, some allow 8+ cells to be monitored and the voltage/amperage for each to be adjusted on the fly. But getting the folks who make the chargers to really say what they are doing, and say it honestly, is a good trick too.
 

N1SQB

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I have the C-800 also Manny, and just a FYI, I don't use it to charge my best batteries, because that charger charges them very fast and they get very hot. Not good for them at all. With the 9000 I am able to set the charge rate as another forum user said, so it extends the life of the batteries. I set the charge rate for 500mah and they stay cool throughout. The default rate is 1000ma. Of course it takes twice as long to charge them at that rate though. Yeah its a little inconvenient where that you can only charge 4 at a time and you have to reset the charge rate for each cell every time, but I think it's worth it. I have been using the same 2 sets of 2700 mah Powerex batteries in this charger for a year tomorrow (got them Black Friday last year) and they still show 2450-2500 ma capacity after they are fully charged. Has to be at least 200 charges for each set so far. Yes this charger even shows you the full capacity of each cell after charged. Lets you weed out the cells that are bringing down the other ones (the bad apple so to speak).
My Tenergy 2400ma cells were actually only 1800-1900ma according to this charger when I got them new. Lets you see the true capacity, not what is written on the label.
Just my personal experiences that may help/
HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!
Bob

Ok The MH-C801D charger has two modes, regular mode which charges in 1 hour and soft mode which is a 2 hour mode. I've been using the soft mode with my 2700 Mah nickle metal Powerex batteries for a few years now without a problem. I also condition all my batteries once a month. I don't know, it works fine for me.

Manny
 
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