Suggestion for a descent Charger and Rechargeable Batteries

[tellranga]

Friends,
Can anybody suggest from your experience a good Charger to recharge AA and AAA Batteries ? I need to buy them for my camera, wireless DualShock etc ?
Not interested in China makes / low quality ones. For a budget around 1K to 1.5K, I hope to get a descent one which can charge reasonably fast and has a longer life.

Thanks.

 

[spirovious]

I use Uniross both,AA & AAA, good at performance.
Other AA are GP backed by Godrej.

Sanyo eneloop are another good one.

 

[tellranga]

I use Uniross both,AA & AAA, good at performance.

I remember seeing this model Uniross in Croma, I think they sell it for 500 or 700 rs (not sure). Can you recall the price .

 

[venkatcr]

For nearly three years, I used a Rayovac 15 minute charger. Unfortunately the batteries died out and replacements cells are available only in the US.

In general, Energizer batteries and chargers are good. These, though, need an over night charge.

For cameras, I usually use two sets of batteries. When the camera use is high, I have a set of batteries being charged which another set is being used. Then when needed, I switch the two set of batteries.

Cheers

 

[spirovious]

I remember seeing this model Uniross in Croma, I think they sell it for 500 or 700 rs (not sure). Can you recall the price .

Depends on power-
say 2500/hr around Rs.400/pair of AA
AAA 1000/hr for Rs 175/pair.

 

[sunilkm]

Hi,

I am using a Sony charger for few years ( For both AA and AAA Energizer and Sony batteries ) and happy with it. The charging time is less
I do have a Uniross charger also. Compared to Sony the charging time is more in Uniross

Energizer batteries are good.
The rating is 1.2V / 1850mA

Thanks,
Sunil

 

[Asit]

Hi Ranga,

Look for Ni-MH rechargeable batteries. Also my recommendation for critical use such as in cameras etc NOT to use the ones with quick charges. They usually do not retain charge for long. The Rayovac mentioned by Venkat works but they have their own problems of availability as he mentioned.

Currently I use 2 sets of 4 AA batteries with 2 sets of chargers. One from Sanyo and another from Sony. Both are very good and retain charge for long long time. The Sony ones claim that if fully charged and left unused, even after a year they retain about 90% of the charge. It's actually true, because I own them now for a couple of years and once I left them unused for more than 6 months or so. Sanyo eneloops also claim similarly. Get the batteries with about 2000 mAh capacity for AA and about 800 mAh for AAA.

You can take a look at The Best Rechargeable Batteries and Chargers Of 2010 MetaEfficient Reviews
but most of them may not be available here.

Regards.

 

[jayad08]

I have GP Recyko 2100, encore 2700, canon 1800 all NiMH.
For chargers I have one from Canon and other one is a chinese brand HAKO.. but both are good with auto cutoff.
HAKO has alarm + single sequence charging whereas canon charges 2 at a time..
both take around 6-8 hrs for full charge..
never go for fast chargers, they destroy batteries..
As my camera takes 4 batteries in the slot, i always keep a spare set of 4 fully charged and another 2 sets of 4 charging

 

[sud98]

I have used Sony, Uniross and Energizer. Found Sony the best of the lot in terms of longevity of the charger and the quality of charge.

Like Asit mentioned, use NiMH chargers and betters, the higher capacity the better. Avoid NiCD chargers.

 

[tellranga]

From the post, I figure out either Sony / Energizer chargers seems to be good.
Any idea about Duracell (normally their quality will be good but with a hefty price) ?

 

[tellranga]

Like Asit mentioned, use NiMH chargers and betters, the higher capacity the better. Avoid NiCD chargers.

By the way, Nimh batteries are good for Digital Camera. But for wireless device like Dualshock , accesories of PS3 which batteries are better NiMH or NiCD ?

 

[Asit]

Hi,

I think, among all rechargeable AA/AAA batteries, NiMH batteries comfortably outperform NiCd batteries which in turn are far better than alkaline batteries. My understanding they are good for all applications I can think of, but for less power hungry applications one can perhaps do with NiCd batteries (which come with much less capacity like less than 1000 mAh), but never use Alkaline rechargeable batteries which are generally incapable to sustain any reasonable load for a meaningful time.

Take a look at Battery_technicals

Regards.

 

[unleash_me]

Not alien to flashaholics but for the rest, try the Candlepowerforums

 

[Abhishek]

I use a Camelion charger which can charge my 4 Sanyo 2700 mah batteries in about 4 hours. I think that is good enough for people using digicams.
Initially i also had 2 pair of Sony 2300 mah, but they stopped working after about 5 months. The Sanyos are great.

regards,
Abhishek

 

[adder]

well u can try the sanyo eneloop or the sony blue cycle energy batteries both have high number of charge/discharge cycles and can retain charge for a longer duration.but have about 20% less AH capacity.so if u are a shutter bug who use the camera quite frequently get then get these.

if u don't use them much but only on sum occasions like a aero show or a birthday party etc ,then get batteries that have a high AH capacity like the sony 2700mah batteries,these to can hold charge even after 6months,but have around 500 charge/discharge cycles.

do note their are plenty of fakes one out there so buy only from authorised dealers.

 

[Kamal]

My reccs FWIW;
-Charger:I bought a Sanyo smart charger model NC-MQR02N-UEX-SS
for Rs800/- 2 years back from a camera/accessories dealer in the wholesale market in Chandni Chowk, Delhi.Google will show up many chargers but this one is a legel import with a 1 yr warranty
Its truly a great charger-compact ,reasonably fast(2600mah nimh batteries in 4.5 hrs) & has several layers of overcharge protection built in -google for details.
It can charge 4 AA cells or 2AAA cells, nimh or nicd.
-cells: I have been using 2600/2700 nimh Fuji rechargeable cells for my digital camera.
A set of 4 cells fully charged gives me 450 to 500 shots on my Canon A 620, depending on the mix of flash/w/o flash shots.
I picked up a set of 4 2700nimh fuji cells for Rs 450/- from the distributor in Nehru Place, New Delhi abt a month back.
-Re the cell types for various applns-
-For digital cameras, nimh without a doubt.
If you use your digi camera quite frequently, pick up standard, high capacity nimh cells.
But if you are a casual photographer, pick up Sanyo Eneloop-2100 mah ( Fuji also makes similar long charge holding cells, forget their name).They will hold a charge for much longer & not go bad.Normal nimh cells have a tendency to die if not used/recharged for a few months.
- For devices e.g clocks/timers/remotes etc which do not use much current, go in for Nicd cells(AA or AAA,as reqd) 800mah or 1100 mah capacity( I've used uniross/fuji & both have worked out well); nimh are not suitable in such devices.
However, plz remember that nicd cells exhibit a "lazy battery" effect if recharged frequently w/o the existing charge almost fully draining out(google to understand this more.
Hope this helps.

 

[doors666]

get the sanyo eneloop. these are the best for cameras etc. earlier i used to use normal batteries. Whenever I needed the camera, i found out that the batteries are dead. eneloops discharge very slow and even if you leave them in for an year, you can still use them.

 

[spirovious]

sanyo eneloop new one can hold 80% charge evenafter 6month.

 

[musicmypassion]

+1 to it. I have 4 Sanyos and 4 Energizers for my DSLR and I trust Sanyo over Energizer at any time. They hold charge for a pretty long period.

 

[adder]

well this should help people decide which one is good.
in the below graph on the voltage on Y axis(left) and the Hrs on X axis(bottom).

as one can see the sony Blue cycle energy has a tiny edge.