Bushwalk Australia

What is your favourite battery charger and why?

My two...

The one that charges my camera batteries. Because it's the only one I use regularly and charges the most important batteries I have.

Zone-5, that's a fancy looking charger on the left!

All my devices use USB chargers. The Anker 40W 5 Port USB Charger can charge my iPad, iPhone, camera, GPS, and GoPro all at the same. Through a single power point. Fast. So only one charger to carry when I'm travelling.



Anker have recently upped the ante with a 60W 6 port charger.

RonK wrote:Anker have recently upped the ante with a 60W 6 port charger.

Says something about the changes in this geeky world...

The reason why I have made this topic is because I use 3 GPS devices, camera, torch, radio and they all run on AA Eneloop (Panasonic) Pro NiMH batteries.

I have found that my 'Powerex' and the 'La Crosse' chargers do about the same as dedicated smart chargers and are truly much quicker (500%) than standard NiMH chargers.

The one thing I like about the Maha Powerex is it's ability to fully analyze and then rebirth worn out and dead batteries back to their original charge capacity under the REFRESH or BREAK-IN options. And maintain Eneloops at peak performance right from their first use thus never wearing out < 2000 cycles!

For the $60 I paid for it in Australia, money well invested!

* Five modes of operation:
-- Charge: Charge the battery at the selected rate
-- Discharge: Discharge the battery at the selected rate
-- Analyze & Refresh: First charge the battery at the selected rate, then discharge it at the selected rate followed by recharging. The discharge capacity is saved for display at the end of the cycle making the MH-C9000 WizardOne a great tool for benchmarking battery capacity
-- Break-In: Allows user to enter the battery capacity and performs a forming charge at 0.1C for 16 hours (using only temperature and timer cutoff) followed by discharge and medium rate recharge
-- Cycle: Allows user to set charge and discharge rate and number of cycle to perform. Will save capacity up to 15 cycle which user can access throughout the cycling

I use just a simple powerbank with a 3200 mAh 18650 battery. 64g.

Flexible, as I can take just the powerbank for a weekend trip, or take additional 18650 batteries for a longer trip.

Maha Powerex for AAA/AA
Soshine for Li-ion. (RCR123, 14500 and 18650)

Travis.

I guess I'll have to say its the Nitecore D4, mainly because I just paid for one tonight.....so don't tell me any bad news about it OK ?

I also have a Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus and an old Everready which is dubious at best.

I just lashed out for the Eneloops, not knowing much about batteries, but hoping they perform better than my budget Aldi's etc.

I am quite the battery/charger tragic now, but I swear it only came on in recent years when I switched to rechargeable AAs and LSD Eneloops batteries for my GPS, Steripen on longer hikes, and torches.

I have the same two chargers as Zone-5, as well as a few other chargers. But I separate my chargers depending on the type of batteries I intend to charge as well as where I intend to use them (that is, via AC power or via USB solar power or 12V DC vehicle power).

AC socket charging NiMH batteries
I mainly use the same two chargers as Zone-5. They are both "smart" analyzing chargers.
The Lacrosse BC700 on the left (also sold as the Technoline in Europe) and comes in a few other models with more features (the BC900 and the BC1000).
The Maha C9000 on the right is also known as the Powerex Wizard One.
They are "smart chargers" as they use various of chip controlled methods to terminate charging (like -dV and temperature control), compared with regular "dumb chargers" which have fixed charge rates and use a timer for stopping the charge to the batteries.

Both are good chargers IMHO, although the Maha C9000 has more features and is quite well regarded. Both have variable charge rate settings, but the Maha has a wider range of charge rate settings. The Lacrosse charger only has three charge rate settings from recollection. The advantage of chargers like these two is that they can analyze the charge that has been put into each cell so can report the individual batteries capacities.

I prefer the Lacrosse charger for a few reasons: the smaller size is nicer when travelling, and the individual screen display for each cell means I can check/set charge type and rate for each cell with fewer button presses than on the Maha. The Maha displays only shows the readings/settings per slot, so you have to cycle through each slot on the same display.

But the Maha has greater features including the wider range of charge settings, a break in mode, and a refresh mode for older cells.

The speed of the charging is due to the charge rate. Normal "dumb" overnight chargers typically have a low charge rate, but don't stop charging and can lead to overcharging your batteries. The "dumb" Fast or Super Fast chargers have a very high charge rate, which will shorten the lifetime of your NiMH cells. The default charge rate of the Maha is 1000mAh, but the Lacrosse BC700 has a lower default rate of 200mA (the other charge rates are 500mA and 700mA).

On charge rates, I usually charge at a 0.3-0.5C and a maximum of 1C (meaning 1 times the battery capacity). So if the battery has a 2000mAh capacity, the max charge rate would be 2000mA.

Solar Charging AAs and AAAs
For charging NiMH AAs and AAAs via solar power with one of my portable USB solar panels, I am yet to find the perfect charger. I currently use:

* Portapow USB charger (also seen this as a Fujicell SCH500 or 500F charger) - http://www.portablepowersupplies.co.uk/ ... e-battery/ - the portapow I've used most recently, but needs a male to male USB cable to power. The issue I have with it is that when it is my backpack connected to the solar panel, the front button presses too easily and it switches the USB socket from input to output so isn't charging anymore.
* Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus - Biggest issue with this is that it needs to charge 4 AAs at a time, needs additional attachment for AAAs.
* An older version of what looks like that Rayovac charger but is not a smart charger.
* a cheap 2 x AA/AAA USB charger which provides a low continuous current but it is not a smart charger again.

I've just ordered a Sunjack USB AA/AAA charger http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PZ6V99U/ I found on Amazon, but have to wait until I get back for it to be delivered. Sunjack is a Californian based kickstarter funded company that made some GoalZero style folding solar panels, and when I emailed them about more info on their AA/AAA charger, the founder emailed me back quickly with some more details about the charge rate and termination methods. Hopefully this will be the charger I take on longer overseas hikes replacing the Portapow charger I currently use.

I have also been looking at a small Xtar MC1 charger to be able to charge 18650 or 14500 lithium cells via solar panel. I don't normally take a lithium based torch bushwalking, but if I can get a good light charger that works via USB solar panels, I might just pack a couple of 14500s for the extra boost in my AA torches that can handle lithium batteries. The Xtar MC1 is a single cell charger, and has some good reviews.

AC charging Lithium cells
For Lithium based cells like 18650 or 14500 cells, there are also good chargers out there, with a number of recent brands coming out with some nice chargers that can do both NiMH and Li-ion cells, and have some of the testing/reporting features of the Maha/Lacrosse chargers. I use 18650 and 14500 cells in various torches that I have. I have a couple of the Nitecore Intellichargers in i2 and i4 formats, but they don't have the analyzing features of the Maha/Lacrosse chargers so I haven't found a favourite yet.

The Nitecore D4 mentioned in the post above is an upgrade to the i4 model, with a display screen and some other upgrades, but does not add the analyzing functions.

An analysing charger for lithium cells I've been looking at for a while is the Opus BT-C3100 charger which is currently at it's V2.2 iteration, and that looks like it could be on the short list. It is reviewed with the earlier software here: http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Ch ... %20UK.html and is a good analyzing charger for NiMH and Li-ion cells.

Lithium camera/smartphone batteries
For charging other lithium batteries via USB like camera/GoPro battery li-ion cells or smartphones, RonK's reply is a good option if you are using an AC wall socket. Anker make great products, but they have stopped selling to Australia via their eBay store, and they won't ship to Australia via Amazon, so are annoyingly difficult to source at a reasonable price now.

There are a few other mobs that are making some similar multi USB hubs out there. I have ordered a 50W (5V//10A) 6 USB port one by a company called Poweradd (http://www.ipoweradd.com) to see how it performs - it looks similar to the Anker chargers.

For charging removeable lithium batteries from cameras/gopros and phones with solar charger, I've been looking at the Pixo C-USB universal charger http://www.pixo.de/p/pixo_cusb.html. Difficult to source locally for a reasonable price, it is a lightweight, compact charger that can charge some li-ion and lipo batteries as well as NiMH AA/AAAs using a USB input so works with solar panels as well.

While my phone and cameras can charge directly using the USB socket out of one of my solar panels in certain circumstances, I find it in practice easier to charge up an external battery pack, and use that to charge up the devices later as needed. Using something like the Pixo C-USB charger or plugging into the device directly I have found challenging while on the move as the current fluctuates while you are walking, and the sun's rays are obscured so the charging stops/starts. Some devices don't like the drop in current, and stops charging and only starts charging again on unplugging and replugging in the USB socket, making it impractical while walking. It might be more suited to charging at a basecamp or for something like cycle touring.

If anyone is interested, HKJ who posts on the candlepowerforums and budgetlightforums, does great reviews on various chargers (as well as batteries and torches) http://www.lygte-info.dk/info/indexBatt ... %20UK.html

keithy wrote:Anker make great products, but they have stopped selling to Australia via their eBay store, and they won't ship to Australia via Amazon, so are annoyingly difficult to source at a reasonable price now.

Look again - the Anker charger is easily sourced from eBay.
Other Anker products such as the excellent Zolo battery I'm using are available via Amazon.
Only the charger is not offered on Amazon because it's not packaged with an Australian power cord.
A local eBayer even has them listed with an AU adapter, but the power cord used is common and many would already have one. I had several laying around my office when I bought my charger.

I have the La Crosse. Simply because it was cheaper than the Maha and the feature set was enough for my needs.

Strider wrote:I have the La Crosse. Simply because it was cheaper than the Maha and the feature set was enough for my needs.

Yes I got the La Crosse first as a travel charger and then got the Powerex as a desk charger. Both are good.

Zone-5 wrote:What is your favourite battery charger and why?

I have the Powerex shown in your photo. Why? Cannot remember ... had it so long. It is my favorite but, but then I only have one

Andrew

Zone-5 wrote:.....The one thing I like about the Maha Powerex is it's ability to fully analyze and then rebirth worn out and dead batteries back to their original charge capacity under the REFRESH or BREAK-IN options.

I've ordered one of these. The idea of taking better care of my Eneloops and being able to refresh them has won me over. My old Energiser quick charger is brutal, Quite often the batteries are very hot which isn't a good thing. Being able to read the capacity will be great as guess work or assumptions are dodgy at best. Just hanging out for the new one to arrive.

Kinetic chargers are interesting... charge whilst you walk... ones called 'ampy' another shoe insole gadget 'hatua' fairly new not on the market yet??

The Powerex, as shown on the right in this picture (which was originally put up by Zone-5), arrived some time back and has been put to good use.
I bought it in a deal that included 4 x AA Powerex Imedion 2400mAh and 4 x Powrex 2700mAh batteries, not cheap but good value all the same.

I am very happy with it.
I've been able to not only measure actual capacities but also match them up and recondition the ones that were showing some tiredness.
This charger was fired up the day I got it and stayed on for several days (about a week) as I went through a "refresh and analyze" cycle of all my batteries.
Most charger power packs (240V), even phone chargers exhibit heat and sometimes a lot of heat when they are in use.
This power pack stayed more or less cool the whole time which I feel is a sign of good design and ample current rating for the task.
This also gives confidence to leave it running all that time and not be wondering if it will burn the house down.
None of the batteries cycled through the process were hot or even more than warm to the touch during charging.
More technically speaking it's a *&%$#! ripper!
Thanks for the tip Zone-5.

I have a Powerex as well and am happy with it. Been able to resurrect a few batteries that other dumb chargers thought were dead. The only downside is the screen; the brightness isn't adjustable, it's really ***** bright, and so not ideal for those in studio or one bedroom apartments!

Interestingly, I'd always assumed the Maha Powerex MH C9000 charger terminated the batteries with -dV/dt, meaning that the charger sensed the drop in voltage signalling the battery was full and terminated charging.

But reading HKJ's review on the charger here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... x-MH-C9000

He states in his conclusion: "The charger does not use -dv/dt termination, but constant voltage with a top off charge and has the temperature sensor as backup. With the top off charge it looks like the charger just fills the batteries.... The charger is very good for analyzing batteries, but for normal charging the batteries might not always be filled."

Anyway, I've just ordered an xtar VC4 to charge my li-ion 14500 and 18650s as well as NiMHs - it doesn't analyse the batteries as such, but displays the amount of charge filled to each cell:



I've also received my USB Sunjack AA/AAA charger to test out with my solar panels. Not that impressed with their quality control though. I mentioned this to them when I received it. Some terminals were not in line with each other, and some had evidence of rust on the terminals. Not had a good sunny day to test it out on my solar panels yet, but I'll give it a test soon.



This supplements my other USB AA chargers like the:
Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus -

and the Fujicell SCH500 (also sold as the Portapow or Extreme charger)


The Sunjack despite it's poor QC is a bit better than the other two as a USB charger as:

• it can charge both AA/AAAs without an additional adapter like the Goal Zero requires,
• it can charge anything from 1 to 4 batteries at a time. The Goal Zero needs to charge 4 cells at once, and the Fujicell SCH500 can charge 2 or 4 at a time but not single cells.

Just received my Powerex MH-C9000 from Amazon, what a big unit in physical size! Started to analyse and 'treat' my battery cells. This is going to take a long time by the look of it.

I have the MAHA C9000 and Anker 60W.

Tried the Comsol USB unit from Officeworks... Don't buy. Can't correctly recognise iPads as 2.1A units. Refused to charge them at more than 500mA, so iPad was taking 10-12 hours for a charge. Returned it and bought the Anker 60W online, never had any problems - great unit.

xtar-vp2

Great unit.

GPSGuided wrote:Started to analyse and 'treat' my battery cells. This is going to take a long time by the look of it.

I haven't begun GPS and I really don't know where to begin to be honest. I see a thread like this and go "ripper" then I look at it and walk away quite jaded and unsure. Batteries aren't just batteries any more!!!

GPSGuided wrote:Just received my Powerex MH-C9000 from Amazon, what a big unit in physical size! Started to analyse and 'treat' my battery cells. This is going to take a long time by the look of it.

Good to hear. That's a nice bit of kit. A reminder that if you use the refresh/analyse or break-in modes, they can take quite a while to complete. On the C9000, the break in mode can take over 40 hours as it uses a 16 hour 0.1C charge (which means it is charging at a rate of 0.1A x the mAh of the battery), then it rests and then discharges 0.2C, and then runs another 16 hour recharge.

Giddy_up wrote:I haven't begun GPS and I really don't know where to begin to be honest. I see a thread like this and go "ripper" then I look at it and walk away quite jaded and unsure. Batteries aren't just batteries any more!!!

Don't be scared off. Battery technology has improved quite a bit, but for most handheld GPS units that take AA batteries you can use:

• Alkalines - these are the bog standard AA batteries you can get. The downside is that they don't last as long, and can end up costing a bit and add to landfill.
• Lithium AA - these are great for weight saving and last longer than alkalines or NiMH, but are more expensive and not rechargeable.
• Standard NiMH rechargeables - these come in standard variety which have a high self discharge rate (meaning that if you had them charged and leave them unused, they will discharge by themselves). Older NiMHs would lose their charge when unused in as low as 3 months.
• Low Self Discharge (LSD) NiMH rechargeables - these are the improved version of the NiMH batteries. They are usually identified by saying "Pre-charged" on the batteries or packaging, or "Low Self Discharge". They have a lower self discharge than the older NiMH varieties. The self discharge rate varies from manufacturer, but for good quality LSD NiMH, they retain something like 65-70% of their capacity in 3-5years.

You don't need a fancy charger to get started. I posted this about the types of chargers out there viewtopic.php?f=27&t=21994&start=30#p287514 in another thread.

If you are on the East Coast and have access to an Ikea, the Ikea charger is a good budget smart charger for $15 http://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/40241314/ and the Ikea Ladda batteries are LSD and a great buy at $4 for 4 pack http://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/00240585/

If budget is not an issue, get a good analyzing charger such as the Maha C9000 mentioned above. These chargers can tell you the capacity of your batteries, so you don't have to guess when your batteries are getting old.

Again, if budget is not an issue, Eneloop batteries are the "gold standard" for LSD NiMH. There is a slight caveat to this in that Panasonic have decided that the Australian market gets Chinese made Eneloops rather than the previous Japanese Made eneloops - the Japanese made eneloops are a different formula made by the FDK factory in Japan, and are a little better than the Chinese Made ones.

But luckily you can still get Fujitsu rechargeables which are still made in the FDK factory, but are not cheap locally - around $5/each normally (so a pack of 4 x AAs is about $20).

And then separately I received my Miller ML-102 v9 and a set of two 18650 batteries. What big batteries they are! And I thought they are the same size as AAs. No wonder they have 3400mAH of capacity.

keithy wrote: . . .
[*]Low Self Discharge (LSD) NiMH rechargeables - these are the improved version of the NiMH batteries. They are usually identified by saying "Pre-charged" on the batteries or packaging, or "Low Self Discharge". They have a lower self discharge than the older NiMH varieties. The self discharge rate varies from manufacturer, but for good quality LSD NiMH, they retain something like 65-70% of their capacity in 3-5years. [/list]

Keithy (and others) , thanks for all of your great information on a subject I'm struggling to fully understand.

On the basis of several recommendations, I bought a Powerex MH-C9000. I am not clear on which Mode of operation to use in some circumstances. For example, on your comment above about LSD (really?) rechargeables. I also purchased some pre-charged Panasonic eneloops. But who knows when were they initially pre-charged. So do I use them in the field as supplied or charge them before use in case they are not holding the maximum possible charge? If the latter, should one use Refresh and Analyse Mode or Break-in Mode? There is another option it seems, which is to first use Discharge Mode, because that is described as being the mode which measures the amount of stored charge. I can't understand how a discharged battery can have any charge? Any advice on this is welcome.

I'm learning too but would just use the following algorithm.

Every one of my battery gets 'Refresh & Analyse' to determine the capacity. If the capacity is significantly down, run Refresh and Analyse once more. If still down, then use 'Break-in' mode twice. If it's still well down, then throw the battery. Otherwise note the individual battery capacity somewhere and use accordingly. If batteries are to be paired, then match pair with similar mAh capacity. For applications where you need the maximum buffer, then pick those with the highest capacity.

Once you've 'reconditioned' all the batteries, then just recharge per routine. Refresh and analyse periodically going forward (every 3 mths or so). No absolutely hard rule.

Just my take and YMMV.

If you want to know more about charging and which modes to use on the MAHA, head over to candlepowerforums for advice on how to best charge your batteries.

peregrinator wrote:I bought a Powerex MH-C9000. I am not clear on which Mode of operation to use in some circumstances. For example, on your comment above about LSD (really?) rechargeables.

It's a good analysing charger, and can have some seemingly overwhelming options. But it does not need to be mastered, it will work fine as a "put batteries in and turn on" charger.

There used to be a few websites with Maha tips, like protog (based in Melbourne), but their resources are no longer online (or I can't find them from my old bookmarked links). Maha still runs a good FAQ page here: http://www.mahaenergy.com/faq-c9000/ I find it covers most things.

peregrinator wrote: I also purchased some pre-charged Panasonic eneloops. But who knows when were they initially pre-charged. So do I use them in the field as supplied or charge them before use in case they are not holding the maximum possible charge? If the latter, should one use Refresh and Analyse Mode or Break-in Mode?

Good choice on the batteries. For your eneloops, the great thing is that they have the production date usually stamped on the batteries or the packaging. This usually determines if you need to run the Break In cycle on the Maha charger. There used to be a train of thought that older NiMH batteries need to be broken in, but I've found that newer Low Self Discharge (LSD) batteries like eneloops do not benefit a great deal from the Break In.

If your batteries were made recently (within say 6-12 months from time bought to the production date stamped on the battery), I would not bother with the Break In mode. Just use them, and when they deplete, run a standard charge cycle and get them charged up again. A few charge cycles in, and they will be hunky dory.

Now, if your batteries are say older stock, and the difference between the production date and the date you bought them is significantly greater (say 2-3 years), then the batteries would benefit from the Break In mode.

I usually charge my Eneloops at 0.5C which is 0.5 x the current capacity (mAh), so as an example, if the battery is 2000mAh, I would charge at 1000mA. For reference, the Eneloop datasheet specifies charging at 1C (so for 2000mAh batteries would be 2000mA). Usually I charge mine anywhere between 0.3-0.5C and have no problems with charge termination - meaning that the charger stops charging correctly when the battery is full. Bad quality charger or dumb chargers will keep charging the batteries even if full, leading to overcharged batteries.

peregrinator wrote:There is another option it seems, which is to first use Discharge Mode, because that is described as being the mode which measures the amount of stored charge. I can't understand how a discharged battery can have any charge? Any advice on this is welcome.

Ok, this can be confusing, but I'll try with a simple example. Say you had a 2000mAh AA Eneloop that has been inside a device, used for a bit and forgotten about. You know the battery still has a charge because it still works, but you don't know how much capacity (mAh) it actually has left. This is what the Discharge Mode does. It will drain the partially used battery, and record the capacity that it had left until the cell is "empty". In this example, say the discharge mode said the "charge" was 1000mAh. This means that your original 2000mAh battery was half full, and the charger drained 1000mAh from it.

Now, remember that in the Discharge Mode, there is no recharge cycle, so when you pull the battery out, it will be "empty". When you run a recharge cycle on the empty battery now, the Maha charger will report the total capacity in mAh that goes back into the battery, so you have a more precise idea of the battery's capacity.

Why do you want to know this? Well, this becomes important when you are using the batteries in devices that take multiple batteries. Say you found the one battery that had 1000mAh in it, and had a GPS or radio that used 3 AAs. You grabbed two other AAs that are fully charged at 2000mAh. When all three AAs are used together in one device and the half full battery depletes before the other two fresh batteries, this can lead to a situation called reverse charging - where the two higher capacity cells continue to discharge through the load, and the discharge current flows through the now fully discharged lower cell, and can cause the direction of the current to reverse in that cell. Some manufacturers have claimed that their batteries have some reverse charge tolerance to small level, but any battery that is reverse charged can be permanently damaged. This is why there are small vent holes on the top (positive terminals of Eneloops). If eneloops vent, they lose some of their electrolytes and their capacity will be further reduced.

If you are still with me, let me do another scenario with the 1000mAh half used battery. Say you put it in the Maha, and run a normal recharge on it. When it terminates, it reports that only about 1000mAh capacity of charge went into the battery. This might lead you to believe that the cell is not fully charged, or the charger terminated early. But since the battery was only half empty, with 1000mAh in it, the recharge cycle reported the "top up" capacity of 1000mAh. Unless you do the Discharge test, you wouldn't know that the battery originally had 1000mAh in it, so the reported recharge of 1000mAh would not be as useful.

I've probably muddled that explanation, but if you want clarification, ask away and I'll my best to answer.

Thanks again GPSGuided, South_Aussie_Hiker and keithy. I'm slowly taking some of this in but there's a basic thing here that's got me clueless:

keithy wrote:I usually charge my Eneloops at 0.5C which is 0.5 x the current capacity (mAh), so as an example, if the battery is 2000mAh, I would charge at 1000mA. For reference, the Eneloop datasheet specifies charging at 1C (so for 2000mAh batteries would be 2000mA). Usually I charge mine anywhere between 0.3-0.5C and have no problems with charge termination - meaning that the charger stops charging correctly when the battery is full.

1. Why not charge at the maximum capacity of the battery. E.g., in the above example, at 2000mA for a 2000mAh battery?

2. Why would the Eneloop data sheet specify charging at 1C when the Maha FAQ http://www.mahaenergy.com/FAQ-C9000/ recommends 0.5C and you charge at 0.3 to 0.5C? (Maybe this has something to do with what you refer to as "charge termination", but I have no idea what that means.)

3. Sorry for these why-can't-life-be-simpler questions!