Rechargeable Battery Chargers

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FAQ about Rechargeable Battery Chargers

Can I use any rechargeable battery charger with any type of rechargeable batteries? I have a panasonic charger for rechargeable batteries but the batteries are starting to not hold their charge as well. Do I have to buy a whole new set or can I use any rechargeable batteries with the charger I already have? No. First check to see what type of batteries your Panasonic batteries are: If they are Nickel-Metal-Hydride batteries (NiMH) than you can charge other branded NiMH batteries or Nickel-Cadmium (NiCd) batteries in your charger. If the original batteries are NiCd then you likely can only charge NiCd batteries; you should know that those type of batteries (Ni-cads) are being quickly phased out due to environmental concerns.
Under no circumstances can you charge Rechargable-Alkaline cells in your charger.. those require a special charger (and don't perform well in any case).
The numbers on the batteries (ie 2100 mAh) basically translate to how long the batteries will last (and charge); you can use larger valued batteries than your original units.

Are rechargeable battery chargers interchangeable, i.e. Ni-Mh charger on Ni-Cad or alkaline batts? Yes and no.
You need a special charger for Alkalines.. and most are not all that rechargeable.
Chargers for NiCADs can charge NiMh just dandy... but you can't leave them alone. A NiCAD charger detects that a NiCAD is full by looking for a small voltage drop after the charge has basically levelled off. When the battery is full, the charger goes into a stand-by mode, just keeping the battery at full but otherwise turning off.
NiMh don't have that small voltage drop, so the charger just keeps charging. Do that too long and you may shorten the life of the battery. But if you carefully watch the charger, or use one with a timer, it's no problem.
NiMh chargers usually know about NiCADs, since NiCAD was a mature technology before Stanley Ovshinsky (honored as "Hero for the planet" by Time Magazine in 1999) invented the NiMh cell in the early 80s. A NiMh charger looks for the voltage in the battery to level off for awhile. If the charger is just for NiMh and not NiCAD aware, it might not fully charge a NiCAD. But most are NiCAD aware.
Both of these issues only exist with fast chargers... chargers that fill your battery in two hours or less. Anything longer than that is a trickle-charger.. it applies a very low-level current, which charges a battery overnight. It can be pretty stupid, since both NiCAD and NiMh tolerate long charging like this.
Another concern is the battery's capacity... a charger designed for an 800mAh NiCAD might technically be able to charge a 2400mAh NiMh, but it's going to take much longer. Some simple chargers don't use sensing, either.. they simply charge for a couple of hours, then go into standby... these will not effectively charge a larger capacity cell.
And then there's Lithium-ion... the sort used in most cellphones, laptops, and cameras these days. This is a complex battery to charge properly, and it can explode if mistreated. Never charge a Li-ion cell with anything but a proper Li-ion charger.

Do Duracell rechargeable batteries work in a Sony rechargeable battery charger? i have these Duracell batteries and im wondering if i put them in a Sony rechargeable battery charger, will the Duracell batteries get charged? thank u so much Any charger will work that is designed for the strength and type of battery, such as NiMh or NiCD, and the mAh rating.

Whats the best rechargeable batteries & rechargeable battery charger to get for my Wii remote? I'm bed & wheelchair bound so i don't have a lot to do but i just bought a wii & found out the batteries will die & are not rechargeable. What do you recommend me to buy to fix this problem? Thanks in advance. I had this same problem. What i did was very simple. just buy about 8 rechargeble CVS batteries and any battery charger. This will all come to about 16$. This way, when 2 batteries die, and you can replace 'em and charge the ones that died. this works for me because i'm a gaming addict, and with two remotes, I never run out on the fun.

Whats the best battery charger and rechargeable batteries out there? im trying to find the best battery charger and rechargeable batteries out there because im getting turtle beach x3 and they use tons of battery power and i was recommend to get rechargeable and charger can anyone help please =] Yes I understand lithium are best but you can't charge lithum and I need AAA battries can anyone find me the best triple a batteries along with best charger Rechargeable NiMH batteries come in two different varieties.
The standard type has a slightly higher capacity but they also have a relatively high self discharge rate. In other words, if you don't use them immediately after charging them, some (or even most) of the charge will have leaked away by the time you do. Some brands have a higher capacity than others. The tradeoff in the highest capacity cells seems to be fewer recharges.
There is a newer type of NiMH battery which has a much lower self discharge rate. Those are the ones to look for. I've seen them marketed under the Sanyo Eneloop, Duracell (with the copper top label - not green top) and Kodak (with the white top label - not silver top). In the AAA size, rated capacities will be about 850-900 maH as opposed to 1000 maH for the standard type. They are often sold as "Precharged" since they can hold a significant percentage of their original charge for a year or more.
For charging you'll need a charger that is designed for NiMH cells. Avoid the high speed chargers that charge in 2 hours or less. The excessive heat generated during charging will greatly shorten the battery's life. Also avoid the "economy" overnight type of charger that can't detect when your batteries have reached full charge. Slowly cooking your batteries after they have reached full charge is almost as bad as cooking them fast. You do not need a charger that will discharge the batteries before charging them.
One of the more versatile chargers I own is the Duracell CEF 23. It can be powered off 100-240 volts so it can be used worldwide and it also came with a 12 volt cord for automotive use. It can charge 1-4 cells while monitoring each one separately. With 4 charged cells installed it also has an additional mode which allows it to output 5 volts via a USB port without being plugged in.
I've posted some useful links below that give more details.
Don

Can I recharge 2500mAh energizer rechargeable battery with a charger that came in a 2450mAh pack? Hello! My old rechargeable battery charger stopped working for some reason, but the batteries still work, I recently bought a new Charger with 2450mAh batteries. Am I able to recharge the 2500mAh with the 2450mAh charger? I don't want it to explode or anything, and I never really understood electricity. You should be just fine.
You can check with the manufacturer to be sure. But they likely will say to use only their specific cells.
Most modern battery chargers for common cells, AAA, AA, and larger, have circuits that monitor the cells as they charge. It will keep feeding them until "full". Cells of larger capacity will just take a little longer to charge. They regulate the charging current. A difference of 50mAh will be barely noticeable. You should be able to put any brand from anywhere between 700 to 2800mAh in there without trouble. If it uses the same "socket" for both AAA and AA, it's all good.
More important is the type of cells it's designed for as they each have different charging properties. If the charger is for NiMH only trying to charge Ni-Cad would not be wise, or vice-versa. Most modern chargers will work for either NiMH or Ni-Cad and some even support Li-ion. Some monitor cell temperature for added safety.
The risk of exploding a rechargeable cell is very low. Even attempting to recharge cells not intended to be is reasonably safe but they sometimes leak or explode so I wouldn't recommend it. (putting a standard alkaline in the charger actually works somewhat but is not a good idea). Generally the only thing that goes wrong is the cell or charger die.

I need help about a Rechargeable battery charger? My dad has a rechargeable battery charger, and i was charging some batters and they exploded , and some acidly stuff came out, i left it and didn't say anything, but can i still use it again or will it explode This indicates a) wrong type of cells for this charger, or b) shorted battery.
You can't just throw any battery in a charger. You must use a nicad charger for nickel-cadmium batteries, nimh charger for nickel-metal-hydride batteries, or lipoly charger for lithium polymer batteries. This is a very common cause of house fires, and you're lucky they didn't catch fire.
Beware of "multi-chemistry" chargers; good ones will correctly detect chemistry type, but cheaper ones will malfunction, charging a lipoly at nicad currents/wavelengths.
If you're sure you have the right cells for this type of charger, it's going to be a shorted cell. So long as the chemistry didn't leak into the inside of the charger or damage it in any way, you should be fine for healthy cells.
I'm betting on the first, because most charges have built-in short protection. Usually shorted cells won't charge, the lights by each cell charger will just blink on that cell.

Do rechargeable battery chargers have any effect on microwaves? I put a running battery charger on a microwave that wasn't in use (only being used as a clock) and was met with opposition. I say it doesn't do anything since no microwaves are being transmitted Nope no effect what so ever on a cavitation magnetron

Do all battery chargers work for all rechargeable batteries? A friend has an Energizer charger. If I buy non-Energizer rechargeable batteries, will I be able to charge them using their Energizer charger? I will answer this in general then more specifically.
In general, all battery chargers do NOT work for all rechargeable batteries. There are lead acid, nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride, and lithium rechargeable batteries. All of them need a charger made to recharge that specific type of battery. Therefore you need to make sure the battery and charger are compatible.
More specifically, you say your friend has an Energizer charger and you want to use non-Energizer brand batteries and charge them in that Energizer charger. What you need to do is figure out what type of batteries that Energizer charger can recharge. The most common type is NiMH (nickel metal hydride). If it is, then it should be able to recharge any brand of NiMH battery, not just Energizer ones.

What does 'charge time' mean in terms of rechargeable batteries/battery chargers? E.g. Energizer AA battery charger Product features: 11 hours charge time Help? to elaborate on Monkey's answer - that is the time for a full charge from flat.
If the battery is not flat, ti will reach full charge in a proportionately shorter time.
The fact that you quote 11 hours signifies that this a "trickle charger" usually left running overnight, so you are good to go in the morning.
There are "smart" chargers which can do a full charge much quicker, but they will cost more.

Rechargeable Battery Chargers is from category: Flashlights.