battery charger: fast or solw

[+GRNZOOM]

I have two chargers for the batteries I use in my 60csx.

 

One take hours to charge... the other one take just a hour or so.

 

Is one better than the other? or does it matter?

 

Thanks...

 

Nick

[BacktrailJitters]

If the slower charger keeps the batteries at a lower temperature during the charge, I would use it unless I was in a hurry.

[+Thomas D]

Well ther are MANY chargers out there and at a wide range of quality but... Generally speaking slower is better. Generally.

 

It's high heat that does the damage, so opt for the charger that keep the battries the coolest while charging, all other things bieng equal that will likely be the slow charger. Use the fast one only if necessary. Note the battries will likely get pretty warm in any charger espically near the end of the cycle.

 

Now what you really need is a charger that has a separate circuit to charge each cell independently acording to it's state of discharge and to its own max potential and then reverts to a trickle charge. You can easily spot this type because it will have an LED light for each cell instead of one light or one light per each 2 cells. One circuit chargers sort of average it out across all the cells and some may be over charged or over heat and thus the life of the cell can be shortened, while at the same time some may be charged to less than maximum capicity.

 

Hope that helps!

[+fratermus]

If the slower charger keeps the batteries at a lower temperature during the charge, I would use it unless I was in a hurry.

 

Agreed. Heat is the enemy of batteries.

 

If you really want to geek out, you can go to the local RC hobby shop and get a seriously good charger. If you have a regulated 12v [power] supply you can get a good entry level NiMH charger for about $30. The high end ones are $100-$200, but they do all kinds of neat chargy tricks.

 

Sounds ludicrous, but then you realize how many rechargeable batts you have around the house these days. If you can use one charger to put God's Own Peakcharge on all your lead-acid, gel, nicad, nimh, li-ion, li-po, etc, it might just be worth it.

 

The gold standard for chargers for normal mortals is probably the maha 204, and thomas distributing has a well deserved reputation for excellence. Hard to go wrong with that combo. A good charger like the MAHA is *definitely* worth it. And much easier to use than the $$$ chargers that make angels sing when you crank them up.

Edited January 20, 2007 by fratermus

[+geofireman]

All you need to know about batteries & chargers:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/nimh_batteries.html

Nuff said.

[+GRNZOOM]

Thanks... good information...

Nick

[draselok]

I have two chargers, one is a Rayovac 1 Hr charger. It works pretty well. THe other is a 15 min Energizer.

IMHO it is a piece of junk. Most of the time when I put a battery in, the LED flashes indicating it won't

charge the battery. I tried different techniques to "Prepare" the battery using the Energizer unit. Sometimes if I would "Short" it out for 10 seconds, or put it in the Rayovac for a min ot so, then it would take the charge.

But lately it just refuses to charge my batteries.