dumb 110/220 voltage question...

[+phlatlander]

We recently spent 2 weeks in Europe. Our trip began in Budapest and ended in Prague. My Canon camera and Garmin 550 both use NiMh AA cells my Sony P&S has a proprietary battery. I carried spare batteries for each. Both the Sony & Garmin came with their own 110/220 chargers. I found however, at least while on the riverboat, that the batteries did not fully charge.

 

So my dumb question is: as Europe is 220v, does this affect the charger, meaning does the different amperage cause the 110/220 chargers to shut off early, or is there some other cause or explanation?

Edited November 12, 2012 by phlatlander

[+eusty]

As the chargers are rated for the voltage then there shouldn't be an issue...just coincidence I guess that it didn't charge.

 

BTW Europe is 230V

 

[+Dgwphotos]

We recently spent 2 weeks in Europe. Our trip began in Budapest and ended in Prague. My Canon camera and Garmin 550 both use NiMh AA cells my Sony P&S has a proprietary battery. I carried spare batteries for each. Both the Sony & Garmin came with their own 110/220 chargers. I found however, at least while on the riverboat, that the batteries did not fully charge.

 

How long have you had these batteries? After a while, rechargeable batteries lose their ability to hold a charge.

[+webscouter.]

If you have inexpensive chargers that only use induction to change the voltage the true RMS voltage will be lower because the frequency of the source is lower. It won't be much but in a cheaper charger it could make a difference.

[+phlatlander]

Here at home I use a LaCrosse charger for AA batteries in my O450 & Canon and I only use Eneloop batteries. They all were recently "refreshed". The chargers I referred to were supplied by the manufacturer and were very portable so I took them along.

[John E Cache]

Ok, my guess is the power on the boat was not stable. A power loss or brownout maybe?

[Forkeye]

If you have inexpensive chargers that only use induction to change the voltage the true RMS voltage will be lower because the frequency of the source is lower. It won't be much but in a cheaper charger it could make a difference.

 

Sorry RMS voltage is 70.7% of the peak voltage of a sine wave and has nothing to do with frequency

Inductive reactance is directly proportional to frequency,but impedance will determine current flow in an A.C. circuit

Edited November 13, 2012 by Forkeye

[+Huntleigh]

Ok, my guess is the power on the boat was not stable. A power loss or brownout maybe?

 

My thoughts too. If the mains voltage was not coming from a true 230Vac 50 Hz genny but from a 12Vdc system through an inverter the waveform can get pretty ugly.

 

 

Measuring the Output Waveform of an Inverter

[team tisri]

Hard to say, I've used UK battery chargers in the US and US battery chargers in the UK without any troubles so it seems unlikely that it's anything to do with the mains differences. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw a power supply for anything portable that wouldn't accept 100-240V and 50-60Hz.