Battery Chargers for AA's

[+civilwarranger]

I have come to the very fast realization that my gps eats up batteries. What is worst than a beeping message LOW BATTERIES on a GPS? When you are 400 feet away from a cache when you get that message. Before Geocaching I never had a need for a battery charger. What are you, fellow geocachers, think I need in a battery charger for double AA's ? Is there a name brand charger? Does a charged battery last as long as a just purchased one? Any info?

 

[This message was edited by civilwarranger on May 20, 2002 at 09:40 AM.]

[ride_bent]

There was a recent discussion about batteries over here...

 

http://opentopic.Groundspeak.com/0/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=1750973553&f=5740990093&m=2530963834&r=5980948744#5980948744

 

I persoanlly went to Wal-Mart and got the Energizers. I was able to get the charger with 2 AA and an extra 4 pack of AA for about $20. (I cannot remeber the exact price.) They work great in my eTrex Vista.

 

http://www.energizer.com/products/rechargeables.asp

 

The best things in life are not things...

 

Now Open... http://www.geoindiana.com <-Click It! You know you want to!

[+ClayJar]

I remember hearing about people frying their eTrexes when the springs shorted Energizer NiMH terminals; did they fix that?

 

As far as chargers go, if anyone tells you there's a better one (and cheaper) than the Rayovac PS-4, I'll be pleasantly quite surprised. I haven't found a better one yet (charging up to 4 cells independantly and in only 1 hour). Plus, it's not very expensive at all ($40-50).

[+The Cheeseheads]

I've found that the best investment to get the most out of my batteries was to buy a car adapter.

 

With that, I can keep my eTrex on for the whole trip out to a cache (useful when parking coordinates are given) and not have to worry about the batteries at all.

 

That said, I use the Energizer NiMH's. I have two sets that I switch as needed. I just wish that the car adapter could charge the batteries as well, then I'd never have to switch batteries.

 

[+craggy (nightcrawler)]

I just purchased the Energizer rechargeable and am completetly satisfied with it.

Model# CHM4AA

[+craggy (nightcrawler)]

I just purchased the Energizer rechargeable and am completetly satisfied with it.

Model# CHM4AA

[+ClayJar]

Another nice thing about the Rayovac PS-4 charger is that you can (with optional adapter) plug it into your 12V lighter socket... 1 hour charging on the road is great (especially if it's about an hour to the next really tough cache).

[Cabornay]

The best source for battery chargers are HAM shops. HRO (ham radio outlet) is on the web. I purchased a MAHA charger and AA Nimh. Their full charge voltage is less than a Alkaline so don't panic when your battery level isn't max after a full charge. The AA's pack > 1500 mAh.

[+st_richardson]

quote:

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Originally posted by Cheesehead Dave:

I've found that the best investment to get the most out of my batteries was to buy a car adapter. ...

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Ditto.. Also the car mount is useful.

 

quote:

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...That said, I use the Energizer NiMH's. I have two sets that I switch as needed. ...

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I have 4 sets of NiMH's and 2 chargers now as well as a regular set of batteries.

 

And then there's the batteries for the digital camera (They eat batteries faster than GPS units.) but that's another story.