Battery Chargers

[TETSUO]

Hi I'm pretty new to the gp2x scene but I was hoping someone could answer a question for me.
I recently bought the 4x2600 ansmann batteries and Fameart PC10 from GP2x.co.uk. The batteries are great, getting around 5 hours so far but the charger is pathetic to say the least, over 20 hours to charge 4 batteries.
I'm after a faster charger for around £20 to £30
It looks like the only charger I can get my hands on is the Unicross stuff from Play. Now I know the batteries are bad but what's the fast chargers like and can I charge my 4x2600 Ansmanns through any of them.
I had a Fameart PC07 ordered but the PC70 and 07's are getting recalled at the moment due to dangerous overheating issues. I'd get and Ansmann charger but they are expensive which is what this Gp2x is turning into if I'm not careful. I could have got a 1.5 PSP for what I've spent LOL

 

[Judland]

Here's what I use: Rayovac 15 minute rechargeables

Are they available in the UK? I do not know. They do sell through WalMart, among other retailers, so you might be able to find it there.

 

[reallynotnick]

^ I use the same above but it requires you to use the special batteries. It can charge yours but it will still take about 6 hours.

 

[FluffyPanda]

I use an overnight charger with my batteries. Based on the times a lot of people are posting for their battery life it seems like a quick charger only gets about 70% of the maximum capacity anyway.

 

[thelamer]

I found out that with cheaper chargers if you just unplug the charger and plug it back in after it claims its done it will charge them just like a more expensive one .

 

[sam fisher]

I found out that with cheaper chargers if you just unplug the charger and plug it back in after it claims its done it will charge them just like a more expensive one .

No duh, but if it has no safetys and it doesnt go to trickel chrge it'll overcharge them and they will begin to vent, smoke and explode eventually.

 

[thelamer]

Yeah they did get pretty hot

 

[craigix]

The charger we supply is supposed to take 10 hours and came from ansmanns distributor as their recommended charger if you don't want the expensive ansmann one - the 15min chargers don't work very well.

Even the ansmann one takes about 5 hours from what i remember...

If you want the batteries charged to their capacity you need to wait at least a few hours...

 

[Hodr]

MAHA Chargers are consistantly rated among the best available for NiMH Batteries. I have the C401FS http://www.thomas-distributing.com/mhc401fs.htm which will do 4 batteries at a time, in quick charge or slow charge mode, each battery is an independant circuit so you dont risk over/under charging with unevenly charged pairs.

 

[TETSUO]

The charger we supply is supposed to take 10 hours and came from ansmanns distributor as their recommended charger if you don't want the expensive ansmann one - the 15min chargers don't work very well.

Even the ansmann one takes about 5 hours from what i remember...

If you want the batteries charged to their capacity you need to wait at least a few hours...

It takes aprox 22 hours to charge 4x2600 and aprox 11.5 for 2x2600 with a Fameart PC10. I'm not too bothered as the batts are great if a little overpriced but waiting 11-22 hours for the charger is unacceptable.
Anyways it turns out that my pre-ordered FameArt PC07 is in fact not overheating and will be shipped Tuesday.
It might have cost me an extra £30 but it takes aprox 70 minutes to charge 4x2600. I'm not bothered If I lose an hours use out of the batteries as atleast I can charge all four in just over an hour not a whole day.
Much better time management but if I lose alot more charge out of the batteries than that I'll be selling the Gpx2 quicker than you can say "ebay"

 

[Tobriand]

I'm using a PC07, yet to run into overheating issues; It tackles 2300s in about an hour if you're charging 2batteries; maybe an hour and a half for 4.

I imagine the issues affect only a relatively small number of these since they've been around for some time iirc, and haven't been recalled earlier. Or maybe it's only with batteries of, say, 2600mAh capacity, given that they've only very very recently turned up at all...

In any event, the batteries I'm getting out (which go up to 2500s) are less toasty than the ones I used to get out of my Unicross "Super Fast" charger (did 1600s in an hour... did everything else in an hour too, but only charged them to 1600mAh, I think - then started to kill power supplies, so I got rid of it).

If you want a non-PC07 charger, I think the one I was looking at was the one that looks very very weird - like a cube, had LCD display, and importantly if heat's an issue, fans. Can't find it anywhere though, so maybe it's been discontinued. http://www.eurobatteries.com/sitepages/des...tery%20Chargers looks ok, though - 3000mA on each station ought to get 2600s done in under an hour - and it's got a fan to keep things cool.