Battery Charging: Does It Charge Fully?

[Shikaku]

Q: Does my battery charger charge fully?

A: Depends on your batteries and your charger of course, but here's how you can tell:

Take the amount of time it takes to charge.

Multiply it by the Current it gives the batteries. If you don't know what to look for, here's an example (from my energizer 8.5 hour cheap $10 charger).

Mine says in the Output: 360mAx2. That means it gives 2 360mA per hour for each connection.

To get the mAh, just multiply it:

so I would get 3060mAh for each charge on the battery for my charger, because it gives 360mA in 8.5 hours.

Now look at your battery rating. If it matches or is higher, it usually charges it fully =)

Note: intelligent chargers know when to stop anyway, this is just for chargers that charge ONLY time based...

 

[scraggy]

Some might find this a handy page http://www.digibattery.com/

 

[KillerStefan]

I knew someone who charged his batteries fully, played 20-30 minutes Metal Slug X and he could put the batteries in the charger again

 

[nubie]

I knew someone who charged his batteries fully, played 20-30 minutes Metal Slug X and he could put the batteries in the charger again

He likely has a bad regulator circuit or faulty batteries. He should do the proper checks on his batteries, use another device and see how long that lasts, or use a Digital Multi-meter to see how many mAh the GP2X is drawing and what it's voltage under load is.

If I had that GP2X I would get it replaced for free if I was absolutely sure of the batteries, some that power a digital camera with a screen for an hour or so should be enough to test with.

On Topic: I have the same charger and I was able to find a nice table in the user's manual that came with it, it shows the length of time to leave in batteries with different ratings .

(Of course I realize your manual might be under a pile of junk on the back shelf, as mine was, or hs been thrown away to keep your piles of junk to a minimum , so Shikaku's idea is very helpful, I hadn't thought of it)

But the manual should be where to look, if you are purchasing one soon or know where you put your manuals.

On a side note the charger I hve states it is "safe" to leave the batteries in until the timer runs out in its own even if they are lower capacity batteries, thus I assume overcharging them, I wonder what their reasoning is on the exploding battery business. Two options come to mind, the NiMH design will take an overcharge calmly; or, the charge rate on these 8.5 hr chargers is low enough to allow the heat to dissapate.

Thoughts?

 

[Shikaku]

Well 2 of my batteries just died... I blame this charger actually. I am going to buy a charger that charges until full then stops and also return my dinky charger. Don't like time based chargers now...

Also I think it charges at half that rating: 1530, ouch!

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/mh-gtcharger.htm

I'm thinking on buying this with some high powered MAHA batteries...

 

[Purist]

Whoa. I feel bad having my targus 2200 mah batteries with a charger that isn't time or microprocesser based! It's a manual charger, which makes me charge them for 24 hours at it's slow rate.
Good thing I got it for only $7.99 with the 4 aa's at a store.

 

[delsydsoftware]

I'm using one of these, and I'm loving it:

La Crosse BC-900 battery charger

When I was first searching for high-capacity batteries for the gp2x, I found a review of this charger at a photography site. Apparently, it's important for all of the batteries in a flash bank to have around the same charge capacity. With this, you can charge all of your batteries and sort them by maximum charge. I just slap a tiny white sticker on the battery and write the capacity with a fine-point sharpie. Now that I'm matching batteries by capacity, I can get an extra 30mins-1 hour out of a pair of AAs.

I've found that Duracell 2500ma AAs are very close to their rated charge. It's also nice that you can tell the charger to drain the batteries before charging them. I know that NiCad batteries had "memory" problems, but I don't know if that applies to NiMH as well.

Plus, you can set the charging current from 200mA to 1800mA. I can fully charge my 2500s in a couple hours with this charger, but I'm not sure how much stress this is putting on the batteries. They appear to be holding about the same maximum charge right now, but I've only had them for 3 weeks. Anyway, I don't think I'll use a generic charger again after using this beast.

P.S.---the batteries the come with this unit aren't really wonderful, but the charger more than makes up for that fact.

 

[greenmikey]

HOLY MOSES thats a cool lookin battery charger...I might have to pick one up

 

[Beomagi]

agree on the maha c204.
It's quite well rated getting batteries to 98% or higher total capacity.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM

amazon has some 2900mAh batteries in stock.

I agree with delsydsoftware. Forums for digital photography, and RC enthusiasts really seem to know their stuff on batteries.

radioshack charger i got is crap radioshucks.

 

[Fox_]

:lol: My first post, hello all :lol:

Anyway. I have whats called a ReZAP battery charger, it can charge Titanium, Alkaline, RAM, NiCd, and NiMH. It regenerates ordinary non-rechargeable alkaline batteries. If my batteries go flat, I feel much better buying cheap non-rechargeables if I know that I can charge them up and use them again.

I bought my charger on ebay for $25 AUD, their website lists them at $79.95 AUD

Well worth the money.

~Fox

 

[Ripster]

Interesting that this post got brought back to life. I did a lot of research on this topic once I realized I needed a new battery charger for my new Nimh batteries. My search took me to the most economical solution... the La Crosse BC-900 definitely caught my eye but was more than I wanted to spend and the MAHA c204 does seem to charge the fullest but I was not comfortable with the high temperature of the charge cycles. I am sure that I read somewhere that it charges above the recommended temp of 45c.

I ended up with the Lightning 4000N by RipVan100, it had really good reviews... and features for such an economical device... $25.95us. It also charged the batteries at the lowest temperature... 31c.

My search also took me to a new design in Nimh batteries, the new hybrids (Eneloop, Rayovac Hybrid) have a much lower discharge and can last a lot longer on the shelf. Reading this I have order 8 to test... as it will be nice to have rechargeable batteries at the ready when I need them and not have to worry that they have fully discharged. Though they only come in 2100mah 8 of these and 8 standard Nimh 2500mah batteries would service me well on an extended road trip where power is not available. Plus the charger is hard bigger than a pack of cigarettes... now if only the damn thing would get here. Its been 2 weeks since I ordered it and I am stuck on an AC adapter.

 

[MajorShake]

just goto target or kmart or something like that, and get the 4 hour duracell battery charger, and buy some 2650 mah duracell batteries, the charger does its job completely, and when the battery is charger (no worries you dont have to stay up and wait for your batteries to be finished charger) it disconnects the current running to that battery, as to not overcharge it h34r:

 

[InsertFaveGameNameHere]

Hey folks,

Will LR6 and MN1500 AA batteries fit in the Gp2X. I'm just about to buy some and I noticed a reviewer commented that they were slightly wider and as such don't fit in many devices. I'm presuming its wider because of the capacity and as such should still fit in the GP2X?

Also, what do you think of this charger:

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_in...ducts_id=102168

Sorry - no good with html links. Anyway, it looks cheap and cheerful as we say in the UK, but I'm not sure if that means it'll die on me or whatever. It looks to be sufficient for the job at hand though?

 

[berighteous]

Adding nothing useful to the conversation:
I have a Kodak 1 hour recharger. It came with four 2100's for about $15 at Walmart. I pop the batteries on and in an hour or so they're charged. I think I get about 4 or 5 hours out of a charge on the gp2x, and I have about a dozen of them (4 came with the gp2x and 4 came with another charger that didn't work).

Beats me how much they're charged, but it doesn't really matter since I can recharge multiple sets before the set I have in the unit go out.

I don't usually play the gp2x more than a half hour in a sitting, so I only have to change the batteries a couple times a week. Good enough, I suppose.

 

[sam fisher]

Hey folks,

Will LR6 and MN1500 AA batteries fit in the Gp2X. I'm just about to buy some and I noticed a reviewer commented that they were slightly wider and as such don't fit in many devices. I'm presuming its wider because of the capacity and as such should still fit in the GP2X?

Also, what do you think of this charger:

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_in...ducts_id=102168

Sorry - no good with html links. Anyway, it looks cheap and cheerful as we say in the UK, but I'm not sure if that means it'll die on me or whatever. It looks to be sufficient for the job at hand though?


Better yet, i can recommend this charger to you:

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_in...ducts_id=101059

It's brilliant and at a great price

 

[rokdcasbah]

I know that NiCad batteries had "memory" problems, but I don't know if that applies to NiMH as well.

they don't. i thought they did, but i was told otherwise by someone on these boards and have since verified it.

basically, memory effect only happens in certain kinds of nicads, and only under certain conditions (repeated discharge of the same amount) that you're not likely to imitate with normal use.

and even if there was memory effect, purposely discharging the batteries does far more to end the life of the battery than memory effect. all batteries have a limited duty cycle, so any charing and discharging is going to put you nearer to the end of the battery's usefulness.

likewise, the gp2x's high current draw means that it treats batteries as "empty" a good deal sooner than a less demanding device would. by purposely discharging your batteries, you're spending a lot of that duty cycle at a time when you don't benefit from it (actually using them, i mean).

note that i haven't done any formal tests, or accurate estimates, nor do i care enough to do so. but i feel pretty confident in saying (repeating what was told to me, actually) that discharging your battery before you charge it does nothing for you maximum capacity, while shortening the overall lifespan of the battery.

 

[paxl13]

I just buyed a cheap timer based charger that slow charge my battery, will they last longer using a slow charge or a fast charge. The charger say after 8.5 H it finished the charge with a 100 mA current. Will this current over charge my battery or only keep them at max charge ?

Thanks for the info,
I was having a fast charger before but I die on me.. so I rebuyed a cheap charger beaucause I was thinking I'd be better for my '2x and my camera.

paxl13

 

[Manjuu]

I just buyed a cheap timer based charger that slow charge my battery, will they last longer using a slow charge or a fast charge. The charger say after 8.5 H it finished the charge with a 100 mA current. Will this current over charge my battery or only keep them at max charge ?

Thanks for the info,
I was having a fast charger before but I die on me.. so I rebuyed a cheap charger beaucause I was thinking I'd be better for my '2x and my camera.

paxl13

What are the capacities (mAh) of your batteries? It depends on that, if whether your timer-based charger would overcharge or undercharge the batteries.

I find it strange though that it times for a duration of 8.5hrs and it charges at rate of 100mA. If that were the case, then even a 1000mAh battery would be undercharged. Are you sure that these values are correct? :huh:

 

[paxl13]

its 250 mA in the 8.5 H and after its 100 mA...

My battery are 2650 Duracell regargable... Anyway I got somone to buy this cheap charger and I'll but the master LaCross Charger

paxl13

 

[thumpgun]

i just bought 2 packs of these Duracell rechargeable 2650 battery's and a Duracell changer to go with them http://www.amazon.co.uk/Duracell-Supreme-A...k/dp/B000G1662O