Charger batteries AAA

[jul]

Hello,

I don't know which charger to choose, somebody can help me !

I require a charger to use with my Supernova usb charger, for my batteries aaa (rear light, front head light..)

I've found different chargers on ebay

http://www.ebay.fr/itm/141977609919?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

http://www.ebay.fr/itm/222157799908?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

http://www.ebay.fr/itm/131485471203?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

http://www.ebay.fr/itm/220877982013?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I heard to charge a battery properly, it is better to charge batteries independentely each other, however i don't know how to see which charger can charge batteries properly ..

Maybe someone know a great charger for my use ?

The ideal for me, will be to charge my batteries by a charger with connection usb and main connection (110v or 220v)

Thanks !

[mickeg]

One of them has a photo with a battery labeled 18650, that is a Li Ion battery, wrong voltage, will not work on a AAA NiMH battery.  Do not buy it.

The Portapow (with a red cover), I tried to use google translate, could get get a good english version to read.  Thus, have no opinion.

The small gray one that takes two batteries will work, I have some of them, they are very cheap.  But, they are not "smart" chargers.  A smart charger keeps charging until the battery is charged up, then it quits charging.  Instead the gray ones are dumb chargers that charges very slowly so that when a battery is full, it continues to charge it at the same slow rate.  The principle of these chargers is that they should have a small charge rate that is small enough to avoid damage from overcharging.  Thus they can take over 10 hours to charge batteries.

The one labeled Camelion looks like it works very slowly, the data on charging rate suggests that it might also be one of those that is not a smart charger.

So, can't offer much on those ones you listed.

***

A general comment on charging.  If you have two batteries in series in the circuit, teh same amount of amperage goes through both batteries to charge them.  if one battery was empty and the other half charged, then one will become overcharged and the other undercharged. 

This is a very long piece on charging with solar, not with dynohubs.  But, it still is very pertinent to keeping stuff charged on a trip, I learned a lot from reading it.  (This was where I learned of the Pixo charger.)
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?page_id=252905

I took four pairs of AA batteries with me to Iceland, I used four different colors of tape to mark them and I only put batteries of the same color in the GPS, and charged those two together later.  That was how I tried to make sure that I was not overcharging one and undercharging the other.  My charger I think could put a different amount of amperage in each battery, but I was not 100 percent sure on that so that is why I kept them in dedicated pairings like I did.

I have a Pixo C-USB, will charge one or two AA or two AAA or Li Ion batteries.  Much more expensive, but works well.  I bought it on ebay, shipped to USA from Germany.  I just did a search on Ebay and also a general google search, am coming up empty.  Their website suggests that they might not be in business any more.  So, these might not be available any more.  I did not bring the Pixo on my last trip because it physically is bigger than my Eneloop chargers and the Lenmar Li Ion battery charger together, but I think the Pixo works better on a power source that has low power.  Thus, I was a bit perturbed with myself for not bringing it.  If the Pixo is no longer available, I will be a bit bummed because I like it.
http://www.pixo.de/

For my Iceland trip, I brought two Eneloop chargers that are rated for AA but not AAA batteries.  They are smart chargers, shut off the charge when the batteries are charged up.  Do a search for "kbc-e1as" usb AA charger to find it.  I think I paid about $25 USD each, shipped from Japan (about 3 weeks), I do not recall if I got it from Ebay or Amazon.  They seem to work well when you have a good powerful charging circuit, but they do not work well as I hoped if your power source is not very strong, when the voltage of the USB port drops, the charger has an odd blinking to the LED which makes me a bit nervous about them.  I put AAA batteries into a AAA to AA converter sleeve to charge them in this charger.  They kept my AA batteries charged on my Iceland trip, but I was never really sure if the AA batteries were fully charged or not.  My GPS uses AA, not AAA, so most of my charging was of AA, not AAA batteries.  My taillights use AAA batteries, so I was prepared to charge them too.  I just looked at both Ebay and Amazon, they now cost twice what I paid for them.

On another forum, someone spoke highly of a Powerchimp 4.  I ordered one two days ago, have not received it yet.  I ordered it from this link:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/331836452987
At only $20 USD which includes some batteries, my  hopes are not very high because that is not a lot of money, but the listing sounds like it is a really good charger with sepearate circuits and can charge both AA and AAA.  This link describes it better:
http://www.produktinfo.conrad.com/datenblaetter/550000-574999/556189-an-01-en-POWERTRAVELLER_POWERCHIMP_4A.pdf
I will not have a chance to test this for at least three weeks, I leave for a week on a 10 day canoe trip, the charger even if it gets here a day or two before I leave, that is not enough time to really test it.  MEC is a seller in Canada, their website has some reviews of it.
https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5036-009/PowerChimp-4A-Dual-Purpose-Charger#reviews
It got both good and bad reviews, but the bad reviews sound like they tried to use it to charge a phone, teh good review used it to put power into the AA or AAA batteries.  I plan to only put power into the AA or AAA batteries, not take power out of them so I am hopeful that it is better than the bad reviews.

Dan also has a lot of experience charging AA batteries from a USB source, he used an older Eneloop charger that is no longer available, but maybe he will think of something important that I missed.

Sometimes in Iceland if I had a power source available, I would put power into a pair of Li Ion powerbanks and then simultaneously use those to also charge AA batteries.  If I had hours, I could come back later and find everything fully charged.  An example of this is the attached photo where I plugged in at a campground.  I left the cover on teh Eneloop chargers open to show the AA batteries, but normally I close the covers.

I commented before that I used a AXA Luxx 70 Plus headlamp that has a built in USB charger.  But for my Iceland trip, I decided I wanted better waterproofing for my USB charger.  Thus, bought a Sinewave Revolution for that trip, see second photo.  This USB power source does not have a cache battery, but I am still quite happy with that charger.

I hope this helps some, but I recognize that I did not really answer your questions, sorry.

[Danneaux]

Dan also has a lot of experience charging AA batteries from a USB source, he used an older Eneloop charger that is no longer available, but maybe he will think of something important that I missed.

Thanks for the shout, mickeg; you've done a nice job in your reply.

I've been really pleased with my two Eneloop AA/AAA chargers. The contacts at one end are mounted on a hinge, so it folds up to make room for AA batteries and folds down to allow the shorter AAA cells to charge. It is an easy feature to miss; I'm hoping it might have been carried over to your later model? My USB chargers do seem to mimic the "smart" functions of my Eneloop wall chargers, so they have charged single batteries and batteries with different levels of charge equally well.  Still, I mark my batteries like you; I like to keep them paired by usage. Some devices I don't use so much or they drain the batteries more slowly, while others (for example my GPS while set on tracking), have much higher demand rates.

I've used them with my Joos Solar panels with great success, and have also charged them from my reserve piles and with my B&M e-Werks and my Tout Terrain The Plug 2+. Of course, when charging AA/AAA cells from another battery source, there is an efficiency loss in the power transfer, but it does make it possible to get juice into devices that require AA/AAA cells.

My solar panels have accumulator batteries in them, so I take care to charge them only during the day and discharge them at night in camp or overnight while I am sleeping. This works well and avoids the vicious cycles of using them down faster than they can fill from sunlight. It takes about 12 hours of continued bright sunshine to take the panels' accumulator batteries from flat to full. While they will still charge underwater(!), inside my tent, and on cloudy or rainy days, the charging rate is much slower than on sunny days. And, too, there is that battery-to-battery conversion loss.

During the day while underway, I either charge devices directly with the bike dynamo and charger or I dump the juice into one of my accumulator piles...or charge the AA/AAA batteries through the Eneloop charger (only one at a time; it is too much to do both through a "Y" connector). Charging has not added appreciably to my physical workload, so I figure as long as I'm moving, I may as well be charging something. Of course, the time to charge depends on the capacity of the AA/AAA batteries in question. Bigger ones take longer but also last longer in use.

All the best,

Dan.

[mickeg]

Different topic - we did not discuss battery brands.  I have the best luck with Eneloops when using my cameras.  Not sure why but other brands don't work so well in my cameras.  Eneloops will hold their charge much better than most others, you can set them on the shelf and a few months later they still have most of their charge.  But most other NiMH batteries will lose charge rather rapidly.

I brought some Energizer brand batteries to Iceland with me, since I was using them frequently I did not see the rapid discharge as much of an issue.  And they worked fine.

But if you want ones that hold a good charge for a long time, get Eneloops.  And if you find some brands of batteries work poorly in your device, maybe Eneloops are the solution like in my cameras.

Eneloops have a slightly lower rating for capacity than most others, but since they do not self discharge as fast, that rating is less comparable to other brands.

...
I've been really pleased with my two Eneloop AA/AAA chargers. The contacts at one end are mounted on a hinge, so it folds up to make room for AA batteries and folds down to allow the shorter AAA cells to charge. It is an easy feature to miss; I'm hoping it might have been carried over to your later model? ...

Nope, my Eneloop chargers are clearly AA only and were advertised as such.  The charge rate looked like it might be a higher charge rate than you are supposed to use for AAA batteries.  But I still used AAA batteries in AAA to AA adapter sleeves knowing that I might be reducing the lifespan of the batteries from charging too fast, but the batteries were over 10 years old so lifespan was not much of an issue to me.  And since I only used AAA batteries in taillights, I did not have to charge them often.

[onrbikes]

I actually own the 3rd one on your list.
The silver double one.

I use an extension with it when I hook it up to my solar panel and charge batteries while ride.

Hey its cheap and it works.

[jul]

Thank you for your answers, i understand a bit better   

So i've seen an interesting charger, maybe it will be fine for my use however it is not longer available 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fj1OaS5RGQ

http://www.stefanv.com/electronics/sanyo_usb_charger.html

it looks reliable, "smart", it charge by two channels i think, so it's not a problem if one battery is full before the other

What is your opinion ?

As well, i've seen the "Pixo C-USB" charger available on a webshop .. but twice more expensive than the Sanyo charger

[mickeg]

...
http://www.stefanv.com/electronics/sanyo_usb_charger.html

it looks reliable, "smart", it charge by two channels i think, so it's not a problem if one battery is full before the other

What is your opinion ?
...

I think that Sanyo one is the same one Dan uses and likes.  If you found one at a good price, grab it.  I think it has been out of production for several years.

Eneloop was a brand within the Sanyo family before Sanyo was bought by someone else, maybe Panasonic?

I got my Powerchimp in the mail yesterday, earlier than I expected.  I might have more comments soon on it, but I leave town for a trip on Friday so I do not yet know if I will have time to do any testing of it.

[jul]

They cost respectively 27 (Eneloop) and 35 euros (Pixo-C)  shipping included

I think they are no really cheap to compare with a swisscharger P2
https://www.swisssolarcharger.com/100/con_liste.asp?prono=9045

I need to compare and to think if i need a charger x2 cell or x4 cell  ...

[mickeg]

I don't understand why it's difficult to find an "usb smart charger" on the market, i mean a nice charger, (smart, light, reliable, efficient etc...)

and why the usb charger we needs are out of stock since many years ..?

I think Dan have an Eneloop charger x4 cells, and that i showed is  x2 cells, maybe there are differents ..

As well between these two chargers, (Eneloop charger 2 cells and pixo C-USB 4 cells) which one will be more suitable for me ?

Most people that want a smart NiMH battery charger will plug it into a 110v or 220v outlet.  (Is the word "mains" proper here?)  Thus, a USB powered charger is less in demand.  And the smart aspect of it takes some good electronics to figure out how to avoid overcharging batteries.

The Eneloop charger in your photo that takes two batteries, I am 90 percent confident that is the one Dan likes.  It is also mentioned in that crazy guy link that I posted on solar charging.

The Pixo C-USB is the size of a four cell charger, but it only handles two AA (or one AA) or two AAA batteries, not four.  It also will charge Li Ion batteries, but not at the same time as AA/AAA.  I bought it so that I could charge anything I might be using, but later bought a tiny little Lenmar Li Ion charger.

The Pixo uses a mini, not micro USB cable (which it comes with), that complicates things if you are mixing different cable types.

Based on Dans positive comments on that two cell Eneloop or my experience with the Pixo C-USB, I would say that either would be good for you.  The Pixo is much larger, but if you might want to charge an external Li Ion battery for a camera, that can do that too.

I am going to go out for a bike ride today for some exercise, I will test out the Powerchimp to see if I can directly charge two AA batteries in it from my dynohub which does not use a cache battery.   I will let you know how that goes.  That might be a good option for you too.  It holds four batteries, but my initial testing with it tells me that the dynohub will likely only work with two, when I tried four on a lower power USB source it did not charge.  But on a stronger power source (110 or 220v) you could charge four at once.

[jul]

Ups !

i changed my reply meanwhile .. thanks anyway Mickeg !

 Good ride 

[mickeg]

That Swisssolar looks like a good one too.

A dynohub is probably not going to charge four batteries at once, but should easily charge two.  I think Dan does all his AA charging from a powerbank, thus does not have that limitation.  The Swisssolar unit also sounds like it runs on any power supply you would ever expect to find and there is no reason that you could not just charge two batteries in it instead of all four if your power supply was big enough.  And if your headlight uses three batteries, that should be able to charge three batteries too but I do not know if a dynohub can charge three at once or not.  The indicator that shows how much charge is in the battery is nice.  The indicator is not very precise, but other chargers have none.

[John Saxby]

On my tour of the Western mountains, I used the following charging equipment:

    > SON 28 dynahub
    > Sinewave Revolution charger
    > Anker 2600 storage batt (C$ 26.00 incl tax -- what a deal!)
    > 2 x Eneloop chargers, holding 2 AA's or 2 AAA's
    > a "Y" splitter, so that I could connect both Eneloops to the Anker if required
    > a Nexttech cube 2.4A mains adapter/transformer as backup, to accept a male USB
   
I was charging the following:

    > candy-bar and clamshell phones, in Canada & the US respecitvely
    > Cygolite headlight on the bike
    > Panasonic Lumix 40XS camera
    > occasionally, AA and AAA batts
    > once, I loaned a riding buddy my anker to recharge his Samsung tablet -- it did so brilliantly well, from 30% to 80% in less than 30 mins, and completely in 3 hours.

I had more capacity than I needed, as it turned out. The biggest demands were my Cygolite and my camera, and I would recharge both of them at once via the Y-splitter, usually in 2-3 hours overnight.  I then recharged the Anker in the first few hours of riding the next day.

Simple, reliable, and inexpensive.

Hope this is helpful, Julio -- good luck.

John

[High Moors Drifter]

As a result of having to replacing AAA batteries in my rear light after every 3 rides I decided to purchase Eneloop pro 930 mAh rechargeable batteries and a TechnoLine BL-700 intelligent charger. The charger accepts and charges 4 AAA or AA batteries similataneously and has the following features:-

Selectable display modes for each battery charge, discharge, refresh and test.
Selectable display effective figures for voltage, function time, current charge, accumulated mAh.
Charges NiCd and NiMH rechargeable batteries.
Selectable charge current for each battery 200/500/700 mAh.
Microprocessor controlled, minus delta V (-dV) detection, automatically switches to trickle charge.
Overheat detection.
Can discharge then charge to remove memory effect.
Input voltage for AC/DC adapted 100-200VAC.
Damaged battery detection.
The different functions can be launched independently and simultaneously to each battery in the 4 compartments.
Test mode charges the battery to full charge capacity, then fully discharges the battery and finally fully charges before displaying the capacity of the battery.

Id

[Danneaux]

Based on Dans positive comments on that two cell Eneloop...

Roadside reply: I don't take a mains charger for my batteries...I take a 5-socket USB wall (mains) adapter and then plug the Eneloop Charger(s) into it when I am in a lodging. The multi-socket USB charger is a real boon, because outlets are often at a premium in motels and such, so it allows up to 5 items to charge at once. Prongs fold away so they don't chew away at things in my panniers. The one I got has three high-speed USB outlets regardless of draw, the other two are divisive by demand. It's in my bags at the moment, so I can't give you a brand name.

Darned headwind...20mph with gusts to 30.

All the best,

Dan.

[mickeg]

...
Darned headwind...20mph with gusts to 30.

All the best,

Dan.

My Iceland trip, I quit early on two days due to wind.  But, I kept going after my destination on two other days because I did not want to waste a tail wind.