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-- Rechargable batteries: Charger reccomendations? (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=14751)

Hey All,
I am looking at getting a rechargable battery system going for my Visor Dlx, the other post
inspired me to look into which charger to get.

This is what I am looking for:

-Can charge 2 AAA batteries at once, doesn't need to be any more than that.
-Has the option to do both normal and high capacity rechargeables
-Is reasonably priced ($12-25)
-Does Nimh batteries

Can anyone reccomend a brand and model # that they have had good success with?
For example: Radio Shack Charger A-19x

I am looking for something available at a national chain like Radio Shack or Circuit City. I went
to Best Buy tonight but was really dissapointed with their selection.

One follow-up question: Does anyone know if Nimh's work okay in pagers? (standard numeric ones)

Thanks!
Drew

I've been using the MAHA C204F NiMH charger for some time now and am completly happy with it. I use the AAA for my Plat and AA for my Motorola Talkabout 900 pager with no problems. I decided to go with the MAHA after some research regarding rechargable alkalines vs. the NiMH, the cost is about $30.00 which includes 4 AA batteries, and the AAA are about 1.25 each. With the ability to recharge 1000+ times I feel it is a good investment. If you have any further questions please post again. Good luck.


Jim

Hi Jim,
Does your charger accept the high-capacity batteries too? (I think there are several
types of NiMH--one with a higher capacity)

Where did you pick up the charger?

Thanks for the information, I actually have a Motorolla LS-550.

Drew

Rayovac is indtroducing a new charger this summer that does high capacity nihm's and is a fast charger...about 1 hour to a full charge. They are also bringing out some new high capacity nihm's. check out their site.

Wow, thanks Holocron!

I am definetly going to get one of those Rayovac chargers when it comes out.

Thanks for the info!

Drew

Before I got my FullCharge battery, I used a RadioShack battery charger. It does high capacity and 4 batteries at once and I believe it was $13. Now that I have the fullcharge system I could probably part with charger for about $5 plus a few bucks for shipping if you want it. It's only 3 months old.

One more thing. It's Radioshack part no: 23-335.

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Ashmed,
Thanks for the offer, but I think I am going to buy this Rayovac model.
I can wait, especially for the one hour charge time.

Drew

That's fine. I was just wondering if you wanted it, cuz i no longer need it

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quote:

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Originally posted by ashmed
Before I got my FullCharge battery, I used a RadioShack battery charger.

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I've been using the following RadioShack setup for some time now:

(1) # 23-413 14 hour charger
(3) # 23-527 2pack AAA NiMh batteries

The whole rig cost about $38

The charger charges two sets at a time. My Visor's set when discharged get's replaced with the set in bay "A". The set in bay "B" gets put in bay "A" and the discharged set goes in bay "B".

I've been getting about 3-4 hours of runtime per charged set as I change them every morning. If I was to be away for more than 1 day I could take the batteries out of the charger, put the charger in my case and I know I have fresh batteries. NiMh is a particularly good choice because there isn't a memory effect like with NiCd's.

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I purchased the Maxell charger from Circuit City. 20 bucks gets a charger, 2 AA batteries, and 2 AAA batteries. Great little charger, has an LED to indicate when done, and can handle both NiCDs and NiMH. The charger can do 2 independent pairs of batteries at a time.

It's not a rapid charger (takes about 7-9 hours to fully charge a battery), but then again, rapid chargers will shorten the usable life of a rechargeable battery!

Matthew

quote:

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Originally posted by Pathdoc

<snip>

1) Does the 50mAh difference between the batteries in the Full charge and the ICU really make a difference - Are there SpringBoard modules or programs that will not run with the FullCharge? Does it increase the need for resets (some have suggested this)?

2) The issues of ease and expense of battery replacement when it is time to get a new battery. (I suspect I will be buying a new PDA before this is an issue.)

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2 things to mention from my own investigations into NiMH chargers for my Visor Deluxe NiHM batteries last year

1) Regarding "fast" chargers, there were postings in a number of the photography newsgroups that "fast" chargers generate more heat in the NiMH batteries; and that said heat reduces the lifetime of the batteries.

I do know that the latter claim is true, but I don't know how significant this is (i.e., do your batteries lose 1 month of life in a lifespan of 2 years, or what?) It's a big issue with photographers, who go through rechargable batteries like peanuts.

2) I bought a Maha fast/smart charger (similar to the MH-C204F) when I first got my Visor, but gave it away after a few weeks. The contacts for the batteries were cheap metal clips, and bent when the batteries were inserted, forcing me to frequently have to bend them back to make contact. Also, the plastic cover broke off after a couple of weeks.

I replaced it with a cheap Radio Shack wall unit (catalog #23-335). It's slow (which appears to be a good thing -- see above) and it's not smart, but it does have settings for NiMH high-capacity batteries. And it's quite rugged. And it's cheap ($13)! I've used it for almost a year with no problems at all.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Anomaly


I haven't had any problems with my Minstrel S or MiniJam though.

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I've been using a "slow" or "dumb" charger with AA's for my digital camera for about 8 months now with good results.

The important thing to keep in mind about dumb chargers is that they usually work strictly on a timed charge. The one I have provides 150mA to each *pair* of AA's for 15 hours, then shuts off. This adds up to each cell being charged to a capacity of 1125mAh. The cells that came with the charger were rated as 1200mAh, so the cell/charger pairing is reasonable.

I bought an extra set of 4 AA's (the 1550mAh MahaCell's) and I am rather certain that they are not getting charged to thier full capacity. These cells could probably take another 5 hours of charging to reach full capacity. I could run them through a second cycle and try to stop it after 5 hours, but for my purposes it doesn't matter, so I don't.

Just keep in mind that if you want to maximize run time, either get cells properly matched with a dumb charger, or get a decent smart charger.

quote:

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Originally posted by pjs
Just keep in mind that if you want to maximize run time, either get cells properly matched with a dumb charger, or get a decent smart charger.

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Prism Recharger

Has anybody come across a good recharger for the Visor Prism without carrying the cradle around. I find that I have been travelling alot lately for work and if I don't plan it right, the Prism dies halfway thru the trip. Wondering if any one had any info.

Charger ...

I got my ICU Visor Charger yesterday and everything is working great! Thanks to miradu2000 for his excellent review.