recharging AA batteries

Submitted: Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 21:34

ThreadID: 28063 Views:4535 Replies:10 FollowUps:2

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loughma

I am sick of buying AAA & AA batteries. I am chasing advise about any preferred brands of rechargeable battery systems.
I will need to purchase a kit that includes batteries and recharger, and probably extra batteries. I use them in hand held UHF Radios (kids use them as a toy)
portable DVD player speaker, small torches and head-light etc.
Thanks for feedback.

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Reply By: Member - Stephen M (NSW) - Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 21:42

Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 21:42

Hi there loughma, my wife bought me the Duracell 1 hour charger, charges AA/AAA batteries model no CEF80AU. Love it use the batteries in the digital camera,scanner and any thing else that takes those size batteries.Charges both NiMH & NiCd batteries Brillant Take Care Steve M

AnswerID: 139219

Reply By: Sky Pilot - Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 21:45

Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 21:45

Jaycar has good battery chargers for this type of battery. You should talk to someone who works there for good advice. I find the Energizer rechargeable AA's very good and they are rated at 2,500mAh which is quite good.

AnswerID: 139222

Follow Up By: Mal Lynch - Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 22:36

Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 22:36

I use double and triple A’s primarily for a digital camera and an MP3 player. I bought a ‘30 minute’ Duracell charger in the USA earlier this year but found that after successive charges the useful life of the batteries reduced with subsequent recharging.

A trip to Jaycar and I purchased a ‘computer controlled smart charger’ V6988. This unit allows you to discharge the batteries before recharging. Recharge time can be around 24 hours after which the unit falls back to trickle charge and you may leave your batteries ‘charging’ indefinitely.

Now I get excellent battery life and still use the ’30 minute’ unit for the odd occasion I need a quick recharge, such as off the camper battery through an inverter. Best of both worlds.

Mal

FollowupID: 392946

Reply By: RoamingRob - Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 23:12

Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 23:12

just go to Jaycar, they have the "home brand" batteries that are rechargeable and have different rated batteries plus chargers

AnswerID: 139233

Reply By: Blaze - Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 23:21

Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 23:21

As mentioned above Jaycar have good chargers, we use one for all our AA/AAA Batts, get the cycling charger, it takes up to 6 of either size batteries, and you can charge less if needed. It can as cycle batteries if needed and also comes with both 240 and 12 volt power sources, great for charging when using cig lighter.

AnswerID: 139238

Reply By: Motherhen - Monday, Nov 14, 2005 at 00:43

Monday, Nov 14, 2005 at 00:43

I got a charger from ebay which charges AA & AAA - covers most things; both my digital cameras, hand held two ways, and the GPS if taking it away from the car. Charger also has "discharge" mode - batteries last longer if fully discharged regularly. Suitable for Ni-cd & Ni-mh types. It is lightweight and compact, with a cover that clips shut to ensure the batteries stay in place - useful when we recharge in the car and have chargers falling all over the place. Bought it with mains and cig. lighter plugs. Got spare batteries from same dealer (700 mah). It works well - branded DigiPow'r. The whole package cost me $39.95 including postage.

Our camping lamp has a large battery and it's own recharger with 240v and cig. lighter plug.

Motherhen

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AnswerID: 139249

Reply By: traveller2 - Monday, Nov 14, 2005 at 08:21

Monday, Nov 14, 2005 at 08:21

As has been said, Jaycar for batteries and charger but make sure the charger you get can charge the batteries individually rather than in 'sets' of 2 or 4. Lots of things use one or three batteries and it becomes a pain having to have even amounts of flat batteries.
I've actually got two chargers, one takes min 4 or up to six at at time and one from Dick smith/Tandy that will charge anything from one to four either AA or AAA which gets far more use.
Also make sure that the charger will work direct from 12v and comes with a cord to be used in the car. Much easier than an inverter.

AnswerID: 139257

Reply By: Member - Banjo The First (SA) - Monday, Nov 14, 2005 at 09:03

Monday, Nov 14, 2005 at 09:03

Amen to the above - keep in mind that not all modern appliances will run on any/all rechargeable cells - NiMH are the go it seems (cost a little more than plain NiCAD) - also dry cells are 1.5V while some rechargeables are 1.25V - as mentioned, Jaycar would have everything you need - just set out your needs clearly so they can assess the options - oh - and you'll need a sales assistant who knows their products ! (groan) ....................

AnswerID: 139265

Reply By: signman - Monday, Nov 14, 2005 at 09:07

Monday, Nov 14, 2005 at 09:07

ALDI has a good one on special this week

AnswerID: 139268

Reply By: bware - Monday, Nov 14, 2005 at 10:06

Monday, Nov 14, 2005 at 10:06

I use a Varta. Recharges in 15 mins, does everything the others do. Must use Varta batteries and it costs more, but it's fantastic.

AnswerID: 139289

Follow Up By: Grungle - Monday, Nov 14, 2005 at 12:29

Monday, Nov 14, 2005 at 12:29

Second that.

We have the Varta charger and batteries and a Energizer Grandcell charger and batteries. The Varta charges faster and gets longer life (both in capacity and number of charges) than the Grandcell. Costs 2-3 times as much but figure it will still save me in the long run. Also the Varta comes with a 12V and 240V lead so you can charge from the car cig outlet as well.

Regards
David

FollowupID: 393003