I continued under the same parameters until the batteries’ power was completely depleted.Īllow me to note that this test was conducted three times. (The Super Charger charges up to four batteries simultaneously.)īoth sets of batteries were allowed to charge overnight – and when I returned to the office in the morning, the Super Charger’s green light indicated they had been sufficiently charged. Then, I put them in the Super Charger as well. While they were charging, I placed two additional fresh batteries in the stereo and allowed them to play a tape for four hours. I placed two fresh batteries in the stereo, played a tape for two hours and then placed the batteries in the Super Charger. Then, I began the test of the Super Charger. I recently completed testing this model, and following are the results of my findings. This sounds like an outrageous claim, but if a product like this has the capability of adding just two to three times the life to batteries, then it’s worth the price. The infomercial says that if you place your batteries in the charger after every use, you can add up to 10 times the life to a battery. This product is best described as a battery management system. After reading your story, it seems hard to believe that this machine is capable of performing this magic.ĪNSWER: The recharger you’re asking about is called the Super Charger, and it is manufactured by Buddy L. As I remember, it is being sold for $49.95 plus shipping and handling. I think it is called the “Buddy L.” Clark claims that, depending on the application, this unit can recharge regular alkaline batteries to grant up to 10 times normal usage. We would recommend that you not use an NiCD rapid charger to charge NiMH batteries.QUESTION: I just read your article on reusable alkaline batteries and was wondering if you had tested the alkaline battery charger that is being hawked by Dick Clark on an infomercial. You would be most likely to encounter this type of charger if the charger was designed for rapid charging radio control (RC) vehicle batteries. If the NiMH batteries get too hot to handle and stay that way for more than 20 or 30 minutes, then the NiCd charger is most likely overcharging the NiMH batteries and may shorten their life. (It is normal for NiMH batteries to get warm as they become fully charged, especially in a rapid charger). This will be apparent if the batteries get very hot during the charge cycle. In this case the risk is that the older charger will overcharge NiMH batteries. If the NiCd charger is designed to charge batteries in less than two hours it may be this type. The final possibility is that the older NiCd charger is a rapid charger that will charge NiMH batteries but will not have the necessary circuitry to stop the charge cycle once the NiMH batteries are fully charged. If you have this type of charger you can get an idea of how long you'll need to charge your batteries by using the calculator found above. It's possible that an old NiCd charger could take as long as 48 hours to fully charge new high capacity NiMH batteries! This type of charger is not likely to damage NiMH batteries unless the batteries are left in the charger for weeks at a time, but it may not be very convenient to use. This type of charger can fully charge NiMH batteries, but it might take a very long time to do so. This won't harm the batteries, but the NiMH batteries won't be fully charged since the timer will have stopped the charge cycle too soon.Īlso common among older NiCd chargers are the so called "overnight" chargers which charge batteries at a low rate as long as the charger is plugged in. Unfortunately, since NiCd batteries have a much lower capacity than NiMH batteries, the timer is likely to shut off long before the NiMH batteries are fully charged. Many of the older NiCd chargers are the simple timed type charger which will charge batteries for a fixed amount of time and then shut off. Depending on the type of NiCd charger you have, the older NiCd charger may undercharge NiMH batteries (most likely), it may overcharge them (less likely), or it may charge NiMH batteries properly (but it's not likely to do so automatically and could take a very long time). The answer to this question depends on the type of NiCd charger. Can I use an older NiCd battery charger to charge NiMH batteries?
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