BC1HU 110-240V Universal Fast Smart Charger for AA/AAA/C/D/9V Rechargeable Batteries by Tenergy
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Digital camera reviews of BC1HU 110-240V Universal Fast Smart Charger for AA/AAA/C/D/9V Rechargeable Batteries
Digital camera Review: Individual charging is essential
Summary: 5 Stars
Most chargers charge batteries in pairs. I think a long time ago gadgets used pairs of batteries so as long as you didn't mix them up that was okay. But now some gadgets use one or three batteries and you can't charge them in pairs because they're in different states of charge/discharge.
But this one does them individually, so it's clearly a better choice. It charges D-cell batteries so it's huge compared with AA and AAA chargers.
Digital camera Review: Inexpensive, does the deed, easy as pie.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have kids and we a million things that need batteries. This is easy. Easy. Quick. Even tells you if your battery no longer has the capability to be charged. Does all sizes. Treats each battery separately, tells you when they are done, charge all different sizes at once if you like, AND if you forget, it goes to trickle charge. 10 stars. Can't go wrong. Great price. Need one, buy this.Digital camera Review: Nice, Truly Smart Charger at a Low Price
Summary: 5 Stars
For less than $25, this is a great charger! (Though less great for 9 volt batteries.)
One reveiwer said that this charger not "smart" and proved so by re-inserting freshly charged batteries and noting that they start to charge again, as indicated by the batteries getting warm. I tried it myself and this is what I found: The first time I charged the batteries it took something like 9 hours. The second time, the charger "charged" the batteries for about 1 hour before shutting off. So, okay, it's not perfect. But it DID stop charging much sooner the second time. For the price I paid, I won't complain!
This charger is VERY versatile, capable of charging four batteries of any type simultaneously. The four channels are fully independent.
A very useful feature is that you can set the charger to fully discharge the bateries before the charge cycle begins. With NiMH or NiCd batteries, you need to perform a charge/discharge cycle on new batteries two or three times before they will hold a full charge. (This is true regardless of the charger used.) So this feature is nice to have.
One complaint is that you need to unplug the charger between charge cycles. It seems they should have included a power-on switch for this. The instructions don't state what happens if you don't power down between cycles. However, be aware that in order to perform a disharge/charge cycle, you need to press the red button within 30 seconds of powering up. If you remember these two things, you don't need to refer to the instructions any further.
One tip I offer is this: The auto-sensing feature (which determines the size of the battery, AAA, AA, C, D) works only of the battery is properly seated. If you're careless, the battery may rest on the bottom slightly tilted.)
One last thing: The part of the charger for 9 volt batteries is NOT smart -- it just has a timer. So make sure you fully drain 9 volt batteries before charging! (The discharge feature doesn't work for 9 volt batteries.) Otherwise the battery life will be shortened.
Digital camera Review: Nice, robust, no-nonsense intelli charger.
Summary: 5 Stars
Good common sense design.
Thick guage plastic, robust lid, and no gimmicky readouts to go bad.
Straight forward, and should be long lasting, and reliable for a good price.
I bought a model above this one with an LCD display in the top of it, maybe from the same manufacturer. Junked display right out of the box!
Mounted onto the lid underneath by little, thin walled, molded screw posts with stripped out screws from the factory, and the display was mounted with pressure dependent contacts on the circuit board. Garbage!
That charger still works fine wit the same charging guts this one has, and still retains the LEDs to tell you the battery stages like this model, but the LCD display mounted to the underneath of a moving lid with an exposed ribbon cable is a totally junk design!
Do yourself a favor and just buy this one without the crap display module and save yourself the headaches.
It will not have you all PO'ed, when half the LCD dissappears, plus its $5 less!
Digital camera Review: Not fast for all batteries
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this charger along with 8 Tenergy 10000mAh D cell batteries. I immediately placed four of the batteries in the charger. It is now 17 hours later and 3 of the 4 batteries are not showing a full charge. Only one is showing a green light (fully charged). The other 3 still have the red light showing (charging). Four hours after I started charging the batteries in the Tenergy I placed the other four D cells I received in an older Energizer charger that I had. They are done. The Tenergy BC1HU may be a great charger, but I am not sure about the "fast" claim.