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: Not happy at all
Summary: 1 Stars
I had a Vanson version of this (from Maplin). It worked alright, the discharge was a help for NiCads but as the other person mentioned, it's not too smart and will overcharge quite readily if you accidentally put a full battery back in. Be careful.
Mine died just after a year of use; loose connection or suchlike. I thought it was in the mains adaptor, but that tested just fine. I was going to take the charger apart to check for frayed wires, loose connections, signs of burning but it had recessed, security nuts/bolts that you can't remove. As I couldn't drill them out without damage to the unit, I chucked it. Really disappointed.
Have now got a BC900 for only £5 more than I paid for this garbage. Get that instead, so long as you only need AA/AAA, it's far superior.
Digital camera Review: Not smart
Summary: 1 Stars
Too good to be true, at this price. Easy test- take the recharged batteries and put them back in-- there appears to be no overcharge protection, and the batteries will begin to heat up, especially the AAA due to the high charging current.Digital camera Review: Not universally smart!
Summary: 4 Stars
Tenergy calls this "Universal Fast Smart Charger for All Batteries". But splashed on the box (readable after you've paid your money:), it says it's only for NiMH and NiCd batteries- no lithium for example. And there used to be chargers that claimed they could recharge regular batteries. It has limitations for 9Vs also. (See below.)
I bought this because I had been limping along with an '80s NiCd charger. I bought two 9V rechargeables for a new gadget. -This charger will do my new 9Vs and my old NiCds too. Then there are the 10 or 20 AA/AAA NiMHs that had probably never been accurately recharged before. (One reviewer questions this charger's accuracy, but I'm giving Tenergy the benefit of the doubt for now. With more experience, maybe I'll change my tune.)
Very helpful that it can charge one battery at a time. (My old one charges in pairs.) It is really 4 single-battery smart chargers in one box, plus two 9V chargers.
There's a handy feature, never really explained. You can use the Tenergy "charger" to discharge batteries before beginning to recharge them.... I take it this is for the NiCds- a type of battery that has "memory". So if you (still) have some of these batteries, be sure to use the discharge mode on them, prior to recharging.
But...
I don't believe this is a smart charger for 9Vs. Unless I am mistaken, it simply charges one or two 9Vs for 14 hours and then stops. -This is the reason I gave 4 stars rather than 5. I haven't tried it with C or D batteries.
It only charges, at most, 4 AA/AAA at a time. This charger is much larger than my old one but charges the same max number of batteries at a time.
It can't be left plugged in when there are no batteries charging. This is inconvenient; I liked to have my old charger at the ready. The need to unplug the charger stems (I believe) from the charger's power pack. But on the bright side, the power pack has a sideways plug so that when the charger *is* plugged in, it doesn't take up as much space on a power strip.
Digital camera Review: Perfect Charger
Summary: 5 Stars
This charger does everything and charges all the standard size batteries. I love the discharge feature, this definately helps rechargables last longer.Digital camera Review: Smart Charger review
Summary: 5 Stars
Good, smart charger. Easy to use. Excellent price.
Charges a wide range of common batteries