Most of the gadgets that I use have batteries that recharge via USB. But one of the most important devices that I use for every review that I write for The Gadgeteer, uses AA batteries – a speedlight flash for my Nikon digital camera. Of course I don’t use regular old alkaline AAs to power that flash, I use rechargeable NiMH batteries. To charge them, I have an ancient Radio Shack charger that takes forever to charge. For that fact, I’ve been on the lookout for a smaller and faster charger. The folks at Engergizer have sent me their compact charger to review. Let’s take it for a test drive…
Hardware Specifications
Model: CHDC8
Chargers AA NiMH batteries up to 2450mAh, AAA NiMH batteries up to 900mAh
Input Voltage: 100-240V AC
Charging Current: 700mAh for 2 or 4 AA/AAA
Package Contents
Charger
2 AAA NiMH 850mAh batteries
2 AA NiMH 2450mAh batteries
The compact charger is made of Black and Silver plastic and has a footprint of approximately 3.25 x 3.50 inches when closed.
The top has four sets of two LEDs that will display the status of the charging batteries. On the bottom of the unit, is a flip out two prong power plug.
A slide out tray reveals four battery bays that can accommodate AAA or AA sized batteries.
By default, the charger will hold AA sized batteries.
To load AAA sized, you just flip down the little AAA adapter.
Here we see two AAA batteries loaded and then four AA batteries loaded. At any one time, you can charge two or 4 batteries.
To use this charger, load your batteries, flip out the power plug…
And plug the charger into an outlet. According to the instructions that ship with the charger, you do not want to plug the charger into an extension cord.
Once the charger is plugged into an outlet, the status LEDs on the front will begin blinking. There are two LED segments for each battery. As time goes by, the segments will light up, to let you know the progress of the charge. When both segments are lit and not blinking, charging is complete.
How long does it take to charge your batteries? Well, that part is a bit misleading. If you scroll back up and look at the picture of the packaging, you’ll see that it says 2hr charge time. That’s only true for 850-900mAh AAA batteries. If you pretty much only use 2450-2500mAh AA’s like I do, it’s going to take 4hrs. Yeah, I know that the specs say that this charger is only good for 2450mAh AA’s, but it seemed to charge my 2500mAh just fine… That said, there are higher capacity batteries available from other companies that might not work well with this charger.
Am I going to ditch my old Radio Shack charger in favor of this one? No, probably not… Although I do like its smaller size, I like having my charger sitting on my desktop, and this one is better suited for plugging directly into a wall outlet. There’s really nothing special about this battery charger… I do think that the Engergizer Compact Charger makes a good back up charger and also is good for travel. When closed, it will easily fit in your gear bag or luggage. It’s nice that they also include 2 AA and 2 AAA batteries with the purchase.
Can be found online through various stores for less than $20.
What is your favorite battery charger?
Product Information
| Price: | 39.99 |
| Manufacturer: | Engergizer |
| Pros: |
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| Cons: |
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Looks like a great design for “conventional” NiMH rechargeable batteries, but I’ve been hooked by the outstanding charge-keeping trait of Sanyo Eneloops. The Eneloop’s charger is about half again bigger than this new Energizer — closed up anyway — but I’ll take Sanyo’s shelf-stable readiness over garden variety higher capacity NiMH batteries any day.
Tony:
I’ve never heard of Eneloops. Wacky name ;o) I just watched the video on the eneloop website. They sure sound cool. What’s the price though?
The Eneloops are probably the best rechargeable batteries out there! For chargers, the La Crosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower is probably the best. I wrote a quickie review here – http://www.petersreviews.com/index.php?/archives/4130-Gadget-Review-The-La-Crosse-Technology-BC-900-AlphaPower-Battery-Charger.html
I’m currently obsessing over my whole crop of AA rechargeable batteries, marking them and keeping track of which ones are the best and which ones are near the end of their lifespan.
I use the Energizer 15 minute charger and this device is wonderful for me! The included batteries (2200s) charge in about 15 – 20 minutes. I haven’t noticed a diminished usage in charge time versus my original 8 hour charger. Plus, this charger is compact. The only drawback is the power supply is not built-in but obtained through a transformer with a long cord. The transformer plugs into the outlet but it is almost as big the compact charger. It makes for a lot of relative weight and size when traveling. Otherwise, I love it!
Prices for Eneloop are somewhat comparable to other rechargeable NiMH, at least they are now. For a while, they weren’t readily available in the states and you had to find a seller on eBay or some other small distributor/importer.
You can get a 4-pack of Eneloop 2000 MAh AA’s for around $10-$12, AAA’s about the same and a 4-pack with a charger for less than $20.
Amazon
Thomas Distributing
The nifty thing they offer is C and D size sleeves that fit over the AA batteries when you need that rechargeable juice in a pinch, or want to reduce battery weight. Granted, you’ll lose some run time with a smaller volume battery, but it’s a neat little trick.
[Edited at November 17, 2008 10:37:29 AM.]
Julie,
I too have this but it’s mainly for portability purposes. My standard charger is an older Maha charger that I got years ago. The newer Maha’s would serve well anyone needing a quality charger.
I throught this was a great product but was really sad when I found out it wouldn’t fix in my socket (UK).
I have this charger its worthless some batteries charge and in 2 hours say they are done i test them and they aren’t so i place them back in the charger and they charge for about 2 or 3 more hours ..
Note I have tried 3 different brands all are AA type batteries
I just bought one of these chargers, having used the slower 8 hour charger and I noticed the batteries were extremely hot after being charged.
Be careful, do not leave on overnight!
I bought one of these chargers to keep my batteries ready for my husband’s and my cameras. I charged the batteries and put them in little plastic bags for storage with the cameras. When my husband tried to use his yesterday it showed that they were dead. I then re-charged them and am waiting to see if they hold a charge or if there is a problem with the charger or the batteries.
I bought this charger and the strangest thing happens. The AA pair seems to charge for 15 minutes and the charger indicates they’re fully charged, but the’re not. The AAA pair charges for 5 minutes, then the indicators blink fast, showing “bad”. The store gave me a new charger, same model, and the sames happens. Can you help me? What should I do?
I bought the energizer CHDC8 charger at Sam’s Club. I have charged energizer, duracell, kodak, ray o vac NiMH AA & AAA. After testing none of them reach 1.5v but are at 1.3 (the ray o vac reached 1.4). My wife used them in our Canon digital camera and they lasted no time. Any ideas?
I purchased the Energizer CHDC8 charger and batteries at Sam’s Wholesale and tested the batteries with my multimeter prior to charging. The batteries read 1.3x volts each. Following 4 hours of charging (the LED indicators showed the batteries charged in the 2-3 hour range) I tested the freshly charged batteries on the multimeter and guess what – they’re still 1.3x volts. Some of my equipment chirps when batteries are functioning around 1.4 or under. There is a whole lot of chirpin’ going on! All I can say is HEY, WHAT’S THE DEAL?!?
I’ve also noticed AA’s wont reach 1.5v all the time. Though mainly using AAA batteries, this is an excellent charger for my AAA head sets, of course though they are 1.2V AAA’s, so no voltage issues. The longest lasting AAA Ive tried thus far is Duracell DX2400, seem to hold a charge 3-4 times longer then the Energizer 850mah AAA’s that shipped with this charger. Another tip, dont leave batteries in this charger while not plugged in, Seems to discharge them, I could be wrong, but thats what Ive experienced. Overall for a Inexpensive charger it does well, though make sure to pair it with a good set of batteries. FYI Ive found the Energizer batteries (AAA/AA) that come with this charger, unfortunately are poor quality. Switch to some Duracell’s of the same price range, you’ll notice much slower discharge.
For Brad and Si: When NiMH battereis are fully charged the voltage will be 1.3x Volt, they will never reach a voltage of 1.5V, that is the full charge level of an alkaline cell which has different electro-chemical characteristics, thus the different voltage.
I believe this is the battery charger I own. Just now I put four batteries into it and on two of them both upper and lower LEDs were flashing rapidly. What does this mean? Thank you.