Do you charge any other batteries with your chargers?

[jimbo858]

Just curious. Am I the only one that uses their r/c charger to charge other "cordless" battery operated stuff or does everyone use their r/c chargers for everything like me? But,  I've been using my  MRC Super Brain 959 charger to charge:

-my NiMh versapak Black & Decker batteries.

-my Bissell Go Vac rechargeable vaccum

-the NiCad battery pack for a portable fan

The r/c charger is just so much better at charging these batteries than the cheapo wall chargers that they usually come with.  With my Versapak batteries I get a much better charge AND I don't have to worry about the OEM charger ruinning the batteries 

Anyhow, it's probably a stupid question.  But, I was just curious...

[fatboyslim]

Yeah I use my charger to quik-charge my cordless drill battery too!!

Mainly because I only have a mains charger for the drill and that takes 6 hours

[jimbo858]

yup, that's the other advantage for me.  The Go Vac charger takes 12-16 hours to recharge. Using my R/C charger it gets done in about 30min AND gets a better charge.  Ditto for my Versapak batteries.  Even the NiCad Verspak batteries do better on my little R/C charger!

[walawala_com]

Hi,

I don't because of too much adaptors on the charger. I am sure they work. The battery type included in coreless drills and screwdrivers should be mentioned on the kit or the battery pack and charging with an r/c charger is a good idea. Should be more powerful also.

Joaquim

[DJTheo]

As long as the charger specifications covers the battery voltage and current needs, I also use it for my NiMH AA cells for my TXs or digicam which I group 4 or 8 together to get 4,8V or 9.6V, you must beware though that they are of the same capacity and in a similar charge state before (best all empty) as otherwise you might overcharge or undercharge some.

Cheers

[essexboyracer]

I've got an old 7.2v Black and Decker drill at home, and i've been wondering if I could charge it from my Propeak charger. The charger that came with it seems to have given up, but I can't find any mention of the battery type on the drill, or the battery (i've taken it apart.) Seems to be made up from 6 cells. Anyway, i'll probably give it a go tonight, anyone got any experience of black and decker's batteries? is it likely to be a ni-cad or nimh?

- Will.

[DJTheo]

If its older then 5 years almost definetely still NiCD.

Cheers

[WillyChang]

Just curious. Am I the only one that uses their r/c charger to charge other "cordless" battery operated stuff or does everyone use their r/c chargers for everything like me? But,  I've been using my  MRC Super Brain 959 charger to charge:

-my NiMh versapak Black & Decker batteries.

-my Bissell Go Vac rechargeable vaccum

-the NiCad battery pack for a portable fan

The r/c charger is just so much better at charging these batteries than the cheapo wall chargers that they usually come with.  With my Versapak batteries I get a much better charge AND I don't have to worry about the OEM charger ruinning the batteries 

heya Jimbo, could ya pls post a pic of these NiMH Versapak batteries??

I got a whole slew of Versapak devices and they're all running on nicads (most slowing dying), would be great to know B&D makes some modern batts for them.

 

And yeah, I use my RC chargers for everything, including the Versapak batts. Just jumper them in series with a croc-clip jumperlead and charge then at 7.2V @3A - done in 20mins. []

[essexboyracer]

"DJTheo wrote the following post at 08-23-2006 11:21 AM:

If its older then 5 years almost definetely still NiCD.

Cheers"

 

Cheers, I thought it probably would be, but it's always nice to have a second opinion!

 

- Will.

[jimbo858]

heya Jimbo, could ya pls post a pic of these NiMH Versapak batteries??

I got a whole slew of Versapak devices and they're all running on nicads (most slowing dying), would be great to know B&D makes some modern batts for them.

 And yeah, I use my RC chargers for everything, including the Versapak batts. Just jumper them in series with a croc-clip jumperlead and charge then at 7.2V @3A - done in 20mins. []

Here you go!

with my Versapak batteries I use the alligator clips that came with my charger as well. But, I only charge one battery at a time. It's hard to find any info on the composition of the battery (i.e. how many cells, mah, etc.). But, I read somewhere that each 3.6v Versapak is compromised of 3 cells (3 x 1.2v= 3.6v). I charge my Versapak batteries at 1.0amp. If this is wrong can some guru please let me know? Otherwise, at that setting my Versapak gold batteries and the regular Versapak (NiCad) batteries seem to work great! I've even been contemplating hacking an old Versapak Pivot Screwdriver to use a regular 7.2V battery pack. Ahh... haven't had the chance though....

[jimbo858]

As long as the charger specifications covers the battery voltage and current needs, I also use it for my NiMH AA cells for my TXs or digicam which I group 4 or 8 together to get 4,8V or 9.6V, you must beware though that they are of the same capacity and in a similar charge state before (best all empty) as otherwise you might overcharge or undercharge some.

Cheers

You know I was thinking about doing that. But, I'm always afraid that I would overcharge and/or undercharge some.  Especially with my old Versapak NiCads.  I used to think those things were ****.  I can't count how many I've had to throw away... uh-hmmm... I meant.... RECYCLE.  It really bugs me to cause those batteries are not cheap and are not that easy to find.  I just can't see why Black and Decker doesn't offer a better solution to their cheap chargers.  After using my R/C charger and a Venom Discharger to cycle some of my old NiCads they seem to be doing much better now. One of them is almost as good as the newer NiMh's Versapaks that I have.  I guess those cheap wall chargers just KILL and DESTROY batteries. 

Too bad I can't use my r/c charger for my digicam.  My digicams and video camera all use lithium batteries...

[DJTheo]

For my digicam it was one of my requirements that it uses also AA batteries as this way you can always find some, when you are on a trip and your NiMH ones are empty. As you said unfortunately AFAIK all videocams use nowadays Lithium cells.

Cheers