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Information Article about AA Rechargeable Battery Chargers

There are millions rechargeable batteries are sold world-wide now-a-days, so having a good quality AA Battery charger protects your batteries.

There are 2 main types of AA battery chargers to be aware of before making your decision which one to purchase. One is called a TIMER CONTROLLED charger and the other is called a SMART battery charger.  Here, we will explain the difference between the two types.

Both types of chargers will work on NiMH(Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries and NiCD (Nickel Cadmium) batteries.

The way the Timer Controlled AA Battery charger works is with a built-in timer. It will typically run for between 8 and 12 hours, depending on the specific charger and then shut off. Clearly, with this type of operating technology, the result is that some batteries will end up undercharged while others might end up overcharged. This is the risk one takes in using a charger that is preset to shut off automatically after a predetermined length of time.

Here’s an illustration of this: Let's assume that your timer controlled charger, charges at a rate of 300 mAh (milliampere-hours) and the batteries you’re charging are 2000 mAh.  If the charger you’re using, shuts off at the 8 hour mark, by the time it shuts off, ALL the batteries have been pumped with about 2400 mAh of power!  This shows that some have been over-charged. Overcharging can lead to a battery being ruined.

In this example, we see that if the unit you’re using puts outs 200 mAh and is also set to charge for 8 hours, the batteries would then have been pumped with 1600 mAh, rendering the batteries that were fully discharged to begin with, undercharged. Some of the batteries will have been correctly charged, but this is rarely the case as not all batteries have the same amount of power in them at the time they are placed inside the charger for charging. A timer controlled battery charger treats all batteries inside it, the same way. It’s not capable of evaluating the remaining power inside each battery. Timer controlled chargers are inexpensive but the price paid for this money saving is the potential for incorrectly charged batteries.

On the other hand, we see the way Smart Battery chargers operate. Smart chargers are capable of detecting the voltage EACH battery has within it. It does this using a technology called Peak Voltage Sensor Technology.  The Smart Charger does not shut off operation in one fell swoop. It’s not preset at the factory to do so. Rather, it stops charging each battery on an individual battery basis , once it concludes that full power has been restored to each battery. There’s no potential to undercharging or overcharging, and realistically, since many of us just throw a bunch of batteries with varying storages of remaining power into our chargers, it make logical sense to use a battery charger that detects the remaining power each one has, and treat them each uniquely.

When shopping for an AA battery charger, we highly recommend buying a Smart AA Battery charger. Your batteries will always be properly charged, and therefore, will last longer.

To right of this information article you’ll see our own in-house inventory of AA battery chargers. We encourage you to reach us with any charger question you might have that has not been discussed in this article, before you buy. Our goal is to help ensure you make the correct purchase for your requirements. That’s the MEGA difference.

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