Vanson 8 AA NiCad NiMH Battery Charger
I paid $3 apiece for two Vanson NiCad NiMH battery chargers at BatteriesandButter.com. I’m astounded that this same charger and many like it are for sale on Amazon for $20+.
I also got 28 GP Brand 1700MaH AA batteries for $1 each.
We’ll see how it works out. In the mean time, here are the instructions for the charger. The most useful details are this:
For AA batteries
- When set to “Nicad” it delivers 200mAh for 5 hours
- When set to “NiMH” it delivers 200mAh for 10 hours
- When set to “Nicad” it delivers 100mAh for 5 hours
- When set to “NiMH” it delivers 100mAh for 10 hours
After it’s finished, it delivers 10 mAh until unplugged.
I verified with a multimeter that it delivers the same amount of power to each cell regardless of how many batteries are plugged in. That’s good.
It looks like I got a super-duper deal. Check back on this page in a few months and if you don’t see me swearing, then they’re probably peachy keen.
(The instructions OCR-ed with no proofreading)
AUTOMATIC Ni-CD / Ni-MH BATTERY CHARGER WITH IC TIMER CONTROL FOR 8PIECES AA & AAA
OPERATIN6 INSTRUTIONS:
1 . Set the battery type switch according to the type of your battery. ie. NiCd or NiMH.
2. Place 2, 4, 6 or 8 pieces of batteries (AA or AAA) in the battery charging compartment. Do not place batteries of different size or kind in a charging group. The charging group provides the correct charging current when only 2 rechargeable batteries of the same size are in 1 battery group. In case, accidentally, put in 1 charging group are placed different batteries (AA and AAA), then automatically both batteries are charged with the charging current of the AAA battery. DO NOT MIX NICKEL-METAL HYDRIDE AND NICKEL-CADMIUM BATTERIES.
3. Plug the AC plug into the wall outlet.
4. Each compartment’s indicator lights where batteries are inserted. ^
If you have inserted batteries in a compartment, and the charging indicator for that
compartment does not light, unplug the charger immediately. Remove the batteries
and clean their contacts. Then, re-insert the batteries, confirm correct polarity, plug
in the charger again. If the charging indicator still does not light, either the charger
is not working properly or the batteries you are trying to Charge are defective.
5. After the 5 hours charging for NiCd (AA: 600-800mAh; AAA: 200-300mAh) or 10 hours charging for NiMH (AA: 1300-2000mAh; AAA: 500-800mAh) battery, the recharging System has delivered 80-90% of Charge cycle to the batteries and LED goes off. The charger automatically switch to trickle Charge to assure a safe 100% füll Charge. (At trickle Charge Status, it will keep the batteries füll for instant use.)
6. Unplug and then replug the charger each time when you recharge the empty batteries.
7. Unplug the charger and remove the batteries from the charger when not in use. CHARGING CURRENT:FAST CHARGE:-
‘AA -200mA
‘AAA’ -80mATRICKLE CHARGE:-
‘AA/AAA – 15-20mA(APPROX.)
CAUTION:
1 . Before charging, read instruction.
2. This charger is intended for use with Nickel Cadmium and Nickel Metal Hydride batteries only. Attempting to Charge other types of batteries may cause personal injury and damage to the charger.
3. Recharge only one type of battery (Ni-Cd or Ni-MH) at each time.
4. Do not Charge longer than time specified. Overcharging may cause damage to the charger and battery.
5. Do not expose charger to rain or moisture. Indoor use only.
6. Remove from mains when not in use.
7. The supply cord of this charger cannot be replaced; if the cord is damaged, the charger should be discarded or retumed to the supplier for repair.
8. This charger is intended to be correctly orientated in a vertical or floor mount position.V-868B
so, how did it work?
I’m pretty sure they work just fine. I’ve been using the batteries in an odd situation where I haven’t been able to tell so far if they work perfectly or not (it’s a situation where one guy on the project insists on always having “fresh” alkaline batteries even though we don’t have enough batteries to do that. So he keeps swapping out the rechargables on me. It’s kind of weird.
Dear Sirs,
I kindly ask you for a quote of rechargeable AA NiCad or Ni-MH batteries with 1.2V, 2400mAH; QTY: 12000 & chargers for these batteries of 4pcs AA, Ni-Cd / Ni-MH cells, Input: AC 100V – 240V, Output: DC 1.2V Capacity: 500mAh – 2,600mAh; QTY: 1500,
Country of origin must be Europe, USA or Japan,
4 samples for batteries and one charger must be submitted to tenderer for evaluation,
Please be advised that this is against an open tender issued by Jordan government,
I look forward to receiving your offer with wining prices,
Best Regards,
Mohammad Al Momani
HT-COMMS.LTD
Communications & Power Systems Co.
General Manager
Tel: +962 6 554 6388
Fax: +962 6 554 6377
Mob: +962 777 966660
email: m.momani@ht-comms.com
P.O.Box 542060 Amman 11937 Jordan
Mohammad, I don’t sell batteries. Read my post.
Good post. I found one reference to a “secret from a Nexcell engineer”, who claims that you can prolong the lifetime of NiMH batteries to 500-1000 cycles from the rated 200 cycles by only charging your NiMH batteries to 80% of capacity (and fully discharging them each time). According to the article, while charging beyond 80% capacity much of the energy turns to heat inside the battery, damaging it. See http://thetravelinsider.info/roadwarriorcontent/Nexcellbatteries.htm , scroll down or search for “secret”.
Based on this info, I’ve purchased GP 2300mAh and 2500mAh batteries for use with this Vanson charger – I calculated that the 2000 mAh delivered by this charger should be 80% of the 2500mAh battery capacity. I will also try the 2300mAh batteries (86% of capacity).
I will post back here with my results. I am still waiting for silver-zinc or lithium AA batteries, I am ready to pay more for good quality batteries that don’t need to be changed much. Also, silver commodity prices are down because of less demand in photography and the broken economy…
I have exactly the same battery nicd/nimh C and D type batteries sizes charger, same design, but the name is different. It charges for only 5 hours befor it switches off, I built my own primitive 350mA charger powered from my car battery and it works perfectly well. Then I use this page with rechargeable batteries rechargeable batteries charging time calculator. Thanks a lot for this tutorial too oven builder
I’ve been using this charger and the batteries for a while now and, yup, they work well.