2 answers combined to make AA/AAA charger for all occasions

[Paul_H]

Hi guys

Just thought id pop back and update the thread, iv just got home from spending some time at a friends house while iv had time of work and while there I ordered the nomad charger and got home today to find it sat on the desk waiting for me.

Had to say on pulling it out the envelope it didnt really jump out at me but once I got my grubby little hands on it I have to admit that I like it and its a nice bit of kit.

Had a bit of a play with it and one thing I did not read or at least notice one line is that it can be charged via USB so this makes it a really attractive bit of kit for me as when in the truck 12v sockets are taken up with other kit but I do have usb available and 90% of the time spare as its in a multi block that I use to charge the tablet up via USB. Anyway I digress so having 3 options to run the charger is great as I think between 240V Mains,12v DC and USB I should never really be without being able to charge batteries up.

I found some 2300mah cells so iv swapped the supplied batteries out for them ones and plan is to use these only as a portable power source once there charged up they will go into a storage case on standby for when i need a portable supply. At the moment its sat charging of my netbook while im writing this so not got around to using it in anger so to speak but I do also have my phone pluged into it as it normally charges of my netbook or a mains to USB adaptor but as the netbook is on my lap and the adaptor the other side of the room it saves me moving to answer the notifications every 2 mins lol

I am impressed with this and for just over £5 I get a couple of pairs of batteries too and a really nice little charger that when i get around to ordering a bag for a EDC it will be an active part of my kit I think

So top judos to the OP and the other posters for posting up about this little charger its a great bit of kit and so glad I got one and tech it was free as I got the voucher for xmas and still got £4.50 left to spend so any more recomendations lol

[piglet]

*Update*

I have been playing around with the Nomad - Freeloader combination and have found that if you reverse the charging process from mains/Nomad to the Freeloader, the AA/AAA batteries will often discharge unequally on each channel.
Therefore, before recharging them again you should swap the batteries across channels so that the 2 with the lowest remaining charge and the 2 with the highest remaining charge should be charged as pairs.

If you find that after a while batteries fail to recharge, check polarity of the batteries to ensure one or more have not reversed.
I have had a number of rechargeable batteries using other devices, that have discharged unequally, leading to reversed polarity, even though I have tried to ensure that the charge on each is equal prior to use.
(I will point out that I have not had a reverse polarity problem with the Nomad at this time)

Many people have told me that reverse polarity batteries cannot be recovered, but I have had no problems recovering them by using a fast battery charger like those sold by Duracell. The ones that will charge 1 to 4 batteries are extremely useful)

To prevent reverse polarity in rechargeable batteries, whenever possible, I try to use devices that have a low battery warning led, so that I can swap them out in good time.

piglet

[Paul_H]

Thanks for the update Piglet

Also a quick one for me I just tried to use the nomad to do my phone and found the usb out led was not coming on so a quick think and a change back to the uniross batteries and it seems to be fine albeit a bit on the slow side so I think im going to need to order some more uniross batteries.

I am in the position that I use both AA and AAA so I can see me having a couple of cases of batteries rattling around my bag oh well one of the joys of being ready for SHTF I suppose

[gcp1975]

The only problem using rechargeable cells is that the most of them are 1.2v not 1.5v therefore triggering the low voltage leds way too early .. The only way around this is to use the more expensive higher current ones (i think) - hope this helps

at the moment i'm developing a system to charge a single cell from old pc fans - google pico generators - WIND POWER RULES !!

[12mp82]

Might be an easy idea to use those horrible little garden led lights as a battery charger, many of these lights have replacable batteries as well

[piglet]

To be honest, I have so many rechargeable batteries and solar chargers etc etc, swapping out early is never likely to be a problem for me.

at the moment i'm developing a system to charge a single cell from old pc fans - google pico generators - WIND POWER RULES !!

I have been playing with something similar, as I have access to lots of old bits and pieces at work.
At the moment it is all a bit of a learning exercise for me as I have only just starting out with this stuff, but maybe one day I will try something like that on a permanent basis when I eventually settle somewhere.
But I will admit it's fun experimenting, especially when something actually works.

piglet

[piglet]

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