A good AAA/AA charger?

[erick]

After varied experience with AA rechargeables in my Pentax K100D, I'm getting the feeling I should be ditching the el-cheapo chargers and invest some money in a charger that will do the job properly. And some top notch batteries?

Does anyone have experience of these Maha Chargers:-

http://servaas.com.au/index.php

and their Powerex batteries:-

http://servaas.com.au/maha-powerex-batteries-c-33_22.html

or their Imedion batteries:-

http://servaas.com.au/powerex-imedion-batteries-c-33_30.html

What about Sanyo Eneloop batteries:-

http://servaas.com.au/sanyo-eneloop-batteries-c-33_29.html

(A bit cheaper at Dick Smith)

[tlgerdes]

I have an Eneloop charger with the sanyo batteries and performs as good as my old DSE AA charger with DSE NiMH2000mAh AAs.

The key is the power rating of the batteries, pick 2000mah if not larger if available.

DSE have always had good batteries, they have being sourcing them for 25 years, so the buyers know what makes them good.

[astroturf]

This Guy : http://www.jpt-australia.com/maha/imedion.htm has the Imedions & charger & is reasonalby flexible with pricing
I have 3 sets of (4) aa's for my 2 flash units, so far so good
Apparently they can be still 85% capacity after 12 months, so good shelf life
the charger is a nice bit of work too!

Bryan

[citivolus]

Before I shut down my business, I used to sell those Maha/Powerex chargers and batteries. The Maha charger is very good, in fact one of the best out there, and the batteries are not too bad either. I still prefer the Eneloop batteries, perhaps because they were first to market, but I have about 60 of the Eneloop batteries and 30 or so of the Imedion and have not had trouble with any of them. I use both the AA and AAA versions of both batteries. In reality, they are functionally identical.

The Powerex (non-Imedion) are rated very well for capacity for high drain use, as long as you don't need the extra charge life of the Imedion. If your application will drain the batteries in less than a month, you are better off with the higher capacity Powerex. If you are planning on lower drain rates, the Eneloop or Imedion would suit you best.

If you are looking at a large purchase, consider contacting Servaas directly. Their minimum order for dealer pricing used to be around $300, but I don't know what it is these days. The Austrlian distributor for Eneloop is Master Instrument, but they can sometimes be a bit hard to get ahold of.

Regards,
Eric

[troypiggo]

Check out this thread from POTN (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=677074&highlight=battery). Some guy did an extensive test on many different brands of batteries, holding charges, battery life etc. Very thorough test and results. Hope you can read the direct link above. If not, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

[ColHut]

I have both the Maha 9v and AA/AAA batteries and chargers. I find them very good - both chargers can run off a cigarette-lighter socket in a car, and both have fast/slow charge settings and it is safe to leave the batteries in. The powerex AA are the better ones IMHO

regards

[goober]

I have used my tiny Maha MH-C204F charger for years, combined with the Jaycar POWEREX rechargable batteries (AA/AAA). Brilliant little device. Don't bother with the off the shelf "fast chargers".

[erick]

OK, I've gone with the Powerex MH-C9000 charger and Powerex AA and AAA batteries. Not cheap, but I read nothing but good recommendations.

This is a serious piece of equipment! :scared: It is at home working through a 40+ hour "break-in" program on the AAAs!