ECOITS+Chargers

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Smart Battery Chargers
Rejuvenation of rechargeable batteries requires Smart Battery Chargers. There are several types of Smart Battery Chargers Several manufacturers of consumer electronics equipment have been marketing "smart" battery chargers for the past few years at under $40, recently prices for the highly rated LaCrosse BC-700 charger which our IT Services lead owns came down below $30 with shipping included. While that may seem like a lot of money for a battery charger, these chargers can "rejuvenate" the life of a typical AAA, AA, C or D size battery by several years. These chargers were originally popular among electronics hobbyists and amateur radio operators, but were manufactured and distributed on a much smaller scale than today. The better ones are durable, as many are still going strong after over a decade of use. For instance Maha C777 chargers are still popular and available, the current versions have some upgrades to the internal electronics. These chargers sold for ~$35 back in 1999, with inflation that is at least $60 in 2010 dollars, and many are still seen in action among amateur radio and electronics hobbyists today, but require a bit of a learning curve to use effectively.

Many who have smart chargers still have have working nickel metal hydride (NiMH) or nickel cadmium (NiCd or NiCad) batteries that are 10 years old or older and still taking at least 50% of their original rated charge capacity. Though many battery chargers in the $12 and up range today are "microprocessor controlled", they often deplete a battery left in charger for long periods or use a timer to charge which may overheat a battery or undercharge an older battery. Very few chargers have a "rejuvenate" cycle to extend battery life as the smart chargers do. Yes, there are directions to follow and a few buttons to push in the right order on these smart chargers, that's where our ITS guys may come in handy. Payback on these devices is in the 3-4 year range, but payback comes much faster if one "rejuvenates" other people's batteries and counts the savings to the organization getting the battery donation. C3HUU does have quite a few devices that currently use rejuvenated AA/AAA batteries. The Phonic Ear Easy Listening receivers which are used for an hour or so at a time during services, then sit in their "trickle charger" do quite well on rejuvenated batteries. So do various battery powered remote controls, calculators, label makers, etc.

We have located a very reasonably priced Tenergy T6278 Universal Charger (~$20) to accommodate C and D size batteries along with the LaCrosse BC-700 charger we already have that accepts AA and AAA size cells. All of these batteries must have labels defining them as nickel metal hydride (NiMH) or nickel cadmium (NiCd or NiCad). Rechargeable alkaline batteries and lithium ion (Li-Ion) cannot be rejuvenated, at least not with the chargers we have available to us. We are mulling over some kind of exchange program, contact us to pursue ideas of how to setup and operate an exchange of rejuvenated rechargeable batteries. At this time, we are looking into handling 9V rechargeable NiMH or NiCd batteries as well. Contact us if you have 9V rechargeable batteries and we'll investigate rejuvenating that type of cell.

OK, enough of batteries and chargers, by now you get the point -- take your lifeless AAA, AA, C, D size rechargeable battery to our "ECOITS Battery Rejuvenation" bin and as often as not we will be able to restore that battery to useful life for another few years.

© [|Copyleft] Mark R Smith, C3HUU, 2010 [] ECOITS@c3huu.org

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