Been wanting to buy a rechargeable batter for my external flash, including a battery charger of course since I have been just buying disposable batteries as needed. A regular disposable battery cost around P180 to a max of P200 for a 2-piece bundle depending on the brand. And usually, you will consume four pieces of that every shoot.
So today, finally I decided to drop by the mall and scout for a battery charger and a rechargeable battery. The top brands like Eneloop, Philips, Energizer cost around P2,600++, that’s a 2 hour to one hour quick charger already. And since I am on low budget, I tried a this brand offered by the sales lady at the Electronic Boutique in Shangri-La Mall in Ortigas – Newstar Smart.
The charger can charge four double A or triple A batteries at the same time in a span of 3 hours only. It also comes with 4pcs double A 2700mA battery. It can charge both Ni-Cd and NI-MH type of batteries.
It also includes a car kit charger so that you can charge even if you are on the road, a USB cable is handy too if you want to charge via your USB port which I think is good only if your notebook is connected to your AC outlet, otherwise it will suck good time your notebook’s battery life. Its a different story if you want to charge it on your desktop PC.
What I initially like about this charger is that it has a refresh button which you can use to prolong battery life by completely discharging first the battery and re-charge it later. And it has a small LCD that displays the status of the battery being charged. According to the sales lady, it is very useful specially if you were able to buy a damage batter, the LCD status indicator will just blink continuously.
Like the other brands available, this one is also Made in China. The charger comes with one year warranty and cost P1,459.75 at Electronic Boutique.
Hello,
I’ve used this charger for several (5) years now, when the battery charges right away even after you have used the refresh function, it means that your batteries are already bad, they’re no longer fit for use. I’ve had several bad batteries like these from PowerBase and even Energizer which i have already dropped in the Nokia Recycle Bin at the malls. So far the best batteries to use are the Eneloops from Sanyo, Powerbase is okay, but not the extra-high capacity ones. ive thrown several 2200mAh, 2600mAh, and 2800mAh away, tonight im throwing away another batch of four 2600mAh because they blew up my backup charger (the PowerBase C-513 which came with the 1800mAh batteries im currently using which are quite good, if i may say so)
To end, avoid any Ni-MH Energizers, they suck big time, dont ever put your life (or career) on it as the charge never keeps and the batteries go bad after just a few charges (its supposed to last about 1000 cycles, but in just about 100, they’re gone.) I’ve tested freshly charged ones that rate at 1.3+ volts then after an hour or two of idle time, the charge drops to about 1.2v to 1.1v without even being used yet. After a few days, the charge is practically down to 1 volt.
Eneloops rock! If you can’t find them, order them from Tipid PC, there are several dealers there who will deliver it to you next day as soon as your payment clears! Just remember though: these are not high-capacity Ni-MH, so it’s good to carry an extra set for your flash/battery grip.
Junie out! 🙂
Philip.
I had a similar issue. Try using the Refresh function on your batteries once you’ve drained them on your device(s). That should help remove the memory effect(seems like its full when it really isn’t) before you recharge them completely.
It may take a few refresh/charge/use cycles to completely remove the memory effect though.
If it’s still like this after a few cycles, then your rechargeable batteries may be nearing the end of their useable lives. What brand of rechargeable batteries do you use, and how old are they?
Hi Philip, sorry about your story dude.. Mine is perfectly working until now. 🙂
I guess you charged a battery more than the charger can handle, see the provided batteries is only 2700MaH.. but you want to charge a 2450Mah. 🙂 You need a more powerful charger for that.
1000MaH
useless piece of shit!
i used it for my 2450 maH batteries. charges them for a few minutes then indicates that theyre full.
but when you use your batteries, your gadgets would tell you that the batteries are barely 40% charged.
Php 1475 wasted
hi,
what are the power output of this charger?
thanks.