Decent Ni-Mh AA battery charger for the road?
 

Can anyone recommend a good battery charger that will run from 12v?
I've got a travel charger that runs from most mains supplies round the world, but it's rubbish. So I'd like to get a decent one this time, even if it means a few more pennies.

Ideally I'd like a small charger that could run from 240v or 12v.
Any help appreciated.

I used a 240V-only-Charger: an Ansmann powerline 4 - comes with all the different plugs you'll need and charges slowly - those quick chargers (e.g. the touratech one) destroy the akkus.

Had it with me on a >2 year trip and it still works.

Lars

Maha
 

My Maha MH-C401FS cost about £30-£40 I think and is great. Has fast and slow charge and two leads, one for 240v and one for 12v. I can't find the link just now, and remember it took me ten mins or so to find in the UK, but search and you should find it. I would highly recommend it.

Could this be what you're after?

3-in-1 Battery Charger > Maplin


I don't have one so can't recommend it or anything.

Whatever you get make sure (as Lars says) that it doesn't charge too fast and that you can charge batteries individually, not in pairs. That way the circuits monitor each battery and switch to trickle charge when it's full.

I got mine from Conrad Elektronik.

Here is where I got mine
 

Had a chance to search for where I got mine

Maha MH-C401S Dual Charger

Comes with a free battery bag too, which is very handy when you have as many as me. It takes upto four batteries, aa or aaa in any combination and has the slow charge feature mentioned too. I think if you are going to be spending money you won't make a mistake here.

Cheers

Ollie

That's the puppy
 

Cheers CornishDeity and everyone, that's exactly what I was looking for, it's got all the features you'd want;

- 12v input or 110-240v
- Individual circuit for each battery
- Trickle charge as well as fast
- A little bag!

I'll order one now.

Thank you CornishDiety! I followed the link, then did a search for distributors in my area and found one. Sounds great. My camera goes through batteries like stuff through a christmas goose.

Absolutely SPOT ON
 

Thanks for the help guys.
CornishDeity, I've been using the charger for a couple of weeks now, and it's just what I was looking for, does everything just right.

Marvellous, this t'interweb thing eh

No problems
 

Great to be able to feed back some of the knowledge I sucked up earlier!

Make sure you get some decent batteries too, they make all the difference.

Happy charging :)

Guys,
This:
Amazon.com: Sanyo Eneloop 4 Pack AA NiMH Pre-Charged Rechargable Batteries w/ Charger: Electronics

do the reading on superior batteries under product description!!

and this:

NCIX.com - Buy Sanyo Eneloop Rechargeable Battery Charger and AA 2 Pack - ESCAA2 In Canada.

Is a nice little 2 battery charger for AAA and AA
120/240V.

Does a fast job.

I have had very good results with charger and batteries.
bill

Ansmann Digicharger Vario
 

One interesting concept is Ansmann Digicharger Vario. It can charge both AAs and usual LiIon camera batteries and is small and lightweight (also 12v support). I had original Vario model (not new Pro) and it worked, but unfortunately it died on the road.

An update after 13 months riding...
 

I really don't mean to sound unappreciative, but in the end I found the Maha charger to be absolute litter.

I used it once before I left, then when trying to use it the second time it stopped working all together. I sent it back under warranty and got a replacement a couple of days before I left. Then a month or so into the trip it failed again. I contacted the shop and they said useful things like "Have you plugged it into the power socket?" I ditched that one too.

Replaced eventually with this La Crosse BC-700 which doesn't do 12v input, but I find that 99% of the time it's easy to find a wall outlet.