If you have come to this page, you probably already know that the charger that comes with the black and decker batteries is useless. This charger goes a long way to regain some confidence in the Black and Decker battery tools. The light on the front of the unit will inform you of the following.. charging, charged, problem powerline or replace battery. Recharge time is 1 hour instead of the unusual 3 hours.
The only down side to the unit is that it does not charge the 18v batteries. If you have none of these, then I would rate this 5 stars and recommend. If you have some 18v tools, then I recommend: DEWALT DW9116 1-Hour NiCad Charger with Tune-up Mode (7.2-Volt - 18-Volt). Not only will this unit charge 18v batteries, but it will also `tune-up' some poorly performing batteries. Black & Decker PS1MVC 8.4-Volt to 14.4-Volt 1 Hour Pod Style Battery Charger
I've owned this charger for a while now, and it does a pretty good job of charging up my 14.4v Dewalt and Firestorm batteries quickly. I don't care for B&D's method of indicating the charge status on batteries. The flashing light is ok, but having some sort of series of lights or varying colors would have been a better choice. As mentioned earlier, this unit is not rated to charge 18v packs and does not "condition" the batteries as does the Dewalt unit.
The charger is leaps and bounds above the standard cheap charger that comes with most of the B&D tools, and for the money, its not a bad investment. If you are looking for conditioning capability or the ability to eventually move up to 18v products, buy the Dewalt.
If a rating system has five stars, three means an item is average-- not terrific, but not terrible. This product qualifies.
I bought it a year ago, for the same reason everyone does: the cheap charger Black and Decker includes with its tools died on me. I needed a replacement, wasn't sure if a charger made by anyone else would work with B&D batteries and didn't want to buy something and maybe have to return it.
This charger does its job in a capable, unspectacular way. It finishes about twice as fast as the factory charger. But it's never lived up to its "1-Hour" name. If my battery is totally spent, I find it takes at least an hour and often close to 90 minutes.
In fairness, this charger is for batteries with voltages between 8.4 to 14.4. I was charging 14.4; maybe smaller models get done in an hour.
It also might not be a problem if you don't use your tool a lot. But when I used my drill to install shelves or fix my deck, I drained my battery before this product had my spare fully charged. I ended up buying a third battery to avoid taking a break. And if I'd been using this in a cordless saw, I'm sure things would have been even worse.
Also, this product won't charge two common battery types (18-volt and 7.2). Black & Decker doesn't make tools that use those batteries; if you're only using this on your B&D drill, you won't care.
But if you're a novice trying to assemble a home workshop, you'll probably wind up getting a tool that uses one of those batteries, and you'll end up needing a second charger.
If I had this all to do over again, knowing what I know now, I'd get the DeWalt DW9116 7.2-Volt to 18-Volt Pod Style 1 Hour Battery Charger. It can charge any battery that this unit can (I've verified that), plus some that it can't. It charges my batteries in 30-45 minutes, it has a slightly better status light and Amazon sells it for about the same price.
That's a five-star product. This one-- which does a decent job, but no more-- is a three. You won't go wrong with it... but you can do better.
After unpacking my tools that had been in storage for a couple of years I discovered to my chagrin that my 14.4v charger and battery were not working. In addition to replacing the battery I opted to substitute the old charger with the new PS1MVC 8.4 Volt - 14.4 Volt 1 Hour Battery Charger.
I am very pleased with its performance. It charges so fast that with a little planning I can get by with one battery. In a nutshell, the charger does the job well and does it fast.
Rich M.
I must say that when the battery charger that came with my Hedgehog died after less than two years of use, I was extremely disappointed and a bit angry. The thought of purchasing a new one did not put me in the best of moods. However, once it arrived, I have to say I was impressed. It looked how a charger should look as opposed to the original (which did look a bit cheesy, to say the least). It takes less time to charge the batteries now. It is ten times better than the original design. I am very pleased with the product.
Got this for my husband to replace the one that came with his drill. Replaced the original one once before and decided to buy this one when we needed to replace it again. Very fast charge and love that it tells you when your battery is bad. Would definately recommend this product
My original charger quit working and I checked local retail stores for a replacement and found that a new charger cost almost as much as I paid for product initially. It would have been cheaper to just buy a new cordless drill.
I found this new charger at Amazon and the cost incl. shipping was very reasonable.
The item was shipped quickly and it worked right out of the box.
I actually like this charger better than the one that came with the drill. - Charger - Cordless Drill - Black Decker Battery - Black And Decker'
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