I don't write many of these but I saw the bads one and had to share my experiance. We have a 1 year old child and were going through batteries like crazy. We bought one of these in the hopes it will help. I must say buying the charger and batteries in addition is not cheap but helps save money in the end.
The screen to tell you how charged the batteries are is great. The batteries last almost as long as a regular battery. I remember as a kid (i'm 29) that recharable batteries were really bad, they would die on pretty much the same day. But that is no longer the case. We liked the charger and batteries so much we bought a second charger and all we use is recharables now. We use AA,C,D and i'm about to buy more AA do to the need and am going to try the 9V for the portable radio.
I have not tried any other large rechargers but I havn't had a need to. The quality is the same as others I have seen at the store, constructed with hard plastic and charges them quick. It's easy to open and close and using it is self explanatory.
All in all a great product and a money saver we love both of ours and have had them for over 2 years. If I needed another charger I would go right to this one. Energizer CHFC Family Charger
This charger worked really well for the first year or so I owned it. Now I am finding that it only charges batteries 30%-- and I'm not talking about the same old batteries I've had (which have only seen maybe 5 or so charges)... This happens even with brand new rechargeable cells. I've tried experimenting with charging 4 at a time vs 8, and have not seen a difference. It seems to recognize that some batteries are charged more than others when activated but does not fully charge them anymore. I'm going to give it one more shot to see if it can at least handle 1 cell at a time before throwing it in the dumpster. I don't think I've even come close to matching my investment in rechargeable batteries yet... I wish I would have just bought disposables...
This charger does not work with non-Energizer brand batteries. It will not recognize them and will not charge them even if it does recognize them, instead indicating that they are "bad". Expect more from such a famous brand name battery maker. I do not recommend this product, instead I would recommend a cheap chinese made recharger that will recharge anything and everything you put in it. I'd rather overcharge the occasional battery than have 36 useless off brand NiMH batteries sitting around the house that I can't get any electricity into.
I saw the negative comeents and read the good ones as well. As with anything electronic, there are going to be ones that work and those that don't. It may be a quality control issue. I have had this unti for almost three years at work and it is used consistently. I have never ahd a problem. It does what it is designed to do, recharge batteries. I use the batteries in a digital camera for ID photos and fr a flash unit. Again, never had a problem with the baterries performing and lasting a reasonable amount of time. Considering the cost of constantly buying more replacement baterries, I'll take this any day. If your cost analysis says something diferent, then you should do what's best for you. Even replacing the charger every couple of yearsis more cost effective than buying batteries over the same period of time.
I agree--it seems to be poor quality. Did not buy it on Amazon, but have owned this Energizer family charger for about 3 yrs. Only used it regularly for about a year or so, and it's already stopped working. Even before it quit altogether, it seemed to be charging the batteries inconsistently. Kind of defeats the purpose of saving $ by recharging batteries, if you have to replace the charger after only 18 months!
I dont know why there are some bad reviews on this unit! I am happy that I have found this item. It is sturdy and made out of hard plastic. As you would expect from a brand name like Energizer.
The LCD panel on the top of the panel is very well though out. It shows you how much charge remaining until the batteries are fully charged.I find it extremely useful.
And it takes almost all kinds of batteries.
I mainly got this unit for C and D cells. But it take AAA & AA & 9V as well. You put the batteries inside the charger and shut the lid and it starts charging. Simple.
And this is not expensive as well very reasonably priced.
Go get it if you are looking for a good charger.
Great charger. No problems. I'm a photographer and use this several times a week for NiMH AA/AAAs with no problems. Came to the page to buy another and saw the negative comments - thought I'd chime in. First off, there is no way a charger can recognize non-Energizer batteries. This charger works on every brand battery I've purchased - name brand, foreign, cheap, etc. Secondly, about 1 in 8 NiMH batteries are duds. The duds charge, but drain much faster than the others. I mark suspected duds and monitor their behavior - recycling them if necessary. Duds happen regardless of the charger (I have several different chargers). So it's not the charger that's ruining batteries; the batteries were bad to start with. Also, this is a charger - not a tester. Use a battery tester to check battery juice. This charger, like most, will indicate low charges on its LCD screen as it begins recharging. This display is not exact; not meant to accurately indicate pre-charge battery levels. Finally, new NiMH batteries require 'seasoning' to reach full and lasting capacity. So the more you use/charge the batteries, the better they perform - at least until they start aging. As with all the chargers I use, once the batteries indicate a full charge, I rearrange the batteries in the charger to top them off.
This thing is awesome... I bought some 15 minute Energizers and after a year they wouldn't charge anymore... Someone told me to buy this unit and it would charge them... Well not only does it charge them but they seem to last longer than they ever did before... I have also charged no name Big Lots, solar lights & you name it in this thing and it seems to lenghten the life of every battery I've put in the thing... You can charge 8 AA's at once! I love it...Even has a cool charge meter LCD on the front... - Battery Charger Aa - Battery Charger - Battery - Nimh'
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