This package (Energizer Smart Rechargeable Charger for AA/AAA Batteries, with 4 AA Batteries Included) contains a very impressive-looking charger. The charger (CHP41US) features a countdown timer, a battery 'Fuel Gauge', and four bad-battery indicators. It looks like a very smart charger - until I examined closer.
The first warning sign is that: Would You Believe this charger can only charge in pairs? That is, it cannot handle 1 or 3 cells. A real smart charger has to monitor and charge cells individually, because this is the only way to ensure that each cell is not over-charged or under-charged.
The next thing I found out is that: the so-called 'countdown timer' is mostly for show. It's The Old "2-bit counter in a 7-segment display" Trick. The display always start from '8' (eight hours) when a pair of depleted cells is inserted, regardless of the actual remaining charge time. As the batteries are being charged up, the counter simply decrements through '6', '4', '2' and finally '0', even though the actual charge time may turn out to be just five hours.
The 'Fuel Gauge' on this charger is marginally useful. It shows 1-4 bars, based on the combined voltage of one battery pair. If two pairs of batteries were inserted, the fuel gauge is for the pair with the lower voltage. It soon dawned upon me that both 'countdown timer' and 'fuel gauge' are based on the same information. For examples:
2.2V = 1 bar = 8 hours,
2.4V = 2 bars = 6 hours, and so on.
By the time the combined voltage of two cells reaches 3.0V approximately, the charging is terminated. If the two cells have different capacities, then the lesser one is inevitably over-charged.
One problem with this single 'fuel gauge' is that: it does not tell you which cell is at what status. In comparison, other chargers in this price range may contain four individual status indicators. For examples: Targus Digital TG-LCD2700 Charger with LCD Display and Sony BCG-34HRMF4 Battery Charger with LCD Display.
The same problem applies to the four bad-battery indicators. If you insert one good cell with a bad one to the left two slots, for example, both indicators light up in red. But you still can't tell which cell is bad.
The four rechargeable AA cells included in this package are the "New" Energizer 2300mAh NiMH batteries. Note that their capacity is lower than that of previous generation (2500mAh), but they are not advertised as 'Pre Charged' or 'Low Self Discharge'. My own testing, using the La Crosse BC-900 charger/analyzer, indicated that those are indeed traditional NiMH cells. That makes me suspect that Energizer simply rolled back its rechargeable battery technology to circa 2004, instead of moving forward like other battery companies.
To be positive, I should thank Energizer for NOT making yet another timer-based dumb charger, or another '15-minute' battery roaster. But in calling the CHP41US a 'Smart' charger, Mr. Energizer Bunny just Missed It By THAT Much! Energizer Smart Rechargeable Charger for AA/AAA Batteries, with 4 AA Batteries Included
I read a lot of bad reviews for this charger but I'm one to not really care how long it takes to charge a battery, and even if the battery charger isn't as accurate as it says it is, I still find it highly useful because I just let the batteries charge. I'm not really concerned with the "useful-ness" of the display, in fact, I use it as a night-lite for my grandson. The best part is, it does what it's supposed to, and that's recharge batteries. It took about 4 hours to fully charge all 4 of my AA batteries that had been completely expelled their use. Now I'm not saying that's a good thing (it's not 2 hours) but it's not a bad thing either. I recommended this to everyone I know and they too have had no issues. If you're an old man like me, just buy one. I don't have all day to sit around and watch the batteries charge, just leave them on overnight and they're charged by morning. Great product.
I purchased one of these Energizer "Smart" battery chargers from my local Home Depot store a few months ago. It seemed to work fine with the 4 included AA batteries included. However, I really don't use AA batteries (every remote control I own uses the smaller AAA size), so I really haven't had an occassion to recharge the AA batteries that it came with. I then purchased about 30 generic AAA batteries (on E-Bay) and proceeded to use them with this charger.
When I went to recharge the batteries, I started noticing lots of red blinking "reject" lights flashing on the charger. Since the AAA batteries I was attempting to recharge were generic batteries (not Energizer brand), I assumed that the batteries I had purchased were junk, since I couldn't get them to recharge. When the "reject" light flashes, it doesn't even try to recharge the batteries that are "rejecting", they just remain dead. So, I ended up recycling almost all of the AAA batteries because I thought were defective.
Finally, I decided to purchase some brand new Energizer AAA batteries at my local Target store (for approx. $11 for 4) and found that the brand new batteries wouldn't recharge either! I decided to call Energizer's customer service number and was told that they would e-mail me a postage-paid return receipt, so I could return the charger for "service". I was told that the turn around time would be 4 to 6 weeks to get either my charger back "repaired" or a replacement charger.
I sure wish I would have read the other reviews of this Energizer "Smart" charger before discarding all of those batteries which I'm now sure were still good. These chargers have known issues with rejecting a variety of different rechargeable batteries, and now I've discarded about $60 worth of batteries that were perfectly good. Finally, Energizer's "4 to 6 week" turn around time is completely unacceptable. They should be aware by now that these chargers have know issues, and should have been willing to replace (or refund) the defective charger much faster than 4 to 6 weeks. Shame on them, poor customer service. I tried explaining that to the Energizer customer service rep on the phone, and she politely said that she would "forward my concerns on". In the meantime, I will forward my business to another company's products. - Nimh - Battery Charger - Nimh Charger'
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