Charger for AA NiMH Batteries??

I use rechargeable NiMH AA batteries with my SB 800. Unfortunately my very inexpensive battery charger bit the dust. I really need to bite the bullet and buy one that will last more than a year. Does anyone have any recommendations as to one that will last? E-bay has almost 10,000 listed.

Is there really a need for a high end (expensive) charger. NiMH type AA batteries are quite common now, and everyone from Wal-Mart to the high end electronics stores sell one type of charger or another. Personally, I'd buy two or three inexpensive chargers, and keep all my spares charging. If one fails, I'm not out a lot of money, and I still have backups running to keep me charged up.

Of course, this is just my opinion. Please accept it at that.

Joseph Bautsch said:

I use rechargeable NiMH AA batteries with my SB 800. Unfortunately my very inexpensive battery charger bit the dust. I really need to bite the bullet and buy one that will last more than a year. Does anyone have any recommendations as to one that will last? E-bay has almost 10,000 listed.

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Joseph, do yourself a favour and get Eneloop batteries along with their excellent charger. You'll never need to buy another type of battery and charger in your life. Do a Google on Eneloop batteries. They also sell them as a package, where the charger comes with 4 Eneloop batteries.

Mike - That's the way I've done it for years and it works. It's just a pain to have to stop and go out and buy a new one every so often. My wife and I will be spending eight weeks aboard ship and in the Alaska back country in May and June and there are not many places that I can stop and buy another one if it goes bad.

Jack - I've seen the Eneloop batteries and chargers on line. Never heard of them, I guess because I've been buying the Wall Mart stuff too long. Thanks for the info I'll give them a try.

I use the Ultralast ULCC8H. For $11, it's hard to beat. It charges 8 batteries at once (so you can charge your back-ups too!) and will charge either NiHM or NiCd.

As a side note, if you're looking at getting into the rechargeable battery market, try to stay at or above 2900 mAh for flash use.

Anthony Hereld said:

I use the Ultralast ULCC8H. For $11, it's hard to beat. It charges 8 batteries at once (so you can charge your back-ups too!) and will charge either NiHM or NiCd.h for flash use.

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I just ordered this one, love the idea of doing 8 at a time. I am embarrased to say I have been using a 4 battery one my daughter gave me as a gift probably 15 years ago and it takes a good 24 hrs to do 4.

I have been using Eneloops (SANYO eneloop | Ready to use Rechargeable Battery - The only battery you will ever need) for all my speedlights and they work fantastic.
But one thing I noticed on Eneloops. Its does not work well on fast chargers.
The charger bundled with the batteries are either standard charge or slow chargers.
I use a La Crosse BC900 (BC-900 by La Crosse Technology - Tomorrow's Weather Today) to charge my Eneloops.
This charger has discharge, cycle and refesh functions. It can wake up even those out of shape rechargeable batteries.

Anthony Hereld said:

I use the Ultralast ULCC8H. For $11, it's hard to beat. It charges 8 batteries at once (so you can charge your back-ups too!) and will charge either NiHM or NiCd.

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Anthony, quick question is how fast can you charge 8?

Yibel said:

Anthony, quick question is how fast can you charge 8?

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The official specs say 8 hours, but I don't think it takes that long. Maybe if they're brand new batteries or 100% dead. Usually I can get a full charge in 4-6 hours.

Ranie said:

I have been using Eneloops (SANYO eneloop | Ready to use Rechargeable Battery - The only battery you will ever need) for all my speedlights and they work fantastic.
But one thing I noticed on Eneloops. Its does not work well on fast chargers.
The charger bundled with the batteries are either standard charge or slow chargers.
I use a La Crosse BC900 (BC-900 by La Crosse Technology - Tomorrow's Weather Today) to charge my Eneloops.
This charger has discharge, cycle and refesh functions. It can wake up even those out of shape rechargeable batteries.

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Yup...best batteries on the market! And they're only 2000mah! That's the weird part!
No, don't use a fast charger with Eneloops. I use a slow type charger (Energizer) and these batteries are unbelievable how they hold a charge! Specially for my SB-600 flash.
Sounds like you have a pretty decent slow charger there, Ranie.

Thanks for the input guys. It's all good information to ponder. I'll look up the 2900 mah batteries and see what I can find. The Sanyo eneloop battery is the one I'll go with if nothing better turns up. I've never had much luck with the fast charger. The one I had did not seem to give the batteries a full charge an they went dead rather quickly. That was a few years back and things may have changed by now. I like the idea of being able to charge eight at a time. My SB 800 takes five AA. I often have at least two sets to charge at a time. In searching through the internet for chargers I found a comparison chart from Green Batteries that may be of help for anyone in the market.

NiMH Battery Charger Comparison Table

Eneloops update

New model 2500mah SANYO eneloop | Ready to use Rechargeable Battery - The only battery you will ever need
Eneloop tones ( color coded ) SANYO eneloop | Ready to use Rechargeable Battery - The only battery you will ever need

The Eneloop tones is a cool idea to color code the batteries in sets.

Ranie.......thanks for the link to the new 2500mah Eneloops! Nice! I love these batteries. Awesome power and long lasting.

Hey thanks for posting the site for the color coded eneloops. That's a neat idea.

Anthony Hereld said:

I use the Ultralast ULCC8H. For $11, it's hard to beat. It charges 8 batteries at once (so you can charge your back-ups too!) and will charge either NiHM or NiCd.

As a side note, if you're looking at getting into the rechargeable battery market, try to stay at or above 2900 mAh for flash use.

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Charger came in today, seems well made and quality. I've got 8 new batteries charging away. Thanks for the tip.

Awesome!

enelopes are not available where I live, (small town) so I bought RayOVac Platinums @ 2100 Mah, hope they stand up in my SB800. I have never seen any of the high 2900's available, in fact the ones I bought are the highest I've seen thus far. Kinda funny that the shipping cost more than the charger.

Yibel said:

Kinda funny that the shipping cost more than the charger.

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Cost of the actual soda contained in a 20oz bottle: 20 cents
Cost of a 20oz bottle of soda: $1.60

It's all about the packaging!

I am using Rayovac "Hybrid" in my SB 800 & SB600, they are great.

Yibel - The RayOVac Platinums @ 2100 Mah, I found out is the upgraded battery replacement for the Rayovac Hybrid. They don't say exactly what they did for it to be an upgrade. Perhaps it's just a marketing thing for the same battery. Anyway they are the same type of battery, LSD, low self discharge as the eneloop. I have a set of 16 RayOVac Platinums @ 2100 Mah and so far they have worked as advertised. And have worked just fine in my SB 800.