Customer Reviews

Duracell 15 Minute Battery Charger

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I purchased this charger and an additional 8 packs of 4 batteries (36 batteries total) in May 2006, and it is now almost Jan 2008. A few months ago (August 2007), I noticed that I would charge ALL of the batteries, and not use them for a week, then when I went to use them, they were practically DEAD! Even as soon as they are done charging now they probably only charge to 60 percent capacity, and die very quickly. I couldn't believe it. I have had great success with NiHM batteries in the past, but this is ridiculous! I spent hours online, researching battery technology and chargers to find out that any charger that charges your batteries faster than one our SEVERELY DECREASES THE LIFESPAN of your batteries! I purchased a set of Eneloop batteries which hold a charge much longer than any other NiMH batteries on the market. I will be contacting Duracell to find out if I can get replacement batteries for the small fortune I have lost on these.

Don't get me wrong, it's not the batteries that have the problem. Duracell makes great batteries. It's their pathetic charger that killed them all.

Unfortunately, people review these products and give them five star ratings without owning them for more than a few months.

I know someone else who had the same exact problem with the Energizer version of this 15 minute charger.

DO NOT BUY THESE.

I am immensely angered by this poor excuse for a battery charger! I bought it around February of 2009. It worked well for the first few months. So good in fact, that I stupidly went out and bought MORE batteries to use in all my battery operated devices (digital camera, mouse, keyboard, wii remotes, etc.) Sadly, I found out this charger was crap on a trip with my wife. I used them in the digital camera, and after taking less than TEN PICTURES, it would be "low battery" and automatically shut down. Now, not one set of these batteries still works! I was even unaware if the batteries or the charger were the problem. Thanks to Chris Rioux's review, I saw that "any charger that charges your batteries faster than one [h]our SEVERELY DECREASES THE LIFESPAN of your batteries!" If only I had down some research before buying this charger, instead of just going with the Duracell brand when I was shopping at Staple's. I have contacted Duracell, and their parent company Procter & Gamble, by both email and regular mail to try and get some answers, and possibly a refund or exchange for other Duracell products. However, I have yet to hear back from them AT ALL and this was almost two months ago. Bad form Duracell! I have a useless charger and about TWO DOZEN dead NimH batteries that are ALL LESS THAN A YEAR OLD!!!!! AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!!!! After doing some research both on Amazon and other websites, I have decided to purchase La Crosse Technology BC-9009 AlphaPower Battery Charger. It has 422 (5) Star reviews as opposed to three like this hunk of junk. BOO!!! I cannot say enough negative things about this product!

When I bought this 15 minute charger a year ago it didn't work immediately. When you put the the rechargeable batteries in then red light just blinks and stops working. I tried Rayovac AA and AAA, and Energizer AA and AAA, and Duracell AA batteries. IT only charges some specific unknown type because I have rechargeable Nimh and it does not charge at all. Out of my 14 rechargeable batteries only 3 were able to be charged, and not only does it suck it doesn't last 30 minutes or even 10 minutes at some time. This is a horrible product and you should not buy. You are warned.

The Duracell 15 Minute Battery Charger has 4 channels (or battery slots) for charging 4 AA / AAA batteries.

Charge Time
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- The battery charger works as advertised; it fully charges NiMH rechargeable batteries in about 15 minutes. Charge times can be longer for batteries that are higher in capacity than the ones that come with the charger (2500 mAH). For example, it sometimes takes up to 20 minutes to charge my 2650 mAH AA Duracell batteries.


LED Light
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- The LED light can indicate one of three charge status:

1) Off ......... Charge is complete for all channels
2) On ......... Charging is in progress on at least one channel
3) Blinking ... 1 or more batteries are bad

Unlike some battery chargers (such as the Energizer 15 Minute Charger), it doesn' have 4 independent LED lights to indicate charge status for each of the channels. There's, therefore, no way to know WHICH channel has completed its charge and WHICH channel has a bad battery.


Bad Battery Woes
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If the Charger detects a bad/damaged battery (indicated by its blinking LED light), it will refuse to charge the battery.

This charger used to frequently reject batteries that I had used only a few times (money down the drain). I had to keep buying new batteries -- and that was very annoying!

At first, I thought maybe this charger was actually ruining my batteries! But I managed to finally catch on to what was happening: my camera was the culprit!

The reason: on many camera's and other high-drain devices, batteries can be over-discharged and can go through a phenomenon known as "polarity reversal." Many devices have a built-in mechanism to detect when batteries reach a "cut-off" voltage (or more properly termed, the end-of-discharge voltage), and shuts down automatically before damage can occur. Many devices, however, do not have such a mechanism.

Now, I'm careful to not over-discharge my rechargeable batteries - I have never had a bad battery in a long time.


Conclusion
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The Duracell 15 Minute Battery Charger works flawlessly. My only complain is that it doesn't have 4 independent LED lights to indicate charge status for each of the channels.

This is sad because Duracell is a great company but I won't even put it up on ebay because I don't want someone to be as mad as I am that it blinks all the time and the batteries are fine in other chargers. The duracell batteries are great but this gimmick after 3 years has been like the demise of Baby Rose in Gypsy..not a good gimmick.Duracell- Rechargeable 15 Minute charger

We bought this set and it worked alright in the beginning, yet even then it didn't last as long as it stated it would. After 3-4 chargings the batteries seemed to just die after 1-2 day of light usage in a digital camera. I went out and bought a pack of 4 new duracell rechargeable batteries and had the same result. I compared the longevity to a regular Energizer battery and it out performed this battery 3 to 1.

I have had my charger and the same set of batteries for 5 years.

I use the batteries for my camera flash for my underwater camera. I used to have to bring 3 spare sets of batteries when you had to charge them for 8-16 hours because I would only get 2 dives out of the batteries. Still better than standard AA which would die during the 2nd dive. With this charger I only need 1 set of batteries and they charge in 30 min total. For 5 years I have used the same set of batteries and I only really use them once a year then they go in storage. The trick is knowing how to use rechargeable batteries. (1) you need to store them fully charged (2) if you don't use them for a long time you need to charge them before you use them 3) the more you use them and drain them to 0 charge then charge them the more power the will store
Rechargeable batteries can not lie around and hold their charge. And yes this unit is only certified for Duracell batteries, I have used Rayovac and Energizer in this charger as well without problem, but don't expect to be able to put any brand in the charger.

A total waste of money. Works for a while, then they hold a very brief charge. Now I cannot even charge them--the light just blinks and nothing happens.

Purchased this charger 4 years ago at Costco. Must have the only one that works properly or most people that don't have any issues don't write reviews? Never a problem with operation all this time and I'm still using 4 year old batteries. Batteries for my digital camera last so long I thought my camera's battery indicator wasn't working properly! Use them in my wireless mouse among other applications. Saving a ton by not buying alkalines anymore.

These are the best batteries I have ever owned and it's been 3 years now what else is there to say