Customer Reviews

Energizer CHM4FC Battery Charger High Energy

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

For the money, you'd be hard pressed to purchase a better battery charger. This unit from Energizer (which is apparently really getting into the rechargeable market) can charge any consumer-size battery--AAA, AA, C, D, and 9V--in either NiCad or NiMH chemistries.

It charges standard cells in about 4-6 hours and 9V batteries in about 9-10. This rate isn't as fast as some "quick chargers," but doesn't make the batteries hot and is really slightly better for them. When it's done, it keeps them on "trickle charge" so that they're at 100% capacity when you remove them.

For any batteries except 9V, you have to charge in pairs; many NiMH chargers have this restriction, however. You also cannot charge NiCad and NiMH at the same time.

Overall recommendation: If you're looking to stop wasting money on alkaline batteries and need a NiMH charger for household use, buy this one. For those few people who really *need* to be able to charge batteries in one hour (which are really only very high-intensity digital camera users), however, spend extra for a quick charger.

This is a versatile charger that charges all standard size NiMH and NiCads, and reliably. I have used it for a year with no problems, a good value for the price.

Smarter chargers have been recommended here(at about three times the price) to compensate for some of the issues with not-so-smart but less expensive chargers like this one. I must admit, the information provided by Energizer with this charger doesn't help to understand the limitation of this 'fixed time' charger.

It will put 430MilliAmps for 5 Hours into a AA NiMH. 430Ma times 5 Hours = 2100MaH. It uses 370Ma in its 'NiCad' setting for 3 Hours = 1100Mah for AAs. Since there is always some existing charge left in rechargeables before recharging, if your NiMH AA's capacity is less than 2500Mah(typically yes for AA NiMH) they will be fully charged by this charger. Likewise, NiCad AAs less than about 1200MaH(typical for NiCads) your batteries will be fully charged.

You can use the information above and the charging currents given on the Spec Sheet for this charger to figure charging capacities for other size and capacity batteries. C and D size capacities greater than 30000MaH will not be fully charged in one 5 hour cycle and will have to be cycled twice(2 X 3000Mah = 6000Mah)or more times, unless left in the charger to trickle charge for a long period of time(a good idea in any case to top off all charges). Every 24 hours of 65ma trickle current will add another 325MaH charge to a C or D cell till it reaches its full rated Mah capacity. Trickle charging batteries by leaving them in the charger after the 'timed' charge cycle (5 hours on 'NiMH' setting, 3 hours on 'NiCad') will keep your batteries topped off to full capacity at all times without hurting them.

So, this charger is a good value if you understand what it does and and does not do. Those with less knowledge or time, but more money, may want to buy the more expensive Smart Chargers others have mentioned here. The Vanson would be my choice, a very good value. I have derated this charger because of lack of information provided to the consumer by Energizer on its site and on its Spec Sheet for this charger. They're not alone in this department, but there is still no excuse for this.

If you really don't need a Universal(all battery types charged) then you can get a Smart AA/AAA combination charger for much less. I would recommend the RipVan Lighting 4000N at RipVan100.Com. It charges fast but gently(doesn't over-heat batteries, a life killer).

Hope this has helped everyone. Rechargeables are the only way to go for saving you gobs of money and the environment gobs of abuse. Buy good high capacity rechargeables, like highly rated Energizer's, and buy a good charger that will treat them right for you. Noooooo overheating by cheap Quick Chargers.

After reading a PC Magazine articlehttp:about NiMH batteries and their advantages over disposable ones, Idecided to buy some. Went to Best Buy, which had the batteries, but no charger for D cells. Found and ordered the Energizer Universal Charger at Amazon (about $ less than elsewhere) and found it to be excellent. It charges both NiMH and NiCd batteries in all sizes, AA, AAA, C, D, & 9 volt.

Choosing the best charger and batteries for your device is not easy. I use Palm IIIx, tried a plenty of varieties, used a different battery monitoring programs and found this one the best for me. So, if you use any personal organizer or other not so big feeder of battery power I recommend it. I purchased this Energizer charger with 2 pairs of Energizer AAA NiMH rechargeable batteries for my device, so I use 2 batteries in my Pilot while other pair recharges - and I am pretty satisfied. Other part of the charger/battery story are rechargeable batteries so choose right ones. I recommend Energizer nickel metal hydride.

This unit is versatile as it will charge several sizes of batteries, BUT I was surprised to find out that it charges batteries for a fixed time of 3 hr or 5 hr for NiCd and NiMH, respectively (at 500mA)--a semi-rapid charger. The new NiMH and NiCd battery chargers (not this one) generally use some delta-voltage-current-somethingeruther and a few other newer techniques to charge batteries only up until they're full, then they trickle charge them. This Energizer model seems to use "old" technology to charge batteries. It doesn't matter what size/capacity/charge level, it charges them all for the same fixed amount of time. I found that it charged barely-discharged NiMH batteries for the same fixed 5 hours. To me, it should not run so much extra current through them unnecessarily. I guess it does the job, but I cannot find a "smart" battery charger that would charge the other sizes.

We bought this product partially for using vibrating infant seats also. The reason NiMH batteries don't run as long is that they cannot store as much energy as alkalines. The Energizer technical data sheets state that the energy storage capacity is:

Alk vs Rech - AAA 1150 vs 650, AA 2850 vs 1200, C 8350 vs 2200, D 18000 vs 2200, 9V 595 vs 150 (units are milli-Amp-Hours)

So, even though alkalines D cells will last about 8 times longer and they cost half as much, if you can get 20 charges out of a NiMH, it is worth it. Since NiMHs supposedly have a 500-1000 recharge life cycle, it's very much worth it to us to change the D cells 8 times more often! For the AAAs and AAs the difference is much less and even more worth it!

This charger works ok, but simply charges for 5 hours then stops regardless of whether the battery needed 5 hours of charging or not.
The Millenium 5 hour charger detects the charge state of the batteries and charges them to full then shuts down, so no overcharging or undercharging. This is a much better system, I own both and don't use the Energizer anymore.

I bought this charger and a lot of the ACCU batteries for work. We are using them in flashlights and NightVision goggles. This charger is great. It charges the batteries in a quick mode, then trickle charges.

For us, that's great! We've got a small bin for new batteries, and one for used. When the charger is free, we put four more batteries on and walk away... It is really nice to not worry about when to take them off. And we have plenty, so we don't have to worry about the length of the charging cycle.

This charger also will accomodate AA, AAA, C, D, and 9V. That's great!!! We can put our MiniMagLite batteries on the same charger as the D-Cell MagLite batteries! This is a really good buy, and I've saved a lot of money for our company using the ACCU system.

My neighbor and I bought this charger but I returned mine and I think she is going to return hers also. It seems a little dated because it charges the batteries for a fixed amount of time (both NiMH and NiCad). So if your battery is only slightly discharged it'll still charge it for the same time as if it were totally dead. It also can't charge batteries individually which my Rayovac charger can. The only downfall of my Rayovac is that it can only charge AA and AAA which is all I need. I paid 25 dollars for the Energizer and the Rayovac was only 10 dollars... BIG difference. If you can find a Rayovac recharger at your local store get it! I even got 16 NiMH batteries for 25 dollars - PLUS they're ALL 1600mah (higher the rating the more power). Just thought I'd let everyone know. Alohaz

We purchased the Energizer CHM4FC Charger along with four rechargeable NiMH batteries (Size D), which we needed for a pair of battery operated vibrating infant seats. Each seat uses one Size D battery, and we were burning through one Duracell Ultra every two days.

We'd hoped to save money by using the rechargeable batteries, but it turned out that the rechargaable batteries have to be replaced every 6 to 8 hours.

Before purchasing the recharger, I'd read that a slow, overnight charger is better for packing in a good solid charge, so I don't know if our poor results are as as result of the charger or the batteries. It's also possible that we had unrealistic expectations about these batteries in thinking that they would totally replace the Duracells.

Anyways, that's my two cents. Lesson Learned: Think hard about your battery application. If you're running a relatively high demand machine or toy, you may not be satisfied with this product.

If you experience different results, I would appreciate hearing about it.