I actually have an eliminator 800 and a solar panel which works surprisingly well to recharge normal rechargeable batteries using only solar power. I don’t really need the hand cranked models but they sure seemed neat for the price. Maybe I just got caught up in the whole novelty of it all…..

Eugene,

What smart battery charger and brand of rechargable batteries would you recommend for mostly AA and AAA devices? I need to add some to my gear.

Thanks!

I'm with you on the AA strategy Eugene - but for most folks, isn't a hand crank NiCad that at least gives them power while they crank marginally better than a dead AA (or C or D) powered flashlight in the emergency kit? I can't tell you how many Red Cross kits I've looked at where the first time I pull the flashlight out its dead for lack of attention. Hand crank not as a panacea, but as an okay solution for kits that get stored and not maintained.

digikey or mouser, you can get packs spot welded together in whatever config you need when/if you do need to replace the packs. I've rebuilt a couple small cordless screwdrivers that way, still trying to find a quality AA powered one.

MAHA from thomas distributing for chargers. they may look expensive but comparing something like the $40 c401fs to the $30 charger I bought from walmart they are not that much more and the little 401 has rejuvinated batteries the 30 walmart quality charger had left for dead.
I've standardized on sanyo eneloop, have two sets for every piece of important gear, one to use while the other is charging.

IF a cell gets too low to reverse polarity then the hand crank won't do any good. Or if the cell leaks acid onto the PCB from being overcharged or sitting too long then the crank won't help either.

I hear ya. Good quality nicads are night and day different than the cheap Chinese/Asia Knockoffs...

Dave

Oh, they have their use. The concerns that have been voiced apply to ANY kind of rechargable battery, in all honesty.

What I'd really like to see is someone making these with a capacitor that could actually power it for a usable amount of time. A lot fewer issues with long term storage, so long as it isn't stored charged.

Not really, a good charger negates a lot of the issues and the new low self discharge NiMH batteries fix just about all the rest. The big issue with these products is they are designed and marketed as to be stored away in an emergency kit without needing any battery maintenance which is false and that their chargers are not good chargers so they don't help the problem any.

Where did you pick those up? crank or no crank they look like great multitaskers and I think that I might pick up a couple too.