What to do with el-cheapo chargers?
 

Everyone has 'em, either those wall-wart crappy style, or maybe one of those so-called "high-end" chargers that will charge 4 AA/AAA or one 9v cell. I had a RadioShack "4 hour" charger, but it always either undercharged or overcharged my NiXX cells. When I got my R/C chargers, this started to gather dust. But since I still have all the NiMHs around the house in various items (toys, tv remotes, etc), I figure I could still use it with a little modification.

So, I opened her up, removed the transformer, 120v AC plug prongs, and main circuits. Then, I modded the PCB by cutting the traces (need the PCB since the battery terminals are attached), soldered new wires to put each cell in series, and then added screw terminals. As they say, "this thread is useless without pictures", so...

The first one showing the finished product. Each numbered screw corresponds the the cell right below it. There is also a 9v port that can be used.

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/cheap_charger_1.jpg

The innards showing PCB mods and added wires.

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/cheap_charger_2.jpg

Hooked to a charger. I just put the negative charger clip on the ground screw, and the positive charger clip on the highest cell count I'm charging. If 1 cell, it goes on 1. If 4 cells, it goes on 4.

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/cheap_charger_3.jpg

Now I can charge AAs/AAAs and a 9v cell without resorting to a crappy setup. :smile:

:lol:

You crack me up man. How do you come up with these projects.

Glad to see you are at least using you spare time constructively.

I like it Brian!

I find more uses for my good chargers everyday. The charger for my craftsman cordless drill crapped out, so I used the 1210i to charge the 19.2 nicd packs. I charged at .5 an amp to give it a slow "balancing" charge and the result was quite good. Noticeable power difference from that pack comparted to the pack I charged on the craftsman charger...

I made a 8aa charger out of an old tq2 radio tray, but it is not cell selectable like yours...All or none...

lol, I'm glad I amuse! :lol:

I use my good chargers for anything that uses rechargeable batts, even if I have to do modifications. I too had a tray similar to the TQ2, but like you, I didn't like that it had to be all or nothing.

i did something similar to charge 8 cells at a time.

my airtronics TX takes 8 cells (as they normally do) and usues a normal rc plug from the 8 cell battery tray to the TX> all i did was re route the plug so i can use my 0606i charger and charge 8 at a time. saves a bunch of time, waiting for the 4 banger to charge them.

I've modified all my past Tx cases with a power jack connected directly to the batteries to charge the AA cells in the radio. Many radios now do include a charge jack, but there is diode protection which keeps a "real" charger from reading the pack voltage (it shows as 0v), so this type of mod is necessary.

cool, i knew i wasnt the first to do this at all. its such a convenient and obvious thing to do.

Next step is to get a 3 cell pack so i dont have to charge the silly things every other use.

Geezzzz, and here I spent a lousy 35 bucks on a AA charger. I couldv'e spent hours making electronic smoke

Does anyone have one of these chargers (pic in opening post) laying around not being used that they'd part with? Ideally, it should be exactly like the one pictured. I find myself sometimes charging more than 4 AA's at a time and it would be nice if I could get another one like this to mod and daisy-chain them together when needed.

I thought I was bad with my "roomba" race battery and charger.

lol, there are very few electronic devices that I don't mod in some way. I just am never totally happy with the products as they are sold. Call it a weakness.