alesmith56 said:If any one knows of a site that is closer to real time I would be all ears!That would be nice. I also added some of the RRSTalker feeds to my Google Reader as mentioned by efficacyman above.

- Eric

I snoozed, I loosed. Back up to $51. dang it.

I use this charger with Sanyon Eneloops in my Pentax K100D and my Wiimotes. They last as long as alkalines in the Wiimotes and much longer than alkalines in the Pentax.

greenlaser said:hungrydog said:howvintage said:FYI, this charger can charge batteries that are above .9v. Otherwise, they will read "Null." ... It happenned to me before but later on they added the picture how to revive the dead bat, I tried and it worked. If you have the old charger is good, if not, follow the pic.
I would not say this is a good idea. There is nothing here to regulate the current (except the dead battery). Anyone that is using rechargeables, and interested in this product, already has an old charger. Use that to get started.

I guess the output of the charger is regulated, but are you sure you are not dumping the full current from the other battery into the dead one...I agree with greenlaser - DON'T DO IT!

To get an idea of the potential for damage, try this experiment:

• Bend a large (2") paperclip into a 'U' slightly larger than the length of an AA NiMh cell (so that you can hold the paperclip in one hand and insert an AA NiMh cell in-between the ends of the 'U' without the cell actually TOUCHING the paperclip).

• Momentarily squeeze the paperclip so that it contacts both the '+' and '-' terminals of a fully-charged AA NiMh cell.

• With the full unregulated current of the AA NiMh cell flowing into the paperclip, it will IMMEDIATELY emulate a TOASTER element. You will be able to verify this with your fingers. If you don't let go quickly enough, you will burn yourself. If you wear gloves and hold on too long, the cell will overheat and possibly explode.

Be sure that the 'U' is LARGER than the length of the AA NiMh cell so that when you DROP IT, it will disconnect the short.

TakeTheActive said:greenlaser said:hungrydog said:howvintage said:FYI, this charger can charge batteries that are above .9v. Otherwise, they will read "Null." ... It happenned to me before but later on they added the picture how to revive the dead bat, I tried and it worked. If you have the old charger is good, if not, follow the pic.
I would not say this is a good idea. There is nothing here to regulate the current (except the dead battery). Anyone that is using rechargeables, and interested in this product, already has an old charger. Use that to get started.

I guess the output of the charger is regulated, but are you sure you are not dumping the full current from the other battery into the dead one...I agree with greenlaser - DON'T DO IT!

To get an idea of the potential for damage, try this experiment:

• Bend a large (2") paperclip into a 'U' slightly larger than the length of an AA NiMh cell (so that you can hold the paperclip in one hand and insert an AA NiMh cell in-between the ends of the 'U' without the cell actually TOUCHING the paperclip).
  
  
• Momentarily squeeze the paperclip so that it contacts both the '+' and '-' terminals of a fully-charged AA NiMh cell.
  
  
• With the full unregulated current of the AA NiMh cell flowing into the paperclip, it will IMMEDIATELY emulate a TOASTER element. You will be able to verify this with your fingers. If you don't let go quickly enough, you will burn yourself. If you wear gloves and hold on too long, the cell will overheat and possibly explode.





Be sure that the 'U' is LARGER than the length of the AA NiMh cell so that when you DROP IT, it will disconnect the short.

I don't think your analogy is correct. You are describing dead shorting a cell. From the pic on Amazon, the guy is just putting the two cells in parallel.

Sucks that for a high end charger that is advertised at reviving dead cells, that we even have to do this at all. Also, another negative for this charger is that it does not have a discharge mode. The "discharge" mode is actually a cycle mode. There is no way to just tell it to discharge the batteries.

$51.93 at Amazon now with free super saver shipping. Looks like still b/o for 2 weeks.

Its on sale again for $44.99 with free super saver shipping.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Be wary of drastic price fluctuations, May 27, 2007
By F. Thomas - See all my reviews
I''m just writing this for everyone's benefit. I have not purchased one of these yet because of the drastic changes in price. I don't know whether it has to do with the supply/demand, seasons or what. Nevertheless, the price of this item is ridiculously volatile. Have I seen this happen much worse for other items, sure, but hey everyone including myself wants to get a good deal. It takes time out of your life requesting the difference from Amazon, and hey, time is money. Here's a pricing timeline.

Starting price: 34.99
12/23/06 39.99
1/12/07 34.99
1/14/07 39.99
1/15/07 36.99
1/16/07 39.99 (3:51am)
1/16/07 36.99 (9:52am)
1/17/07 39.99
5/10/07 37.19
5/27/07 47.95
5/27/07 49.99 (As I speak)

Hope this helps.

macosx said:I've been able to charge "dead" batteries, but they aren't really fully revived, and mostly underperform. The charger is good overall, but some low performing batteries still get good numbers. Then when you actually use the battery, it doesn't last very long or if it's stored a few days, it quickly self-drains. I've yet to find a good method of identifying bad cells that should pretty much be disposed. A load test or measuring internal resistance might or might not work. I've left the cells sit for 24 hours and charge again, and poor performing batteries often can be charged a lot again (1000mAh), while good batteries generally top off after about 200mAh. [I do get significant variability depending on which compartment is used.]

Have you tried the 'refresh' mode? It takes a long time, but has done a nice job of renewing batteries like you're describing.

Best charger I have ever used. I had a few batteries that were almost "dead/unusable" and with this charger I was able to revive them.