On Sun, 03 Apr 2016 14:39:40 +0100, pamela wrote:

snip

I also have the Ansmann Energy * and 16 models and think they
are great chargers. They will also do C and D cells of course.

I count 3 chargers, so far. Are you building a collection? :-)

Erm, yes. I probably have more like 20+ chargers here of all different
types inc the ones I've mentioned and bigger car, Electric Scooter
(24V lead acid and 26V Li-Ion) plus model car / boat / aircraft
chargers etc. But then I have spent most of my life playing with
batteries, RC models and even my road going electric car so it's not
surprising. ;-)

I can never work out quite what logic is used by the Lidl/Ansmann
charger. Sometimes it drains the cell and sometimes it tops them up.

I think it (well mine do) drain first, it's just if they are already
pretty flat that won't take very long?

Do you know what the difference is between Refresh and Pre-Charge in
the Ansmann 8 instructions below?

================
BATTERY QUICK TEST

After inserting the batteries, the state of charge is displayed:
LED green: capacity over 80% of the nominal capacity
LED orange: capacity between 25% and 80% of the nominal capacity
LED red: capacity lower 25% of the nominal capacity

Ok, seen that and it makes sense.

After 5 seconds, if the batteries are not removed, the unit switches
over to automatic refreshing/charge mode.

LED INDICATORS / CHARGE MODES

LED flashes red/green "Refreshing" - Refresh mode

Is that the discharging phase?

LED flashes green "Pre-Charging" - Pre-charge mode

Working out how to best charge that cell?

LED lights red "Charging" - Fast charge mode

Bulk charge phase.

LED lights green "Ready"“ - battery fully charged/top-off or trickle
charge mode

As it says, trickle charge mode.

LED flashes red "Error" - faulty battery or alkaline battery
detected

Duff. ;-)

snip

As I tend to do the full/ refresh test it can keep cycling the
cells until it stops seeing an increase in capacity, it can take
a while (a day / days), especially if you set the rates low so
as to keep the temperatures as low as possible.

It's smart that it can cycle until no more capacity is detected.

It is but I think it's more pertinent for NiCd than anything later.

Presumably this is for each individual cell.

Yup. I don't think I've still got any chargers that charge 'packs'
other than those found inside equipment (where the battery stays in
the device) or the very low current jobbies for slow charging RC gear.

When testing both AA and AAAs I try to mark the tested
capacities on the cells themselves with a fine Sharpie, that way
I can use combinations (or the same make and model) that have
similar tested capacities.

The tester can be very revealing ... both informing you of any
cells that are being 'oversold' but also the condition of any
sets of cells you are using as one 'battery'. I have been able
to discard a few duff cells that I wouldn't otherwise have been
able to isolate, giving the remaining cells a better life.

If you test for actual compared to advertised capacity then doesn't
that presume there's only one standardised end-voltage as a cutoff
point but I'm not sure if that's the case.

I'm not sure if it can detect the difference between NiCd and NiMh but
may just look for the drop in voltage that normally occurs around the
fully charged point (negative delta V, NiCd) or that plus other
factors for NiMh (like temperature).

The BC 700 I gave to my (non technical) mate was to try to get
him to understand that just taking any combination of
(typically) different (marked) capacity cells and using them
together wasn't a good idea. The idea was for him to test all
his cells, mark them and then use them in matched sets (2's and
4's typically). I think he may have tested a couple but judging
by the mix of cells I often see in the charger, I'm guessing he
isn't using them as I suggested. At least he isn't cooking the
cells like he was before in a rapid charger (as seen by the
number of cells with split or crinkled skins). ;-(


Your friend reminds me of a charger I had which didn't switch off
soon enough and the cells would often get very hot.

My Ansmann 'Energy' chargers can still cause a (typically 'iffy') cell
to get quite hot but any that do I put on the BC 700 and let that
determine what's going on.

I decided to cool
the finished cells by wrapping them all over in kitchen foil because
aluminium is a good heat conductor.

If you wrapped them tightly it may not have made matters much worse.
Wrapping them loosely would be like putting them in an emergency
blanket. ;-)

I wondered why they didn't seem
to cool down! I'm probably lucky the cells didn't explode.

I think once off charge they wouldn't have got much hotter ...
assuming you didn't short them out with the aluminium foil that is ...
;-(


Cheers, T i m