Ignoramus7945 wrote:

I have a lot of things, most of which have batteries, and therefore I
have a lot of battery chargers.

My experience with them has been generally negative. The worst are the
so called "smart" chargers.

The problem is that they are often the opposite of "smart". They go
crazy and stop charging for no reason, or worse, drain the batteries.
Additionally, they fail due to things such as cold weather or
whatever, things any decently made item should handle.


** The charges that really "suck" are ones that ruin the cells in short order by overcharging and hence overheating them. Ones that rely on sensing the temp of a cell or run for a fixed time are the main offenders.


The chargers, at least for lead acid batteries, would really be better
off, if they simply tried to maintain 13.3 volts or some such.

** Most do just that, fixed current charge with a max voltage of 13.5 or so to float the cells. Smart ones can detect shorted cells or open circuit conditions and do noting.


My question is, is my experience unique and atypical, or have you also
had bad experience with battery chargers.

** Plenty - especially ones that try to fast charge loose cells removed from the item as if they were a pack.

FYI:

I have a cordless screwdriver ( Bosch, made in Switzerland) ) that has a non removable pack and a fixed time charger, runs about 4 hours. Long as the driver is sluggish when you connect the charger it does the job fine every time with only a slight temp rise.

Its 20 years old now and I have replaced the 4 sub-C NiCd cells three times..


..... Phil