Overnight Nimh Family Battery Charger Review

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(More customer reviews)The Energizer Overnight Family Battery Charger (CHFCV) looks very similar to the Rayovac Universal Battery Charger (PS3). Both are capable of charging AAA, AA, C, D-cells and 9V batteries. They are physically about the same size, and even cost about the same. So one would expect the charger with a more famous brand (Energizer) to have a better design, right? WRONG!
The biggest problem with the Energizer CHFCV is that it is a timer-based dumb charger. That means this charger does not detect whether your batteries are empty or fully. It simply charges them at a fixed current (200mA) for a fixed time (16.5 hours) and then turns off. If all you ever need is to recharge AA cells with capacity 2500-2700mAh, then this is not too bad (because 200mA*16.5h = 3300mAh). However, this charger treats all different battery sizes (AA/AAA/C/D) the same way. So if you are charging a pair of 800mAh AAA cells, you better remember to remove them after 4-5 hours, otherwise they will be over-charged by 300%! On the other hand, if you try to use this charger with larger capacity cells (such as a pair of 10,000mAh D-cells), the timer will expire long before the cells are fully charged.
Another problem with this dumb charger is: it can only recharge identical cells in pairs. This is very inconvenient if you have appliances that require odd number (1 or 3) of cells. Now you are left with an empty cell that you cannot recharge. If you try to pair up an empty cell with a full cell in this charger, the latter one will be badly over-charged.
In comparison, the Rayovac PS3 is vastly superior in every aspect. It is a smart charger with 4 independently monitored channels. Charging stops as soon as each cell is full, so there is no danger of over-charging. It is more versatile in that it can detect different battery chemistry (NiCd, NiMH, or alkaline) and adopts different charging methods. It also recharges faster because it uses higher current (up to 480mA).
Energizer also makes a newer version called Energizer Family Charger (CHFC) for slightly higher price. It is a big improvement over this overnight charger (CHFCV). However, I still prefer the Rayovac PS3 because it has the added capability to recharge ordinary alkaline cells.

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