"AA" "AAA" battery charger. What are the better models/brands to get.

Alright I did some searching but it seemed that all the threads that I have found are rather old... at least 1-3 years old. I found that a bit off but whatever...

I know a lot of people are crazy for Eneloops and that's all great and everything but the problem that I have is that their chargers charge in sets of 2 for their current systems that they have out which can shorten the battery life.
I've come across a lot of info about the La Crosse Tech. battery chargers and a lot of people are loving them but I've also seen a lot of stuff related to them melting and burning up but IDK if that's due to user error either. Not everyone can be the brightest bulb in the box...

Does anyone else have knowledge as to what's good to get and what is safe to get. I don't need any melted chargers or anything. It would be nice to have a quick charge option but that will probably hardly ever be used, I don't want to risk damaged batteries or blown up batteries, unless I have to.... As in I run out of batteries during an event or something.

EDIT: Links to chargers:
for me personally, I'm always all over some amazon purchasing... I'm a little addicted to that site. I just ordered a bunch of other gear from them recently as well...

Here is the 4 cell maha (MC-C9000):
Maha Powerex MH-C9000 WizardOne Charger-Analyzer

I use the Maha 801D, which charges 8 batteries, and La Cross BC9009. I've read that both chargers work real well. I went with the BC9009 also, because it's supposed to charge a completely dead battery, while other chargers cannot. I'm not sure if the Maha 801D will charge a dead battery or not.

I think the issue with the chargers melting is if the user performs a rapid/quick charge, which creates allot of heat. I rarely do this, so I have never had any issues. I normally just use the normal, slow charge.


I forgot to mention that both charges I have charges, discharges, reconditions, allows slow and quick charges.

+1 on the maha 801D. Not only charges but discharges and reconditions them too.

I like the Maha that actually read the true milliamphour capacity (often lower than the trumped up, advertised capacity), like the C9000

vid1900 wrote in post #10728397
I like the Maha that actually read the true milliamphour capacity (often lower than the trumped up, advertised capacity), like the C9000

Are you saying the La Crosse doesn't read the right Mah or that it does read the right mah like the Maha charger?

I'm using the LaCrosse BC-900. It has several different charge levels/speeds, does discharging/reconditio​ning, and I haven't seen it melt or catch fire yet. I use it with Eneloops as well as several other brands of AA's/AAA's. The recondition cycle has been able to salvage a few batteries I thought were toast.

I see that the BC-9009 (la crosse unit) will charge at rates from 200-1800mAh so I guess it has a few different charge speeds.

but the maha seems to only have 2 speeds, soft and fast... so idk.. seems kind of like it should be a little more versatile than limiting to just 2 modes. unless they are going under the school of thought that people are dumb and shouldn't be allowed too many options.

EDIT: what was in this post before was wrong information, I misread the product info.

My C9000 says it will charge batteries from 100 to 20,000 mAh.

I've never seen an AA battery claim to have more than 3,100 mAh, but I guess it's good to know. LOL

Maha MH-C808M or Maha MH-C9000. Have both and they both work great.

I just purchased the Eneloops from costco, 8 AA, 4 AAA, and a charger all for $25.

V-Wiz wrote in post #10733514
I just purchased the Eneloops from costco, 8 AA, 4 AAA, and a charger all for $25.

the problem that I have is:
1. I'm not a cosco member
2. the nearest location to me is an hours drive
3. I would never travel that far and pay the 50 bucks for membership just for batteries/chargers.
4. The current eneloop chargers actually shorten the life of the batteries a little due to the fact that the new chargers charge in sets of 2. So each battery isn't charged individually like they should be. This reduces the battery life substantially which is unfortunate and I think it might be a deliberate choice by eneloop to make people buy their batteries faster at the same time of producing a less expensive unit that they can still charge the same price for...

BoneJj wrote in post #10733610
the problem that I have is:
1. I'm not a cosco member
2. the nearest location to me is an hours drive
3. I would never travel that far and pay the 50 bucks for membership just for batteries/chargers.
4. The current eneloop chargers actually shorten the life of the batteries a little due to the fact that the new chargers charge in sets of 2. So each battery isn't charged individually like they should be. This reduces the battery life substantially which is unfortunate and I think it might be a deliberate choice by eneloop to make people buy their batteries faster at the same time of producing a less expensive unit that they can still charge the same price for...

I see what you mean, They charge 4 at a time.

V-Wiz wrote in post #10733809
I see what you mean, They charge 4 at a time.

no, you didn't catch the meaning. The eneloop charger only charges in sets of 2, the left 2 slot are connected and the right 2 slots are connected. The charger will only charge when there are 2 batteries either left or right. not one in the left and one in the right. Basically what it is doing is that it sees both batteries as one and things that both should be treated as one. This results in one of them not getting the attention it needs which results in that one and others have a shorter life span total.

mroe advanced chargers will deplete the battery to near dead then recharge to give teh battery a better life span. which in some cases can substantially extend the life of the battery to far beyond the expected life span of around 3 years.

My old charger used the discharge and recharge method and as a result my batteries lasted much longer than I would have expected. Granted it does tend to help to have a DUMB charger that doesn't "SEE" the batteries as if a battery is completely depleted the dumb charger will put some kind of power in it and then the advanced charger will be able to see it and do the cycling that it needs, which can bring a battery back that you might of ended up tossing..

This is why I'm on the hunt for a replacement charger for my old one that died out on me. After 10 years it gave up the ghost and is now in a landfill... (after I got ticked at it and slammed it with a small sledge, lol.)

Oh shoot, so it only charges 2 at a time, I didnt know, i just got it yesterday and havent even tryed them out.

V-Wiz wrote in post #10733886
Oh shoot, so it only charges 2 at a time, I didnt know, i just got it yesterday and havent even tryed them out.

yeah, unless they have a new charger model out that is updated then it will do exactly that. it will require 2 AA or 2 AAA in the unit to charge and they will need to be in either the left 2 slots or the right 2 slots. It should mention something about this in the instruction manual but may not.

The older eneloop charger did charge 1 slot at a time but they discontinued that one and released the "newer" charger with the current systems. In essence they kind of back dated their tech to turn a better profit.