[Smiley433]

Bought a Battery Wizard last month to try and cut down on having to buy replacement batteries. It claims to rechare "ordinary" batteries up to 10 times.

Inserted four AA batteries and switched it on and got four red lights - basically the machine rejected them probably cos they were "too flat". Managed to get a little charge into a 9v battery and then put it away for a while.

Yesterday tried those same AA batteries in the charger again and left them on charge for a few hours. Then there was a bang and found one of them had split open the case and spilt a little battery acid into the charger. Binned all four of them. Short while later there was another bang and the 9v battery that had been in the charger last month and was now in the smoke detector had split open. That went in the bin too.

Anyone had better success, or recommendations for getting the most out of it?

[CitySlicker]

My recommendation for getting the most out of it is to sell it/return it for a refund. Ordinary batteries cannot be safely recharged as you've found out. These devices have been around on general sale for at least 10 years, so you can tell they haven't caught on.

[nicemms]

The reason they go bang is probably due to the fact that standard aa batteries aren't meant to be recharged. It clearly says that on the packet!

[HenryGarten]

Originally Posted by Smiley433

Yesterday tried those same AA batteries in the charger again and left them on charge for a few hours. Then there was a bang and found one of them had split open the case and spilt a little battery acid into the charger. Binned all four of them. Short while later there was another bang and the 9v battery that had been in the charger last month and was now in the smoke detector had split open. That went in the bin too.

I have neer known there to be battery acid in an AA battery.

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by HenryGarten

I have neer known there to be battery acid in an AA battery.

lead / acid batterys , would contain what ??? , lead and acid maybe

[HenryGarten]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

lead / acid batterys , would contain what ??? , lead and acid maybe

Yes but they are big batteries like car batteries. Small batteries are a different technology.

[diablo]

Alkaline batteries can leak potassium hydroxide, which is alkaline, rather than acidic. It can corrosive though - don't get it near your eyes.

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by HenryGarten

Yes but they are big batteries like car batteries. Small batteries are a different technology.

not if they were old , pre alkalines were lead acid , unlikely i agree but factually correct

[Prontopro]

Originally Posted by Smiley433

Bought a Battery Wizard last month to try and cut down on having to buy replacement batteries. It claims to rechare "ordinary" batteries up to 10 times.

Inserted four AA batteries and switched it on and got four red lights - basically the machine rejected them probably cos they were "too flat". Managed to get a little charge into a 9v battery and then put it away for a while.

Yesterday tried those same AA batteries in the charger again and left them on charge for a few hours. Then there was a bang and found one of them had split open the case and spilt a little battery acid into the charger. Binned all four of them. Short while later there was another bang and the 9v battery that had been in the charger last month and was now in the smoke detector had split open. That went in the bin too.

Anyone had better success, or recommendations for getting the most out of it?

If you use a lot of ordinary batteries then I'd recommend replacing them with rechargeable ones as the ordinary ones run out. Then you can use the battery wizard as a normal charger and not have to worry about exploding batteries.

The batteries are exploding and splitting due to the excessive heat caused by the charging current. Is it adjustable for the different battery types you can put in and have you set it correctly?

[Smiley433]

Thanks for all the advice and corrections.

It does claim it can recharge normal batteries, I guess I was sold on that.

So looks like I'll be keeping it as an (expensive) battery recharger and I'll go out and get some rechargables at some point.

[Up Pompey!!]

A Battery recharger with 4-6 batteries you can get for about a tenner... I've been using one for 4 years, Musty have saved 100 pounds plus worth of buying batteries

[diablo]

Originally Posted by Smiley433

So looks like I'll be keeping it as an (expensive) battery recharger and I'll go out and get some rechargables at some point.

Maplin are doing a special offer on their own brand NiMH batteries at the moment. If there's a branch near you it may be worth getting some.

[Smiley433]

Update: Placed a verdict message on the website where I bought it from back in January basically stating that I couldn't recommend it and potential purchasers would be better off buying proper rechargables as per the above recommendation.

Obviously the company didn't publish it my comment. However I did get an email response from their "Brand Director" indicating that they had successfully sold "thousands" of these items and had no complaints - my one was likely to be faulty. Even though it was now six months old I did post it back to them explaining I would like a repair or replacement.

Credit Card statement arrived today showing they had refunded me in full only ten days later - I guess they either couldn't repair it or admitted that it was not fit for purpose. And I've since bought a recharger and batteries from Maplin.

[pythag]

Glad to hear you got your money back.

I bought one of these things ages ago, but mine was called " Battery Manager Ultra" and I purchased mine from Innovations (which i think have since gone bust???).

It was terrible. In the instructions it said "Don't let them get below 50% charge - recharge them before this point" and also "Don't use recharged batteries in high drain applications". I think they relied on the fact that people wouldn't spot it hadn't actually done anything because there was at least half the batteries original life left.

I did an experiment once. I bought a 4-pack of Duracell batteries, and with two of them I timed how long they ran a torch for (to the nearest hour). I then took the other two, ran them in the torch for half of the time it took the others to go flat, then 'charged' them. I then put them back in the torch and began timing again. In total the recharged batteries actually lasted less time then the non-recharged ones - i.e. it actually managed to discharge them a bit while it was supposed to be charging!

I also experienced 4 of my Ni-MH batteries go bad after being charged in the device a couple of times, so in the bin the whole thing went (actually, I took it apart for bits ).

Utter rubbish.

[Smiley433]

Considering I'd had the product long after the date of their returns policy, I cannot fault the company for accepting the product back and providing a full refund. Just a shame the actual product wasn't up to scratch.

They are selling a similar product for £15 more than what I bought the "Battery Wizard" for, but I think I'll give that one a miss too. And the "Battery Manager Ultra" as well by all accounts.

[marty111]

I would recommend that you get eather an energizer USB battery charger (takes 2 hours for AA batteries and 1 for aaa types) or an energizer ch1hr-bs 1 hour charger ( usb one costs around £14 and the other around 10-20 on eBay) both are great and work well.

[Channel Hopper]

Originally Posted by Smiley433

Considering I'd had the product long after the date of their returns policy, I cannot fault the company for accepting the product back and providing a full refund. Just a shame the actual product wasn't up to scratch.

I have a large box of magic beans in the greenhouse, only £10 a dozen plus £3 P+P.