question about recharging nimh batteries

[spanky]

i have two 1800mah and two 2100mah nimh batteries. would it be a bad idea to charge them simultaneously in the same charger? i dont know if it matters, but this is the charger i have.

 

[element]

you'll want to charge the 2 1800s together and the 2 2100s together. you can put them in the same charger but bad idea to mix them up. Don't charge an 1800 with a 2100 and don't use them in the same device at the same time (1800&2100)

 

[spanky]

so it is safe to charge all four, as long as the same rated batteries goes in the same "bank"?

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: spanky
so it is safe to charge all four, as long as the same rated batteries goes in the same "bank"?

Correct.

 

[element]

yes
edit: to clarify, when I said same device I didn't mean the charger, I meant power draining device. To understand why think of when batteries are connected in series (as the usually are in devices), in series the + of one battery goes to the - of another. When one battery goes lower than the others, it will start to get charged in reverse by the stronger batteries. This can cause the cell's polarity to reverse.

The 1800s will surely discharge at different rates than the 2100s. If they run low you run the risk of the 2100s charging the 1800s in reverse so don't use say all 4 of those in a digicam that uses 4 AAs.

 

[spanky]

cool, thanx fella's

 

[element]

yw

 

[spanky]

Originally posted by: element
yes
edit: to clarify, when I said same device I didn't mean the charger, I meant power draining device. To understand why think of when batteries are connected in series (as the usually are in devices), in series the + of one battery goes to the - of another. When one battery goes lower than the others, it will start to get charged in reverse by the stronger batteries. This can cause the cell's polarity to reverse.

The 1800s will surely discharge at different rates than the 2100s. If they run low you run the risk of the 2100s charging the 1800s in reverse so don't use say all 4 of those in a digicam that uses 4 AAs.

well, i'm not gonna mix and match different rated batteries in the same device. it happens that i bought rechargable batteries on two occassions... once was a bunch of 1800mahs and another time i got some 2100mahs. i put them all in a bag and they sort of got all mixed up... some goes here... some goes there. when i looked in the bag today, i saw two 1800s and two 2100s. i was wondering if i could just charge them in one shot, rather then charging one set... then the next.

 

[0roo0roo]

if each batt has its own set of contacts... probably. the charger has to detect end of charge...its not a timer thing. so it should be ok

 

[Eli]

Get a charger where each battery is on an independant bank and forget about it.