Recharging regular alkalines in a Ni-Cad charger - is it really dangerous?

[yllus]

I've got an old Panasonic recharger and set of batteries that go with it, mostly AAAs (I need AAs these days, ironically enough). I had a friend in high school who'd put regular alkalines in his charger and it charged them just fine, was he running a risk of explosion/frying his charger, or is that pretty much a safe thing to do?

Also: I've got this old recharger, but doubt Panasonic is still selling the batteries that originally went along with it. Can I use newer Ni-Cad batteries in this charger? Not really looking forward to buying a new set of batteries AND charger.

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Explode, probably not....leak, possibly. I've never heard of anyone successfully recharging alkaline batteries. If it's a regular nicad charger it should be able to charge new nicads just fine (not sure about nimh, etc).

Another thing, you shouldn't really charge slow charge batteries in a fast charger (slow meaning over night, fast meaning an hour or so).

 

[N8Magic]

I have no idea of the science behind it, but this doesn't sound like something I would make regular practice.

 

[d33pt]

just try it and let us know.. maybe it's a big scam and all alkalines are rechargable except no one ever tried it.. hell, you can singlehandedly bring down the battery industry.. think about that... worth the risk

 

[Antisocial Virge]

I did laser repair at my last job. Guys would buy Nicads but instead of recharging them they would swap them out on the job site with alkalines. The next guy would come along and plug it in to recharge it not knowing they had alkalines in it. End result? Big repair bill..had to replace the battery shell due to the batteries leaking.

 

[StandardCell]

Alkaline chargers use pulses of voltage. Ni-Cad and other regular rechargables typically use a constant voltage. This means the chargers used for one type of battery could be dangerous for another. At best, your battery will leak or become useless. At worst, it could explode or catch fire. It all depends.

If you're really hard up for a low-cost charger, look for some free circuit diagrams online and build it. Not elegant, but could be cheap.

 

[yllus]

<< just try it and let us know.. maybe it's a big scam and all alkalines are rechargable except no one ever tried it.. hell, you can singlehandedly bring down the battery industry.. think about that... worth the risk >>

LOL!

Okay, at this point in time I guess I'm looking for slow charge Ni-Cad batteries that I can theoretically use in my Panasonic charger. Hmm, any hot deals on this kind of stuff? Wonder where RossMAN is at.

 

[ThisIsMatt]

<< Okay, at this point in time I guess I'm looking for slow charge Ni-Cad batteries that I can theoretically use in my Panasonic charger. Hmm, any hot deals on this kind of stuff? Wonder where RossMAN is at. >>

I don't think charging fast charge batteries in a slow charger will hurt them, I was just saying the other way around...

 

[Peetoeng]

Try on your own risk. But pray tell us what happens.

Hoping to have huge LMAO when reading your next post

 

[MWink]

Recharging non-rechargeable batteries is a very bad idea. I have done it. It did explode. It landed in the middle of my room. The charger was a mess. I've heard that if you recharge Lithium (not Li-Ion) battery it could catch fire! Also, even rechargeable alkalines are not very good. They don't recharge many times and lose a lot of capacity per charge (quickly dropping below that of a NICD).

Just go buy some new NICD's or a NIMH charger+batteries. You can get a crappy charger dirt cheap today. You can get a NICD/NIMH charger with 4 NIMH AA's Here for $17.