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Hi,

I've just bought one of the 10 cell NiMH chargers from Jaycar but it doesnt come with any instructions? Should it?

There's a few things that I'm not sure about.

1. It has a timer which prevents overcharging. How long is this timer?

2. Does pressing the discharge button for a few seconds start the discharge function? What color should the LEDs be during discharge?

3. Does it automatically begin charging after a discharge?

Thanks.

I'm not sure why you wouldn't be asking these questions of Jaycar.

I agree with Andrew. Talk to Jaycar. ComplaIn & if necessary demand your money back as the product was defective when sold (i.e. no instructions)

HOWEVER,
Question 1 has me worried.
Chargers that rely on a timer circuit have a nasty habit of destroying batteries. Be Wary. Very wary.
If battery is put in that is only partially discharged, it will come to full charge, then start overheating before the timer kicks in. OTOH, if a fully discharged battery is used that has a greater capacity than the charger is designed for, it will never reach full charge.
You want to look for one that uses "Delta V" to shut down the charging circuit.

All that said, I use a timer type to recover batteries that are too fully discharged for my regular charger to recognise. I only leave them in for a few minutes though to provide sufficient V for my main charger to recognise the cell.

The charger has delta v cutoff. The timer would only be for backup. I am worried that the timer will cut off before large capacity batteries are fully charged.

I'll ask Jaycar, however I'm guessing they won't be able to help much.

Looks like a good peice of kit. I carry about 20 batteries, and charging 9 at a time would be better than 4, then 4, then 1. (i.e. sb600 + sb800)

Can you let us know how you get on?

The reason I got charger is because it monitors each cell individually.

It's not a fast charger though. The charge current is only 250mA per cell.

I have found Jaycar staff to be pretty helpful - definitely worth asking
at the source.

Mr Darcy wrote:I agree with Andrew. Talk to Jaycar. ComplaIn & if necessary demand your money back as the product was defective when sold (i.e. no instructions)

Sorry Greg but that would not hold up in court

Seeing as how I do most of Jaycar’s packaging I checked my files to see if I had produced an instruction manual for this product, but unfortunately not.

I talked to Jaycar yesterday. They confirmed that no instructions come with it. Apparantly there are 'instructions' on the box. But it's really just a list of features.

They're going to see if they can find out about my Qs in the 1st post.

I was thinking ther would be people here using this charger. I remember Birdy used to rave about it.

sirhc55 wrote:

Mr Darcy wrote:I agree with Andrew. Talk to Jaycar. ComplaIn & if necessary demand your money back as the product was defective when sold (i.e. no instructions)

Sorry Greg but that would not hold up in court

But it would almost certainly get your money back at POS.

I have the instructions (single sheet) for this charger in pdf format - I had one a few years ago and tracked it down online somewhere. The model number is MB-3512, it sounds like the same one, 250mA charge rate with a 12 hour safety timer.

I can send you the file if you PM me your email address.

Cheers

I've checked the model number on mine. It's an MB-3551 and seems like it might be an updated version of the MB-3512. I'm guessing it was updated to handle higher capacity batteries.

A 12 hr timer cutoff would not be enough to charge a 2500mAh AA at 250mA. I saw some specs for the MB-3551 which said typical charge times for a 2500mAh battery is 14hrs.

I guess though, that the charger generally functions in the manner described in the instructions I sent you - perhaps the only difference is the timer programming. In any case, a 12 hour cutoff (which is equivalent to 3000mAh at a 250mA rate) would probably be OK for most cells, apart from dead flat ones.

I wasn't very happy with the performance of this charger however, and replaced it with a Maha 801D (only 8 cells, but it can charge at 1 or 2 amps)

Cheers

I second Maha. After years of being frustrated with inferior rechargeables and even worse chargers I bit the bullet and bought a MH-C9000 and several packs of Imedions. I wish I'd done it a long time ago.

Potoroo wrote:I second Maha. After years of being frustrated with inferior rechargeables and even worse chargers I bit the bullet and bought a MH-C9000 and several packs of Imedions. I wish I'd done it a long time ago.

Snap... mine should arrive today, although knowing my luck, no one will be home when aussie post arrives so i will have to sweet talk my wife into picking it up tomorrow.

Ant.