1AU - Universal Battery Charger & Rejuvenator

[gabiX87]

Another question.

Can I charge two 12V power tool (or LABs) batteries in series as 24V on the 7 or 8 setting on the 1AU ?

EDIT: With identical Ah rating and chemistry , of course.

[Aaron Murakami]

Hi, I already have the 1AU and using it everyday. Everything is working fine. I had to put the charger into the basement because of quiet loud buzz/noise/rattle while charging. It's kinda hard to be with it in one room while in operation. Is it normal? How about your charger ?

Thank you

The bigger the battery and/or the higher the setting, the more noise.

As long as your batteries are within the rating for each particular setting, you're charger is fine.

[gabiX87]

Hi, I already have the 1AU and using it everyday. Everything is working fine. I had to put the charger into the basement because of quiet loud buzz/noise/rattle while charging. It's kinda hard to be with it in one room while in operation. Is it normal? How about your charger ?

Thank you

[Aaron Murakami]

Hi Aaron,

Thanks for the response. I'll switch to a c10 or c20 rate next time. I always use c20 for lead acid batteries, but just used the default value of the CBA III for the NiCads. I don't have any experience with NiCads so was a little unsure of the proper rate. I also don't know how much the drill pulls out of them in normal use.



Again, I just used the default value of the CBA III which is .9 volts/cell for NiCads. So that was 9 volts for the 10 cell/12.0 volt battery. And the default current draw for the CBA III is c1 or 1.3 amps for a 1.3 amp hr rated battery. I thought that was a bit too much for the condition the batteries were in, so I backed it off to 1.0 amp discharge.

It will be interesting to see what you can get out of the battery with a lower draw like c10 or c20. Most of my tool batts are 18v. I can do some CBA IV tests on them, but I have it tied up on the Walmart garden batts right now.

[Gary Hammond]

Hi Aaron,

Thanks for the response. I'll switch to a c10 or c20 rate next time. I always use c20 for lead acid batteries, but just used the default value of the CBA III for the NiCads. I don't have any experience with NiCads so was a little unsure of the proper rate. I also don't know how much the drill pulls out of them in normal use.

What voltage are you taking the batteries down to?

Again, I just used the default value of the CBA III which is .9 volts/cell for NiCads. So that was 9 volts for the 10 cell/12.0 volt battery. And the default current draw for the CBA III is c1 or 1.3 amps for a 1.3 amp hr rated battery. I thought that was a bit too much for the condition the batteries were in, so I backed it off to 1.0 amp discharge.

[Aaron Murakami]

I think this battery is coming back to life!

Glad to hear it!

The 1amp draw on a 1.3 ah battery is a really big discharge rate for cycling. I know using them on a tool will draw quite a bit, but with the CBA, I'd enter a c20 or c10 rate at the most. You can draw on them harder for the first few, but after that, I'd really reduce the draw down current.

So 1.3ah battery, instead of an amp, I'd only draw 65ma (c20) or 130ma (c10). It will take a lot longer, but you will really see what the battery capacity is compared to the manufacturers spec.

What voltage are you taking the batteries down to?

[Yaro1776]

1AU Bonus,

I have used the 1AU to successfully recharge many batteries and have found the NiCads to be obstinate at times in comparison to the NiMH's and LAB's. The NiCad batteries have some issues with charge memory and I have observed this a number of times. DeWalt cordless tools are popular due to price point, however they have battery issues that I have noted in several instances where the battery can only be charged to a certain voltage. Recently, I recharged two of these 12 volt units with 1 AU and was able to obtain a 9.5 volt and 11.5 volt recharge from an otherwise useless battery. Both batteries were subsequently cycled several times with no improvement in final voltage. My thought was that they were toast!

I was going to a trade show and tossed these batteries into the trunk of my vehicle where they experienced below 0 F temperatures overnight. For show and tell purposes I then used these batteries at the trade show with the 1AU. To my amazement both of the batteries took a charge to the expected voltage - stunned I watched the voltmeter climb to 13.5+ volts and both batteries finally were charged to 12 volts ( 12.35 v). I returned both of these batteries to the original party - have not heard back from them yet as to performance - I will follow up!

Check out w/Google Battery University - excellent info on all types of batteries. The NiCad and Lithium Ion sections are tres informative.

Yaro

[Gary Hammond]

I'm a little red faced!

Guess the battery just needed some more conditioning. I didn't wait long enough. This time the green LED came on after about 145 minutes of charging which was about 25 minutes after the voltage peaked and started to decline and the battery start warming.

It appears to sample the "at rest" voltage every 20 minutes or so, and it stopped charging after the seventh sample! I think this battery is comming back to life!

[Gary Hammond]

I recently purchased the 1AU charger because of it's ability to charge a wide variety of small batteries of all types from 1.2 to 24 volts. My neighbor who runs an electrical, plumbing, & heating business gave me several old Makita tools with worn out NiCad batteries and their chargers. He was going to throw them all away, but gave them to me instead. Most of them are 9.6 volt and a few are 12 volt.

Of the first three 9.6 volt batteries I tried to revive using my SSG only one came back to life. They are all rated at 1.3AH and I was able to get it up to about 1AH using a 1 amp discharge rate. But after several charge - discharge cycles it seems to be losing some of it's capacity. Either it doesn't like all that radiant charging, OR I may have caused it some damage by overcharging it? Of the other two 9.6 volt batteries I charged on the SSG neither would rest above 7.5 volts. I removed one of the battery packs from it's shell and discovered a couple of the cells were dead. So I decided it was time to buy the 1AU charger!

So far I have only been working with a single 12volt 1.3 AH NiCad battery pack charging it with the 1AU and discharging it with the West Mountain Radio CBA III. I am charting both the charge cycles and the discharge cycles. On the first charge cycle I had to push in the VDB button to get it started as the battery only showed a few milli-volts. After about 3 hours of charging on level 5, the voltage peaked at about 15.5 volts, leveled off, and started to decline along with the battery becoming warm. The green fully charged indicator never came on, but I stopped the charge because of the conditions that indicated a full charge. The first discharge cycle at 1.0 amp draw gave about .75AH. The next two cycles the battery peaked again at 15.5 volts in just over two hours and produced .89AH.

The green fully charged light never came on at all in any of the charge cycles. Yet my RC-10A-12 charger green led comes on at about 15.3 volts on the LABs I use for the primaries on the SSG.

Question : How does the 1AU know when to switch from red to green indicating a full charge with so many different voltage batteries and power levels? I assumed that when a NiCad peaks at 1.55 volts/cell, levels off, then drops and starts to heat it's fully charged - but the charger didn't indicate that.

[Aaron Murakami]

Aaron these cheap harbor freight batteries you speak of are they rechargable batteries
or just regular batts that you are charging?
Kevin

They're rechargable nicads and nickle metal hydrides. AAA, AA and 9v's mostly.

Pack of 4 NiMH Rechargeable AA Batteries

Pack of 4 High Capacity NiMH Rechargeable AA Batteries

4 Pack NiCd Rechargeable AA Batteries

I use all three of those. I'm sure they're all low quality but they do the job and some of the ones I have
like the green ones have gotten over 100 cycles. I wouldn't get any of those online - too expensive.
In the store, they are on sale all the time for much less.

I wouldn't depend on them for emergency flashlights or anything - I'd get some real good quality ones
but these work great for remote controls, computer mouse, etc... They've save me a ton of $ from having
to buy non-rechargables.

The best quality rechargables that I've had probably are the ones from radio shack - pretty spendy but
they do hold a charge longer than the harbor freight ones even if they are rated at the same ah.

[kevin]

Aaron these cheap harbor freight batteries you speak of are they rechargable batteries
or just regular batts that you are charging?
Kevin

[Aaron Murakami]

Kevin,

None of these chargers are designed or guaranteed for lithiums. However, many people
have used them successfully, specifically - with this 1AU.

If you use the 1AU for the lithiums, it is at your own risk and there is no guarantee it will work and
it could damage your batteries.

I would use a lower than normal setting on the 1AU for any lithiums compared to the same voltage
with the other batts that it is designed for.

I've used is successfully on a number of button cell batteries in series on the lowest setting but again,
it isn't designed for it.

Many of the lithiums have internal electrical components that can be problematic and it is possible
to damage them with this charger. I think that applies to the bigger lithiums like tool batts, etc...

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On a different note, I use my 1AU more than anything else. It runs probably 300 days out of the year
for the last 3+ years . It is the only way I charge my tool batteries (mostly nicads - 12 & 18v) and
I still have 2 X 18v nicads from a Black and Decker trimmer that are about 5 years old and they're still in
perfect shape. I charge all my cheap harbor freight AAA, AA, C, D and 9v radio batts with the 1AU.

[kevin]

Tom I purchased one last year but was wondering does it charge the new Lithium-Ion batteries
I got a new drill and impact set for xmas?
Kevin

[Tom C]

I can say the same thing for my ryobi batteries. I had 5 of the 5 one was just toast, the charger would not bring it back, but the other 4 are going strong!! this charger also works on my small sla batteries i have laying around. get one if you can!

Tom C

[Daryl Hansen]

1UA Charger

This is definitely the most amazing charger Energenx makes. I charge my son's scooter with it, tool batteries, camera batteries, and of course all of my rechargeable NIMH batteries. I have had this charger for about 3 years and none of the batteries that I regularly charge with this charger have shown any sign of decreased capacity. The little L-ion camera batteries have been the most mazing cases of recovery. Several times I received totally dead batteries, that I have recovered to like new condition, with only a single charge. I don't understand how that is possible, but it's true. It's not even designed for Lithium based batteries, but it works wonders on the little ones. It doesn't seem to work on laptop batteries though. I think it may have something to do with current limiting circuitry, that the little guys don't have.