Guys,
I'm posting this because I think that there might be a mis-understanding amongst Electricians, as far as Battery Chargers go.
Mainly with respect to suiting the type of charger to the battery looking to be charged.
With the advent of "Fast-Chargers" these days, batteries tend to have shorter lives, especially the Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cad) cells.
Nickel Metal Hydride has taken away the "memory" effect that the Ni-Cads had, but most people just charge them with the cheapest charger that they can buy.
Lead-Acid batteries are a different kettle of fish altogether.
Guys, I want to get a dialouge going about Battery Chargers for different batteries.
What is the best type?.

I have to say that I've never been that keen on the fast-chargers. Certainly for NiCd cells, a long, slow charge is better by far.

Mike (Trumpy)

Great topic for discussion.

I prefer slow (trickle) charging, but I think NiCd's may not like to be slow charged ... I'll check into this, as it has been a year or two (or three, or five, or eight, or ...) since last reading up on Charging Techniques.

BTW, quite a few of the Charger Schematics I have for NiCd "Simple" Chargers, use only one Diode. Maybe this is why they tend to be "Fast Chargers".

Scott35

Scott,
Shouldn't a Battery Charger, charging a DC battery have a virtually "AC-free" input to the battery under charge?.
I've heard that having some sort of an AC Component on a Battery can have a marked effect on the Electro-chemical processes during it's charging.