ISDT N24 LCD 24 Slot Battery Charger

One of the smartest AA/AAA battery chargers I've ever used – For our household, AAA and AA batteries run a surprising amount of our lives. So does this sound like you? WHO REALLY NEEDS A 24 BAY CHARGER? I'm a contractor, so test equipment like multimeters, head lamps, laser distance, and noise measuring systems, all use AA or AAA batteries. My partner is a photographer, so a ton of photography gear… Read more

(intervalometers, flash triggers, her older flashes, and sometimes, even her cameras) use AA/AAA batteries.

Ignoring the professional side, how about domestic use?

Stuff around the house ranging from torches, the doorbell (both ends), all the TV/Bluray/Amplifier/Air conditioner remotes, Our older PC's wireless keyboards/mice/trackballs and a wide variety of toys are all powered by a cloud of AA and AAA rechargeable batteries. With all of these devices, is a 24 slot charger really overkill? If you have kids or adults of the remote-control hobby persuasion, you'll go through a ton of batteries and I (surprised myself) by realising... I often have upwards of 12 batteries charging at a time.. so while I initially thought "Hey, 24 is huge"... I started to question that thought more and more. If that's too big or expensive for you, there's the N8 and N16 models in this series, which do 8 and 16 batteries respectively.

OK, WHY SUCH A FANCY CHARGER?

We have long seen the benefit of rechargeable batteries. However, with all those batteries being used again and again over time, especially those of varying ages... some start showing signs of age.... It's hard to keep track of them, and our old timer-based chargers were just not up to the task of assessing the condition of the batteries. So it was time to get a good charger, and I really do like this one.

If you need to charge AA or AAA sized batteries (regardless of the internal chemistry (NiCD/NiMH/Lithium based variants) then this charger is actually very handy. If you've ever been worried about charging different batteries at the same time (not always recommended on the "old"/"basic"/"timer-based"/"dumb" chargers that charge the batteries in series), this charger intelligently charges each battery on an individual circuit so that's not a problem anymore.

IF I ORDER IT FROM OVERSEAS, WILL THAT BE A PROBLEM?

While the N8 model is powered over USB-C. If you buy one of the larger models (the 16 or 24 battery socket models) it comes with it's own power adaptor. I ordered the 240V model from AliExpress since I'm in Australia, and while the power adaptor came with a European style plug, it's a detachable cord. I simply swapped it with a suitable IEC C13 cable (the kind that powers most PCs, monitors, TVs, A/V receivers, printers, and even kitchen appliances like kettles, slow cookers, pressure cookers, etc... so you probably have one already), It just plugs into the power adaptor, and it works well for me.

READ THE MANUAL.... FOR YOUR SAKE:

This is one charger that I highly recommend reading the manual for. (It's a few pages, on a pamphlet, so please just deal with it because there's some critical information there) It has some really nice features, including a discharge function and an analytics mode which can take several hours to complete, (depending on how old/worn out your battery is). However, you MUST remove all the batteries from the charger before switching it from charging to analytics mode (or back). For everyday charging, the feature I I like the most is the screen which shows key stats for each battery (you have to scroll through to the right bay because it only shows one battery at a time) and even a voltage graph as it charges. Then it cuts off once the charge has reached a suitable point.

SAFETY WITH THIS CHARGER:

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! This is one charger I recommend you give it "room to breathe" because the batteries can get pretty warm for extended periods of time, so don't shove it in a closed cupboard, run it in a hot car, etc... and expect it to work well. That's just asking for what we technical folks call "A thermal event" (translation: Fire/Explosion)

KEEPING YOUR SANITY WITH THIS CHARGER:

By default, the charger has a lot of tones and beeps to tell you "hey another battery is charged". Handy if you're in a rush... but if you want to sleep, I highly recommend turning the sound down or even off (which you can do both) in the system settings. Also, consider dimming the screen too.

IS IT GOOD VALUE FOR THE CONVENIENCE?

There are the N8 and N16 models which are cheaper. However, the N24 model (which does up to 24 batteries at once is the best value for the price/number of batteries). Still, it is not a cheap charger at over $200 Australian delivered, however, it's a huge step up from having a multitude of chargers where each only capable of doing four or so batteries at a time. If you added the cost of 6 "four battery smart" chargers ... Ok, it might still be only $120 at the cheap end.. but if you went as "smart" as this... it would be much more expensive. Plus it's really nice not to need an entire power board (or two) to plug all the chargers in.

For us, yes it's already telling us which batteries should be given "lighter duties" for another year or two before we dispose of them. (the ones that take a long time to check out, but ultimately pass on the analytics mode)... and which ones aren't working now. That's handy. It also helps us to keep an eye on any longevity issues with the newer batches as they get merged into the sea of batteries. A small bit of masking tape and a date of purchase on each battery helps a lot with that.

I hope this helps you to keep your devices going, saves you money, and helps in doing so safely.

All the best, Harmo.