Varta LCD Power Charger

Reasonable charger, nice screen display, but quite fussy about battery condition – Good useful display, seems to charge new or nearly new batteries quite satisfactorily, but those with some tens of recharge cycles that charge quite happily on other chargers (e.g. Panasonic Eneloop) just show ERR failure on the Varta unit. Also batteries that have been subject to many recharge cycles and are in a substantially discharged state… Read more

show as FULL after only a few minutes, although they are obviously not fully charged. This is a charger which would appear to be excellent on paper, but was quite disappointing when put to the task.

Varta Ultra LCD Fast Charger RRP $69.95 – Excellent product cannot fault it in any way no more waiting hours to charge both AAA and AA batteries with 4 very clear easy to interpret Blue LCD indicators . With 3 years warranty on top makes this product a must have. Functions;Charge Discharge Refresh Test

EXELLENT - BEST CHARGER i'VE HAD – I'm looking for a second one. I'll buy 3 if I can find them. very RELIABLE, AND EASY TO USE AND READ. simplicity, AND HAVEN'T BEEN LET DOWN YET. I want to buy some more of these, does anyone know where to purchase this model please ?

Not what I expect. But it's ok for the price – Recently I had bought a Varta LCD Charger from Bunnings warehouse, can charge both AA & AAA battery, It fast charging and you have to use in pair. Nice screen display. It's still working well after 2 months (use twice a week). May recommend this product.

Great little compact AA/AAA charger with LED status – It was time to replace the older Energizer charger that I had bought back in the days when NiMH were quite new and the max capacity was around 1800mA for AA's. Since then, capacities are double that (3000mA) and I was finding that even after a 16hr charge, they weren't charging to capacity. So I took a chance on the Varta - had LED charging status… Read more

and charged in a 1/4 of the time.

When I got it home, I unpacked it and the charger itself is compact enough for a 4 AA charger. However it does come with a 240V lead or a USB lead which allows you to charge in the car if you want (although makes for longer charging times). After first removing the installed batteries and plugging the unit in, I installed some batteries that were previously charged and the unit wasn't working. A quick look noticed there's a plastic film on the positive terminals that needed to be removed. Once that was done, all of the batteries started to charge. After a few seconds, one set of batteries stopped, indicating a faulty battery (which happened to be one of the 2500mA energizers). After swapping out with another battery, the set started charging again.

The LED status also shows how much current capacity when charging. My supposedly fully charged batteries where sitting at 75% actually and the unit completed the charge in about an hour.

The included batteries only have a small amount of charge in them from open, so I installed those and let them charge fully. Full charge was reached in around 2hrs even with 2 sets (4 AA) batteries installed. The batteries get quite hot charging that quick, but the unit has over temperature sensing as well.

As a side note, I'd imagine the unit could also charge NiCAD's, however timing would be probably a quarter compared with NiMH. But lets face it, who would use an 800mAh NiCAD these days?

Overall, quite happy for the $30 paid with 4xAA included.

Pros:

+ LED charge status with bad battery cell (and alkaline) detection

+ cut off timer and temperature control

+ trickle charge

+ USB cord included

+ relatively fast charge (around 4hrs for 4x2500mA)

+ 3 year guarantee

Cons:

- Maybe that the batteries get quite hot charging that fast

-Only AA/AAA batteries, no 9V

Fast charging, but failed after 3 months – Reasonably fast charging. Must be used in pair. Nice LCD with progress display. However failed after 3 months. Used only several times. Returned to Bunnings for a refund. Will get a Panasonic charger and see how it goes.

Excellent – After some research on the available chargers, you can get some more expensive and professional brand/model such as the MAHA...But this is a excellent alternative CHEAPER version (not as professional as the MAHA ones) If you are looking just for a charger that can do more than charging and also will not overcharge your NiMH batteries, this is… Read more ·  2

the one! Readily available directy from retailers such as Discksmith. I personally would use this charger with some Sanyo ENELOOP batteries.

This Charger has all the following features:

Blue LCD display

Power check function

Charge up to 4 batteries

2/4 AA or 2/4 AAA batteries

Fast charging (2-4 hours)

Desk charger

USB - charging (via Laptop)

Car adapter

Global voltage - worldwide use (100 - 240V)

Trickle charge: Timer+Minus Delta V+Temperature control

Bad cell / Alkaline / wrong polarity detection

3 years guarantee Smart charger with Trickle charge (Timer+Minus Delta V+Temperature control)

so will not overcharge your batteries. Varta claims you can even leave the batteries charging all the time til you need them(?) Most other chargers (similar price range will have only a timer at the most).

It can also dectect Bad cell / Alkaline / wrong polarity/ Nicadcium batteries...and will not charge them. (with a flashing warning) It would be great if it has also a slow/normal charging option. It only has the semi-fast charging options ie takes about 2-4 hrs to charge, This is better than those 15 mins or 1 hour charger as charging in those fast modes are not good for the batteries long term. (so this charger is kind of in-between)