# Charging aa/aaa batteries?



## pawpaw (Dec 21, 2011)

I've discovered these cheap little 'garden' lights for a buck each at a local $
store. Never gave them much of a thought until I realized that I have a lot of utility LED lights, including high-intensity flashlights, tap lights, etc. As it stands, in a power-down situation I'd have to plug my wall charger into a converter from my 12 volt battery to re-charge them. Seems a heckuva waste to use a 110v. appliance to recharge aa/aaa batteries.
Since these $1.00 lights are really flimsy in their construction, I don't think they'd hold up to daily battery insertion/removal. Barring that, they DO seem capable of charging a brand name rechargeable in 1 day. Am I beating a dead horse by asking how I might 'Hack' something simple to charge them? Or, better yet- I've got one of those cheesy Harbor freight orange 1.5 watt chargers. Could one of those be adapted for my purpose?


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## k0xxx (Oct 27, 2011)

I have commercial type 5, 10, and 15w solar panels that can be used to charge multiple AA/AAA batteries. They are actually used to charge 12v deep cycle batteries for lights and such in outbuildings, and I can add the AA/AAA battery holders to them when needed (even charge them directly from the deep cycle batteries if needed). The small HF panels can be used, of course, but for longer life and durability I would look into getting a small, good quality panel.

I also have a diagram to build a charger that works off of the phone line. A few years back we had an ice storm where we were without power for a couple of weeks. We never did lose phone service, as we have a pair of back-up old school corded phones. The phone lines have a voltage on them that _can_ be used for other purposes with the right voltage converter (although I wouldn't mention doing this to the phone company).


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## pawpaw (Dec 21, 2011)

kOxxx,
I'm missing something about being able to charge them with a 12v panel. I know I can commandeer a 4-battery holder from an rc car or other toy, but won't the 12v panel fry them? I'm thinking now that I could rig up a line of them to equal 12volts to charge them? Hmm....


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## k0xxx (Oct 27, 2011)

pawpaw said:


> kOxxx,
> I'm missing something about being able to charge them with a 12v panel. I know I can commandeer a 4-battery holder from an rc car or other toy, but won't the 12v panel fry them? I'm thinking now that I could rig up a line of them to equal 12volts to charge them? Hmm....


Sorry, I have a whole bunch of rechargable AA/AAA batteries and I recharge them 8 at a time (12v).

My main 2m Hand held radios each use 8 AA's, and each eXRS radio uses 4 AAA's, so it's easy just to put them in an 8 bay holder. I also have an adapter (purchased on eBay) for charging cell phones and other items that use a USB port.


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## JoKing (Mar 11, 2012)

pawpaw said:


> I've discovered these cheap little 'garden' lights for a buck each at a local $
> store. Never gave them much of a thought until I realized that I have a lot of utility LED lights, including high-intensity flashlights, tap lights, etc. As it stands, in a power-down situation I'd have to plug my wall charger into a converter from my 12 volt battery to re-charge them. Seems a heckuva waste to use a 110v. appliance to recharge aa/aaa batteries.
> Since these $1.00 lights are really flimsy in their construction, I don't think they'd hold up to daily battery insertion/removal. Barring that, they DO seem capable of charging a brand name rechargeable in 1 day. Am I beating a dead horse by asking how I might 'Hack' something simple to charge them? Or, better yet- I've got one of those cheesy Harbor freight orange 1.5 watt chargers. Could one of those be adapted for my purpose?


I hope I'm not talking out of my ass, but MacGruber would rig a car cigarette lighter to his battery and plug a multiple port adapter into it.

I'm not an electrician, but I watched one on T.V. It seems plausible to splice your DC adaptor that comes with your tool to your battery. I don't know if that would screw with the amps or not.

I have a booster battery with a lighter port and a USB port. With that, I'm sure I could hook the clamps to the source battery and charge my stuff through that. Plus, it's very portable.


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## Fn/Form (Nov 6, 2008)

pawpaw, you are correct in that a 12V battery --> inverter --> charger would be very inefficient.

There are many 12VDC battery chargers out there. That would be your safe and more efficient solution. They limit current so you don't damage the batteries during charging. Some of them are smart enough to sense poor performing batteries and can possibly rejuvenate them. It all depends on how much you want to pay. It would look for one that can charge batteries individually (one at a time), so you can charge a battery when you want, not when you have 4 that need charging.

That reminds me, another thing I need to do... is make or get a voltage regulator to use my 18V cordless tool batteries on 12V equipment.


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