Lightning Pack 4000N Review

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Lightning Pack 4000N
4.8 stars
Average rating for this product is: 4.8 out of 5

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BobTech's Review of Lightning Pack 4000N

29th Jul 2006

Overall Rating

4.5 stars
  • Value for money
    4.5 stars
Good Points

Can quickly charge AA size NiMH batteries from any 100 - 240V power outlet in the world (with a simple adaptor to fit the local outlet if needed - it has two prongs for US power outlets). It uses an intelligent fast charging technique which ensures that the batteries never get too hot, preventing possible permanent damage. It has an optional reconditioning function to fully discharge batteries before recharging them. Very small, light and completely self-contained with fold-away pins.


Bad Points

It's supposed to be able to charge AAA cells, but they don't make reliable contact because they're too short. It can be too cautious and stop charging prematurely rather than possibly damage the batteries.


General Comments

I bought the Lightning Pack 4000N charger over the internet from RipVan100 in the USA (www.ripvan100.com/products_recharger.htm) after reading many good reviews. Their mail order service was very fast, and I'm entirely happy with this purchase.

The Lightning Pack 4000N is actually two independent chargers, each for two AA sized NiMH cells. For example, you can put a pair of completely flat 1600mAH cells in one channel, and a pair of almost fully charged 2500mAH cells in the other, and it will carefully bring all of them up to full charge within about 3 hours (depending on the battery capacity and state of charge), and drop each pair back to a trickle charge at the right time.

I've used it with a variety of NiMH AA cells, including Sanyo, Powerbase, Sony and Energizer ones, and it usually brings them up to full charge then keeps them on trickle charge without any fuss or drama.

At first it had a tendency to stop charging in a 'fault' state, but I eventually worked out what the problem was. The microprocessor is always watching the battery temperature. If it's just charged some batteries and you take them out then put in others and immediately reconnect it to the power, the residual warmth confuses it. If you let it cool down for 15 minutes before charging another set of batteries, there's hardly ever a problem.

I'm very happy with this charger, except that its holders can't accommodate AAA cells, even though they're supposed to. It charges quickly and treats AA batteries very carefully to ensure their maximum life.

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