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WOW, check out this deal!!!  If you have test equipment or other items that use 9 volt batteries, and have to replace the batteries frequently, you will LOVE this item:  A Bionicare compact 9-volt NiMH / NiCd battery charger + TWO(!) 9-volt, 160 mAh NiMH batteries!  The pictures should pretty much tell you all you need to know.  Keep in mind however that most NiMH batteries have a significant self-discharge characteristic, so, if you use your Fluke 8060A (or whatever battery powered equipment is your preference) sparingly, the self-discharge is likely to “run down” the battery(s) faster than your usage of it.  This type of rechargeable is better suited to frequent or extended usage applications (and also those of us who occaisionally forget to turn off our voltmeter after using it!!  More info. on low discharge rate batteries is below.*)  

We have been using two of these chargers and their batteries, along with some 9v NiCads we already had on hand, extensively, for several months.  The NiMH batteries definitely outperform the NiCads, but otherwise we have had no problems.  (The same cannot be said of a store bought charger and some 9v NiCads we were using before obtaining these units!)  *We usually keep one or two batteries on “float” charge all the time, so that when we go in to one of our labs and discover, every once in a while, a piece of 9-volt battery powered test equipment was accidentally left on for a couple days, we have a freshly charged battery on hand.  The charger is compact enough that we sometimes also take it along when we have extended work away from our facility.  (The AC power prongs do not retract, however.)

Please note:  At present these are only available in sets.  If you need more 9v NiMH batteries, try checking mail order or other sources.  However, we recommend you use a good brand name battery.* 

Also note:  These units are sold “as is” (no warranty).  However, if you wish, we will test your unit(s) B4 shipping by charging up the 2 batteries and then using them for a while, then recharge them again B4 shipping them to you.  Keep in mind std. NiMH batteries will take a few charge / recharge cycles to develop full charge capacity.

Price:  $12.00 / set (charger and 2 batteries).  Maximum qty. per order, 3 sets.

*More Info.:

When it comes to NiMH batteries in general, we have had the best luck with these Bionicare batteries, Rayovac and (especially) the AccuEvolution batteries available from BearWobble.com.  Kodak precharged AA’s have been ok, too, in our cameras, though we are a little doubtful about either how low the self-discharge rate, or maybe their capacity rating, is.  The AccuEvolution batteries are lower self-discharge than most, so that may be a consideration for you (see discussion above!)  If you use your equipment fairly often, however, as we do, the self-discharge of the Bionicare batteries is not a significant problem.  We have had pretty poor luck with “brands you never heard of” (and a few you have).  This is especially true of most eBay / direct from Hong Kong sources, unfortunately.  We are sort of “rechargeable battery reliability hobbyists” (because we use so many around here!), so if you have reliablity info. / data, please let us know:  We may want to put up a page about this topic, in the future.

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