Duracell Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries Combo Review

Duracell have been manufacturing high quality batteries since the 1920's and have developed a reputation as the world's leading battery manufacturer.

The Duracell Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries Combo is a compact battery charger, which is ideal for high drain appliances. The specific model of this charger is the Duracell CEF14NC. Duracell have made a couple of enhancements over their previous value charger; these include a universal voltage input and the ability to charge up to 4 triple A cells.

Features of the Duracell Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries Combo

Charges up to 4 triple A cells
Accepts a universal AC input of 100-240v
Duracell Pre-Charged batteries can retain power for up to 1 year when not in use
Supplied with 8 Pre-Charged batteries (4 AA and 4 triple A batteries)
Ideal for use with high drain appliances

Charging

A plus point is that you can charge up to 4 triple A cells at once, unlike with many other chargers which can only charge 2 triple A cells at a time.

Batteries can only be charged in pairs or sets of fours, which is rather disappointing because you can't charge only 1 or 3 batteries if you have an appliance which requires batteries in odd numbers.

Another disadvantage is that the charger only stops charging when the combined voltage of the 2 batteries is sufficient enough. This means that if you are charging 1 empty battery with one which is either full or almost full then one of the cells will be overcharged which is detriment to the length of the batteries life.

Charging Times

The charging times are reasonable. It takes about 6 hours to charge 2 AA batteries, which are empty. The charging current differs depending on the type of the battery which is being charged. AA cells are charged at 360mA and triple A cells are charged at 180mA.

Universal AC input

Accepting a universal voltage input of 110-220 volts, this is ideal for use as a travel charger. There are no adapters or cords, the charger plugs straight into the wall so packing the charger away for storage is very easy.

Supplied with 8 Pre-Charged batteries

Duracell have included 8 pre-charged batteries in the combo package. The battery types are 4 AA and 4 triple A. As they are pre-charged, you have the convenience of being able to use them right out of the package.

The supplied batteries have a very good lifespan, even with high drain appliances you get about 10 hours usage from the triple A cells.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Duracell Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries Combo is a good deal. The charger is portable, well built and comes supplied with 8 quality long life batteries.

On the downside, the fact that it only charges batteries in either pairs or fours could be off putting if you have appliances which require an odd numbers of cells. Also, there is a possibility of batteries becoming overcharged unless you only charge cells together which have similar amounts of power in them.

If most of your appliances accept cells in pairs, then this is a good buy, but if you want more advanced features such as individual cell monitoring to charge batteries singularly or in odd numbers then I recommend a charger such as the Sony Cycle Energy BCG34HRE4KN.