Cheap Lenmar MSC-AA 1-Hour Mach 1 Speedcharger (Electronics) Price

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Customer Reviews of Lenmar MSC-AA 1-Hour Mach 1 Speedcharger

Good unit, with a few minor gaffes
This was a holiday present for my son (with Dad expecting to use it too!), whose handheld games eat batteries at a prodigious rate. It has already been a hit today (Dec. 25) in that regard. (I bought a dozen Maya Powerex 2300 AA cells in addition to those supplied by Lenmar. The Powerexes are very highly rated in user reports, but also are a bit pricier than average.) <
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>As previously noted by others, unit ships with batteries insulated from charger terminals by a thin strip of clear (all but invisible, in fact) plastic. This should really have a "pull tail" on it, or a note stuck to the unit saying "Please remove insulator before use" or some such, I bet they get tons of DOA reports from people who just plug in the unit with the supplied cells still in place and expect it to start right up. <
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>The description of this unit on Amazon page says it comes with four 2000 mAh cells, though at the time I placed the order, 2300s/2400s were quite common. I figured, no big deal in that regard. I was pleasantly surprised when the unit arrived with four 2300 mAh cells! Of course, to compensate for this, one of the four supplied cells turned out to be a dud and would not charge. <
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>Unit seems to work as advertised. "One-hour" theoretical charge time is for 1800 mAh cells. The unit charged two of the supplied 2300s in 75 minutes, the third cell took 90 minutes. (You can charge individual cells in any combination in any of the four slots.) Individual red LED indicators initally come on after cell insertion, during rapid charging, then go out again when cells are nearly full and are being trickle-charged. If serious problem with a battery, its LED will flash, or in the case of an excessively-drained, dead cell, LED will NOT COME ON AT ALL upon battery insertion. Note that this (LED dark) looks very much like the NORMAL indication for a battery that has finished charging, so you have to make sure that the lights initally come on for each cell as you insert it. It is too bad dead cells don't ALSO cause a flashing error warning. <
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>While any cell is rapid-charging, the unit's internal fan runs. This normally is an audible, but not excessive, whooshing air noise. (Manual states not to run unit if fan is not operational. Hopefully the unit also has its own thermal auto-shutdown protection for this possibility as a failsafe!) In the case of my unit, the fan blades were striking the inside of the case, so the fan noise was like a cross between a cicada and a really noisy electric razor. Probably cause for a warranty return, but I would prefer not going through that hassle if it can be avoided. By gently flexing the plastic case and loosening the case screws a bit to give the top a smidgeon more clearance, I managed to eliminate the noise. <
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>Contrary to other reports, I observed that batteries became noticeably warm during rapid-charging phase, but not overly so. <
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>Pros <
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>* Can use charging slots individually, in any combination <
>* Very good "intelligent" charging performance <
>* Comes with both AC and 12V car adaptors <
>* Supplied with decent-capacity AA cells <
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>Cons <
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>* (Minor) Should warn user that batteries ship insulated <
>* Should be a more specific LED warning for severely-drained ("dead") cells <
>* Can't leave cells to trickle-charge indefinitely (manual recommends removing cells after 4 hours max) so unit needs to be somewhat attended when in use <
>* Minor flaws with my particular unit (one dead supplied cell, fan buzzing against case) probably not common, but it could indicate that quality control tolerances are a bit tight. <
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>Note that most of the "cons" simply require using the unit correctly, so as long as you are a careful user, this unit should do very well for most uses. --JMF

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Works great
Charger works great. You can charge each battery individually. My previous charger need to have battery charged in pairs. A built-in fan keeps the unit nice and cool, a little noisy though. No problem here.

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D.O.A. or could it be...?
While I don't own this charger (still considering), I felt compelled to state what I have read elsewhere: an individual thought that his Lenmar charger was D.O.A. also. <
>Upon closer inspection, he noted thin plastic coverings over the "touches". Upon removing them, the charger worked! <
>So, a heads up to prospective buyers. <
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